#that's the album name the specific song is Fuck It I Dance Now

[silvergyus]

this kind of fits in with your rockstar txt concept a little bit idk but studio sex with producer!beomgyu and singer!reader. idk it's been on my mind for a while and I feel like you get it

ahhh!!! what a delicious concept I feel like I could've gone in 10 different directions for this one (which is why it took a while). I hope you like it 🩷🩷🩷

pairing: producer!beomgyu x singer!reader

summary: the recording process comes with a few rewards, including but not limited to: global success, awards and accolades, and some special attention from your producer

warnings: afab reader (no prounouns used)/ cockwarming/ vague mention of consensual sexual audio recording/ lil bit of pinching/ use of "baby" for reader

word count: 600+

“Right there. Listen to those drums in the back.” Your producer points out the rhythmic beat supporting your newest track. It’s the kind of beat that makes you want to sway your hips and dance- which makes it even harder to sit still on his lap.

You’ve been working with Beomgyu for years. All your favorite songs were produced by him here, in his small, cozy studio. You’ve been here a lot lately, logging hours in the recording booth and hours on the studio couch. Sometimes Beomgyu plays you the tracks, asks you what sound you’re envisioning and explains his thought process. Sometimes he plays with your pussy, laying you out on the worn cushions, eating you out until all you can say is his name. Sometimes- like right now- he does both.

Beomgyu leans forward to turn a dial on the giant board of knobs and switches, turning up the volume so you can better hear the intricacies of the mix. His movement drives his cock deeper into you, drawing a soft moan from your lips.

“Shhh, baby. Listen.” His voice ghosts over the shell of your ear as his fingers pinch at the soft skin of your inner thigh. You can’t help but twitch away from the teasing, moving yourself again on his dick, growing even wetter and more impatient as you wait for him to finish the playthrough and just fuck you already.

This is his favorite game to play. He loves to tease you with his fingers, get you so worked up and wet, then slip you onto his cock, sit back in his producer’s chair, and play you your album. If you bounce or grind your hips, he starts over from the beginning. It drives you crazy every time, makes you desperate, pleading with him not to pause, to play at two-times speed. That worked once- you’d asked to see what a sped-up tiktok version would sound like and he obliged. Instead torturing you to cum again and again bent over the mixing board after he guessed what you were up to.

His fingers find your clit, drawing large circles around it so that only the faintest of sensations register where you want it. “Final track baby. Think you can be good?”

You nod, desperate for the final, four-minute ballad to play through. You curse yourself for wanting to go all-out for this track. It was heaven when you recorded vocals last week, a rush of accomplishment and achievement. Now, it was hell to wade through as you forced yourself to sit still, Beomgyu’s perfect cock so hard inside you, filling you up perfectly.

The track ends, fading away to the piano melody that loops perfectly into the same melody at the beginning of the first track. If you were in your right headspace you’d note how skilled of a producer Beomgyu is, how he perfectly executed your vision and sonically expressed your emotions. But all you could think about as the final notes played out was how desperate you were to get well and truly fucked.

“So did you like it?” He twitches his hips up slightly to push into you.

“Obviously.” He rolls them again, welcome friction against your walls.

“What did you like specifically?” He was toying with you now, and you weren’t going to have it.

“I’ll tell you the specifics after you make me cum.” You turned as best you could on his lap, gazing up into his dark brown eyes.

He kisses your cheek, humming. “Hmm, deal.”

The red “recording in progress” light flashes on outside the studio doors as Beomgyu begins to snap his hips up into yours, holding you tight as he takes out the album length’s worth of pent-up need into your soaked pussy.

author’s note: this is a work of fiction not meant to accurately represent the idol. please do not repost.

taglist: @lunesdesire, @dearlyjun, @moamidzyism, @miupow

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[leonsleftbicep]

i dont like random guys at least ten years older then me coming up to me to test if im a fan or not…

the description i put: based on an actual conversation i had with a guy at the reinfaire. it was so bad (bad in the way he brushed past the fact i said i liked the first two ep’s and then started talking about possible prior projects) that i slipped into my work voice. dude was flaunting his stupidity.

the full story is fucking goofy and full of me not wanting to talk to this man hold on

i was going to go walk somewhere (i think it was to go dance to the viking metal band playing) and some guy (who i now guessed his name was ryan because he looked like it) comes up to me to say he loved my vessel costume says hes been into the band a while and asked me “whats your favorite album?”. i answered tpwbyt because the one and two ep’s aren’t albums. he then asks me if i listened to the newest album, which yes i have.

(major factor in this conversation is that i didn’t start with my usual “ive been a fan for almost two years” like have every time someone starts to ask questions about the band)

he then lists off his favorite songs (all of are in tmbte). saying specifically “the summoning which everyone one loves the summoning” i straight up burst out with the most aggravated tone “the summoning is good, but everyone calls it baby making music. which haha no they are very very wrong. and it only got popular because of astarion”. as if that wasnt a dead give away as to how i feel about people that don’t do their research on the band. or even go read their wiki at least once.

he then asks me my favorite song, my favorite is distractions.

dude looks at me were my eyes would be in the mask and goes “ive never heard of it” and then says hes heard high water which is “like the last track” and then says ive heard mine and some other song.

at this point im a little tiffed about this because im having to deal with a guy and now his girlfriend who is just watching this.

then my voice completely changes and i go “yup its on there” i almost told him “its in their 2021 album, this place will become your tomb, its track 8 titled distractions”

then he asks “have you heard of [fandom know previous project]?” and i just go “uh huh i have” and just look at this man with a death glare full of please dont say the mans name.

he didn’t luckily but he did say he thinks because of one of the lyrics and i just go. “dude, hes just putting down the coordinates for you to find him”

and then he knew, i know way to much about the band.

and i didn’t fully see it but his girlfriend definitely looked like she knew he fucked up

this was also in front of both my siblings and my sisters husband who know me very well

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

I happen to like Celtic music a lot too (though not very familiar with the Canadian side apart from Stan Rogers) - have you heard of Lankum? They're an Irish group that have strange and devastatingly beautiful takes on trad songs. If you don't know them and want to check them out, "The Wild Rover" and "Cold Old Fire" are good starting places

This is really lovely, thank you! The name Lankum was familiar to me, and when I searched them in my music collection I found that I had couple of their songs, one-offs that they'd contributed to various Celtic compilation albums I've picked up over the years. But I don't actually know them, I've listened to both songs you recommended and enjoyed them, but particularly the latter:

Can't stop listening to this one, I'm going to check out more by this band but not for a bit because I'm only interested in listening to this song right now.

For someone who grew up on Celtic music, I know surprisingly few bands that are actually based in Celtic countries. I almost said I know few bands that are from Celtic countries, but that's not true. I'm into plenty of bands made up of people from Scotland and/or Ireland, but mainly people who immigrated from there to Canada and started their music career here. Though the bulk of my Celtic music collection is by people who were born in Canada, descended from Celtic immigrants, but who grew up in parts of Canada where that musical tradition is very strong and have carried it on. Specifically the East Coast of Canada. Which is the bit closest to CelticLand.

Basically, as a broad, massive oversimplifcation, the Canadian East Coast province of Nova Scotia is full of descendants of Scottish immigrants, and Newfoundland is full of Irish people, and they came over here ages ago with their music, and it was a community that was culturally insulated, in many ways, enough so they kept a lot of their traditions, long enough to develop particularly Nova Scotian and Newfie strains of traditional music, and that's what I grew up listening to a lot. Particularly this island off the coast of Nova Scotia called Cape Breton, which is an incredible place where kids grow up learning fiddle in music class and step dancing in gym class and Gaelic in language class, and fucking all of them grow up to be folk musicians, it genuinely amazing what a large percentage of my music collection comes from that one island with a population of under 100,000 people.

I know a few musicians who are actually based in the UK. The one I know best is Runrig, and I only got into them because their lead singer used to be Bruce Guthro, a brilliant folk musician from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. I've been a big fan of Bruce Guthro since I was about 10, and I was about 17 when I decided to check out the Scottish band that I vaguely knew he fronted for some reason, and I quickly learned that Runrig was, in fact, way too big and famous and long-running a band for it to make sense that they got fronted by a relatively small-time Canadian guy for years. But I guess they could recognize incredible talent when they saw it, and they were absolutely right to, everyone should have. Everyone. I saw him live probably fifteen times in fifteen years (way more if you count seeing him more than once on the same weekend because I'd follow him around the folk festival) and it wasn't nearly enough. He did all kinds of stuff with Runrig and so many Canadian folk musicians, one of those guys who was always credited in the acknowledgements on other people's album jackets, always setting up songwriter's circle events and going all over the folk festival circuit and keeping everything alive, but he only ever actually made seven solo albums, which wasn't nearly enough. I might be getting slightly sentimental because Bruce Guthro died late last year, there were tributes to him from the folk music community all across Canada and it was utterly heartbreaking.

Anyway, to be less sappy, Runrig is great, I also got really into the Scottish band Skerryvore after I saw them at a Canadian folk festival about ten years ago. I like Julie Fowlis a lot, if ever want to hear Gaelic lyrics sung by someone who actually speaks the language fluently (I have a lot of Gaelic lyrics in my music collection, but almost all of it is sung by Canadian Anglophones who learned it in Cape Breton language classes). I've got the entire discographies of The Pogues and The Dubliners, obviously. The big ones. I've got an album by Christy Moore that I love and always think I should get more of those. I'm trying to think of other actual Irish or Scottish musicians I have in my collection, and there must be more than that, but I'm not coming up with a lot. A bit of Dougie MacLean, obviously.

A few months ago I saw Bobby Watt live and he was amazing, and he's from Scotland. But he moved to Canada when he was 20, and he's now about 70. David Francey immigrated to Canada from Scotland when he was young, and he's one of my absolute favourites. He an interesting case because you can hear his very thick Scottish accent in his early albums, and it's not as strong in later ones. While Bobby Watt still sounds more Scottish than Frankie Boyle when he talks, which he has to be doing on purpose, it's been 50 years. I'm actually going to see David Francey live tomorrow, I'm going to a proper folk festival for the first time since pre-COVID (I've been to live music a bunch since then, but not a specific folk festival) and he's playing in the afternoon. Geoff Kelly from Spirit of the West was actually born in Scotland - I think the other members of the band were born in Canada to Scottish immigrants - and of course I have Spirit of the West's discography plus Geoff Kelly's solo album where he does nothing but play the Celtic flute for ten songs. It's great studying music.

