#the concept behind the album is so genius too

[dilfsuzanneyk]

so happy about people posting about toilet hell tuesday and free him friday, even if it's just memes! was so devastated when i found out he had a whole concept album with seven songs planned only for some mishaps to happen and for it to become lost media like me, myself and i...

rip Al's Inferno i just know you were full of bangers

[spookydrreid]

Hi! It’s me again. What kind of music and which artists do you think Spencer listens to?

I’m about to geek out.

(Also i’m adding a tw for Preachers Daughter by Ethel Cain. Its concept album and the lore behind it involves SA, murder & cannibalism. So before anyone goes looking into it or listening… there ya go. I say this because allll of this is easy to find and the genius lyrics talk about it. ❤️)

I feel like the team has opened up his music taste for sure. I do think he’s got a thing for 90s country. Like I feel like his mom was into it and by association so is he.

However, and I’m definitely projecting, Penelope made him a Taylor stan. He enjoys her lyricism and the deeper meaning of his songs. He does love a good theory too 👀

He definitely is an Ethel Cain fan (same) and may or may not have cried listening to “Preachers Daughter” and cringed when he got to Ptolemaea (because hello have you heard that fucking song? Horror movie central…) HOWEVER, he thinks Family Tree (intro) is like 👨‍🍳💋

He also likes The Weeknd, a little Justin Bieber (he won’t admit it), Sabrina Carpenter, some Chase Atlantic thanks to Emily!

And finally, give him some Sleep Token and you two won’t be leaving that bed for a while 👀

[bybdolan]

As promised/threatened/announced, I compiled some of my favorite and least favorite metaphors/images/turns of phrases/everything that kind of falls under this category on Midnights and explained why they work for me and why they don’t. Enjoy! (Bevor we begin: @whiskeyswifty put together some of her least favorite metaphors on the album here and there probably will be some doubling. Points were made!)

FAVORITE

“From sprinkler splashes to fireplace ashes.” – What a genius way to signify the passage of time! Not only does it have a strong sensual element (the feeling of water on your skin, the smell and sound of a crackling fireplace), it also implies a certain loss of virility and innocence through going from an image usually associated to childhood to the scorched, burned wood of a fireplace. LOVE.

“The rust that grew between telephones.” – A little gem on a song I really dislike otherwise. It fits the color scheme of the song (very obviously the writing exercise Taylor set herself with it: “write about things that are red that you associate with the relationship” – not a bad approach per se but often led to weird moments on Midnights) and immediately communicates a loss of contact in a very sad, destructive way.

“I’m a monster on the hill. Too big to hang out, slowly lurching towards your favorite city. Pierced through the heart but never killed.” – LISTEN! I absolutely love this line because the idea of her as this large, scary being is thought through and expanded upon in a way that is so effective in evoking a very specific mental image in your mind. I can clearly visualize  this creature on all fours crawling towards a skyline or something 1930s-monster-movie like that. I also like this because it goes into this slight horror element that pops up at certain points on the album but is never all that realized and tbh… I want gore!

“Did all the extra credit, then got graded on a curve. I think it’s time to teach some lessons!” – again: a very solidly thought out use of school imagery that is gleefully condescending.

“I'm the wind in our free-flowing sails, and the liquor in our cocktails.“ – Great line in a song I never listen to lol. It is, again, kind of sensual (speaks to the feeling of wind on your skin, makes you think of the sea; there is the slight burn of alcohol) and just makes you think of freedom and fun and life being easy going, which is exactly what she is describing here.

“High Infidelity” – one of her BEST titles and arguably my favorite “writing exercise” song concept because wheeew! I know she was happy when she came up with that and rightfully so! Genius wordplay.

“And maybe it's the past that's talking, screaming from the crypt, telling me to punish you for things you never did.” – kind of using this as a stand in for the entire song because I find the war metaphor to work very well as a whole (although I carry sliiight issue with it from a personal standpoint, given that it feels very clearly connected to WWI instead of just ~a war~ and it’s a peculiar choice). It’s a very tight sing imagery-wise because every lyric connects back to the main theme in a way that also makes it makes sense on an individual level. I picked this lyric specifically because it reminds me a favorite song where the singer describes his duties yelling at him from beneath the floor but he can’t hear because he is hanging out with his favorite person. I like personifications like that, and the suggestion that these influences are outside of ourselves, rather than inside.

“The tomb won’t close, stained glass windows in my mind.” – Putting this one directly behind The Great War because a) crypt parallel and b) Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve also works sooo well as a whole because the imagery is so tight and is utilized perfectly. One of her strongest work ever in that regard, because it adds a very specific layer to the story being told without ever outright saying it.

