#sampled for Groove Is In The Heart

[mudwerks]

(via Herbie Hancock - Bring Down The Birds (Blow-Up, 1966)

[kakashixhatakesxwhore]

hi! could you do the husband headcanons but for sasuke and suigetsu? ty <333

aight lets pop a lil part 2!!! thank you for the ask!!

Husband Headcanons II

for Sasuke and Suigetsu, with additions of Shikamaru, Neji, and Naruto (GN!Reader)

Your fav isn't mentioned? Check out Husband Headcanons 1, or shoot me a request!

Warnings: Crude language, swearing, alcohol mentions, cigarette mentions, lmk if this sucks

Masterlist💿

Sasuke

A very extravagant ceremony, but only populated by a select few people (friends and family)

The reception lasted until the sun started to shine over the horizon, leaving both you and Sasuke too inebriated to comsumate your marriage that night - the two of you hust stumbled home, tripping over each other's feet, and then threw yourselves onto the Queen bed you shared, falling asleep instantly

Your honeymoon would be a nice week spent in the Tea Lands of the Land of Flowers, sampling various blends and discovering a whole new world of aphrodisiacs

He would give you the time of day, every day, even a decade into your union

Every night, unless he absolutely couldn't, Sasuke would be with you, adoring you and teasing you, helping you care for any children the two of you may share

After so much time and so many events, Sasuke still finds you to be the most beautiful person in the world, and strives to prove his love to you in any way he can, whenever he can

Be that a prolonged embrace, or conversations that stretch forever, Sasuke would provide all the company in the world to you

On the few days he had to call his own, he would spend every waking second with you, taking you anywhere your heart desired

Sasuke would shower you in material love as well, ensuring that no matter which corner of your home you turned to, you'd see something from him and be reminded of his eternal promise

Suigetsu

He wanted a massive wedding, and to invite every living creature on the mortal plane - you talked him down, of course, getting him to settle on an open ceremony

A good chunk of people sent their RSVPs back, but you were boggled by how many people indeed turned up - it seemed Suigetsu had friends around the globe, all terribly excited to watch a beautiful ceremony and get totally fucked up at the reception

You and Suigetsu spent most of your reception dancing, with you having to discard your shoes an hour or two deep to properly get into your groove

He carried you home happily, just peaking with vigour, describing the rest of your night in salacious detail

To your joy, he delivered, almost having undershot his own capability

In the day to day, Suigetsu finds that it's easier to just not deligate homely tasks - if it's an issue now, it's your issue, Noticer

That said, he doesn't shirk responsibility by feigning ignorance; Suigetsu is actually very helpful around the house, cleaning up the mess before he left any room

Every few months, he'll come home with a huge bouquet of multi-coloured flowers, with one glass flower, hidden in the lively petals

"When the final flower dies, I'll stop loving you."

You have a collection of the glass flowers on your night stand - they greeted you every morning and whispered about love every night, always reinforcing Suigetsu's commitment to you

Shikamaru

You and Shikamaru, being from hauty clans, were sick to death of the arrangement-talks

So, you eloped

At the break of dawn, you and Shikamaru began traveling to the Land of Lightning - you made it to the Land of Hotsprings and got a room at an inn in the Hidden Steam, staying the night, before making it to the Hidden Cloud before noon the next day

The two of you signed the paperwork and paid the fees for an International Marriage License then spent the rest of your wedding day walking around the Hidden Cloud

You had to go back to the Hidden Leaf soon enough, and when you did, you presented the marriage license to your father and told him there was nothing to be done about it - he could keep the dowry and expect no bride price

Both clans were unimpressed by the impulsiveness of your actions, but soon you and Shikamaru were allowed to honeymoon in the Land of Frost, the land which you skipped over in your journey to the Cloud

Despite never making any grand gestures, or writing any sonnets about you, Shikamaru lets you know he loves you in a multitude of other ways

He takes you out constantly, always needing to show you off and find things that you both could enjoy - he's always complimenting you, no matter the audience, just so you know that he thinks you're the most divine sight in the world

The most frequent pastime the two of you share is rolling cigarettes - talking for hours and hours, you and Shikamaru fold, load, and roll the white papers into perfect cylinders

You two would roll too many for one smoker to ever keep up, and you had to stop buying metal tins for storage, switching to folding up paper boxes to put the blems in

It became something of a business, selling the pre-rolled cigarettes in paper boxes to the adults of the village

The dimes you two got for your work and tobacco didn't matter to Shikamaru, he was just content, being present with you in the moment

Neji

Sweet darling Neji would have no choice but to invite the entire Hyuga clan, even though he wanted an intimate ceremony

It's okay, it's alright, so long as you're the one coming down the aisle, Neji would be happy

He cries when he sees you, overwhelmed by loving emotions and hope for a future as bright as your smile

Once the wedding guests left, and the ceremony switched to reception, Neji got to cut loose in front of only his closest friends and celebrate the victory of his union with you

He was insatiable at the bar, for only an hour

Then he was pasted to your side, just waiting for the reception to be over, whispering and teasing you about how excited you must be for the after-afterparty

It was projection, but he was right

You two called off the reception early, antsy to get back to your shared home

For the honeymoon, Neji takes you to the Southern border of the Grasslands and Waterlands - to a village that sat at the junction of a waterfall and a luscious field

The village was breathtaking, and Neji took you all over, even behind the waterfall

Neji's constantly taking you different places, allowing you to take the advantage of his position as a DIPLOMAT (yeah, he didn't die, he needed a job) that he wished he could

After every long meeting, he comes back to you, and will always suggest a walk at some point or another, no matter where you are in the world

But your favourite place to walk, and Neji's, was around the Hyuga compound in the Hidden Leaf, and just outside to where you two met - neither of you could turn down a chance to reminisce

Naruto

Huge ceremony, literally everyone who's anyone is there - Naruto organized firecrackers to shoot off during the uniting kiss, which scared the hell out of you but made him laugh, taking you safely into his arms and placing a reassuring kiss to your lips

The reception seemed to be even bigger, not a soul leaving, and a partying spirit vibrant in the air

You and Naruto wowed the crowd with a series of dances, but settled to watch the communal joy together after a little while

Gentlemanly, Naruto whisked you away from the recption, not wanting to disturb the party but not being able to spend another second not ravishing you like the treat you are

Not just wanting to take you to some stupid Land for your honeymoon, Naruto purchased a sail boat to take you out for a month

On the ocean, the two of you quickly got your bearings and grew even closer than before

You traveled from Land to Land, stopping to port every few weeks to pick up some food and put empty crates back into circulation

At one point, your path crossed with that of a pirate ship - Naruto made quick work of them, ensuring your safety without doubt

It's an entire adventure, out where the horizon blends, melding sky and sea together

Whatever you enjoy, Naruto will not only supply, but try to enjoy, himself

If you like to read, he'll get you every book his wallet can stretch for, and then he'll read the books right after you're done with them, readying himself to talk about themes and motifs with you, even if the concepts don't quite click for him

He's always trying for you - trying new foods, new things, new experiences, new looks

Naruto can't believe you're really in love with him, even after being married for so long, so he feels the need to constantly improve for you, to be the man he thinks you deserve

That's his favourite thing about you: the way you incline him to further his abilities, always encouraging him to be the best he can be

Naruto would just be smitten with you, and always would be, and you would always be his personal cheerleader

[talenlee]

Decemberween 2024 — Youtube Academia

Hey, I’m in academia, here are some people I look to for ‘how to communicate and make a point in academia and what you can use it to do.’