I'm aware that there are Celtic places besides Scotland and Ireland, by the way. And that Scotland and Ireland are not monoliths when it comes to their musical culture. I'm oversimplifying a lot here. When I saw Bobby Watt, it was a local venue's monthly Celtic night, and Bobby stuck to the remit really well, introducing each song by explaining which bit of Scotland or Ireland or Wales it came from, and at one point apologizing for being politically contentious at a Celtic night by playing a Cornish song when not everyone agrees that Cornwall is Celtic. I can sort of recognize what different types of music you get in different regions across the ocean (a lot more Gaelic lyrics in the Hebrides than mainland Scotland, I know that much), but to be honest, I'm much better at understanding the differences in different types of Celtic music based on what part of Canada they're from, than what part of the actual Celtic countries they're from.

Honestly, I got a lot of my main music taste from folk festivals I attended in Canada, or from my father, who got most of his music taste from folk festivals he's attended in Canada both before and after I was born. So most of it's Canadian. Which I realize is weird when I say I'm into Celtic music, and then I don't actually know all that much music from Celtic countries.

Oysterband. I've been a massive fan of Oysterband since I saw them play the Stan Rogers Folk Festival in Nova Scotia, Canada in 2002, when I was 11 years old, and I absolutely fell in love with them. I think they have some Celtic members? I'm not sure, they might all be from England. But they play that type of music and they're from across the ocean.

Anyway, I have gone wildly away from the original message I was sent, for replying with a whole bunch of stuff you did not ask for. I really did enjoy those two songs you recommended, I will check out more of them. The harmonies in particular were lovely. I really love a nice harmony.

On that subject, I've now got all sentimental about Bruce Guthro so I'm going to end this post with a video of him performing lead vocals with Runrig in Scotland, years ago. One of my favourite songs of theirs.

Edit: I'd posted this but then remembered that you mentioned Stan Rogers, in that original message that I've now got far away from responding to. Here's a song that Bruce Guthro wrote in Stan Rogers' memory, from one of his all-too-few solo albums, it's really lovely:

I saw Stan's brother Garnet Rogers perform a few months ago, at the same local venue where I saw Bobby Watt, and he did a quick mention of Bruce Guthro and how much he did for folk music too. Sorry that this post is all over the place. I have too many things to say about Canadian folk music. But I should probably know more about actual Celtic music.

[for-a-longlongtime]

Songs and Musings in the Key of Peña-Rockford - Pt 2

Edit: oops, I accidentally-purposely snippeted when @legendary-pink-dot tried to torture me. Click here for a 'Javi pressed down on Tim's desk' teaser.

Time to play around and discover some more song vibes. First two were picked by @sin-djarin who, I am convinced, should really make a career out of soundtracking fic, shows and movies because she's so good at it.

Guns - All Them Witches

Listen, this one has me fucked up in ways that I can't even explain. But I feel this song in my soul when I think of Peña and Rockford - in so many ways. It's the lyrics with the music and the pent up feelings and everything. (and gun holsters, let's not forget about those...)

Shoot your guns as loud as you can Loud as you can, loud as you can Fight your wars as long as you can Long as you can, long as you can

Does this really make you a man Make you a man, make you a man? Wipe that blood off your hands Off your hands, off your hands

Now let's move forward

Dirt - Depeche Mode

And do you feel it? Said, do you feel it when you touch me? I said, do you feel it when you touch me? I'm fire Well, there's a fire Yeah, alright

It's just a burning inside It's just a burning inside Said, do you feel it? Said, do you feel it when you cut me? Said, do you feel it when you cut me?

@sin-djarin killing it with naming this one as a Tim song.

I mean, what more is there to say? This is definitely Tim in his car, plans for the night. No gun holsters or white shirt, no work clothes, but something sharper and darker, fresh cologne, stubble a little heavier than it was earlier in the day. Aching for a drink or two and to forget about the day, the week, finally out of the office and headed somewhere he doesn't have to think about others, just about himself.(Just so you know, this definitely isn't granny's Mansion that he's headed to).

Puro Teatro - La Lupe

Hit play and tell me you can't hear this playing in a bar where Javier is having a couple of whiskeys. Like, I can SEE it. Taste the smoke in the air. This song is from the soundtrack of Almodovar's Women On The Verge of A Nervous Break Down (yes, I absolutely got this from Pedro's picks on the Breaking Techniques interview). The only reason why I'm not including lyric snippets here - like I'm doing with most of the others - is because the lyrics do not specifically relate to the WIP story IMO.

El Cuarto De Tula - Buena Vista Social Club

I mean... yes. Buena Vista Social Club always. Just listen to the music.

Soy El Prohibido - Olga Guillot

Soy ese vicio de tu piel que ya no puedes desprender soy lo prohibido Soy esa fiebre de tu ser que te domina sin querer, soy lo prohibido

(English translation:

I am that vice of your skin that you can no longer let go I am the forbidden I am that fever of your being that dominates you without wanting to I am the forbidden)

Another bolero that is heavy on vibes rather than lyrical meaning. Remember Pancho Herrara in that bar slowdancing with his lover to Dos Gardenias, everybody staring at them? It's that kind of evening, but less center of attention (and no cracking bottles of aguardiente on anyone's head). It's Javier talking to a woman at the bar, eyes smiling, couple of glasses of liquor, lips brushing briefly over her neck as he leans in to say something. Her wanting him to come dance with her, but he's not really a dancer - still, he'll wrap an arm around her and sway her slightly to this song for a moment.

Sinner Man - Nina Simone

I'm finding it a lot easier to imagine Rockford's favorite artists and songs than Javi's, to be honest. For some reason I feel that while Javier likes to listen to music, he's less specific with 'this particular song is my favorite' etc. However, I'm dead certain that he has at least a Nina Simone album or two that he'll listen to a lot.

When it comes to anger, insecurities, conflict - looking back at Colombia in particular -, this one stands out to me. The building crescendo, like when you push away your feelings and fears but eventually it will all come up to the surface and spill over. When this song comes on, Javier listens. He'll light up a cigarette and listen, with that slight frown - you know the one I mean - on his face, the one when he's deep in thought. There's not much drama about it, he doesn't get particularly emotional about it... he just really listens. Every time. He likes it, not in a comforting way, but because he knows this is how things feel when shit goes down and certain memories won't leave.

Don't you see me down here prayin'? But the Lord said Go to the Devil, the Lord said Go to the Devil He said go to the Devil All on that day

Sinnerman, you oughta be prayin' Oughta be prayin', all on that day

-------------------------------------------

Links to previous posts in this WIP musings series:

The Law Enforcement Ball poll, a.k.a. where it all started (and escalated quickly)

'I Fought The Law (And The Law Won): WIP snippet

Songs and Musings in the Key Of Pena-Rockford Pt 1

Thots and 🐱 Poll, Sunday Evening edition

I'm not tagging people in these musing posts because I don't want to spam y'all; I'll do that only for actual written fic posts, JSYK. If you want your name added to that taglist to be notified when the first chapter drops (and there'll probably be another WIP snippet post before that), leave a comment to let me know.

[waterparksdrama]

double dare plz..

ask and you shall receive

hawaii (stay awake) - really sets the scene for the album. an upbeat pop punk song that shows off what parx does best; electronic infused pop punk that stays fresh with the equally interesting lyrics that compliment it. the song lyrically follows awsten dealing with his daily troubles but having someone to look forward to being with despite it all. really establishes the major themes of the album right from the get go in one catchy package. 7/10

gloom boys - probably the leader of the recurring theme in parx songs of "this song sounds happy but it's actually really fucked and sad ooOOOoooOOo i am the joker but an emoscene lead singer". even if that is the song's legacy for the rest of their discography, it's still a very fun song regardless. lyrically, it uses a lot of ironic imagery in its verses about how he only writes when he's sad like every other artist before going into the chorus, asking (maybe to himself, maybe to someone else) why they're so "cold" and "scared to be alone" in contrast to the more darkly playful nature of the verses. that bridge will forever be iconiccccc. 7/10

stupid for you - she is That song... probably the most well known parx song of all time what else is there to say. it's fun, it's catchy, it's smartly written both instrumentally and lyrically like c'mon it's a good ass song. to be fair there's some mild foreshadowing to the reason for the downfall of their relationship in this song already but "you're playing ring around my head / i wear you like a halo"????? c'mon this is some good shit. i love it. 7/10

royal - FUCK YEAH ROYAL. another song about feeling like he's failing to live up to expectations, both in his work and his personal relationships and wishing how those problems would just Go Away. like fuckkkkkkkkk this song hits hard. like the way it just builds up to these really cathartic big choruses really does it for me along with the subject matter. "you won't like what you see, so keep your eyes off of me / i fall in love with everything that wants nothing to do with me" you could shoot me in the face and it'd hurt less than this 8/10

take her to the moon - ok i'll admit i wasn't really a fan of this until i did a dance warmup to it and now i do LOL. the song instrumentally is the most pop sounding they've been up to this point with clear influences from owl city and early breathe carolina and hellogoodbye. lyrically, it's another well written love song using the space and beyond theming of the title specifically in the bridge's imagery with "yeah, you cloud my head, but can you really get lost in heaven?" showing the rose colored view of awsten for this person. again, foreshadowing, but it's a good ass song i can see why awsten loves it so much. 7/10

made in america - i don't get why people don't like this song it's a perfectly fine song both instrumentally and lyrically lol. from how i interpret it, it's a critique on the hypocrisy of american consumerism specifically in the ~pop punk scene~ for context during awsten's time growing up there was the rise of that sort of "this band saved my life" sentiment and non profits that would fundraise for charity (to write love on her arms specifically for their shirts and the keep a breast foundation with the infamous i heart boobies rubber wristbands). most people in the scene would wear these as trends without really caring about the causes they were for (hence "we're justice warriors when we're bored, you see? / buying bracelets and then channeling"). not to mention the glamorization of band guys' lifestyles they sell to kids who wish to be just like them without realizing they're phonies ("it's basically tradition / to lust for what you're missing / they're selling you a touched up name"). awsten points out the hypocrisy of both the bands and fans who buy into the romanticized band guy image or the causes they "support" that just end up being a fashion statement at the end of the day. honestly this commentary still holds up pretty well especially today when the prioritization of aesthetics over understanding subcultures seems to be fairly prevalent. 7/10

dizzy - a song about growing up into early adulthood, growing distant from the people you once knew, and dealing with depression all through it. pretty self explanatory, the song itself slows down much like the lyrical themes of this song. what else can i say man, it kinda hits for me stop being relatable to me pre los angeles awsten goddamn. final thoughts on this? i like the hidden vocals in the second pre chorus where awsten sings that he does wanna talk and think about all of this, though he sounds quiet and morose saying it out loud. you can hear that better in this post if you want. 8/10

powerless - again i think shooting me in the face would hurt less than this song. a head over heels love song with some subtle foreshadowing again about trying to keep a long distance relationship alive. this song is so devastatingly earnest and hopeful that i need to be stabbed. is that the best way to explain this bc this is me saying the song is really good and makes me emotional and incredibly sad from knowing how this ended up. 9/10

little violence - a song critiquing the rock music scene, specifically his band guy peers that only want to be friends now that parx is signed and making it and the music critics specifically on rock sites like absolutepunk that won't like them for heading in the more pop direction they've been shooting for. it's essentially just "fuck you: the song" and awsten being tired of all of it. the bridge itself takes a break from these shots fired though, since when he's with the person he loves, he seems to calm down about all this at least for a second. the instrumental itself carries the themes of these lyrics, with more punky riffs that still has the classic parx electronics complimenting their sound. 7/10

