#something/anything?

[nomorelolanight]

Happy belated birthday, Toddy ♡

“ I wish I was moving faster, I wish you'd drift back ”

- Parallel Lines, 1989

[diceriadelluntore]

Storia Di Musica #273 - Todd Rundgren, Something/Anything?, 1972

Le storie di musiche di Aprile hanno avuto il tratto comune di copertine con i fiori. I garofani stilizzati poco rappresentano un disco che, per mantenerci nella metafora, ha la qualità, la quantità e la bellezza di un grandioso orto botanico. Protagonista assoluto di questo capolavoro è Todd Rundgren. È una di quelle figure che in uno studio di registrazione sa fare di tutto: musicista, compositore, arrangiatore, produttore, a cui si aggiungono le magie di tecnico del suono, alcune pioneristiche che faranno scuola, appassionato anche di tecniche di registrazione video, il tutto sublimato in un carattere giocoso e bizzarro, che si rifletterà anche nelle sue scelte musicali e artistiche. È giovanissimo quando entra nel primo gruppo, i Nazz, quartetto rock pop che si rifaceva nel suono al beat inglese degli inizi degli anni ‘60. Nel 1969 i Nazz si separano. Rundgren è già un fiume in piena e pubblica a cavallo tra 1970 e 1971 due dischi, Runt (soprannome che gli ha dato Patti Smith) che ha il primo hit nel singolo We Gotta Get You A Woman, il secondo inaugura la fortunata collaborazione con la casa editrice Bearsville, fondata dal manager di Bob Dylan, Albert Grossman. La casa editrice aveva un meraviglioso studio di registrazione vicino Woodstock, nei pressi dove anche Dylan aveva una graziosa villa di campagna, e lì Rundgren sperimenterà tutta la sua creatività. In primis, come produttore: tra gli altri produrrà Paul Butterfiled, i Badfingers, la band di Robbie Robertson ma soprattutto i Grand Funk Railroad e Bat Out Of Hell di Meat Loaf nel 1977, con cui avrà successi commerciali giganteschi. Tutta la sua passione per la musica si esprime al meglio in questo doppio disco che esce nel 1972: 4 facciate che sono un inno d’amore alla musica, soprattutto la grande stagione del Brill Buildings, della canzone d’autore americana ma dove i spazia verso il rock, il proto punk, le sperimentazioni. Rundgren le prime tre facciate, ed è clamoroso, le suona, le arrangia e le produce tutto da solo: suonando tutti gli strumenti e cantando in tutti i brani. La quarta facciata, pensata come un mini musical concept, lo vede affiancato da un gruppo di grandi artisti tra cui Rick Derringer alla chitarra, Michael Brecker ai fiati, alcuni musicisti della Paul Butterfield Band. La parte personale la registra a Los Angeles, utilizzando anche tecniche rivoluzionarie all’epoca, come un sintetizzatore VSC3, uno dei primi utilizzati (e ci sono dei piccoli frammenti vocali nel disco dove Rundgren ne descrive l’utilizzo, si ascolti la bellezza strumentale di Breathless, che sembra 10 anni avanti il 1972), il resto a Woodstock. Le melodie orecchiabili che nelle note di copertina sono descritte in verità sono un’amalgama disumana di bravura e di passione, sebbene siano chiari i fari di ispirazioni per Rundgren. In scaletta pezzi che diventeranno hit come I Saw The Light, ispirata al suono dei Beatles,��It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference, altra hit, in stile Motown, The Night The Carousel Burnt Down, canzone da night club, cristallina e deliziosa. Sperimenta di tutto: i ritmi latini in One More Day (No World), sonda il blues in I Went To The Mirror, è cupo e dannato nella gotica Black Maria, satura di feedback chitarristici, omaggia persino Hendrix nella bellissima Little Red Lights. Saving Grace inizia con la voce distorta dal sintetizzatore ma continua come una grande ballad alla Bacharach, con degli arrangiamenti perfetti per tutto il disco. Se proprio si vuole concentrare in un brano la varietà di questo lavoro direi che basta Slut, che chiude l’ultima facciata: blues, boogie, rock'and roll urlato sguaiatamente, cori femminili, un vortice che prende spunto dal Wall of Sound spectoriano e che sale di potenza fino alla fine. Una prova magistrale, che lo impone come uno dei maestri della musica, per la sua eclettica grandezza. Il disco vende benissimo, e Rundgren ci prende gusto e ci riprova l’anno dopo con l’ancora più ambizioso A Wizard A True Star (titolo enfatico su come si sente lui stesso nel panorama musicale), dove il suo stile fantasioso raggiunge il massimo, e avrà un singolo in classifica in International Feel e nella rilettura del brano Never Never Land dal cartone animato di Peter Pan. Il trittico si conclude nel ‘74 con un altro doppio, Todd, anche stavolta realizzato quasi tutti da solo. Nello stesso anno, nascono gli Utopia, che lo accompagneranno per il resto della sua carriera, alternando dischi a nome solista a dischi a nome Utopia. Resta il fatto che Something/Anything? rimane una delle più memorabili espressioni di capacità musicali di un singolo musicista, e forse il più grande album “enciclopedico” di power pop. È stabilmente in tutte le classifiche dei più grandi dischi della storia, come esempio anche di eccessiva autostima, che però scivola via subito ascoltando la bellezza delle sue composizioni.