First up, hand over heart, this is going to have a real sampling bias. I’m going to point to three diferent academics who make stuff in spaces I can participate in and all three of them are dudes, and white enough that my dad would mostly consider them white. He’d probably be on the fence about Daniel Immerwahr. This is a problem in academia in general and it’s a problem with me in the specific: The stuff that I’ve gotten attention to, even the stuff that is explicitly about broadening my access to and understanding of nonwhite cultures and the nonwhite parts of the world is coming to me through white guys from academia. I’m not wild about it but it’s better in my mind to acknowledge it and present the sources then pretend this isn’t where I’m coming from.

Anyway, hey, here’s an essay titled Why Hip-Hop is the Most Important Artistic Movement In Human History.

Why Hip-Hop is the Most Important Artistic Movement in Human History: A Professor Skye Video Essay

Watch this video on YouTube

I think this is a good starting point for Professor Skye’s work.

Professor Skye presents three kinds of work. One is album reviews, where he breaks down and analyses components in how albums work and what they present in their messages, in a way that explicitly is not seeking to centre his interpretation but rather academically recognise a useful generalised language bridge for people like me who use the term ‘generalised language bridge.’

Second to that there are kind of larger, high-concept comparisons, where he provides a meaningful explanation to people outside of hiphop interest as to what’s going on. This led to him going extremely viral thanks to explaining the Kendrick/Drake beef this year which, god that was a thing, wasn’t it. The third thing that Professor Skye does is historical and academic contextualisation of music media. That can be things like ‘here’s iconic stuff from the 1980s,’ and it can be ‘behold as I use Proust to discuss this album.’

In each case I think there’s a sort of meaningful value to ‘doing the readings.’ Listening to the albums he talks about or the songs he talks about as and when he starts to talk about them means that each video is a sort of expository piece to accompany the text. I watch media analysis all the time of stuff I have not and never will watch, like Victorious, but in that case, the analysis is explicitly trying to present the text so you don’t need it. That’s not what Professor Skye is doing. This is not a channel trying to convince you to enjoy a thing or to enjoy the thing without the thing. It is a textual engagement with the album, and that is a really cool thing to do. You might not even have the mental muscles practiced for that at this point.

I'm What the Culture Feeling

Watch this video on YouTube

By the way, if you listen to Skye and go ‘oh hey, this is interesting and I’d like to know more,’ here’s a video essay from FD Signifier which is long, yes, but also extraordinarily good, about the same kind of topic and coming from inside the culture. If Skye makes you think ‘hey, I could be interested in this,’ then you should probably then check out FD Signifier.

Your Grammar Is Basic Compared to Black English

Watch this video on YouTube

But hey while I’m talking about language bridges (I was, honest), what about a language expert to talk about distinct grammatical differences between English (as I am used to calling it) and Black English. Language Jones is an interesting guy with a specific skillset, which is expertise in linguistics at an academic level, specifically the way your brain picks up and relates to linguistics. When you do that, you stop having to focus on formal and proper structures and instead get a lot more inclined to seeing the way language slops into the grooves in human brains and social spaces. Sometimes that means explaining to you and me what a wug is, and that’s interesting, but I find it much more interesting when he does dives like this one.

In this video, what Jones is doing is picking apart Black English into the toolkit I have in my head for understanding proper English, with terms like subjunctive and participle, and then demonstrate that the way Black English works is entirely a coherent grammatical structure, it’s not vibes or habits or attenuating with a specific person, it’s a whole other form of English and it’s really fucking nuanced. There’s a degree of fineness in Black English that is simple absent from Proper, Formal English. Formal English that I was taught is structured such that there are a host of unintuitive, hard to maintain stiff forms for completely correct conveyance of intent (“can I” vs “may I”), while Black English instead has a coherent grammatical structure that gives more fine control for intention, tense and position and the listener is there to interpret it rather than to enforce it.

This is not totally surprising, and if you talk to uh, any Black people, you probably already know this. What this gave me is a useful toolkit for reconstructing the grammar form. Really interesting stuff!

Daniel Immerwahr How to Hide an Empire

Watch this video on YouTube

Look, I’m sure I’ve talked about Daniel Immerwahr’s work in the past. I share this video from him every time I want to get people to think about American colonialism in the ways that make them uncomfortable. It’s a good talk, it uses its time well, and it also highlights a topic and the relationship of ourselves to the way things communicate their identity through their names and symbols of themselves.

Oh and if you don’t like that, check out Daniel Immerwarh’s podcast talking about the real world histories of Dune. Talks during the pandemic were restricted, but dang some of them were on wonderfully untypical topics.

There’s more. There’s always more. Dr Kipp Davis shows up when I look for academics I follow, but his interest is in Biblical studies. He’s part of the Diablocritics, which means Dr Jennifer Bird is on there, and it’s a way I can check out her work in a way that I find very accessible and interesting, and the other members of the Diablocritics are there, too.

Still, sometimes something academic is just something interesting. I don’t think Josh Worth is a doctor or professor or something. I think technically, he’s just a designer, as in a User Experience designer, that kind of specific discipline of having a clear, meaningful purpose for a visual expression. I share to you this graph Josh Worth made of the solar system if the moon, our moon, was a single pixel.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[etirabys]

alright, I'm going to make a post detailing things I liked about my wedding because I think it will help my long term psychological health about it or something

the flowers were lovely, I liked the palette we gave our florist and she did a nice job. I've been fingering one of the leftover roses on and off for a day and slowly shredding it

when all the flowers dry up I think I'll try making rosewater

we chose alcohol we liked, and we have a lot left over, meaning we're set to host spontaneous parties and such

my boyfriend told me that while my hair dress and makeup made me look quite unlike my usual self, I looked very bridenappable

we set aside 5-10m for our photographer to take photos of us with our other partners, which was nice

my parents were happy!!! oh my gosh they were so happy. I managed to not ruin it for them out of revenge for making me do it which was a feat of heroism and also benzodiazepines. I have ancient brain grooves of punishing them for making me do hateful things by trying to make them just as miserable, and the temptation was immense, but I largely did not do it and I have a bunch of photos of them smiling and dancing

I don't have photos from our main photographer yet but @drethelin sent me some of his and they look great. I didn't expect to be this into the photos but I'm so psyched to have the rest. Will probably post some when I get them

the fancy cake we got had fondant that I liked. I had gotten small heart shaped samples of the fondant before and I had fully expected to enjoy eating a cake covered in it. And I did. It was like marshmallow with more conviction.

my two favorite college friends crashed at my place over the weekend and it was great catching up with them. they got along really well with my other friends and partners. just going on and on about French zoning policy

I look eh in hanbok but the giant looks beautiful in hanbok. He prefers hanbok to a Western suit and frankly looks more natural that way.

the DJ did a great job! Originally we planned for "maybe a little bit of dancing" (I looked at the guest spreadsheet and guessed maybe 7 people would be willing to dance, tops) but we got like 20 people in on it.

the afterparty I put together last minute was the most enjoyable part of the day. I was pretty dead (I'd gotten up at 7:30am to get hair done) but it was nice to be my normal self, not constrained by relatives. I occasionally went around rooms, noted what conversations were going on, and matchmade by fetching someone who I thought would especially enjoy that conversation

the giant and I didn't have the usual "we'll be able to call ourselves husband and wife" motivation since we got legally married years ago, so we invented "wife plus" and "platinum husband" to describe some imaginary next level of marriage we are on.