21 questions - another devastating foreshadowing relationship song has hit the towers. a song that starts as acoustic but builds into a full band song about awsten starting a relationship with a girl who cheats on her prior relationship to be with him and his fears of the same thing happening to him. oh god. yeah this hurts. hindsight is 20/20 and all that. the outro especially kills me "i'll forget you if you need me to, like nothing ever happened / my sun still sets without you, like nothing ever happened" please shoot me in the face it will hurt less 8/10

it follows - a song about awsten's emotions about this relationship, how he knows that he's not thinking straight with this person and how he can't think of anything else without them. if we're to believe the title refers to the horror movie of the same name, awsten feels cursed in relationships, making him nervous for this one despite how head over heels he is. i like how the guitars sort of tremble and stutter like a nervous thought before kicking into these large choruses in tandem with the lyrics. 9/10

plum island - a sort of stream of consciousness from awsten going from topics such as critiques of parx's new direction soundwise to his breakup and feeling shitty all throughout it, the chorus seeming to talk to the listener and playing into the "brooding band guy" thing and the last choruses taking solace in someone despite it all. god it's just an interesting song in general, the sort of lack of an actual chorus until the end and the sort of edm like drop that's used for most of the song with the chopped and mixed vocals of "lose your mind". not to mention those iconic drums at the beginning especially when you consider *waves hand* uh. the subjects of this song. 9/10

i'll always be around - lemme reiterate that when i react to a parx song and i say "i need to be shot" that means the song is good. this is one of the songs making me react like that. sonically, it has all the hallmarks of your regular, heartbreaking parx song with its electronics and devastating lyrics, and hopeful nature despite knowing something bad will happen. a song of awsten promising to be faithful to someone that in later performances got turned into a song about always being around for geoff and otto T___T i am going to put a gun in my mouth and blow my brains up /pos i love friendship i love love i'm dying to be your everything 9/10

candy - y'all know i gotta do the bonus tracks c'mon. this song is the most pop punk they've been while still have those parx certified electronic bits. this literally sounds like it could've been in a 2000s teen movie. hell, this sounds like if an old all time low song was good let's just admit that. lyrically, the song is about lessening your problems by sugarcoating them, which is what the song does by contrasting awsten's daily worries with the upbeat guitars. it's fun idgaf. 8/10

what we do for fun - Literally The Parx Song Of All Time. what the fuck. jaw dropped on the floor at some of this oh my god. less of a love song, more of an obsession song, mostly about sex. why did awsten bother writing about sex after this; it's articulate, mostly subtle, sexy yet playful like hello, "worshipping you from the darkest of corners like i'm practicing my own private religion" IF YOU WROTE THIS KINDA SHIT ABOUT ME I WOULD MARRY YOU ON THE SPOT. AWSTEN YOU DID NOT HAVE TO WRITE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY WHEN YOU WROTE THIS. instrumentally, it's a drum heavy song much like plum island and yeah i can't say anything more what the fuck this song is so good i need to blow something up. 10/10

all in all, double dare is such a classic. from the instrumentals to the lyrics, it's all so emotionally earnest it makes you want to pick up the nearest sharp object and sink it into your chest when you realize what happened like immediately after this album. it's such a good album and establishes a lot about parx.

-iz

[boysplanetrecaps]

Build Up Ep 8, Part 2: 💖Guilty 💖

Hello and welcome to another Build Up recap in the series! In the previous one we saw a team rock out! In this one, we’ll see a team get sexxxy. I have a lot to say! Let’s do this! 

We start off with the team coming out on stage as usual and greeting everyone. They joke that Donghun and Jeup are the parents and that Woong and Bain are their sons #1 and #2. 

Left to right: Bain (Just B), Donghun (A.C.E.), Jeup (IMFACT), Woong (AB6IX)

Their name is transliterated Dongupjadur, I think? It’s written in a really stylized way and my hangul reading skills aren’t quite up to it. 

As they’re coming out, the other teams backstage wonder out loud if the guys will be showing their abs -- specifically, if Jeup will be showing his abs. When I was watching this episode for the first time, I didn’t know that Jeup showing his abs was that a thing that could happen. I was like… What? Jeup? Abs? Tell me more!  

Ohhh.

등 부시러 갑니다 = “I’m going to break my back.”

So you’re telling me that he just looked like that? Under his s w e a t e r s? THE WHOLE TIME?

Anyway, the team is going to… perform? A song? Something like that. What? Yeah, a song. This is a singing competition. I remember now. 

The judges say that the combination is unexpected, and yeah, it kind of is. They’re all good, but aside from Donghun and Jeup singing one song together, no one in this group has performed with anyone else from this group so far on this show. So… what is the unifying concept? Why did Jeup pick them? You guys. YOU GUYS. I have so much to say. More on this soon. 

We flash back to them meeting… on a… I don’t know, staircase. A big wide staircase. 

Just like, a good staircase to have a meeting on, you know? We’ve all had meetings on big indoor staircases, why am I even explaining this?

Woong asks Jeup why he chose Bain and himself. 

s w e a t e r

Jeup basically answers that Bain and Woong are good singers and he wanted to work with them and make a team that can do anything. Hmmm. 

On a first watch, I wondered if maybe the real reason was that he wanted a group full of debuted idols? Bain is from Just B, Woong is from AB6IX, Jeup is from IMFACT, and Donghun is from A.C.E. But that just doesn’t seem convincing, does it? Ok, like I said, more on this soon. 

The guys do a little skit where they pretend to be choosing a song together, but it seems obvious when you watch it that they already know what they’re doing, and what they’ll be doing is Guilty, the song by Taemin. That’s a ballsy choice! A choice full of balls! 

Ok, a little bit about Taemin, in case you don’t know him well. He’s a member of SHINee, the same group that was once home to Jonghyeon who we talked about a lot during the 2x2 round. Taemin was only 13 when he debuted, and at the time, he basically couldn’t sing. At all. Like, at all at all. He was there to dance -- and boy can this guy dance -- and to be a cute maknae.

Over the years, a combination of a lot of hard work and some really good vocal training has made him a quite good vocalist. He also absolutely, positively drips with charisma -- both as in the sense of “star quality” and in the sense of “sexiness”. If you have never listened to Move or Want, you’ve been missing out, so rectify that ASAP. 

Guilty came out in October of ‘23, shortly after Taemin came back from military service. He’s said in interviews that he drew inspiration for the album from a book called Erotisicm by a philsopher named George Bataille. A summary of the book: “Bataille challenges any single discourse on the erotic. … Investigating desire prior to and extending beyond the realm of sexuality, he argues that eroticism is ‘a psychological quest not alien to death.’” Well, ok then! So that’s the book that inspired him. What about the song itself? Well, the lyrics could be summarized: You know you want me, baby! 

In other words, my friends, the song is a fuck song. And boy, do fuck songs do well on shows like this. Consider Boys Planet, if you will. Songs like Love Killa were always going to beat songs like Home. Team Over Me was always going to place ahead of Switch. 

In addition to being a fuck song, Guilty is a good song, but I don’t know if it’s fucking good, if you feel me? Something about it -- I don’t know, I didn’t fall in love with it the way I did with Move and Want. In fact, the day I first watched the episode, I had actually skipped Guilty  when it came up in my shuffle. Twice. Don’t get mad at me sometimes I have to hear some EXO or I’ll die okay? 

Alright, back the episode. Where were we? Oh yeah, the guys were pretending that this was the moment that they chose the song. The show reminds us that Guilty, with its attention grabbing choreography, is a popular “challenge” right now, for idols and just anyone who thinks their belly is flat enough. (Hwang Soyeon, where are you?) 

Woong points out that they really have to do the up-the-shirt-neck-grab move -- and he’s right, I mean imagine doing Gashina and not doing the finger guns? Some choreography is so connected to the song that you can’t take it away without missing it a lot. They also know, though, that they have to prioritize good vocals. 

Next question -- should they all show their abs? The immediate answer is yes, but -- and this is really interesting to me -- Donghun gestures to his ab area and says “I’m going to wear Heattech in here.” I did some research and can’t find anything on singers traditionally keeping their abdomen warm in order to sing better, though it doesn’t seem completely crazy. I have a chronic illness (endometriosis) and I know that heat is really great therapy for a lot of things, but I just have never heard of singers doing this. 

Plus, go with me on this -- even though in their little skit Donghun is the one who appears to suggest Guilty as their song, he apparently hadn’t thought through the necessary ab exposure or he wouldn’t be bringing this up now as a possible issue. See what I mean about it just being a skit? I’m pretty sure that Jeup had already picked out the song when he put the group together and then for some reason had to make it look like someone else was suggesting it when they filmed this scene. 

And poor Bain is like, um, guys, I don’t *have* abs. Bain isn’t skin stretched over muscles like most kpop idols, it seems. That’s ok, Bain, I still love ya! I sure as hell don’t have visible abs. He says he thinks he needs to work out, as if it’s possible to go from not having abs to having abs in like, two weeks. Sorry, dude, that is not happening, or at least, not without doing something super dangerous for your health.  

Anyway, luckily for the team, they have a leader who can also lead them in personal training.

The show gives us some good shots of Jeup’s bod, and in the interest of thoroughly covering this topic, I’ll take a screen shot.

What can I say -- I’m a hard worker. (That’s what he said!)

Then the guys go work out with Jeup and he does fucking leglifts hanging from a bar the way you’d lift a single finger.

“It’s easy,” he says. “Just hang on. And just put your legs up.” Sure. Just do that. Just. Do. That.

They all take a turn doing this incredibly difficult advanced move. Woong asks Jeup to hold him up from behind and says “I feel like I’m going to die,” but he can do it. He has abs already, anyway.

Donghun also needs Jeup to hold him up, but he can also basically do the move. 

It turns out that Bain absolutely cannot do the move -- he can’t hang there and he can’t lift up his legs. So the whole team helps him.

I think it’s supposed to be funny? It’s a weird combination of horrible (because Bain is the butt of the joke) and oddly wholesome (because they’re all approaching it with kindness), but it’s also kind of wrong, because “abs start in the kitchen,” meaning, that it’s much more about whether you have abdominal fat than whether you have abdominal muscles. So all this work will not actually give him visible ads unless he, IDK, does this for two hours a day and also doesn’t eat, which is a bad thing to do. 