[the entire chorus of Karma] – it’s soooo fun and tongue in cheek and every single comparison she does works so well to me. “Karma’s on your scent like a bounty hunter” is so good as well. The song genuinely has some very good metaphorical work.

LEAST FAVORITE

“He was sunshine, I was midnight rain.” / “All of me changed like midnight.” – I think my main issue with this song is also the underlying issue I have with all of my least favorite imagery moments on the album: It feels like they were forcefully included to fit the theme of the song or album, without actually thinking about how they work by themselves. Midnight rain as a concept is so broad that the lyric describing it feel weak? I suppose it is meant to signify that she is dark and moody, but it ends up feeling a bit basic (as weather metaphors sometimes do). And the idea of “changed like midnight” just escapes me because, apart from the striking of the clock in a New Year’s Eve or Cinderella way, I feel like midnights are not commonly associated with change. I get where she is coming from, but it feels so so flat to me. However, this is also the lyric I am willing to give grace considering it might simply. Idk. Go over my head.

“But your eyes are flying saucers from another planet.” – Hands down my least favorite lyric on the entire album (and one of my least favorite lyrics of all time). Again: I get the idea, but the mental image this puts into my head is just incredibly goofy. Joe Alwyn with big ol’ round cartoon eyes. Was somebody scrambling for a lyric that matched the cosmic imagery of the song but already blew “starry eyes” and “eyes full of stars” on two different songs? Mh? “Flying saucers” as an object and a word combo simply are not romantic to me. Couldn’t we at least have used spaceship to signify that he feels out of this world? Idk man

“Draw the cat eye sharp enough to kill a man.” – Do I have to say anything about it? By itself it would be okay I guess but using internet speech from 2014 as an opening line to a song is. A choice. Also… I thought we didn’t dress for men (or women for that matter)? Why are u then thinking about him while doing your makeup, babygirl?

“You know how scared I am of elevators, never trust it if it rises fast.” – overdone! This is not a bad metaphor per se but it sure is a familiar one and IMMEDIATELY leaves your brain. Never use a metaphor/an image you have heard before, or whatever George Orwell said. (Great writing advice!)

“Spider boy, king of thieves, weave your little webs of opacity.” – Another one of those lines where you can feel the forced concept. I know somebody was super happy with “Spider boy” and then went looking for something that fit. “Weave your little webs of opacity” is SO clunky and heavy handed! I do like “my pennies made your crown” though.

“Sit quiet by my side in the shade, and not the kind that's thrown, I mean the kind under where a tree has grown.” – Bad. Very unsuccessful way of incorporating online lingo, and the “having to explain yourself” thing through the “I mean” is sooo… scrap it. I like the tree idea though, having grown something together, nurturing the relationship like a plant, etc.

“Freedom felt like summer then on the coast, but now the sun burns my heart, and the sand hurts my feelings.” – ok including this with a caveat: I think this actually is a good metaphor. Evocative, sensual, well thought out. However! I personally think “the sand hurts my feelings” sounds goofy and I think this line also would have worked had we stuck to the “real” nature impressions. Sun burning skin, sand getting into every crevice. Something like that. I think it would have communicated the idea equally well.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Having looked at a very specific part of the album like this, I wonder about the “writing exercise” thing she mentioned on the Graham Norton show. Multiple people have said that the concept album idea does not work for them, and I think I personally agree, but furthermore, Taylor developing entire songs about a word or a specific image appears to be pretty hit or miss, since we sometimes end up with these forced lyrics where you can just tell they needed that line and wondered how to make it fit with the rest of the song instead of having it come naturally. That said: as the good examples illustrate, Taylor is a capable writer and knows what she is doing.

[kaylor]

Idk if Taylor has always always been this literal in terms of the concept and the name of the album (maybe with speak now) idk i guess each album gets a bit of that but to me her entire explanation of this one being “this album is about those thoughts you have at midnight so my album is gonna be named midnights and in every single song i will used the word midnight, even tho sonically the album doesn’t make any fucking sense and it doesn’t look or even hear as an bum, because this album is set at midnight. It will come out at midnight because that’s the concept of the alb-“ and the fact that she claimed it’s a concept album, I’m crying laughing.

yeah i mean she's always been pretty literal with album titles tbh, like reputation was very on the nose but was just cool enough to work. lover/daylight again very basic on the nose, even though you have to respect the implications of referring to both yourself and your partner as Lovers on an album full of wedding imagery. it's still a bad album title but the implications.... 😈

folklore, 1989 and red, in that order, i think are her best album titles. folklore is exceptional because she is literally turning her life experiences into stories, warping them and disconnecting them from herself, but making them part of her own mythology anyway. no one will ever know the truth behind any of these stories, and no one ever should. they're folklore now, they're up to interpretation, and every swiftie will have a different version of taylor swift folklore in their minds. genius.