I was forced to learn how to iron to get the hanbok presentable, and now I feel like a more powerful human being

my relatives gave me money as a wedding gift. but my dad drummed it into me that they expect it back when their kids get married and I go to their weddings. and that it would be quite inappropriate if I failed to do this. I ventured tentatively that this would all be simplified if we simply did not give each other money gifts and he was so offended at my attack on tradition & decency that I hastily backtracked. but in theory I still win because of inflation? because it's an interest free loan. also their kids might not get married. or invite me

[jokkaproductionz]

**The Ultimate Guide to Producing Hip Hop Music: Hardware and Software Essentials**

As a hip hop producer, you’re about to embark on a journey to create the next big hit. To get started, familiarize yourself with the hardware and software tools used in the production process. In this comprehensive guide, we will cover the essential hardware and software tools, as well as provide tips on how to combine them to produce high-quality hip hop and rap tracks.

---

### **1. Hardware Essentials**

**1.1 MPCs (Akai Pro MPC Series)**

The MPC (Music Production Center) is a legendary sampler and sequencer that has been a staple in hip hop production for decades. The Akai Pro MPC series, including models like the MPC X, MPC Live, and MPC One, offer a myriad of features such as sampling, sequencing, and effects processing. These devices allow producers to create intricate beats and seamlessly blend samples with original material. **Tip**: Experiment with different sampling techniques to find your unique sound.

**1.2 Groove Boxes (Korg Electribe, Roland SP-404, etc.)**

Groove boxes are compact and portable devices designed for creating beats, sequences, and samples on the go. Popular choices among hip hop producers include the Korg Electribe and Roland SP-404. These devices often come with built-in sounds and effects, making them perfect for live performances or quick jam sessions. **Tip**: Use groove boxes for sketching out ideas quickly when inspiration strikes.

**1.3 Drum Machines (Roland TR-808, TR-909, etc.)**

Drum machines are fundamental tools within hip hop production. The Roland TR-808 and TR-909 are iconic machines that have appeared in countless hit tracks. Their distinct sounds can give your beats that classic hip hop flavor. **Tip**: Layer different drum sounds and tweak their envelopes to create a punchier kick or snappier snare.

**1.4 Turntables and Vinyl**

Vinyl records and turntables remain an essential component of hip hop culture. Many producers use turntables to sample and scratch records, adding a unique rhythmic element to their tracks. **Tip**: Explore various genres of vinyl records for sampling; sometimes unexpected sounds can lead to unique beats.

**1.5 MIDI Controllers (Native Instruments Maschine, Novation Launchpad, etc.)**

MIDI controllers provide a hands-on approach to controlling virtual instruments and effects in your DAW. Devices like the Native Instruments Maschine and Novation Launchpad are popular among hip hop producers for their versatility. **Tip**: Utilize pads for finger drumming to capture a more organic feel in your beats.

---

### **2. Software Essentials**

**2.1 DAWs (Ableton Live, FL Studio, Logic Pro, etc.)**

Your Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) is the heart of your production setup. Ableton Live, FL Studio, and Logic Pro are three of the most popular DAWs used in hip hop production. Each DAW has its strengths; for instance, Ableton Live is favored for its session view for live performances, while FL Studio is known for its intuitive interface and powerful step sequencer. **Tip**: Take advantage of the built-in tutorials and communities surrounding each DAW to enhance your workflow.

**2.2 Virtual Instruments (Native Instruments Kontakt, Serum, etc.)**

Virtual instruments provide an expansive palette of sounds for hip hop production. Software like Native Instruments Kontakt and Serum allows you to design and manipulate sounds, offering endless creative possibilities. **Tip**: Incorporate sound design techniques to craft unique sounds that set your tracks apart.

**2.3 Effects Plugins (iZotope Ozone, Waves, FabFilter, etc.)**

Adding effects and processing to your tracks is crucial for achieving a professional sound. Plugins from iZotope Ozone, Waves, and FabFilter offer tools for mixing and mastering your music. From EQs and compressors to reverb and delay, these plugins can help you shape your sound effectively. **Tip**: Use reference tracks to guide your mixing choices and ensure your sound fits within the genre.

---

### **3. Combining Hardware and Software**

The key to successful hip hop production lies in effectively combining your hardware and software. Here are some tips on how to do this:

- **Integration**: Connect your hardware instruments to your DAW via MIDI or audio interfaces for seamless interaction. This allows you to trigger sounds from your hardware while recording in the software.

- **Layering Sounds**: Utilize hardware samplers like the MPC to create base beats, and then enhance those beats using virtual instruments or effects within your DAW.

- **Live Performance**: Incorporate groove boxes or MIDI controllers during live performances to engage your audience and add spontaneity to your set. This can create a unique atmosphere and make each performance special.

- **Experimentation**: Don't be afraid to mix and match hardware and software. Use a MIDI keyboard to play samples from your MPC, or sample your virtual instruments on your groove box. The possibilities are endless.

---

By understanding and utilizing the right hardware and software tools, you’ll be well-equipped to navigate the world of hip hop music production. Remember, the most important aspect is to experiment, find your unique voice, and have fun while crafting your beats. Now go create your next big hit!

[love-from-sasha]

Beats and Breaks from the Flower Patch (1998)

Kitty Craft

tracklist

☆ Par 5

☆ Inward Jam

☆ When Fortune Smiles

Alright

Half Court Press

☆ Mama's Lamp - American Mix

Locked Groove

Down For

☆ Shine On

All to You

☆ Caught High

Leaves Your Breath (Bonus Track)

☆ Faultered (Bonus Track)

Beats and Breaks from the Flower Patch by Kitty Craft (Pamela Valfer) is an endearingly sweet lofi/indie pop album released in 1998

the whimsical mix of trip hop drums and dainty twee vocals is perfectly encapsulated in the playful album cover - the tracklist feels like something that really came from the heart, with looping breaks and samples that are warmly reminiscent of childhood nostalgia

i dont think i can think of a better way to describe this album other than the title itself, as it truly sounds like beats and breaks from the flower patch

with love,

sasha

[laughingsquid]

The 1960s Television Origins Behind the 'I-I-I-I-I' Sample in the Dee-Lite Song 'Groove Is in the Heart'

[7grandmel]

Rip of the Week: 01/07/2024

Barreltr​ü​ckung of Doom

Season 8 Featured on: The Joke​-​Explainer 7000​™​'s Highest Quality Rips: Sunrise

Ripped by Madinstance

Tentative rip name: KNUCKLES (Smaragdwächter)

I pondered long and hard about this post, of what rip to make it about - I'm sort of back in the groove of things after my break, and I'm happy to see people are enjoying the graudally-increasing trickle of variety posts already, but I also feel as if I'm still regaining my footing in how to pick these rips for the blog. Alas, amidst all the requests and the all-time classics, I do inevitably hold recency bias close to my heart - bias you've already seen with rips like Last Freight-train Night, and that rears its head once again with Barreltr​ü​ckung of Doom. Because no matter what happens to me or the blog, I am but merely a Sonic fan, an Undertale enjoyer, and an absolute CONNOISSEUR for Madinstance's work. The madlad's done it again.