They also do some rehearsing at BR N  W MUSIC, whatever that might be! 

And that brings us to performance day! Right before they perform, Yeo One backstage says that Donghun drew his abs on with a marker. Hey, man, don’t blow up his spot like that. 

It’s time to perform, which means it’s also time for a commercial! 

Full version without reactions

Alright, I want to talk about the performance itself and believe me I will but first, get your tinfoil hat ready because I think I know why Jeup picked out this group. It became clear to me as I watched the performance and did some thinking.

It’s because

Jeup is very smart

Jeup knows what a mostly-female survival-show audience loves best is sparkles in their pants

Jeup selected the other three guys on the show that can pull off a sexy concept most easily. 

Look, I am not saying that I find any of these guys besides Jeup particularly sexy when they’re just goofing around. But they’re all sexy when they perform! Or rather, I should say, they create a sexy mood. Let me explain.

Have you ever listened to a sad song that makes you tear up a little, even though you’re not actually sad about anything in real life? Or maybe a song kind of makes you feel inspired and lifted up? Into the New World by SNSD does that for me. Or maybe a song makes you feel snarky and sarcastic, like Wife by G-Idle. It’s like that, but with sexiness. You get to live in a sexy world for a few minutes, without it being focused at anyone or anything in particular.  

To put it differently: it’s like they emit the smell of baking cookies, only instead of baking cookies, it’s sex. You breathe it in instead of actually… having it. 

Woong, Bain, and Donghun can all do the sexy concept. Not everyone can do sexy. In EXO, for example, I’d argue that Xiumin and D.O. struggle with sex appeal in performances, despite their beautiful faces; that’s part of why a comeback like Obsession was only possible when those two were away in the military. Suho can kind of do sexy on stage, but that’s helped by the fact that to me he seems the sexiest off stage. I don’t know, I guess it’s all subjective of course, but “doing sexy” is different from “being sexy” and both are different from actual sex.

So yeah, Bain can do sexy, abs or no abs. That’s why his whispering “like a river!” in River worked. 

Woong can do sexy, as you can tell if you watch AB6IX perform. 

And Donghun can do sexy, despite being kind of not sexy at all in real life. 

Jeup knows that he’s a Kai/Hyunjin/Kang Daniel/Baekho/Wyatt type, and he knows that he has to give the ladies sparkles in their pants. That’s why he had to ditch Suhwan, despite Suhwan’s strong vocals. He needed a group that could be his backup sexies as he hit us full bore with the force of his sexiness. 

And boy can this boy do sexy. I actually learned how to make gifs in order to make this one:

Just Park Jeup stroking his mic stand lightly all the way down, while Donghun hits a high note. Jeup is a fucking genius, and yes, I mean that. He knows exactly what he’s doing. It's funny because I later on noticed that all of them are doing the microphone stand stroke, but Jeup is the one who the editors decided to highlight, and I mean, come on. Yes. He does it best. 

The ab reveal was fine. I think Jeup is sexier just staring into the camera, but that’s just me. Here are some gifs to delight you:

Did Woong tear his shirt?

As to the song and the performance itself. 

I am now the world’s foremost expert on this song as I have listened to it approximately one million times in the past few days.  I listen to it the way I listen to an EXO song -- noticing each new voice (“ooh, that’s Jeup! Ooh that’s Bain!”) and enjoying it. 

And in my expert opinion, this was PERFECT -- the perfect choice of song, the perfect group, the perfect performance. There were high notes for Jeup to croon, whispered parts for Bain to whisper, emotional parts for Donghun to emote, and sassy parts for Woong to sass. And they all did their jobs. 

I almost don’t even want to analyze their various vocals because I just love this so much, but I also do want to because they were so good. First off, if you listen to the studio version that was released and compare it to the live version, the live version is actually better. Seriously. There isn’t a note out of place here. 

GOD but my Bain is SO GOOD. I am so proud of myself for picking him out at the start of the show as my main pick. He’s so good. His voice is just perfect. His adlib at 3:16 in to the Youtube version is so gorgeous. His technique is so clean, with no closed throat sounds or a feeling of being out of control of pitch or anything like that, ever. No nasality that I notice. Just the perfect amount of vibrato. It’s just perfect overall. His vocals are my favorite on this team. 

Woong’s vocals are obviously not powerful and perfect like the other three’s but he adds this sassy contrast to the others. I wouldn’t swap him out for anyone else. He slightly reminds me of Woongki from Boys Planet -- offstage, not sexy at all, in fact kind of feminine seeming. And then give him the right concept (Supercharger for Woongki) and you see what he’s capable of. 

Jeup is an absolutely top tier vocalist in addition to being a gorgeous man. I don’t know if I have anything more to say than that. It’s just like, yeah. Did you hear it? You heard it, right? I’m getting used to his vocal color and liking it more and more.

Donghun does a great job here too, obviously, especially in providing harmonies with the lightest touch imaginable. That’s a real talent. In fact, I think my favorite part is from :39 to :47, when Jeup and Donghun climb up that lazy scale together. It’s like a hand moving up your leg to your thigh. It’s really something. 

See, Jeup is a genius. Everyone else kind of leans forward, like Donghun on the left. But Jeup keep his head up and just looks to the side, while leaning back slightly and tilting his pelvis up. He GETS it. How can someone look as tasty as Kai while also singing as well as Chen and not like, be the most famous person in Korea? I don’t get it. 

I think I’m going to be cheering for Partners at this point. I just want this team to release a whole cover album with them singing like, IDK, Taemin’s entire catalog. I want this team to manifest. Just more singing like this. 

EDIT: I just showed this performance to My Fella and he said, "So that won, right? That had to win. That made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up." My Fella is the best, isn't he?

Counter offer: I don’t really have one. This was the right song. Hoo boy. But if they had to pick out a song for next week (and I don’t think they do, based on what I think its next), I’d recommend Touch by NCT. There are lots of kinds of sexy, and they’ve already done the vaguely menacing kind of overt sexy, so next is the “boyfriend in jeans” sexy level to conquer. Alternatively maybe they could do Playboy by EXO (another song written by Jonghyun). It’s overtly sexy but in a jazzy flirty way instead of in an aggressive dangerous way. 

Ok, so in the MNET edit the focus seems to be mostly on the shirt lift moment. There was a cute bit where Jeup the Genius gently strokes his collar bone area, as if to remind everyone of what’s under his shirt, and backstage, Wumuti is like, “hey! I was promised abs!!” 

Wendy is impressed with Bain’s vocals

Jaehwan needs an adult!

So when they’re done, of course the audience goes batshit while the judges applaud. Jaehwan stands up and Wendy gives a thumbs up. 

Backstage, the other guys have mixed reviews. They seem to think that this was pandering to the audience, but I think that’s unfair. I have been *listening* to this performance for days. Just on repeat while I’m on the plane or driving my stupid rental car around. If I could listen without watching or watch without listening, I’d much rather listen. I love this performance vocally, truly, I do. I respect the sexy cloud they generated, too. That’s not easy to do. 

VCG compliments Woong and he lets out the cutest, goofiest grin. 

The judges vote, and the highest score is revealed: It’s a 95 from VCG. 

Seems like they’re pretty surprised by that. 

Backstage, Haram says to his teammates that he’s not surprised by that high score. “You can’t ignore the sense of presence,” he explains. That’s the name of my next Jeup x reader fanfic -- “The Sense of Presence.” 

VCG explains his grade. “I felt that the skills of reading the song for singers who have been on stage was different.” He also says that Donghun really understands the stage and how to change up his voice based on the flow of the performance. 

Eunkwang says that the team had good teamwork -- that they divided the parts properly and worked well together. 

Solar praises Woong, and he grins again. 

Wendy asks about the killing part -- “Did you all work out together?” Ha ha! 

VCG asks how they feel the ab reveal went -- did they get the response they were hoping for? I mean, if they were hoping from high pitched squeals from all the women -- and most of the men -- in the audience, then yes. Hilariously, Jeup can’t help but be honest and say that they had difficulties with that in rehearsal because their abs weren’t being revealed properly. They had to really work at it. I find the idea of them conscientiously making sure that their abs showed when they lifted up their shirts to be so funny. It’s this sensual move, and here they are like, “Is my shirt lifting properly? Let me adjust the angle. Hmm, I might need a different shirt. I think cotton slides more easily than poly blends.”

Solar’s like “it showed really well, don’t worry.” I mean, we know she was looking.

”Hey Solar, I know you do a bit of pole dancing. I do that too, on the side. It’s great for the abs. Want to hang out and work on our abs together? I know a lot of cool moves that will improve your balance and control. And abs. We can do ab lifts and drink supplement smoothies and then take pictures of each other for Instagram.” -- Jeup, probably 

Backstage, Soomin wonders if his team should also show their abs, and Seohyung continues to be everyone’s favorite when he says:

“It’s kind of weird to reveal abs while saying MILKY UP.” 

Dude, it’s kind of weird to do anything while saying MILKY UP. In fact, it’s weird to just say MILKY UP. I hate it. 

And with that, we reach the end of this segment! We didn’t hear a single word of praise for Bain or Jeup’s vocals. Fuck that shit, man. 

In the next post, we’ll visit with Waterfire, Wumuti’s team, who are doing a cover of Aespa’s Drama. See you then! 

[animelover20]

🎶✨when u get this, list 5 songs u like to listen to, publish. then, send this ask to 10 of your favorite followers (positivity is cool)🎶✨ !

Oooh now this is the shit I like seeing at 6 in the morning😃 thank you, I actually really like talking about my taste in music. Sorry if I ramble on a bit too much than what you were expecting tho I'm just really excited.

I'm guessing these don't have to be in any specific order so they ain't. Btw artist names are in bold because it looked too confusing otherwise.

Most of these are either gonna be metal,loud as fuck/chaotic, just weird or sometimes even a mix of all of those.

1. Hand me my shovel I'm going in! - will wood and the tapeworms. It's fun as fuck plus the songs been theorised to be about mental health and how the person singing isn't 'sick' enough to get help. (Which is backed by a few lyrics especially "so I bookmark my DSM cause I need you to remember my place".) It's such a cool and fun song because of how chaotic it is and will wood and the tapeworms are one of my favourite bands overall so don't be surprised if they appear a few times😁

2. Death - Æther realm. You've probably never heard of it but it's really cool. You won't like it if your not a fan of death since that's the whole song. Essential made an album based off tarot cards which is such a cool concept(I love tarot btw) but I've only listened to this one so far. Anyway onto the meaning. It's an extremely positive song about death and it actually applies to a lot of my beliefs on death aswell. Instead of describing death as this horrible thing it's so much more peaceful. With a few lyrics being("if I had another chance to live I think id rather be dead" and the one that follows every chorus being "if this is really death then it's not so bad.")I really hate death being seen as a negative thing because frankly it isn't. It's a comforting concept. at the end of the day,no matter what you do,no matter how you live, death is going to come for you. And you know what that's ok. It's one of my favourite songs for this reason. And I know not everyone will agree with me but that's fine.