1989 is super cool because it's so mysterious, it gives nothing away beyond hey this music is inspired by 80s pop but it's also about myself but it's also not about myself anymore. it's like. this album is about rebirth, not as a person, but as an artist. the metanarrative about moving to new york to become herself + immediately solidifying her position as a pop behemoth, chefs fucking kiss.

red is great because, well, does it even need saying. the joni mitchell inspiration. the lipstick. the synesthetic emotional state of a fresh breakup. the literal colors in autumn. it shouldn't work, it should be super overdone, but it fucking works!!

on the flip side there's evermore, which to me is such a nothingtitle. it's very much a "we have all these b sides we have to call it something" vibe. no hate to evermore, there's some amazing tracks, but it's not an album it's a collection of songs. speak now is... fine i guess? very funny to title your album with a command to speak now when the album is full of songs you wrote because you did not speak then. again no hate to speak now because it's got many of my favorite songs on it, but it is only loosely cohesive as a unit because it's just a coming of age album. i would have to sit down and have a proper think about what i would have titled it.

and while we're here we may as well talk about fearless and self titled too. fearless is a good album title, it's very 2008, it's exactly what an 18 year old should be feeling, it perfectly captures the album. nothing groundbreaking, just decent and appropriate. i personally find it extremely boring for artists to name an album after themselves. i think it's uninspired, i think it's lazy, i think it should be illegal for artists to do this. i don't care how much you reinvented yourself or whatever, it's BORING. do better.

and then there's fucking Midnights. maybe the laziest concept ever conceived. it's literally just "i wrote a bunch of songs about my feelings" okay what's new? "i'm almost topless in the photoshoot" incredible no notes. but is the album interesting? hardly.

[chewiiez]

fengqing as twice songs; a megalist

THE STORY BEGINS

do it again

like a fool

PAGE TWO

precious love

TWICECOASTER LANE 1

TT

next page

TWICECOASTER LANE 2

knock knock

ice cream

SIGNAL

someone like me

only you

TWICETAGRAM

missing u

love line

jaljayo good night

rollin’

WHAT IS LOVE/SUMMER NIGHTS

what is love?

say yes

stuck

YES OR YES

sunset

after moon

FANCY YOU

hot

strawberry

FEEL SPECIAL

feel special

trick it

21:29

love foolish

get loud

MORE & MORE

more and more

firework

oxygen

shadow

make me go

EYES WIDE OPEN

i can’t stop me

shot clock

go hard

bring it back

handle it

depend on you

behind the mask

KURA KURA

kura kura

strawberry moon

TASTE OF LOVE

alcohol-free

sos

scandal

conversation

baby blue love

PERFECT WORLD

perfect world

thank you, family

better

pieces of love

DOUGHNUT

doughnut

FORMULA OF LOVE

moonlight

cruel

f.i.l.a (fall in love again)

last waltz

espresso

rewind

cactus

push and pull

1, 3, 2

the most fengqing song to ever fengqing btw

CELEBRATE

tick tock

sandcastle

bittersweet

BETWEEN 1&2

talk that talk

basics

brave

trouble

when we were kids

READY TO BE

moonlight sunrise

wallflower

crazy stupid love

WITH YOU-TH

i got you

rush

bloom

you get me

IM NAYEON (NAYEON SOLO)

all or nothing

sunset

love countdown

ZONE (JIHYO SOLO)

killin me good

wishing on you

talkin about it

closer

room

AND THAT’S ALL! every twice album has a song for fq, but i didn’t deep dive into the jp releases that much because im not too familiar w them,, still perfect world stands as the best jp twice album so i had to include tracks from it!

this is a collection of pre-canon (xl era), the 800 year heartbreak era, post canon and during relationship songs! twice started as a bubblegum pop band and have a large collection of cute songs, but think of these cute songs as japanese songs where the meaning is deep/dark 😭😭 as someone who’s explored twice’s entire discography i promise you the tracks are fengqing coded!

i would reccomend, if its your first time listening to kpop or twice, these websites:

genius english translations. they aren’t the most understandable but they are accessible!

color coded lyrics/a-z lyrics. super accurate

lyric videos on yt! esp if its a title track (like feel special), you can watch the mv, look @ subtitles or pull up a color coded lyrics video.

line distribution! def a new concept if you aren’t familiar w kpop, it shows which members sing what parts. often, they will have lyrics, but its a great way to remember a song if yk whos singing it, imo

i hope this helps, and i hope u enjoy my recs <3

(re edited to include twice solos!)

[leasthaunted]

The Flaming French Bowie-Batman Connection.

If I can just share a random musical fact that leads into a greater lyrical appreciation of a song that was featured in the soundtrack to Batman Forever....