Like, look - I've featured the guy so many times before, I've featured Undertale music on here so many times more than even that, blah blah, blah blah...can you sincerely blame me for picking this one? Madinstance has been featured on here plenty for their incredible arrangements like M-O-O-G City and Thwâmpröck Desert, and I've always sort of taken them as the kind of ripper who puts their heart and soul into rips of games and music that they genuinely just care tons about, most evident with their Minecraft tributes like Fell From a High Place (Reprise). But lately it feels as if that view may have been wrong - or Madinstance is just growing as a ripper to where they're becoming willing to take on any arranging project so long as it sounds cool. Honestly though, I can't blame them with a concept as sick as this - meshing together prototype Carnival music from a Genesis Sonic game with Undertale boss music is the kind of lunatic concept that I don't know how one comes up with but also wouldn't be able to help myself to pursue.

There have been a lot of times where I've worried that I've covered too *much* Undertale music for the blog...but the more I sit on it, the more I realize just how core Undertale's music is to both SiIva's viewers and its rippers. Undertale blew up just a short few months before the SiIvaGunner channel itself did, and its fans have thus grown in almost direct parallel with SiIvaGunner's own fans - and on top of that, Toby Fox is the exact kind of online meme freak that SiIvaGunner itself attracts the most. Is it any surprise that we've had banging Undertale arrangements on SiIva like Hoopache, SUNGORE, and indeed Madinstance's very own Fell From a High Place (Reprise), since the very beginning of the channel, from just about every one of the team's rippers? Undertale is endlessly beloved, and moreover - endlessly versatile for arrangements, its leitmotifs and melodies so well known as to becoming a series of online anthems all in their own rights.

Compared to the more popular tunes like Megalovania and Death By Glamour, it feels as if ASGORE doesn't get as much attention from remixers and rippers. And perhaps that was part of what made me fall head over heels in love with Barreltr​ü​ckung of Doom right from the moment go - it shows such a profound respect and understanding for not just the original ASGORE theme, but the iconic Bergentrückung prelude that introduces the battle, here weaving the two together damn seamlessly in the rip's intro. It's immensely impressive just how atmospheric and intense the rip still sounds despite, again, it's baseline track being the borderline juvenile carnival music used in Sonic 3's recently-unearthed prototype versions, a series of cheerful clapping samples introducing the track yet never overriding the emotional sincerity of the melody leading the rip. I feel like the emotion in large part also just comes from how fucking cool of a sound Sonic 3's music in general has, a lead synth that sounds unlike anything else on the genesis playing a sort of melodic back-and-fourth with a second synth lead that sounds just as distinct yet far more chipper and bright, almost reminding me of something from Rivals of Aether...? The back-and-fourth feel is an amazing touch either way, is the point!

Barreltr​ü​ckung of Doom's final touch, of course, comes toward the finale, the section in which the original ASGORE battle theme takes a step back from its intensity to reflect, a calm in the midst of the storm. Madinstance brilliantly uses this interlude to throw a complete curveball that still fits the arrangement perfectly: using samples and sounds from the *finalized* Carnival Night Zone theme, the one created by Michael Jackson's soundteam, and featuring that distinct glass shattering sample from Jam. I talk about escalation in rips a fair bit on here, but it wasn't as it the rip was in any need of it here anyway given how amazing the arrangement already was. It's just the sort of thing that pushes the rip from great to godlike, the kind of touch you'd mainly expect to see from a Sonic the Hedgehog superfan committed to their rip, akin to what MtH did with Youkoso Twinkle Park e. But again - perhaps, somehow, I've underestimated just how far Madinstance will go once they've landed on a concept they truly click with. Season 8 may well be the silly season in many ways, but it's all too clear that each one of the team's rippers are growing more powerful by the day.

[theseshipsshallsail]

Happy 3 year Call Me-Versary to me 🍑

Prequel to the journal fics, so can be read as a stand-alone.

Heaven, he’s found, exists within in a precocious brat with a penchant for classical music and obscure French novels, and Oliver can’t help smiling as he props his chin in his palm, the tips of two fingers tracing reverently over the rose-bud pout of Elio’s lower lip. 

A lip his malakh then bites; a too-knowing trait that drives Oliver half-wild with wanting each time he does it.

Breathless, he continues his explorations to the freckled constellation behind his left ear. Sweeps the pad of his thumb along the smooth curve of Elio’s jaw. It’s a familiar journey that somehow still feels like a discovery, and Oliver commits the details of Elio’s face to memory as he drops a kiss to his bobbing Adam’s apple, earning a heart-felt moan when wandering digits slide southwards to the waistband of his bathing suit.

Oliver’s bathing suit, technically, and the possessive thrill of seeing Elio in his clothes has yet to fade.

The cords at his naval are tied loosely, and recent experience shows that one sharp tug will bring them to Elio’s knees, exposing his secrets and eager manhood alike. That’s not what Oliver craves right now, though - flanked by gnarled olive trees and stunted pines - and the lean grooves of Elio’s stomach tense as he picks at the knot slowly. 

Already, his erection strains beneath the yellow cotton, and Oliver knows he’s just aching to be free of the netted material. But patience is a virtue, or so they say, and still he takes his time. Stretching out Elio’s desire and need. Feeding it. Rewarding him with a second kiss to his nipple when slender fingers wrap around his wrist, flexing repeatedly in silent entreaty.

“Look at you,” Oliver murmurs, angling up to sample that tortuous bottom lip for himself.

The way it plumps and swells in his mouth holds him in thrall, and Oliver nibbles playfully as he squeezes the jut of Elio’s hip once, twice, three times deliberately. His cheeks ache from an unstoppable grin. Blood thrums at his temple. Happiness spreads through every corner of his being, and it’s only when Elio’s breathing picks up that he finally, finally, eases the bunched material from his pearling crown.

“What about me?” Elio asks belatedly - squirming to kick the borrowed trunks from his ankles - and Oliver allows it, struggling to focus with so much beauty laid sprawled in a canvas of aster and cornflowers.

He’s hard himself - uncomfortably so - but his focus is otherwise engaged as it flicks from Elio’s wiry forearms to his heaving chest. His tapered waist to the dark curls at his groin. Monet himself could paint no better masterpiece, and put together the sum of his parts leaves Oliver desperate for more. 

“Sometimes,” he murmurs, removing a leaf that’s gotten snagged in Elio’s hair. “...I can’t help thinking I wasn’t real until I met you.”

Elio hums. Soft and playful. “That’s funny,” he says, draping his arms around his neck. “Sometimes I think I dreamed you into life.”

There’s a quiet moment of understanding. Gentle as the ocean waves lapping the cliff’s edge below. They might be a secret to the rest of the world, but the pair of them know what they mean to one another, and Oliver’s eyes burn with unsatisfied tears as he slips a still-clothed thigh between Elio’s, pinning him down as the steady push-pull of stimulation drives them ever higher. 

Elio goes immediately pliant - content like always to be naked before him - and Oliver pins his wrists above his head, wondering if love always feels so overwhelming. So electric. So gut-wrenchingly painful. There will never be enough time to slake his longing, and loath as he is to admit it, Oliver’s already preparing for the day he can’t quite recall the sound of Elio’s pleasure. 

The specific point on his side that makes him giggle and squirm. 

The sense of utter completion he’s discovered nowhere save the sanctuary of his arms.

He knows who he’s supposed to be. Who he needs to be. And despite his deepest wishes Elio Perlman will soon be lost to the relentless march of time. The burden of family responsibility is Oliver’s only option, and in following the path of least resistance he must consign his first love - his forever love - to some tchotchke-ridden corner of his consciousness.  