3. Per Aspera ad inferi - Ghost. I will just quickly mention, they are a satanist band,if you're not into that then ya know don't be mean,their songs go hard lmao. Anyway i am not apart of their religion but I respect it. Anyway the name is essentially a play on the Latin phrase 'through hardship to the stars' or Per Aspera astra.' (rough translation btw) whereas the song name instead translates to 'through hardships to hell.' which is so fucking cool. It's catchy as fuck song and I find it getting stuck in my head a lot.

4. Necromancin Dancin - Bear Ghost. It's just a really fun song,chaotic as fukc too. Plus the thought of people just being revived just to start dancin is really funnym. Added bonus that is song is in my doffy playlist (because of the whole controlling people I thought why not be able to do it to corpses aswell😃) it's actually the only song so far to be apart of said playlist but that may change as I go. I don't know if this song has any specific meaning either then necromancer making people dance. But it's pretty good.

5. Take me back to Eden - sleep token. Ok so I've been making this list up as I went which is why I said in 4 that there might be another song from my playlist and what I said could change and it did. This song is in my doffy playlist and it's actually the song that inspired the playlist in the first place so,hats off to it. Anyway yay metal. Loud, amazing vocals and metal? What more could you ask for. It's mostly been attributed to doffy because of the whole theme of being thrown out of this holy place and desperately trying to get back which...(If you know you know.) I fucking love this song so much and I am genuinely out of words to describe it.

And that's about it I think I'm happy with this. Anyway again thank you for making my morning and giving me something to do that I actually really enjoy. Sorry if this is a ramble I just really like music.

I hope you have a great day/night❤️

[lunapaper]

Album Review: 'Country Curious' EP - Lola Kirke

Pop has never been more country, and country has never been more pop.   

Names like Kacey Musgraves, Maren Morris, Kelsea Ballerini and Morgan Wallen (controversies aside) have well and truly embedded themselves in the mainstream. And, of course, there’s Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, which, despite all the country imagery and distinct country twang, is not a country album, according to the singer.  

Country Curious, by singer/actress Lola Kirke, however, is a country album (or EP, to be specific). It’s right there in the title. Her cowgirl journey started long ago: Born in London, raised in New York and moving to Nashville in the middle of a pandemic, developing a love for Tanya Tucker, The Judds and Rosanne Cash's Seven Year Ache along the way. Her second album, Lady for Sale, was even released through Jack White's Third Man Records.  

She chronicles this full-on transformation on the EP's first single, 'He Says Y'all,' a feminist take on 'bro-country' delivered with tongue firmly in cheek. Like 2022's Lady for Sale, Kirke turns the campy goodness up to 11 with a rollicking honky tonk groove, ready to move down South and start teasing her hair for a dirty man with a cowboy drawl. I bet she thinks his tractor's sexy, too!  

The smoky slow burn of 'All My Exes Live in LA' (featuring Swedish sister duo and fellow lovers of Americana, First Aid Kit) is also fun, flirty and feminist, referencing George Strait as she leaves the freeway littered with broken hearts, heading 'For the mountains or the desert or my mama's or anywhere else.'  

‘My House,’ meanwhile, serves absolute cunt when it comes to the traditional country ballad. Instead of begging for her man to come back home, she’s kicking him out and reclaiming her space, singing ''Cause I never have to worry about if you'll come home/I'm not crying over you, now I'm better off alone' with a big damn smile on her faceas she dances around her house while chugging a beer at 10am.  

Ending the EP is the slow winding ‘Karma,’ featuring the aforementioned Rosanne Cash. Dedicated to a lying, cheating douche bro with the big important job, it's a perfect mix of contemporary country and rugged 70s nostalgia, featuring sublime harmonies that just beautifully melt into one another and lyrics that give Taylor's own 'Karma' a serious run for their money ('She never quits/Or forgets/I don't mess with karma/But I sure love that bitch').  

Lola Kirke is more than just a little curious about country music. Where Lady for Sale saw her give it a bright, kitschy 80s glow, this EP sees her lean all the way in, with a lot of its blues and roots influence able to be attributed to producer and lifelong friend, Elle King. 

It’s masterfully constructed and cleverly written, more so than Lady for Sale at times. It should earn Kirke some kind of acclaim as Musgraves or Ballerini or Morris, just like Lady for Sale should’ve had the singer/actress occupying the same space as Rina and Carly Rae: Cult pop girlies who deliver on the niche camp in spades. 

This imbalance hasn’t gone unnoticed by Kirke noting the ‘mediocre’ 6.4 review Lady for Sale received from Pitchfork (which, coming from those guys, is laughable) in a recent interview with the official Grammys website, along with her dissatisfaction with Hollywood and the lack of decent roles (While I’m at it, Mozart in the Jungle deserved so much better, fuck Amazon for cancelling it so they could fund their stupid Lord of the Rings spinoff series). 

Nonetheless, Country Curious proves that heartbreak can be rather empowering and even funny sometimes. Kirke manages to pull off the impossible, balancing humour and heart in a country song without sounding too cartoonish or cynical. She just sounds like she’s having a blast, at this point making way better country bops than the bros... 

[stupidspidey]

AJR - Living Room

if you told me in 2013 that this was the absolute pinnacle of music and that it would get no better than this, chances are i would’ve told you “that’s nice, leave me alone creep” and went to go kick the shit out of my brother at Mario on the DS. Now if you told me now that these guys ended up being my favourite band, i’d probably give you the same response but i’d go play a Spider-Man game instead. Regardless, Living Room by AJR is just… not good, by any sense of the word realistically, don’t get me wrong it’s got its merits but holy fuck, it’s really hard to listen to. Now, i don’t want to be too unfair about this, believe it or not sitting here for a good 5 minute read yelling about how bad something is is REALLY undesirable in a review, and it’s even more undesirable since my girlfriend refuses to sleep with me because of it. (jk rose ily) So, i’m gonna take their advice from one of their next albums that came after this and well, skip to The Good Part, which unfortunately should only take me like, 20 lines, maximum, before i start either repeating myself or talking about how a line in “The World is a Marble Heart” is was reused as a backing vocal in “I Won’t” like, 10 years later.

The Good

My GOD, do these guys know how to write a decent line or few. Sure there’s a few “Thirsty, Thirsty, Thursdays!” in there but, every one of those is definitely made up for by the honestly-adorable Infinity or the surprisingly-hopeful My Calling, each lyric will either strike you as cheesy in a really cute way, or inspiring in a really dumb way, the album could honestly be mistaken as written about someone with how directed and loving each line feels from the start to the end and briefly sidestepping around at least 49.2% of each song. Big White Bed especially, but as i wrote that down all i could think to describe the song was “I love you… BITCH. I ain’t ever gonna stop loving you… BITCH.” from a vine like 10-or-so years ago. So, really, pretty appropriate for their timing on the albums release realistically. A really specific praise for the album but, i think the art itself is really pretty? something about it feels so real. Like, if you made an album with two of your brothers and basically pro-tools, a mic and a big idea (yeah, that’s a quote from one of the songs, Big Idea.) would you not just make the album art you all sat on the comfy family sofa in the middle of butt-fuck nowhere with your band name splattered on the wall in a nice deep red? I know i would if i could fit all 5 of my brothers onto one tiny-ass couch. Now unfortunately i can only realistically think of these two points for the positive part but, i will say this: Every track on this album, has thought behind it. It sometimes comes across as them just lobbing the entire processing power of a Windows 7 computer running pro-tools at you, but if you listen to the audio-commentary edition of the album (because, for some reason they made that?) it really is easy to tell the three of them had passion for the thing, especially seen in Jack’s (the J in AJR) enthusiasm about finally making it out of slummin’ it in the streets while his two way-fucking-taller brothers tap danced and sang, outside of his appearance in Pink Panther 2 and Sesame Street of course. (seriously, i’m deadass, look it up, he even has an iMDB page.) Now, unfortunately, on that point, i can’t realistically stay on the positives forever on this without ending up on some TikTok calling me a brainrotted liberal or some slur that hasn’t been unsealed since some crusty fucking 4channer woke up from his food comatose over a reddit girl with fat tits so, with that point.

The Bad

Ok right so, you know how i mentioned this was considered some sort of principle of music back then in 2013? Well guess what, motherfucker. I wasn’t even joking, the way people view Bruno Mars now is the way people viewed Living Room in 2013, though it was hard not to when their brain cells rubbed together and they decided the best way to promote their album was to tag every artist under the sun on gods green-motherfucking-earth and tell them to listen to it. Even then, the only one who listened really was Sia, and realistically what the fuck have you actually seen Sia do in the past like 5 years? This is a real question seriously please for the love of GOD tell me i have no idea past *Chandelier*. Anyway, enough of throwing Sia some strays (i’m sorry ma’am i’m sure there’s a grammy somewhere i didn’t bother googling), back onto Twenty-One Pilo— Coldplay— I mean, AJR. The album had passion behind it, don’t get me wrong here, but it is completely misplaced. The only way i can describe this is that, if this was the latest release around the time of E.T. for the Atari 2600? Music probably wouldn’t have survived past that either. Though realistically it was probably one of the better albums of that era since by then every other song was the most bassy-pile of “please dance to this” you’d ever seen, but i’m sure there’s someone still out there hitting the dab to fuckin’ The World is a Marble Heart, surely. The album itself had some pretty… interesting, approaches, but really you can only get around 30 seconds into the first song before that fucker starts yodelling? why the fuck is he yodelling? Regardless, no matter how many times you make a sequel to Turning Out or how many times you make some good shit like The DJ is Crying for Help, to those guys at TikTok? you’ll allwwaayyss be the guys who made Thirsty. You could get a treaty and a vulcan salute from half of space, but all those motherfuckers will still only know you for Thirsty. Personally? i’d be so fucking mad. I mean, you look to your left and Kanye has just dropped Yeezus, and what do you have to compete against that? a new national holiday celebrated exclusively by kids who get bullied at school, Thirsty Thursday, if i were them i wouldn’t have even made it to The Click without some sort of apology statement.

The Ending

Now, if i’m being completely real here. I can’t entirely slander Living Room, it’s got ideas, it’s got (marble) heart, and most importantly… It let Neotheater exist so… some good out of the bad right? Sure, for anyone else, unless you’re subconsciously subscribed to every single opinion on r/Music like some sort of absorption sponge. And just… in future, for anyone reading this, Include yodelling in your song and i will fucking SLICE you, not for poor mixing choices, not even for poor taste, but for reminding me that i sat here for an hour, and reviewed an album. Worst part? one out of five baby, i’m not down until i hear the fat lady sing, i’ve still gotta drop my useless thoughts for The Click, Neotheater, OK ORCHESTRA and *The Maybe Man. So, i’m gonna go out with a BANG! and by that? i mean get gunned down by the mexican cartel for even daring to include a good section in this slice of piss.