In 1968 David Bowie was approached by a music publisher to translate the 1957 French song, Comme d'habitude into english. The original song was about falling out of love and the end of a relationship. Bowie had translated a few other songs before for this publisher, and so he took this job too.

His song, Even A Fool Falls In Love, was rejected by the original song rights holders because they believed Bowie was too obscure of an artist at this point, and they wanted a huge hit so they could get residuals.

A short time later Paul Anka bought the rights for the song and rewrote it, and had another artist cover it. It was a huge hit for the artist and soon became their signature tune. The Artist? Frank Sinatra. The Song? My Way.

Bowie was understandably a little miffed by all of this. So, he wrote a parody song that used some of the same chord progressions and melody. That Song? Life on Mars.

"WHAT DOES ANY OF THIS HAVE TO DO WITH BATMAN?!" I hear you scream into the night.

In 1995 Warner Brothers releases Batman Forever. Two songs stood out from the associated soundtrack release. Seal's Kiss From a Rose, and Bad Days by The Flaming Lips. The later of which was to serve as the "theme song" for Jim Carrey's Riddler. The Batman Forever soundtrack was the first album the song debuted on. And so is considered the official release of the song.

"But Cody," I hear you ask, "What does that have to do with Life on Mars and My Way?"

It is a song about escaping your bad days into your dreams. The song opens with the lines:

"You're sorta stuck where you are, But in your dreams, you can buy expensive cars Or live on Mars, and have it your way. "

The inflection at the end of the line is identical and mocking of Sinatra's My Way. Wayne Coyne was obviously aware of the connection between the two songs, which is impressive in a pre internet world. But we forget that pre internet, fans would actually read fan magazines and interviews, and such. So being into music, he would have definitely heard of this story.

But there is another layer!

Bowie was hired to write a translation of a song for a record company. The Flaming lips were hired to write a song by a record company. So the line is also a nod to The Flaming Lips (a band from Oklahoma City) getting some recognition, and maybe moving forward. The chance to buy expensive cars, live on mars, and have it their way. Beyond that there is the double reference of "Have it your way" being the slogan that Burger King used against McDonalds.

Batman Forever was a huge advertising monster, and had a tie in with McDonalds.

So it was possibly another way for the band to take a dig at the whole concept behind the song as a way to sell a movie tie in for Warner Brother's records, AND a dig at McDonalds.

GENIUS! And all of that coded in two sentences!

[thegothicarchitecture]

SCARING THE HOES - JPEGMAFIA, Danny Brown

Mom, come pick me up I’m scared :(

Danny Brown and JPEGMAFIA have been discussing a collaborative project in the works for a while now.  Now that an album has finally been released and is available on streaming services, and I have listened to both the album and the rapturous praise it has garnered from some critics as of writing, I am left with very mixed feelings on the project we actually got.

I think I should start with the concept of a collaborative debut from these two particular rappers.

Was this a misguided attempt? JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown have largely disparate styles, and while many of the beats on this tape are stellar the chemistry between the two rappers is so lackluster it pulls away from my enjoyment of the record significantly.

On the topic of the mix, rarely do I listen to an album where the leveling between tracks is so consistently inconsistent. Song for song the vocals are leveled somewhere from way too low to just barely audible, only on occasion being mixed high enough to make out what’s being said.

The times where the vocals are mixed better still frustrates me in the context of the record. Why couldn’t every song be mixed properly? The fact that I had to listen to the album multiple times and then read through genius to decipher 90% of the lyrics makes me wonder how anyone can argue this is a good mix for a collaborative rap album, how anyone who cares about rap can defend a mix where most of the vocals are mixed as loud as the quietest impulses in the percussion. Or lower!

I could keep harping on the horrible mix to no end, but I would have to stop myself for the sake of time. I’ll just conclude this point that the mix hides what should have been a string of bombastic and fun performances by Danny and JPEG alike.

The opener Lean Beef Patty needs seasoning.  I was considering putting out a track review when this was released as the first single of the project, but I wanted to wait until I heard it in the full context of the album.  Overall, JPEGMAFIA relies again on very “edgy” yet not the slightest bit controversial humor, lines like “fuck yall **** I feel like Papa John” should have been left on the cutting room floor even when they were still relevant. Danny’s verse, while better, seems like a nonsequitur about drug and alcohol abuse when compared to JPEGMAFIA’s more vaguely political verse before.

Steppa Pig picks up the pace with a beat that is more interesting and with better performances from both JPEG and Danny. The title track after may be the album’s opus, a song that is a funny commentary on making weird, commercially unappealing music with layered sax squeals and clapping before the percussion drops in. Stylistically I think the album shines when the weird elements in the production are more sparse and spread far in between so the vocals get some elbowroom, which happens to be exemplified well here.

Other songs like Garbage Pale Kids and Where Ya Get Ya Coke From? have phenomenal beats behind them but the clashing with the vocals in the mix cannot be overstated.