A sun-bleached chapter of freedom and candour, when if he were just a little braver, it could be an entire book.

[omegaremix]

Omega Radio for December 29, 2014 #71.

Power Of Zeus “Sorceror Of Isis”

Cybotron “Aries Boogie”

Atomic Crocus, The “Ombilic Effect”

Rimshots, The “Neighbor! Get Your Own”

Jimmy “Bo” Horne “Dance Across The Floor”

Donald Austin “Crazy Legs”

Little Sonny “Eli’s Pork Chop”

Albert King “Cold Feet”

Richard Groove Holmes “You’ve Got It Bad”

Don Powell “Troubled Mind” (ver. A)

Second Direction “Praeludium”

Linda Tillery “Freedom Time”

Baron Von Ohlen Quartet, The “Runaway Heart”

Pete Kelly “Beachcomber”

Veit Marvos & Hid Red Point Orchestra “The Way You Look At Me”

Bobbi Humphrey “Chicago, Damn”

Roy Budd “Diamonds”

Hubert Laws “Undecided”

Frank Strazerri “Cloudburst”

Gil-Scott Heron “Home Is Where The Hatred Is”

Siegfried Shwab “Feel It”

People’s Choice, The “Soft And Tender”

Larry Willis “Journey’s End”

Mighty Joe Young “As The Years Go Passing By”

Banks & Hampton “Passion And Promises”

Samuel Jonathan Johnson “My Music”

Billy Preston “I Wonder”

Weldon Irvine “Morning Sunrise”

J.O.B. Orchestra “Govinda”

Tony Ansell “Softly As In A Morning Sunrise”

Jay Beliner “I Just Want To Be There”

Les Baxter “Black Mass”

Francois Betti “Brass Blues”

Marc Moulin “Tohu Bohu I”

Riff Raff “Original Man”

Pierre Bachalet & Mathias Camison “O’ Et L’Amour A Trois”

Pekka Pohjola “Sekoilu Seestyy (Madness Subsides)”

Bonus broadcast; jazz, soul, fusion, funk, vinyl treasures, crate-digging, and sampling.

[dustedmagazine]

Jandek — Vision of Jewels (Corwood Industries)

There is something mystically earthy about Jandek. At its best, there is something dichotomously familiar, a yearned-for, half-buried thing nearly recognizable underneath aggregates of sounds never quite as disorderly as they might appear. Despite a long-term low-fi aesthetic, the Corwood rep’s studio albums always sounded pretty damn good, but the recent ones sound fantastic, including this one, released at the end of 2023. It sounds like a band effort, though, as might be expected, no credits are given. What is certain is that the Jandek groove is there throughout the four lengthy pieces comprising Vision of Jewels, that slow, deep but elastic groove integral to so much of what the rep’s been laying down for 45 years.

It seems as if the whole thing has been channeled through a strategically dirtied lens through which the more mysterious elements of early 1970s Faust take misty shape, a portrait dotted with the specks and spots connoting the carefully chosen debris of intersecting musical histories. The opening percussion coaxing the appropriately named “Viewing the Realm” into its fractured but somehow unified existence crackles with that Werner “Zappi” Diermaier electricity, timbral jitter with the calm of rumbling drone just beneath, nodding toward many musics but beholden to none. Gritty strings and skronky saxophone pave the way for bluesy syncopated guitar seasonings. They haunt the spaces either side of the rock-solid bass-and-drums center as it evolves along its collectively improvised path. How wonderful to be able to dig deep into sonic synchronicities, like the major chord fully emerging at 10:21 but flowering from a gutbucket-soaked lead-in and dissolving in similar fashion. Another and equally fragrant groove spring-loads the album opener, “White Quartz”’s first moments. It’s all calm, no matter how many heaps of sonic objects and oceanic swells entrap fragmented melodies without ever quite overtaking them. Amidst the rhythmic steadiness in constant juxtaposition with its shambling melodic counterparts, moments of astonishing beauty glisten and radiate, like the ethereal left-channel harp, possibly sampled, crowning the first gestures of “Star Specks.” As if by some organic process of development, those golden bits and bobs coalesce and fan out, eventually taking over the texture nearly enough to eclipse the all-pervasive groove in layers of delayed distortion. Is that thin percussive sound center stage some kind of dulcimer?

And there it is, shining right out of that spectacular center, that jewel at the heart of whatever it is that makes each Jandek album, no matter what the instrumentation, part of a singularly fascinating whole. Yes, it would be tempting to posit that the European jewel of the Corwood rep’s early days has found its larger context on this new album, but that’s only a part of the story. Jandek is a space for development that never falls into line. Was that really a major chord? It might not have needed to be, and maybe it’s only a point of reference to those desiring one. The Rep’s work opens possibilities rather than defining them. We are given the vision of the jewels rather than the jewels themselves, as the vision of a teenage daughter at a certain time of day opened Ready for the House all those years ago. Each note, chord and phrase on a Jandek album speaks to the joy of its creation. They bristle with energy of all sorts, emotion and affect in juxtapositions similar to the timbral histories they contain. Beyond all points of reference is the feeling. The character in the rep’s book, The Rays of Light that did Not Illumine, wants to feel, and like his music, the substance of what is felt becomes subservient to the experience, which remains fresh and vital.

Marc Medwin

[jamiemooreblog]

Behind the Shadows: The Saga of Adam the Shinobi

Lord of the Phonk

In the neon-lit underbelly of the internet, where the bass slaps harder than a freight train and the synths shimmer like a mirage, emerges Adam the Shinobi, a masked maestro of the phonk sound—a cultural phenomenon and a harbinger of a new era in underground music.

Who is Adam the Shinobi?

His music speaks volumes: a fusion of Memphis rap's raw energy, G-funk's smooth grooves, and futuristic, cyberpunk aesthetics. A sound that’s both nostalgic and cutting-edge—a sonic assault that rattles your soul and ignites your spirit. But who is the artist behind the music? That’s the million-dollar question, and the beauty lies in the mystery.

Shrouded in shadow, his identity remains a tantalizing secret. Could this be a deliberate choice, letting the music speak for itself? Or is there something deeper behind this enigmatic persona? Perhaps it's a commentary on the digital age, where anonymity allows for true artistic freedom. The allure of the masked artist has always held intrigue, from Daft Punk to MF DOOM—artists who understood that the music could exist independently of the face behind it.

The Tracks That Made the Shadows Move

91 Sliden: A slow-burn masterpiece, this track’s hypnotic bassline will shake your very foundation. It’s perfect for a late-night cruise—windows down, bass up, with city lights blurring past like streaks of neon fire. The sound drips with nostalgia while its laid-back flow embraces the future, an eternal night ride through the heart of a digital jungle.

Sup Foo: A straight-up banger, a braggadocious anthem demanding attention, with lyrics that ooze confidence and swagger. Adam’s flow is smooth, his delivery ice cold. This track makes you feel invincible, ready to take on the world. It’s an anthem for the digital warrior, the underdog who thrives in the shadows.

Regulate the Phonk: A phonk reimagining of Warren G and Nate Dogg's classic, this track is gritty, grimy, and captures the essence of both West Coast and Midwest, with a fresh, futuristic twist. The West Coast vibe is warped into something darker, infusing every beat with the energy of an underground movement that has found its own path forward.