4/10 - Not enough yodelling really.

[theclosetedskeleton]

please infodump about your damn skippy oc please i beg

YAHSHANXNABX YAYAYAYAY

okay here we go

I dont have an uhh actual name for the oc (yet), ill try to think about one soon. Anyways

He's (obv referring to my damn skippy oc) energetic and constantly moving around the place. Damn skippy oc try to sit still in one place (failed INSTANTLY).

+ "Naturally curious (Good example for this idea would be the song "rainwater") and lives in their daydreams" kinda person. (When robots attack) (ik theres the line 'how i wish this was just a dream' in when robots attack, but I imagine the scenario wasnt a "daydream" he has and moreso of an actual dream that feels real.)

[going back to the last part, I imagine the entire damn skippy album is just the oc going on these silly tangents abt their life + daydreams (maybe minus "ode to crayola", as I already have a diff oc for that song alone)]

Pronouns - He/they (Was originally gonna go with he/him but i like the concept of "he/they DS oc better)

Physical features !!!

DS has these swirls in their eyes, like the back of the album cover. Confession - Every now and then i think the pinkish color makes him look high but then i add the blue and im like "nuh uh" HWKAN 😭

They also have these star pupils, I added the idea when i first designed the oc back in jan-feb time period. Btw these features arent like contact lenses those are his actual eyes :3 I imagine my DS oc to be like... 80% human and the 20% is uhhh I dont know that answer

Along with this, theres like this ink or whatever that seeps from his eyes. Theyre not tears or anything, no matter what they do to remove the ink it just comes back eventually, but the ink only gets down to a certain point to where it just stops flowing.

small features !!! he wears a lot of stickers on their face, mainly because the stickers are really cool

LOTS of kandi bracelets/wrist bands/spiked bracelets. There probably was a time where he was a scene kid, and they still take inspiration from that 2000s/2010s scene time period.

[side note!!! this doesnt relate with my oc 100% but

on the topic of the kandi bracelets part, DS makes a lot of kandi bracelets for HTTJB (another oc based on a LD album) (The hip to the javabean oc isnt my oc, its @shrimpmcbites 's). Occasionally DS will just give HTTJB a new kandi bracelet for no apparent reason. ]

LOTS OF COLOR !!!!!!!! DS constantly wears so many things dealing with color and bright things, like as if those saturated bright colorful photos were a person.

DS IS TRANS!!!!!! trans ftm to be specific. fuck making all my characters different.... i WILL project on every one of them

(on a specific note, DS hasnt gotten any sort of medical transition like HRT or top/bottom surgery)

Projecting on my oc once more !!!! but fuck i dont care - DS is aroace and queerplatonic !!!! + DS is also in a qpr W/HTTJB because me and @shrimpmcbites said so muahaha (we are both projecting...)

(Geeks is love is abt them !!!!! the line "I don't think they'll ever get the groovy standards that we set for love" fits oh so perfectly with the fact the DS and HTTJB oc's are in a qpr)

Okay now for a bit of silly facts

Favorite drink - Tea !!! of any kind !!!! or maybe koolaid or the type of water drinks where you pour the syrup of a flavor in water and you get juice if yk what im talking abt

Favorite food - I imagine DS to really like smores. especially the ones with too much extra stuff and too many marshmellows and chocolate

Favorite type of music - anything DS can dance to. or just move around to. He doesn't really like sad songs.

Favorite color -Probably all of them but mainly the really saturated BRIGHT colors

Hobbies -

Dancing (not really good at it, + is not a professional, they just do it bc he NEEDS a way to channel all of the internal energy they have.),

Reading (only comic/graphic novels, anything else and he just loses attention)

KANDI - They has SO. MANY. KANDI. STUFF. AT HOME. probably even a few pieces of kandi clothing because of all of the extra time they have on his hands.

Video games - Esp those really retro ones, but he'll play almost any video game that goes in their hands

HOLY SHIT THIS POST IS SO LONG. idk what else to add but if anyone reads this till the end and has any input about the oc send me an ask about it because my DS oc (and @shrimpmcbites 's HTTJB oc) has been CLAWING at my brain and i need people to talk to me about them

[lady-of-glass-and-bone]

Songs & Characters: Pedro Pascal

Album: Blue Lips     Artist: Tove Lo

So I did this with all the Florence + The Machine albums and now I’m doing it with Tove Lo’s discography because why not. Basically what I’m doing is listening to the whole album and picking which sing reminds me of which Pedro character and the specific lyrics that go with it.

Some of the lyrics below are sexual/explicit keep reading at your own discretion.

disco tits /  Oberyn Martell

Live right now, peakin' on top / So wild now, I'm high as fuck / Don't look down / My mind, you can relax / I know how to dial it back / Not this time

You think I'm drunk now, but I am not / You're so pretty, come roll with me / I'm 'bout to get down, I'm high as fuck / I'm no chemist, but it's good shit

I'm sweatin' from head to toe / I'm wet through all my clothes / I'm fully charged, nipples are hard / Ready to go (oh, oh) / I'm sweatin' from head to toe / I'm wet through all my clothes (yeah) / I'm fully charged, nipples are hard / Ready to go

shedontknowbutsheknows - Dave York

Hanging by the bar at sunrise / With our bodies talking / Hooked up last week, had a good time / So I regret nothing / I see her come close, ooh / I wonder what you told her to make her stay

Don't even bother with your lies / Won't let you see her when she cries / Go on, unhappy in the night

shivering gold - Marcus Pike

A minute of truth time, talkin' 'bout stuff

Keep saying I'm danger, but thinking I'm love

I'm out on the dance floor, drinking my tears

Acting all cliché, and facing my fears

I feel that thing that jolts me, fucks with me good / Shivering gold / I shiver in gold / Wild, real / Got things like moon rocks rolled up in love / Shivering gold

I shiver in gold

Kissing it better, a physical face

Taking your body, I sit on your face

I see you smiling, covered in me

Moving too fast now, but fuck it, we're free

don’t ask don’t tell - Javier Peña

I'm curious to know who you are

Know what turns you on, turns you off

Know we're not kids anymore

Know we've both been here before

These butterflies scare me to death

Feel them beating out of my chest

Make me come, come so alive

And go with your moves through the night

And baby, don't ask and then don't tell / Already know you're fucked up / And it's cool with me / My past and don't ask and don't tell / No need to share too much / Come on, let it be

stranger - Francisco ‘Catfish’ Morales

You're my stranger in the dark / I am lonely, lonely heart / Waiting for someone to take me home / You're my stranger in the dark / I am lonely, vagabond / Hold me down, want you to bring me home

Let's begin, love making you beg for the win

I'm the prize you get if you do everything I say

Get you high, I get you high

I wanna be what you want me to be

I'd go anywhere, no rules, I don't care

Oh, oh just take me home, oh

So you're my last hope and, and I don't care what you do

Leave my heart open, I'm gonna leave it for you

You can walk on it, I wanna hurt, feeling used

Take the edge off it, just take the edge off it

romantics - Dieter Bravo

We could be romantics for life / Go wild with our scars unhealed / Ooh, ooh / We could be romantics for life / Like drugs make us feel unreal

They talk a lot, don't they?

'Bout your life

They talk a lot, don't they?

Why? Are you tired?

It's none of their business who we love

Drinking, destructive, kind, fill me up

Holding me down in my seat

Tell me, I know what you need

I know your head makes you lie, oh

cycles - Ezra

What's your name?

I can tell you a story before we get into the game

We fall head over heels overnight

See my face in your future

I'm in your future, in your nights, hmmm

I'm in a cycle / Don't make me hate you / Just 'cause I talk about the things I've done before you / I'm in a cycle / Swear this is different / Don't wanna end it, if you leave then I keep spinnin'

It's so romantic in a way / Why don't you catch me when I sway? / 'Cause when my heart falls out of place / I know (oh, oh, oh)

struggle - Max Phillips

So you're deep like the ocean / And got your bottles of potion / I believe in karma / Set the waves into motion

Cold, cold, cold, cold hands over me / Fuck, fuck, fuck some sense into me / Gold for loneliness, I will pay / Fuck, fuck some sense into me

The struggle is real

When you don't tell me how you feel 'bout this love

I've got my way with words

Don't believe me

Pretend like I don't hurt

I don't, I don't, I don't

I've got my way with pain

Don't believe me

I numb myself to blame

I don't, I don't, I don't

9th of october - Joel Miller

We never had coffee table books or dinner parties / We always had hazy nights and sex, cliché's in Paris / Don't disturb on the top floor / Getting high by the window / In bed with your eyes looked into mine / How perfect was it?

9th of October, I always remember / No bad things had happened then / Honestly, you never thought you'd fall for me / But somehow you got pulled in / Livin' so fast, makin' memories last / 'Til our hearts couldn't hold no more / Hear you explodin' while I am implodin' / Now, how did we let this go?

We never wanted

A normal kind of love

9th of October, I always remember

9th of October, I always remember those big words, I said them first

9th of October, I always remember

9th of October, can't think of it sober 'cause all of it fuckin' hurts

bad days - Maxwell Lord

Why cut so deep every word that we speak? / Triggers, shit we never thought / I still remember all the good times / If not, I'll recreate 'em all

If it was easy, I'd forget about you, baby

But I never really understood

How people move on from a heart to love another

Oh, if I could, I would

If it was easy, I'd forget about you, baby

But I never really understood

How people move on from a heart to love another

Oh, if I could, I would

Yeah, I try

But we're in the same crowd

Always at the same scene

So I don't know how

I'm supposed to act fine

When we used to be burning love

That died

Colder than ice

Why am I surprised?

But I guess that's how

I guess that's how we do it now

hey you got drugs - Pero Tovar

Ten years of highs just for fun

Not a height 'til I'm caught

Pain from the past like a small piece of glass in my heart

And this should be the time of my life

You fucking made it your deal, your deal

And I keep dancin' away 'cause it's all fun and games 'til it's real

We don't wanna go home

(Better dance for us)

You're fucked but, oh, you're so fun

(How you holding on?)

I don't know tomorrow

(If it comes or not)

But I promise for life you can brag 'bout tonight

You won't save the night for me

You won't save the night for me

You won't save the night for me

And I ain't never gonna go home

[taehyungfirst]

Sorry for the rant, feel free to ignore.