I usually don’t like to pull other critics into the conversation, but I’ve now watched Crash Thompson and Brad Taste in Music (reviewers who I like and respect) give this album very high scores while endlessly criticizing various aspects of the songs or the skill level between the two rappers.  I wonder if this is a case of the Emperor’s new clothes, where no one wants to be the first to criticize one of music’s biggest tastemaker’s holy cows.

The best defense of the album I heard was Shawn Cee’s description of the beats as making you want to eat your vegetables, which describes the production well but not the final product.  If the lyrics, vocal mixing or chemistry between JPEGMAFIA and Danny does not factor into the equation, this should’ve been released as a beat tape. I think then it would’ve turned out less artistically and conceptually scattered.

Highlights:  SCARING THE HOES, Garbage Pale Kids, HOE (Heaven on Earth)

✮ ✮ (Okay)

[allamericansbitch]

Hey! Not the same anon but I love your blog and music taste. I've listened to Ethel Cain since you recommended it but I still feel like I didn't get it? It was pretty jarring on a first listen too..idk. Am I missing something or do I just not get it..or like it? Like enough to love it..and the approachable songs were the ones I liked best I think or could remember the most. I just want you to explain why you love it so much and maybe that could help me. I don't mean that in a rude way either cuz I usually love or have the same music taste as you!

it's totally fine for you to simply not like something, nothing is wrong with that at all! i had a similar experience to you when i listened to it. i had only heard crush and american teenager when the album was released so when i listened to it in full i was like 'oh this is different...' and had no idea that it was a concept album and the story behind it.

but the more i listened to it the more it clicked and then when i found out the concept behind it i was in love with it. it was just so much more meaningful to me knowing the story. (just in case you dont know the story is told from the point of view of a girl who grows up in a small town, looses the love of her life, runs away, gets caught up in a bad situation with a man who ends up killing and eating her). there's a tik tok channel that goes through each of the songs and tells the story behind them (here is the first video of the first track, to watch the rest you can just look threw their profile) as well as ethel herself talking about the meaning of each song on genius.

i love the storytelling on the album, it's simplicity and space allows the listener to kind of fill in the blanks and create their own unique version of the story she's telling. i love how she lets the songs breath because it captures that open air feeling of small towns that never really have anything going on. it's a really tight, good concept album about something no one has really done before. i would say listen to it again, but also, no pressure at all if you dont like it, it's just not your taste and thats fine!

[artanisnaanie]

🎶✨️ let’s spread some music! put 5 songs you listen to and publish. then, send this ask to 10 of your followers 🎶✨️

Thank you for your ask, Katie, even if I've seen it like 3 days later 😂

So the first one lately is "Behind blue eyes" by The Who and it's giving me all sorts of fandom feels, especially these lyrics:

When my fist clenches, crack it open

Before I use it and lose my cool

When I smile, tell me some bad news

Before I laugh and act like a fool

And if I swallow anything evil

Put your finger down my throat

And if I shiver, please give me a blanket

Keep me warm, let me wear your coat

Next we have the Canon in D by Pachelbel, which is enormously fun to deconstruct as you listen to it.

Still in classical but also not is Bouree by Jethro Tull, because Bach is a genius and so is Ian Anderson:

Next we have two concept albums that really need to be listened to as a whole and not as songs:

The first one is (actually anything) by Pink Floyd, Wish you were here

And the second is La Buona Novella by Fabrizio de André, because this list was too anglophonic:

Anyway tell me which songs give you the most blorbo feels these days, it's definetly Behind Blue Eyes for me!

[dollarbin]

World Party Week, Day 3:

Love Street

Karl Wallinger loved a bridge. Just after the two minute mark of one of his supremely hummable but somewhat formulaic songs, Call Me Up, from his fourth record, Egyptology, he shuffles in a fourth wall breaking bridge for the ages, asking us,

Whatever happened to those bits in the middle? You know those crazy piano bits I used to think that it went like that But it really went like this...

Yes, indeed? Where did those detours-down-a-musical-cul-de-sac-and-back bridges go?

(And speaking of detours, how about this silly video? I was studying at Cambridge and had to put pound coins into a slot on my dorm wall so as to access heat so obviously I had no access whatsoever to music videos of any kind when this album came out. So I have no idea how Egyptology was received in the States - and did anyone actually see music videos in 1997? MTV was pretty done, yeah? And the internet basically was not up and running... But, regardless, I'm guessing this video didn't compete with Weezer or whatever nonsense was big at that moment.)

But back to pop song bridges: some of the best ones are too good for words; take, for example the workmanlike to soaring chord progression and harmony in Simon and Garfunkel's The Only Living Boy in New York.