96 Gankin’: A nostalgic trip back to Memphis rap’s golden era, raw and unfiltered. Echoing pioneers like DJ Screw and Three 6 Mafia, it’s a deep dive into the roots of phonk, while injecting it with that Adam twist—stealthy, powerful, and unpredictable. The rawness of the production feels like a call to those who still remember what it means to keep it real.

Just the Two of Us: A more introspective track, showcasing Adam’s versatility. It’s somber and atmospheric, hinting at the emotions hidden behind the mask. It’s a rare glimpse into the soul of an artist who lets the silence between the beats speak just as loudly as the sound itself.

The Ninja Code: Adam’s Philosophy

Adam’s music isn’t just about the beats; it’s a reflection of his lifestyle. He lives by a simple code:

Adapt: Stay ahead of the curve, constantly evolving and innovating. Like the ninja who never stays in one place for too long, Adam’s sound shifts and morphs with the underground, always a step ahead of the pack.

Discipline: Every track, every performance, every detail meticulously crafted. Whether it’s the low-fi crackle of a sample or the punch of a snare, each element serves the greater whole, creating an atmosphere you can’t escape.

Mastery: Strive for perfection, always pushing the boundaries of the genre. In an age where everyone’s a producer, Adam stands out because he’s not just making music—he’s crafting experiences. Every drop is a masterclass in mood and rhythm.

The Mask: A Symbol of Mystery

The mask is more than a disguise; it’s a symbol of Adam’s enigmatic persona. It allows him to connect with his audience on a deeper level, fostering a sense of intimacy and intrigue. By concealing his identity, Adam shifts the focus from the artist to the music itself, creating a deeper, almost spiritual connection with the listener. It’s not just about keeping things mysterious—it’s about giving the audience the space to interpret the music as they wish, free from preconceived notions of who the artist might be.

This approach places Adam within a long tradition of masked artists, such as MF DOOM, whose ability to craft music that transcends personality made him a legend. It’s also in line with the digital age's embrace of anonymity, where the music becomes an extension of the listener's personal journey. In Adam's world, the mask isn’t a barrier—it’s an invitation.

Phonk's Legacy and the Shaping of the Future

Adam the Shinobi isn’t just a rising star—he’s a force to be reckoned with. His unique blend of old-school influences and futuristic soundscapes is shaping the future of phonk, pushing boundaries and inspiring a new generation of artists. He stands alongside innovators like uicideboy$, Night Lovell, Lil Peep, and Ghostemane, whose music is a fusion of dark, distorted production with themes that resonate with a new era of listeners. This generation embraces the idea that music is more than just something you listen to—it’s an experience that moves through you, shaping how you view the world.

My first encounter with Adam's music was pure accident. I stumbled upon "91 Sliden" late one night while scrolling through SoundCloud. The beat instantly hooked me—that hypnotic bassline, the hazy atmosphere, it was like being transported to another dimension. I felt an instant connection, like this music understood the anxieties and aspirations of my generation in a way that nothing else had.

Adam’s music brings an urgent, melancholic energy that feels both personal and universal. Whether you’re cruising the streets late at night or reflecting on your place in the digital age, his beats serve as a soundtrack for a generation that feels both lost and liberated by technology.

The Phonk Revolution Is Now

With his seamless blend of nostalgia and futurism, Adam is pushing the genre forward. He’s reshaping what phonk can be, exploring a space where past and future collide. His music isn’t just a revival; it’s a reinvention. And with that reinvention comes an entire ecosystem of influence, reaching out to listeners and creators alike.

Adam the Shinobi’s movement is a part of a larger underground revival that’s transforming how music is made, consumed, and shared. The DIY ethos that defines phonk—and the underground music scene at large—is driving new creators to use platforms like SoundCloud and Bandcamp, bypassing traditional channels to reach a global audience. Adam’s work has helped to build that bridge, demonstrating that the future of music isn’t bound by commercial expectations, but rather by raw, untapped creativity.

So, don’t just sit back—dive into the shadows with Adam the Shinobi and let his tracks redefine your world. What’s your favorite track so far? Let me know in the comments, and join the ever-growing phonk movement. And if you're hungry for more underground sounds, be sure to check out artists like uicideboy$, Night Lovell, and Ghostemane—they're all pushing the boundaries of what music can be.

#AdamTheShinobi #Phonk #UndergroundMusic #NinjaBeats #MemphisRap #CyberpunkAesthetic #ShadowstepBeats #RegulateThePhonk #SupFoo

---

#New music

[pumpkinstrawbrew]

No need to reply to this message, but I’d like to give my thanks for going all this way to provide me a list of thorough yet flexible concepts to work around with. I was honestly expecting either no response or at least one simple idea, though I should’ve seen better coming, because you are after all the most committed Batcrow enthusiast I’ve seen. I simply intended to do a scribble of the pair, instead I find myself drafting a short comic. That’s how effective your help is, and I’m certain it will be of use to other fans out there as well. Although I’m merely working on one of the four you’ve written, perhaps some day I’ll look back and cross off the rest.

Here is a sample! (Pardon my writing skills. It’s been a while since the last time I wrote anything, but I hope you’ll believe me when I say I am a writer too.)

Scarecrow:‬ Allurin’ eyes yers are, akin to aquamarine. Tis a sin I scarcely see it, but why conceal such beauty? Do ya fear someone is…mad enough to drown in it?

hey there, i wanted to reply in private, but tumblr wouldn’t let me message you from this acc, only from my main one. i just wanted to make it known, that i’ve read your message! i’m really happy that my suggestions were of any help! *also if you’d rather this ask / post to be gone, just let me know. i’ll delete it, no problem* but honestly, it wasn’t troubling for me at all! i was very stoked to learn that someone was wanting to do a thing for those two. it felt natural to try an' give you a lil list to pick from, since one can never fully know what will stick, or hit that creative spot.

anyways, it’s amazing that you found your groove! an’ don’ worry, i don’t doubt it, when people tell me they are artists / writers! i don't think one needs a proof in form of posts or stories to back it up. since i know that some folks either don't share much online, unless it's with small group or people, or need more time to decide an' want to do it.

an’ i must say, this right here is a very beautiful an’ saharine' on the tongue. reminds me a bit of the times, when i was in my mid-teens an’ would read all kinds of poetry in my free time. the sort of love, that cannot be said in any other way, than poesy. also jon’s southern accent always makes everything better, bc you kinda feel like he speaks from the heart, when he lets it show. 

but ah, sorry if you didn’t want to make this one public at all, i do sincerely apologize if so. i simply wanted to let you know, that you really have no reason to feel any sort of troubling way about your writing. it’s very enchanting.

[gerogerigaogaigar]

Alright so here is another set of reviews. This time it's my brother who is very much into fun and goofy music so enjoy this selection from my brother Jason!

The Aquabats - Fury Of The Aquabats!

The Aquabats are living cartoons. Concentrated essence of childhood fun. They are a child friendly ska punk Gwar. Even though this album is from long before their purely kid oriented Yo Gabba Gabba! days there is still a distinct family friendly atmosphere to The Fury Of The Aquabats! It has a similar energy to Homestar Runner or The Muppet Show where it is kid friendly media made for adults. And, like those examples, it works because they are having so much goddamn fun with it. It is deliberately and pointedly stupid. Magic Chicken is a song about chicken. I'm laughing because it's funny. The Cat With Two Heads has the line "I was in my laboratory creating what i thought would be we something great for the world, a two headed cat. You can pet one kitty's head and pet the other kitty's head, but little did i know the power of atomic energy would create a

two headed man eating monster!"