I love bts and I love all the members and I always have. But I can’t lie and say it’s not majorly disappointing when songs/works that seem like they least deserve it, end up with the awards or the records (though I’ve never personally cared for records much, awards are what’s actually important aside from the actual music of course, but kpop fabdoms are obsessed with records and numbers so it’s easy to fall into that)

Like I remember feeling it most strongly with dynamite. Sure it’s a fun song to listen and dance to, but it being the first bts song to be nominated for the Grammys? And it being their first song to land a #1 on the hot 100?

And I understand popularity, and success in the US specifically plays a role in this but that’s kind of my point.

The songs they quite literally poured their blood sweat and tears and that we can literally hear and feel every emotion from them will never achieve the kind of things songs like dynamite or butter do. And what’s worse, is that bts become recognized for those songs. And the reason for it is quite literally because of how close minded a lot of people in America are.

I feel like an anti for saying this, and that’s because of my disappointment and also due to the fandom calling anyone who thinks this way an anti, but it does get pretty frustrating especially when the fandom acts like certain songs are giant masterpieces when actual masterpieces made by bts exist.

I always tell myself it’s not that deep and who cares which songs are more successful because in the end, it doesn’t change who they are and what they do but then shit like bang od saying “we’re gonna focus on America” or whatever happens and it’s like “are you fucking kidding me?”

And it’s not that I have anything against jk (he’s literally in ny bias line and I’d feel the same way if it was any other member) but the idea of his most popular and successful work all being tied to that fucking man and those being the most successful soloist songs are so frustrating for me and they shouldn’t be but they are.

Like I love all of jk’s other music and he has one of the most beautiful voices I’ve ever heard, but it’s not those songs that are ever gonna get a lot of attention. It’s the ones he chose in America and the ones he’s tried on different people’s style rather than his own (since he’s still trying to figure out his, he’s said)

And that’s his choice and everything and as a fan I should respect that but it’s like…he has so much more potential than just being another basic American pop singer though that seems to be what he wants. It shouldn’t bother me but it does and I hate that, because who cares? He’s happy and it’s not like it’s bad music, so there shouldn’t be an issue. (But the kind of disappointment still lingers, and it hasn’t stopped since dynamite ngl. Like since dynamite a lot if things have happened with bts and now with their solo projects and if I’m being 100% honest, I saw that coming way back in 2021.)

Also here’s where I know I sound like an anti but it feels unfair that this English American produced and written by big names album will be compared with the other members’ solos by literally everyone.

Like they’re not on the same level at all in terms of promotion, and in terms of the target audience, but this fact will be ignored by everyone except for bitter antis but then those guys will focus on trying to prove “jungkook actually secretly sucks” (which is bs because he is insanely talented and he puts in so much effort into everything he does ) instead of the simple fact that “an album like golden is completely separate in every way from albums like jitb,indigo, face, d-day, and layover (and what ever Jin’s gonna come up with when he gets back)”

Idk maybe I am being one of those bitter people because I tend to be rapline biased (and v biased when it comes to vocal line) but I just don’t see it as a fair comparison.

The biggest music industry in the world is America and golden is made for America and American charts and American audience. Comparing it with albums not really made or advertised much outside of Korea/the Asian market doesn’t seem right.

And the thing is, Jungkook’s album would probably be one of the most successful even if it wasn’t mostly American or wasn’t targeting a western audience. The difference is that I wouldn’t have felt this way because yeah he deserves the success and it would be on the same level as the others.

But here, it feels weird. Because it’s not. Not pointing it out feels like anti behaviour, but also not saying so I don’t get criticized and hated feels like it’s a bit of a cult (if that makes sense)

I know I shouldn’t take this seriously and it’s usually easy for me to not get bothered and remind myself kpop isn’t worth all that, but sometimes things do get frustrating.

ESPECIALLY when you learn about all the sabotage certain members got from certain people/areas that other members did not.

Because several members did face sabotage or did unfortunately not receive the fandom’s full and proper attention or care and that too plays a major part in how the albums succeed, and also in how bothered I get.

Because nothing about this equal.

At the end of the day, all 7 of them are successful as a group and as soloists and they all deserve all the success and appreciation so there’s that I guess

Hi anon! First of all, sorry for the late reply, I was trying to let Jungkook’s album marinate a bit so I could clear my head about it too.

I wanna start saying that it IS unfortunate that most of BTS masterpieces will never get the treatment that the english trilogy got, and it pains me because their korean songs and lyrics are some of the most beautiful pieces we could get, but as you said, Americans— or better, the western industry is still full of prejudices and xenophobia, a korean song will never have the chance to shine like a full english one because the western industry doesn’t put them on the same level. And it’s awful, really. (Even though I liked Dynamite but that’s because it was a happy song that those times needed)

I don’t think it makes you an anti saying that, I don’t think it makes you an anti having a different opinion from the fandom (I’m a tae biased, I have lots of diff opinions and the fandom hates me for all of them ahaha), I didn’t care about charts either but ironically because of the success of the english trilogy, BangPd /Hybe had a Eureka moment and since that moment they tried to recreate that success in every way they could, with every group they could.

Regarding Jungkook, he told us he wanted to try different genres and wanted to become someone who could do multiple different things, I think he kinda succeeded in it with Golden (I say kinda because at the end of the day, he didn’t really try different genres but just pop and pop sub-genres), to be honest I thought he achieved that with Seven already, which was/is a smash hit, and because seven happened scooter obsession started, Bang pd money hungry ass got interested, and here we are. I do think Jungkook likes Golden, I don’t think that’s the best he can do, I don��t want him to think that if one day he’s gonna release a self-written album he should expect a different reaction/support for it, because western support is not the most important (i mean, look at Layover) and the US market is not the only big market in the industry (Asia markets are very big too)…

Because the fandom became very chart driven you will always see those kind of comparisons, even though they are unfair because it’s not the same promo, not the same company support, not the same radio push, versions, remixes, etc etc etc… So I’d say to ignore people who compare stuff like that, at the end of the day it’s just wasted energy and akgaes got lots of free time. But yeah, I hope one day the other members will have a smooth release day like Golden, without sabotage :)

[what-gs-watching]

“Sunlight over me, no matter what I do.”

This week on what G’s watching - what G’s listening to. 

This is exciting!

Gang, I told you content is how I apparently digest my feelings, and a big ol’ part of that is music. Always has been, my dad has this crazy extensive collection of albums. When I was a kid he always had something on in the car, or playing from the old stereo in our living room. One of my favorite memories is listening to the Beatles’ White Album with him on long afternoons. He’d let me dance around on his feet, and we’d sing every single one, I was the eight year old who knew the entire thing by heart.

Music is a core fucking memory for me, it’s my dad in a nutshell. I remember one year for Christmas, he gave me a bunch of burned cd’s - all of the Beatles broken up by time period, Cat Stevens, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell,  a set of discs that included the top songs broken out by month between 1964 and 1968, six in total. The tracks, he told me eventually, perfectly encapsulated the way those different seasons felt to him - The March/April disc really feels like springtime.

If you knew my dad, you’d know that the effort he put into it was much  more than his usual Christmas attempts, which were: my mother buying the gifts and then writing his name on the tag. 

So the point is: music can be an incredible thing and it’s a large part of who I am. I could write an entire post about all of that (and one about the Beatles, and one about Paul McCartney specifically, and one about Adele, and one about Bo Burham…see, I’m nuanced)  but I won’t. Right now, at least. 

Because I want to talk about Fleet Foxes. Specifically, Helplessness Blues.

This album came into my life at a weird time, I’d moved to a new city and was working my first ever real tech job and I was living with my sister, trying to figure my shit out. Which involved coworker-turned-friend drama because at the time I was absolutely not the best person, and it was very early 20’s of me. You know, when everything feels frenetic and you aren’t sure what the fuck you’re supposed to be doing with your life, so you’re just…doing random things, all the things. 

Which made me extremely susceptible to the creeping kind of darkness infused with hope the album has. I have a penchant for indie folk bands. I can’t help it. I fucking love guitar and thrumming drums with violins and shit. It just feels real to me. Authentic. Organic.

So it’s no wonder Fleet Foxes pulled me. I had a couple of their other songs on random playlists but had never attempted to listen to their first release. And then one day I was getting my oil changed, sitting in the waiting room and I read a review of Helplessness Blues in a magazine, probably Rolling Stone. I immediately bought it, which wasn’t really like me at the time - I was deep into stitching together random lists on my ipod, pulling tracks from all over the place, but I felt like I had to.  Thankfully.

I don’t know what it is about this album, but it’s the perfect mix of mauldin, shiny, twisted, uneasy, exciting, overwhelming. It feels like there’s a story to it, it’s cohesive and purposeful, but I couldn’t tell you what the narrative actually is. And that’s probably the point. It’s whatever the story is to you, and man this album for me is angst and questioning and accepting. It’s become one of those perfect albums you can listen to, never skipping a track, because they’re always a little different depending on the mood you’re in.

And right now, I'm in a weird mood. I’m lost in my life again, and angst sounds about right, so I put the album  on this afternoon after I’d finished my unemployment application and tried to harass the pharmacy for my husband, did some laundry, some dishes, random life things. I decided all I wanted to do with my Friday was chill the fuck out, blast Helplessness Blues through my airpods, and just, be with myself, and  something familiar. Inside my own brain, but with something comforting, lulling me in the background. 

I wanted to wrap myself up in something, and this was the perfect choice. Apparently one of my coping mechanisms is to just put some music on and let it overwhelm me, turning the volume up as high as I can tolerate, and singing along as needed at the top of my lungs. It’s honestly therapeutic. 

That’s what Helplessness Blues is good for. Because it’s quite a production. You can get lost in the story and it’ll morph into whatever you need at the time. Today it’s a squirming  sense of unease, but also triumph. It’s so good.

I could probably talk about all of the tracks, I’m not going to lie, but that sounds exhausting; they’re still lulling my brain right now and I don’t feel like I could pick out each one well enough, they flow together too well. 

However, The Shrine / The Argument is fucking ambitious. It’s so many different things all at once and it’s almost confusing as one song but eventually it’s really, really not. It’s weird and it ends with a horrible cacophony but then delivers really soft and agonizing violins. It has some of my favorite lyrics from the entire album:

In the morning waking up to terrible sunlight / All diffuse like skin abuse the sun is half its size

When you talk you hardly even look in my eyes

In the doorway holding every letter that I wrote / In the driveway pulling away putting on your coat

In the ocean washing off my name from your throat

Because, who hasn’t felt like that? It’s a really specific loss. How else can you say something like that? 

This is clearly getting away from me, but that’s okay. This is what I wanted to do today. I don’t do this very often, Helplessness Blues isn’t in my regular rotation, because it deserves to be listened to and I don’t always have that kind of time. I’m thankful that I do today though, I’m almost through my second rotation, and it's helping. I’m updating the story that it is, for me. Next time I listen to it, it’ll remind me of this stupid thing I’m going through and all that I am right now, a little bit. 