Wallinger could play a fantastic guitar. But he always built his best bridges on harmony and words. In two of his very best, and best known, songs, Way Down Now and Put the Message in the Box, both from his masterpiece, Goodbye Jumbo, Wallinger slams on the breaks mid-song, once to let us picture clocks running backwards, and then to describe the planet itself begging us for love, before he dives joyfully back into his final hooks.

But there's no better example of this particular genius of his than on one of that same record's lesser known tracks, Love Street. At first we simply enjoy yet another solid ballad, nodding along while Wallinger takes nothing more than the title and general concept from the hapless Doors song of the same name. Karl shows us around life on a glittering and precious little street named after romance. It's nice! But that's about it.

Until, once again, the two minute mark. Then things get righteous; then Wallinger busts out his big ass wok and turns up the heat to 11, then 12: he's suddenly mounted a stage in Love Town and is making a musical meal the whole damn city will savor.

I told you Wallinger could play guitar. He's a very white guy version of Jimmie Hendrix by the end of the bridge and it suddenly makes sense why Wallinger was all set to open for Neil Young in the early 90's before his record company - stupidly - pulled the plug on that tour and ordered him back into the studio.

Wallinger really takes his time on this song; he floats back down to earth after the bridge and his solo, and he places us gently on water, letting us float, satiated, out of town. We've left Love Street behind on day three of World Part Week.

But it's coming with us all the same.

[metalhead-brainrot]

Back again after the new year celebration and all the dishwashing that entails.

[Album of the day] Wizard Tattoo - Fables of the Damned

Indianapolis, IN // 2023

[Genres] stoner rock, doom metal, folk

[Themes] wizardry, bardic tales

[FFO] pulp horror, gritty fantasy, riff heaven

[Thoughts] I listen to a lot of stoner rock (arguably too much), and this is my favorite release of the year. It's catchy as hell and you'd never know it was a solo work; Bram the Bard is the mastermind behind Wizard Tattoo, a talented multinstrumentalist who can craft stoner doom hits (e.g. "The Vengeful Thulsa Dan", "God Damn This Wizard Tattoo") as well as folky, instrospective tracks (e.g. "Any Which Way But Tuned", "Abendrote"). I simply think this is a genius work and if you're here, give it a listen.

I'd be remiss to not mention Wizard Tattoo's visual artwork; the album art (also done solely by Bram the Bard), is clearly referential to the pulp horror comics of the mid-20th century. These comics are stupid cool, but don't take my word for it: check out this article on Tor.com by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, author of popular weird lit novel Mexican Gothic.* And if you want to read some Mexican horror comics of yesteryear, check out these two free databases: Revistería Ponchito and El Monje Loco on Issuu.

Bram the Bard further employs a comic-book art style in the music video for my favorite song on the album.** If you dig any of this, feel free to hit me up; I'd love to chat about the album and anything else I've mentioned.

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* As well as about nine other novels and a ton of nonfiction and short stories; Moreno-Garcia is an incredibly prolific author. Somehow I've managed to put off reading anything except her thesis, Magna mater: women and eugenic thought in the work of H.P. Lovecraft, which you can download for free at the University of British Columbia's open collections.

** I like it so much I wrote the character of Thulsa Dan into my Pathfinder 2e campaign as a legendary character. Unfortunately, my players abandoned the campaign.

o()xxxx[:::::::::::::::::>o()xxxx[:::::::::::::::::>o()xxxx[:::::::::::::::::>

[From the band/label]

Wizard Tattoo, the genre bending Indianapolis-based metal band by multi-instrumentalist Bram the Bard, returns with the debut full-length concept album Fables of the Damned. Picking up where the self-titled EP left off, Fables… continues the story of a man who gets a tattoo of a wizard and slowly loses his mind–while introducing new characters like the loser of the infamous battle from the previously released “Wizard Knife Fight.” and more. Heavier and darker, Fables… pulls from doom influences (Conan, SubRosa, Bongripper) with classic rock (Led Zeppelin, Motley Crue), as well as a healthy dose of 90s alternative (Smashing Pumpkins, Alice in Chains, Ministry).

Fans of Wizard Tattoo's unique blend of catchy riffs with progressive and heavy elements will not be disappointed with Fables of the Damned. The album is a masterful display of Bram the Bard's musical prowess and a testament to the band's ability to seamlessly blend genres into a cohesive, hard-hitting sound.

Mixed and mastered at Garage Fire Recordings, Fables of the Damned is also accompanied by original artwork hand-drawn by Bram the Bard himself. The artwork is inspired by horror movies and comics, and it brings the album's six tales of madness to life in a colorful and imaginative way.