So have I convinced you to listen to a 90s ska album yet? Because this is a very pure example of the genre musically. It has the pop punk pacing and fast paced ska rhythm and the horn section and everything. It does admittedly have some, uh, genre diversions I guess I'll call them. Attacked By Snakes is a tango song and Lobster Bucket is a zydeco type thing sometimes. The MC Bat Commander is a perfect vocalist for this kind of music. He's so goofy, but you never really get the impression that he isn't taking it seriously. Or at least he is meeting the music and lyrics on their own terms. It is very endearing. Plus this album has a little bonus that other Aquabats albums lack. Do the drums sound like really competent to you? Like way too much for a pop punk band? Yeah that's Travis Barker of Blink-182 fame. He's probably the most talented punk drummer and he lends a fantastic energy to these songs.

Deee-Lite - World Clique

If you know Deee-Lite already then you probably know them as the one hit wonder who did Grooves Is In The Heart. Well this album deserves more recognition than just having produced a hit single. Deee-Lite channel the 60s flower child throwback aesthetic harder than any other artist of the 90s and they bring that energy to house music. Now I feel like a lot of electronic music fans start to dismiss an artist the minute they hear pop vocals, but this is totally unfair. Dee-Lite use vocals the way they would use any other instrument on a house track. The repetitive vocal lines mesh with the piano samples, drum loops, and funky bass.

Speaking of funky bass, this album has a few performers with a pedigree. Three former Parliament-Funkadelic members feature on this album, trombonist Fred Wesley, saxophonist Maceo Parker, and bass legend Boots Collins. Plus A Tribe Called Quest member Q-Tip gets a verse on Grooves Is In The Heart. That element of P-Funk goofiness is apparent in their peace and love lyricism and overt cheesiness. And while a lot of memorable tracks like Try Me On and Groove Is In The Heart are more hip house to pop oriented the rest is populated by songs like What Is Love that show off a more traditional house style. The album has enough variety and good enough pacing that you don't need to throw these songs into a DJ mix when you can just throw on this whole album and get the same experience.

Shonen Knife - Brand New Knife

I can't pretend this is my absolute favorite Shonen Knife album, I'm more of a Burning Farm or Pretty Little Baka Guy kinda girl. But Shonen Knife doesn't exactly disappoint here either. There's a simplicity to their lyricism and playing that leaves little room to actually fuck it up. The punk rock meets 60s girl group sound feels like it should be influenced by cuddlecore musicians except for the fact that Shonen Knife's sound predates that movement by a decade. This album is smack dab in the middle of the height of that scene though (low heights admittedly) and there is definitely a bit of a cleaner sound than on previous Shonen Knife records that reflects the styles of the time and the rising success of the band. I don't personally believe that higher production quality does much for them, but as long as they are still singing about food and other things that make them happy Shonen Knife will always be a treat to listen to.

Bitch Ass Darius - Follow The Sound

This is the greatest DJ mix ever. Booty bass or ghetto house or ghettotech or whatever you want to call it is a chatic style of house that adopted a lot of hip hop tendencies and then ramped things up to eleven by using the most sexually explicit lyrics possible. Follow The Sound is the most ridiculous example of this already ridiculous genre.

Bitch Ass Darius is an anomaly to me. I can't find out who they are or if they made any more mixes under a different alias. A friend showed me this mix once and I don't know where he found it. The experience of listening to the mix is kind of similar. In between recognizable samples will be snippets of things that you couldn't place the origin of in a million years. And even if you could they probably fly by so fast you don't have time to parse what he just sampled before the world's foulest lyrics start repeating some shit like "he's not my baby daddy he's just a sperm donor" or "I wanna fuck your mouth". A lot of typical booty bass samples are present which means nothing if you aren't a freak like me, but if You've ever heard that memetic snippet that goes "ass n titties, ass n titties, ass ass ass ass ass n titties" that was DJ Assault who is a staple of the genre and that exact sample is in this mix. But the typical hyper crude samples are interspersed with something way weirder. Random seconds long snippets of literally anything else. I can't explain the experience adequately because everything is always happening so fast. My favorite example that I have managed to catch is that he rapid fire samples Michael Jackson (pitched and sped up naturally) saying "beat it, beat it!" And then without missing a beat counterpointing it with the Weird Al parody lyrics "eat it, eat it!" This happens in maybe one and a half seconds. The contrast of samples is a great vehicle for delivering the comedy inherent in the genre while also delivering a good example of the music. Despite feeling like it's poking fun it still remains respectful of the chaos of booty bass music. The album dwells on nothing. It doesn't care if you heard that because listen to this! Follow The Sound is the purest and most perfect sonic overload. If you have problems with auditory overstimulation then seriously consider skipping this album. But if you have ADHD like me then you are about to find your new favorite thing.

Accept - Balls To The Wall

This album is gay af. It was noted at the time and the band acknowledged it. To quote drummer Stefan Kaufmann "It's a phenomenon that should be taken into consideration. Because it exists on a wide scale and should be demystified. In fact, this is a phenomenon of society that needs to be taken as such. For a long time gay people have been considered as sick or insane. And yet, it's time to respect these people, open our minds which are often closed."

This is the kind of music that I think most people are thinking of when they say "heavy metal". It is riff driven heavy music with corny lyrics about tough guy stuff. Like having sex with men. Accept is like if AC/DC was self aware. And thankfully the only ballad in the album is actually good too. It's hard to review this style of metal without sounding dismissive. The camp is obviously deliberate here so I don't feel as bad poking a little fun because I think I'm laughing with them a bit. But really this is a simple and effective album with no weak tracks and themes that it plays straight. Which doesn't seem like much but in the world of late 70s early 80s heavy metal its really raising the bar for future acts.

Desmond Dekker & The Aces - 007 Shanty Town

Before ska was associated with middle school boys with frosted tips and cargo pants, before the days of London teens in ill fitting suits and checkerboard patterns, before dub and reggae there was Desmond Dekker. One of the 60s original ska artists. With a sound that blended Jamaican mento music with a solid helping of jazz and R&B to create a unique blend of Jamaican pop music.

The unique beat that we all know and love (you love it right?!) is created by muted guitar downstrokes on the one and three beats and loud staccato upstrokes on the two and four. Add in some horns, walking bass, and vocal harmonies and you've got the blueprint for basically all ska. And this combination, the crisp staccato guitar and horns especially, grant a uniquely sunny disposition to basically the entire genre so that even when Desmond Dekker is singing about poverty or crime there is an underlying love for his home in every song. Plus a lot of the gangster aesthetic is pure kitsch and is strangely one of the major aspects of the genre to have maintained throughout the years. Ska artists all wanna be in Oceans Eleven even in back in 1967.

Mastodon - Leviathan

If 17 year old me knew that in the year 2023 I was still going off about how much I love this album I think she would call me a slur and have a weird feeling about being called 'she'. I've liked this album for a while and the more metal I listen to the more I appreciate Mastodon. They are somewhere between being sludge, progressive, and death metal and they navigate that in-between with skill. The chugging skudginess can easily erupt into speedy solos and there is an abundance of complexities in the musical arrangements.