For example: listening to Blue Spotted Tail was very Crowley and Aziraphale today.  That’s apparently where I am, so now it’s part of the story. 

Why in the night sky are the lights hung? Why is the earth movin’ around the sun? Floating in the vacuum with no purpose not a one…

Poor little Antony J.

 Why is life made only for to end? Why do I do all this waiting then? Why this frightened part of me that's fated to pretend?

So. If you need to feel ways about things (we all do, now and again, right) this album will do it for you. And this is a terrible love letter to it, but just…trust me.

[lyricposting]

fanmix myself, 2023 edition

genuinely almost can't believe i have TWO of these on here now (i do one of these every two years ish.) time really does pass huh... ANYWAY here's the link, and full tracklist under the cut, plus me rambling :) please talk to me about any of these songs my little brain will esplode

a song you like with a color in the title: forever yellow skies by the cranberries

a song you like with a number in the title: 10,000 emerald pools by børns

a song that reminds you of summertime: rain king by counting crows (literally the album of visiting my fiance the summer after i graduated college. song of joy and also freedom)

a song that reminds you of someone you would rather forget about: all the small things by blink 182 (no i don't want to talk about it)

a song that needs to be played LOUD: bulls in the bronx by pierce the veil (i'm in agony but this song is so good)

a song that makes you want to dance: genghis khan by miiike snow (obviously)

a song to drive to: one week by the barenaked ladies (specifically if you're stuck in traffic. bnl are really good at making songs that are good for listening to in really bad traffic somehow)

a song about drugs or alcohol: home again garden grove by the mountain goats (had this one on repeat for about 2 weeks straight somewhat recently)

a song that makes you happy: tunak tunak tun by daler mehndi (also had this one on repeat recently. the vibes are immaculate)

a song that makes you sad: in corolla by the mountain goats (self explanatory)

a song that you never get tired of: awake my soul by mumford and sons (this is on one of the first albums i ever bought with my own money and i still never skip it to this day. it's SO good.)

a song from your preteen years: my song from angel beats… the memories of playing minecraft on the family computer with the angel beats songs playing in the background are SO strong...

one of your favorite 80’s songs: i wanna dance with somebody by whitney houston

a song that you would love played at your wedding: run away with me adam neely cover (my fiance introduced me to this song and it's honestly one of the Very Few songs he likes that i genuinely love lmao)

a song that is a cover by another artist: BILLY COBB hide and seek (ignore that the previous song is also a cover lol. billy cobb does some of my favorite covers of all time. i've lost count of how many times i've played this, running up that hill, and linger honestly)

one of your favorite classical songs: edward elgar's cello concerto!!! specifically as played by jacqueline du pre (i'm NOT sorry for the length. listen!!!!! it's so so so so so good!!!)

a song from the year that you were born: how's it going to be by third eye blind (literally the way he shouts at the end is top vocals of all time imo)

a song that makes you think about life: the times they are a-changin by bob dylan (the first time i heard this song it was simon and garfunkel's cover and let me tell you. it fucked me up. listened to it probably 10 times in a row)

a song that has many meanings to you: wish you were here by pink floyd (song of very potent memories plus the actual song is like. woof. plus the double hit combo. you know how it is)

a favorite song with a person’s name in the title: jenny was a friend of mine by the killers (self explanatory. this song fucks.)

a song that moves you forward: hark to the music by ezra furman

a song that you think everybody should listen to: foundations of decay by my chemical romance (hello!! obviously)

a song by a band you wish were still together: tumble by stabilo (i have so many thoughts about this song it needs its own separate post also this is my favorite band that no one cares about)

a song by an artist no longer living: paradise by the dashboard light by meat loaf (my curse of getting into someone and then they die 2 years later continues with this man)

a song that makes you want to fall in love: better than by gretchen parlato (this one doesn't make me want to fall in love as much as it reminds me of a time when i was falling in love. close enough.)

a song that breaks your heart: addict with a pen by twenty one pilots

a song by an artist with a voice that you love: dead of night by orville peck (first song of his i ever heard and one of my top 3 of his still. his voice is EVERYTHING in this song, i fell in love instantly.)

a song that you remember from your childhood: i need you to love me by barlowgirl (... i have issues.)

a song that reminds you of yourself: midnight by tyler glenn (the issues strike again. genuinely cried the first time i listened to this song lol)

[bisluthq]

one thing i don’t like about sabrina’s album is the length of the songs…. why are they all so short? tik-tokfication of music has to stop 😭 all in all solid bops!

ok i guess the album is titled short n sweet so maybe she just wanted the songs be true to the name

I actually liked that aspect of it for two reasons: 1) it matched the title lol like that was the concept 2) I didn’t think of TikTokification - I actually felt the opposite, it was more like older pop where it was like a song and not a thesis yk? The boppy songs are long enough to dance to even without remixing (and remixed in a club with other songs they would be more than long enough - a lot of artists’ have to be cut now??) and aren’t like… boring idk. Bring back things (movies and songs and albums) not requiring a fucking whole ass day to week of my life. Like the album being under an hour is fucking aces because I can listen to it at the gym doing cardio (not sure I will because I’m not sure I dug it that much) and that’s like as long as I want to do cardio at the gym for lol so I just found a perfect use for it. It’s actually also something I appreciated about Olivia Dean’s Messy but her album isn’t exactly gym music really like gym music needs to hype me up idk and Sab’s kinda is so like… I might actually listen to it for that purpose because also then that sets a specific goal for me: I have to keep going on the bike/treadmill/rowing machine/stepper thingie right until I get to the end of the album. That would not be a realistic goal for me and cardio at the gym and one of Tay’s albums lol which is why currently I have a cardio playlist which is about 47 mins long but it’d be cool if I could do it to a specific album.

[dankusner]

Good ole boys

Neil Tennant on Dr, Dre's homey, Liza's hubby and disgusting myths about gerbils

BOYS TO MEN — Chris Lowe, left, and Neil Tennant will drop the flashy theatrics when they perform Saturday night at the Bronco Bowl.

By DANIEL KUSNER  | May 31, 2002

It's a whole new Pet Shop Boys — no wigs, no eyeliner, no lipstick.

"We're not even having video. This time around, it's all about the music," Neil Tennant says in a carefully articulated Northern British accent. "In fact, this will be the first tour where I won't always have to stay in specific places because of all the onstage theatrics."

The Pet Shop Boys' frontman is describing how the gay pop-duo's new organic sound will translate into their live shows.

Now that Tennant and bandmate Chris Lowe are each comfortably in their 40s, they've stepped off the dance floor, picked up acoustic guitars and have struck a refreshing chord in their 18-year career.

Apparently, as champions of the synthesizer era, the Pet Shop Boys were ready for some modifications.

While crafting material for their new album, "Release," Lowe and Tennant retreated to a remote country house to avoid outside influences on their creative process.

"I put the chord changes for the new songs down on guitar rather than keyboard. And Chris started programming drums. Using real drums rather than electronic beats. It all just started to change," Tennant explains. "Besides, we didn't really want to do dance music. We both thought there's so much dance music nowadays. That it would be more original if we just concentrated on the melody and lyrics, and slower tempos. Writing songs is what we do best. And frankly, dance music these days is not really about songmanship."

By taking this so-called "more mature approach," the Pet Shop Boys are hoping to draw attention to their intelligent compositions and their ironic sense of humor.

In a flash of clever brilliance, they recently penned "The Night I Fell in Love," a gorgeous ballad about a gay boy who falls for a famous rap star backstage at his concert and follows him to a hotel room for a "private performance."

"MTV played the song for Dr. Dre. And he laughed and said, '[Eminem] is going to fucking kill them!' But he seemed pretty good-humored about it. I don't see why he shouldn't be. The song is really sweet and warm," Tennant says.

"It was just taking the oldest issue of Eminem being homophobic, which I don't think he is, really. Eminem says he plays characters. And he represents the homophobia in America, which I think is a very strong argument. Everything he does is in character. So I thought I would adopt his method. I'm not suggesting Eminem is gay because evidently, he isn't. It was just kind of rating the possibilities of exposing a homophobic rapper for being gay."

Sly references about the rap world are nothing new for the Pet Shop Boys.

Many suspect the band's name is a humorous take on the nasty urban myth about "gay men and gerbils."

Tennant insists that was never the intention.

"I actually used to get really annoyed with that myth, because people are stupid enough to believe it," he huffs.

"In the early '80s, Chris had two friends who worked in a pet shop in West London. Everyone used to refer to them as "the pet-shop boys." We used to say that they should start a rap group called the Pet Shop Boys because at the time there were all of these rap groups.

"Like the New York Citi Peech Boys and the Beastie Boys. A lot of rap groups were 'boys.' And we thought it sounded like a weird rap group," he continues.

"The first interview I ever did as one of the Pet Shop Boys was when 'West End Girls' was released. A journalist said, 'So, Neil, what about the name? We all know what it means' She told me about [the gerbil myth], and I was absolutely furious. Anyway, I've learned to live with it.”

Working on the new album sadly kept the Pet Shop Boys from attending the marriage ceremony of the century.

"We were invited to Liza's wedding. And we even bought wedding presents from Tiffany's in New York. But we had a single coming out two days later in Britain. And we had all this stuff to do. But we saw her the following week because we were booked on the same London TV show. And then we went to see her in The Albert Hall two weeks later, which was great by the way," Tennant says of Minnelli whom the Pet Shop Boys collaborated with in the late '80s.

And as for Liza's husband, Tennant offers a diplomatic opinion.

"I don't know. My gaydar says that he seems like a manager to me. I didn't really get a gaydar reading from him. But then he always wears dark glasses. So it's hard to tell," he laughs.

Perhaps humor is the best medicine when it comes to guessing about other people's sexuality.

Last year Tennant poured an enormous amount of time and energy into Wotapalava, which was supposed to be the first all-gay music festival.

Unfortunately, it was cancelled when an erratic Sinéad O'Connor withdrew at such short notice.

"We put the whole bill together. And then, the day before it was announced, Sinéad O'Connor pulled out for personal reasons because she was getting married. I guess her gay phase didn't last very long," he laughs. "We thought we could go ahead and get another co-headliner. But, in fact, that proved very difficult. The promoter started getting a bit twitchy about it. So we decided to pull it."

Tennant says there's still talk about mounting Wotapalava this fall. But right now his plate is already full.

"It's a possibility. But there's no definite plan," he says. "It was very interesting — the enthusiasm we got from the promoters. You'd sort of think that the rock business is kind of homophobic in a way. But it was the opposite. Because so many people were really keen to do this. At the moment, however, we're really just concentrating on getting this theater tour going."

The Pet Shop Boys perform Saturday, June 1 at 8 p.m. at the Bronco Bowl Theatre, 2600 Fort Worth Ave. Tickets $35-$50.114-943-8088.