[emjaydoubleyou]

this post is fearmongering. the results of this study are concerning and should definitely be a matter of public discussion, but this is certainly not the conclusion the researchers came to.

the point of the study was to assess the risks of exposure to toxic metals- something one of the co-authors notes are “ubiquitous” fwiw- via menstrual products. Their research confirmed that these metals are indeed present in tampons, but no further conclusions are drawn. it is possible the metal entered into the cotton from the soil, which is a well-known phenomenon; cotton is so good at lifting heavy metals that it has actually been suggested as a part of the solution for revitalizing polluted ground.

the authors conclude with an acknowledgement that the study should be repeated- their sample size was 60 tampons- and a suggestion that further testing ought to be done to indicate whether or not these metals can even leech out of the tampon in the first place, let alone whether or not such leeching could occur at levels deleterious to human health.

there is, in fact, a body of research- too small, for sure, but much larger than this single study- indicating that long-term proper tampon use has no observable negative impact on health. i am grateful and thrilled that more research is being done and i hope that this study is the first of many on this line of questioning, but i am really frustrated at this post and the response it got.

obviously, if this study alters your approach to menstrual health, more power to you. consumers should be informed-risk-takers, and menstrual health is double-obviously a very personal choice. but it definitely wasn't the researchers concluding that you ought to “avoid using tampons at all cost," only this tumblr user did. the lead author of the paper, in fact, specifically says that she hopes people do NOT panic about the results.

(the notes of the post were disappointing. people affirming that they knew they were right to be suspicious of tampons all along, or even recommending alternatives that actually have very little to no research regarding the safety of long-term use, etc. it’s a different conversation, but categorical distrust of tampons is old-school misogyny. you certainly shouldn't wear them if you don’t want to, but there is nothing inherently scary or wrong about them, and people who prefer them are not being reckless or crass.)

((if you're really worried about exposure to heavy metals, you may want to turn a critical eye to fast fashion, as an aside))

[detectivehole]

this is what i sent

this is what i got

[elizabro]

aaron bushnell knew exactly what he was doing. he states his intentions with total lucidity and sense of purpose. he knows what he's about to do is extreme--he says so. he speaks calmly, but he's clearly terrified. he takes a deep breath after pouring the accelerant over himself. he has to psyche himself up to light the flame. he struggles with the lighter. he says "free palestine" normally once before he starts to scream it. even through his agony he manages to say it one last time before he stops being able to speak at all. this is a man with total conviction. he wanted to help people, in any way possible. this action was a moral one, and any news outlet painting this as simply a mental health issue is a disservice to his memory. he knew what he was doing when he burned himself in uniform. he knew that there was a chance that sacrificing his own life could go on to save many others. this was the ultimate act of selflessness, and it should be treated as such. may he rest in peace.

[maeamian]

If you saw me agreeing with being annoyed about wasted helium in a fictional context and were like "I bet she has some more helium based anger in her life" good news LAPD fucked up a raid on a medical facility they thought was a pot farm and flat out ruined thousands of gallons of the stuff.

[ciearcab]

gouache falin

[imissthembutitwasntadisaster]

Hate hate hate how when I get angry there is a physical reaction but it's not glowing eyes or growing claws or something it's crying. This feels unfair.

[ipostmysimpingstuffanonymously]

I haven't posted this one yet.... Anyway: Thank you for 2000 people enjoying my SatoSho brainrot! You guys rock!

[crumb-crumblet-s-crumbington]

cant stand the silence

[electoons]

oh m-...ahhh...my pockages

[inkskinned]

probably time for this story i guess but when i was a kid there was a summer that my brother was really into making smoothies and milkshakes. part of this was that we didn't have AC and couldn't afford to run fans all day so it was kind of important to get good at making Cool Down Concoctions.

we also had a patch of mint, and he had two impressionable little sisters who had the attitude of "fuck it, might as well."

at one point, for fun, this 16 year old boy with a dream in his eye and scientific fervor in heart just wanted to see how far one could push the idea of "vanilla mint smoothie". how much vanilla extract and how much mint can go into a blender before it truly is inedible.

the answer is 3 cups of vanilla extract, 1/2 cup milk alternative, and about 50 sprigs (not leaves, whole spring) of mint. add ice and the courage of a child. idk, it was summer and we were bored.

the word i would use to describe the feeling of drinking it would maybe be "violent" or perhaps, like. "triangular." my nose felt pristine. inhaling following the first sip was like trying to sculpt a new face. i was ensconced in a mesh of horror. it was something beyond taste. for years after, i assumed those commercials that said "this is how it feels to chew five gum" were referencing the exact experience of this singular viscous smoothie.

what's worse is that we knew our mother would hate that we wasted so much vanilla extract. so we had to make it worth it. we had to actually finish the drink. it wasn't "wasting" it if we actually drank it, right? we huddled around outside in the blistering sun, gagging and passing around a single green potion, shivering with disgust. each sip was transcendent, but in a sort of non-euclidean way. i think this is where i lost my binary gender. it eroded certain parts of me in an acidic gut ecology collapse.

here's the thing about love and trust: the next day my brother made a different shake, and i drank it without complaint. it's been like 15 years. he's now a genuinely skilled cook. sometimes one of the three of us will fuck up in the kitchen or find something horrible or make a terrible smoothie mistake and then we pass it to each other, single potion bottle, and we say try it it's delicious. it always smells disgusting. and then, cerimonious, we drink it together. because that's what family does.

[keferon]

Empurata!Prowl tries to actually communicate for the first time

What if he wants to say something but he can’t. What if he has no voice to speak, no face to emote, no hands to write. What if every attempt to communicate a message is essentially a puzzle of wit and creativity and yet, the first thing he goes through all these troubles for. Is to say “I love you”?

Don’t ask me how did they get in this room. I have no idea. They escaped the battlefield somehow haha

Next->

[xxplastic-cubexx]

brain please wake up and draw

bonus :

[shepscapades]

Surely this will have no negative consequences whatsoever!