[ajoytobeheld]

Gareth Campesinos!' records of 2010

December 2nd, 2010

And so, the moment I’ve been waiting for, my 12 albums for 2010. That averages at one a month </justification for exceeding ten>

I was intending to do this in order of preference, but the late arrival of Kanye convinced me otherwise. Right now I can’t see that I like an album from this year more than My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, but 12 months ago I’d have said the same about Perfume Genius’ Learning. Making a snap decision now could only cause me to cause some horrific injustice like, oooh, I dunno, suggesting the Marina And The Diamonds record is better than Kanye. Idiocy.

I cannot write about music, so please forgive these descriptions, they’re just to break up the pics, like.

So, in no particular order…

Psychorama – Bathcrones

Bright melodies bubbling atop and overflowing from slow motion beats. All sheets of synth noise and groove. An oddly uplifting record, kinda like a crack of light under the doorframe of a darkened room.

Love King – The Dream

The-Dream’s written some of modern chart music’s biggest hits (Umbrella, Single Ladies) but his solo records show an intelligence and degree of concept that very few people would expect. Dark, self obsessed stuff hidden behind MASSIVE TUNES. Our generation’s Michael Jackson, I tell you.

Carve Out The Face Of My God – Infinite Body

The most melodic shoegazy/ambient record I can recall hearing. Released on No Age’s Post Present Medium record label, this drone is modern day classical music if you ask me.

Autre Ne Veut – Autre Ne Veut

Like every annoying ten-minute trend this year, but with actual worth behind it, a set of bollocks and falsetto. Nostalgic, twisted pop-songs to make your head whir and your eyes cry ice cubes. This is one of my absolute favourites.

Blue Water White Death – Blue Water White Death

Starring Jamie Stewart and Shearwater’s Jonathan Meiburg, this, for me, harks back to La Foret era Xiu Xiu. Centred around acoustic instrumentation and eerie, threatening mantras.

LA Vampires Meets Zola Jesus – LA Vampires Meets Zola Jesus

Massively succesful year for Zola Jesus’ Nika Roza, whose Stridulum EP has seen her break into a world that I could never have imagined (though am so pleased to see her in). However this, her work with Pocahaunted’s Amanda Brown is my favourite of hers from this year. Mesmerising, minor key and dub tinged, this is pretty trippy stuff.

Dagger Paths – Forest Swords

So happy that this is receiving a late push from the likes of Pitchfork. Wirral producer Matthew Barnes is a gentleman, and produces music like nothing I can recall exactly hearing before. His cover of Aaliyah’s ‘If Your Girl’ may well be my track of the year (actually, no, that’s The-Dreams F.I.L.A., but still).

Suburban Tours – Rangers

Like early Ariel Pink, but less annoying (to my ears). Every AM radio song of the 80s recorded to cassette and played atop of each other over a melted car stereo. But sad, very sad.

Learning – Perfume Genius

The most delicate and tortured music I’ve heard since the highest (or is that lowest) points of This Mortal Coil. Just a beautiful man and his demons sat aside a piano. I’ve gone on about this record enough that if I’ve not convinced you by now, I’m sure I never will.

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy – Kanye West

There are no words.

Mare – Julian Lynch

Hazy, folky pop songs made ‘difficult’. Soothing and rewarding.

New Love – Former Ghosts

Industrial, hyper emotional tales of the heart and soul from the composer of my favourite album of 2009. This second full length pays even more attention to detail and space. Somehow more pop and more brutal than before.

Needless to say, I’m excited for all the upcoming End Of Year Lists from certain publications, to see what brilliant stuff I’ve missed out on this year. And maybe yours too?

[nataliyaappreciatingart]

Virtual Sketchbook 4

WRITING, THINKING AND LOOKING CRITICALLY - Pollock - Quick as a Rainbow

Ludwig Wittgenstein, a great Austrian philosopher, had a very precision-centered, mathematical understanding of language in his early active years, i.e. language is a tool of logic exclusively, and the whole reason communication fails us is that lack of precision and exact same shared meaning. The Great War, however, was a great deterrent to that school of thought, even for Wittgenstein. Senseless atrocities and death he witnessed made him see the world more complexly, and in his later works he posited that language is a tool reflecting change - concepts of "pain" or "joy", "black" or "white" can widely vary depending on circumstance and the speaker.

After briefly learning of Jackson Pollock's life and career, I couldn't help but draw a parallel between Wittgenstein's post-war clarity and the painter's radicality within the art world. Although not involved in WWII directly as a combatant, Pollock was going through a war of his own - alcoholism. As trite and/or harmful as the term "troubled genius" can be, the artist in question was truly that in my eyes, and he was gone too soon.