Leviathan is the second in a tetralogy that incorporated their first four albums each being themed after a classical element. Leviathan is a concept album about Moby Dick and therefore is obviously water. If their more aggressive debut is fire and the sludgier Blood Mountain is earth then Leviathan's status as water follows. The riffing crashes like waves and there are a lot more melodic flowing sequences that also suggest water. Although the album is more strictly focused on its Moby Dick themeing. Leviathan crashes forward with an intensity that is honestly too much to just call sludge metal but it never hits the level of screaming that you expect from death metal. In retrospect Mastodon have always been a very progressive metal act and I think this album in particular does the best at blending all of their different styles into one package. That said all four of their original albums, Remission, Leviathan, Blood Mountain, and Crack The Skye are worth a listen.

K.d. Lang And The Reclines - Absolute Torch And Twang

Oh so my son of a bitch brother is gonna be a bigger lesbian than I am by giving me a k.d. Lang album I've never listened to huh? Before she transitioned to a more lounge / jazz style k.d. Lang was a full on country western musician with her band The Reclines. Country music had been in severe decline for over a decade but somehow Lang avoids any of the pitfalls of her contemporaries. Instead she mines decades worth of country music blending rock influenced outlaw styles, singing cowboy western styles, and 60s Nashville sound into a monolithic style that celebrates the history of the genre without just being a period piece. And her voice is just astounding. She can sing tender love ballads and rollicking honky tonk numbers with equal ferocity. Her mezzo-soprano is maybe the richest I've ever heard.

Luie Luie - Touchy

Luie Luie is here to tell you about a new dance called the Touchy. This is going to be a bitch to explain. Luie Luie was an outsider musician from the 70s and understanding that he was almost certainly on the autism spectrum goes a long way towards understanding what's going on here. You see Luie Luie was a nightclub manager who thought that people didn't touch enough while dancing anymore so he tried to make a new dance called The Touchy that would encourage touching but with clear rules for how you were allowed to touch you dance partner. It's strange but all very well meaning. He managed to finance the creation of an album and so Touchy was born.

So after Luie Luie tells you that he's invented a new dance and that he plays all the instruments on the album and that every touchy starts with a "wild horn intro" we get a wild horn intro and holy shit he's actually a really good musician. The touchy is basically a mix of mariachi, funk, soul, and lounge music. The slightly offbeat sound and cheap production are wildly endearing especially when you understand this as a passion project that is composed, performed, and recorded all by one man. Luie Luie is a fairly talented multi instrumentalist and where his technical skills falter he covers with incredible ear for complex arrangement. Some songs like El Touchy make for fairly danceable music, although I would rather sit and listen than dance and touch if I'm being honest. Although special mention should be given to the track Touch Of Light for it's intense layering of up to fourteen trumpet parts creating an elaborate tone poem that recalls the works of Ligeti. I'm eternally baffled and grateful for the Touchy it is the rare piece of outsider music that is actually as listenable as it is intriguing.

Kumi Tanioka - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles OST

Crystal Chronicles is such a weird mess of a game. It has an intriguing narrative structure, but the repetitive gameplay loop makes finding the plot tedious. Plus it isn't really fun to play at all unless you have at least three people with game boy advances and gba link cables. I beat it single player when I was a kid because I'm neurodivergent.

Soundtracks are difficult to review. Should you review it as a stand alone album, pretend the source material doesn't exist? You would be missing crucial context and anyway a soundtrack that does stand alone as an album probably didn't work that well as a soundtrack then. Well the answer for me is to realize everything has context. Nothing exists in a void. If you saw an album with blood and gore on the cover and the title in a death metal font and then the album contained folk rock your opinion of the music would be colored by that experience even though the cover has no effect on theusic. So let your understanding of this music be colored by the fact that it is the soundtrack to a GameCube game.

Kumi Tanioka is mainly just the Crystal Chronicles composer and that's a shame because she is extremely good. Final Fantasy games have a long history of using their music to heavily influence the game's mood, but that is partially because of the efforts of long time composer Nobuo Uematsu. Tanioka manages to outdo even Uematsu when it comes to heavily themeing the soundtrack. The Crystal Chronicles OST features music heavily influenced by a mix of medieval folk styles. Music that plays in towns and in roads will have aspects of Byzantine music while your hometown festival is very Celtic. Some tracks like Twilight In Dreamland show some influence from South American music too. The idea of a world music soundtrack to a game about trying to travel ever farther into an unfamiliar world is quite brilliant.

The music is also melodically beautiful. And catchy. There are tracks that you are severe risk of getting stuck in your head especially Annual Festival or the opening vocal track Sound Of Wind. A lot of games have a vocal pop track tacked somewhere in there and sometimes it does work (I dunno how FFXV pulled off a Florence Welch cover of Stand By Me but goddamn it worked) but usually it's just an out of genre pop song that doesn't mesh with the game at all. Sound Of The Wind is a great song that works as a pop song units own right but also sticks to the medieval themeing of the rest of the soundtrack.

You might not appreciate listening to this as much if you haven't played the game. And honestly I can't in good faith recommend Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, it's not a very good game. But this soundtrack is one of the ones I put on just to listen to and it is probably my second favorite Final Fantasy OST after FFIX.

[reckonslepoisson]

Tiger Bay (1994), Good Humor (1998), Sound of Water (2000), Finisterre (2002), Tales From Turnpike House (2005), Words and Music by Saint Etienne (2012), Home Counties (2017), I’ve Been Trying to Tell You (2021), Saint Etienne 

After the trio’s first two plunderphonic and sample-focused records, Saint Etienne settled into a groove that they’ve pretty much remained in for three decades. Generally, each release has a few really excellent, irrepressible dancey bangers, plus several mopey, breathily (ie badly) sung slow tunes, a few moments of fresh (or at least fresh for Saint Etienne) experimentation and a passage or two entirely unbearable. I can take or leave it all, though some albums (Tiger Bay, Sound of Water) are slightly better than others. Not the best batting rate, not the worst either.

… Until, that is, 2021’s I’ve Been Trying to Tell You – which is, for me, one of the great pandemic era records. Saint Etienne’s most recent album (as of writing, May 2024)  was a much needed reset, the trio finding clarity in an adjusted approach that was less self-hagiographic and complacent, and much fresher. Sure, it’s a little repetitive (and one can ignore the highfalutin stuff about it being set in the ‘90s), but I’ve Been Trying to Tell You is lush, patient, crafted – and a Saint Etienne career highlight. 

Pick(s): ‘Like a Motorway’, ‘Sylvie’, ‘Heart Failed’, ‘Shower Scene’, ‘Lightning Strikes Twice’, ‘Heading for the Fair’, ‘Magpie Eyes’, ‘Music Again’

[einsteinsugly]

The sources of Becca's name, in my verse.

*After running away from Point Place post-season 8, Jackie is briefly a waitress at Beck's Diner. Hyde visits, and slowly but surely, starts to make amends.

*Bruce Springsteen's album The River is played on repeat at the west Milwaukee Grooves (which Hyde now runs), while they hang out, bond, and smoke pot together. This is around the time they get back together, in the fall of 1980.

*The song "The Ties That Bind" speaks to them, after all they've been through. A sample of the lyrics, here...

It's a long, dark highway and a thin white line

Who'll ease the sadness, who's gonna quiet your pain?

Connecting baby, your heart to mine

We're runnin' now but darlin' we will stand in time

To face the ties that bind

The ties that bind

Now, you can't break the ties that bind

You can't forsake the ties that bind

Full song here:

*The name Rebecca (Becca) means "to bind, to tie."