After studying under various mentors and institutions, Pollock couldn't help but sway more elementally in his approach. Sometimes, I like to imagine it was after seeing Picasso's "Guernica" that he saw a green light to be free from convention, but it absolutely wasn't so. A combination of external artistic influences (both representational and cubist), his personal experiences with psychotherapy, his unconventional background, a need for a paycheck as well as to stand out in a proud American way, and most vividly, his addiction were the drives behind his unforgettable drip technique and the desire to do as he pleased. Or, perhaps like Wittgenstein after the war, alcoholism-stricken Jackson Pollock looked around and saw very little he could hold onto and philosophically invest in, and therefore he invented another explanation, another reality. And just like that of Wittgenstein, non-representational internally guided philosophy of Jackson Pollock lives on to be a great sign of hope.

2. ART PROJECT

"Soot-Colored Funk". Watercolor on cold-press watercolor paper, 9 3/4 "x 6". This piece was made while listening to "Reading, Writing and Arithmetic" by The Sundays, one of the most on-repeat albums of my teenage years. While deeply wanting to recreate the joy this album gave me at the time, I couldn't find balance in the neon tints, until I realized it needed the black patches of time to make it make sense compositionally and emotionally.

[whats-k-popping]

Congrats on all your achievememts 🥰 Requesting Yoongi who accidentally overeats because he’s stressed over work. Cue Hoseok finding him groaning and hiccuping in his studio, empty ramen cups littered around. Hoseok helps ease his painful hiccups. Doesnt need to end in emeto. Can end with Hobi giving him a warm water bottle and belly rubs.

Thank you anon!! This is such an interesting request! I loved writing it so much. I really liked writing just hiccups as the symptom. There's so little content that focuses on just hiccups. I'd love to read more content like this in the future. It's so cute! I hope you enjoy this anon!

Pairing: SOPE - platonic friendship with allusions to a fwb situation. Do what you will with that.

Setting: Sometime between That That and the announcement of JITB.

Words: 2320

Warnings: Accidental Overindulgence || Stomach Ache || Hiccups

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Time is an illusion inside the Genius Lab. Sometimes minutes pass like hours. Sometimes hours pass like minutes. Yoongi had a hard time keeping track of the concept of time when he’s so absorbed in his work. 

Maybe he shouldn’t have accepted collaboration projects with fifteen global artists on top of his own album and debut preparations. Maybe he has become too proud, too greedy. But hindsight is always 20/20. He can see everything clearly now that he’s drowning from the pressure. Everyone always says he operates like a machine, but he’s still only human. Even the great Min Yoongi has his limits. 

He knows he needs to eat, but can’t be bothered to leave his studio. He keeps a stash of cup ramyeon in his studio for this exact reason. But he’s operating under skewed timing. He’s stuck in a mindset where minutes pass like hours. He thinks he is so far behind, not realizing that he’s only been stuck on the same part for only 25 minutes. He swears he’s been at it for hours.

He eats one ramyeon. 

Through trial and error, he’s able to move forward. He finds a combination of sounds that flows well. The bridge is complete. Now onto the refrain. He’s stuck again. He works, plugging new instruments and sound effects. Trying to layer on sounds. It’s complicated. He’s stuck again. He feels like he’s spent hours on it. It’s actually only been 30 more minutes. 

Still, he rewards himself with another cup of ramyeon. 

He moves on to the chorus. It needs to be more lively. It needs to fit well with quick motion choreography. He needs a sound that feels like driving a convertible on the beach. That’s the information he was provided. But he doesn’t know what that feels like. After thinking about it for hours (15 minutes). 

He stress-eats yet another instant ramyeon cup. He even snacks on some chips while he watches the plastic cup spinning on in the microwave. 

After he finishes gulping dowm the broth, he throws the container away and looks at the three recently eaten containers laying atop one another. The other two containers are still warm to the touch. He starts to wonder how much time had actually passed. The new heaviness and rumbling of his stomach tells him he’s eaten far too much way too quickly. 

He looks back at the time stamped revision history to the track and confirms that only about an hour has passed since he started working. He’s disgusted at himself for eating three whole cups of ramyeon in under one hour. He didn’t feel full before. But now he’s feeling bloated, his stomach swelling underneath his sweatshirt. Thankfully, it’s oversized, so the fabric doesn’t need to stretch to accommodate his bulging middle. 

But, of course, it is the one day he chooses jeans over sweatpants. And not loose fitting jeans. No, skinny jeans. He leans back in his desk chair and unbuttons them to make room for his aching stomach. The zipper unravels on its own. Instantly, his stomach pushes through and he lets out a heavy breath he didn’t realize he was holding. He feels so much better. He doesn’t think he could refasten them even if he wanted to.

He grunts when he sits up and leans back over his keyboard, determined to work more on the song. It’s a struggle. It’s nearly impossible to focus on the music over his own stomach gurgling loudly. And even when he wears his most effective noise-cancelling headphones, he can still feel the rumbling through his whole abdomen. It is screaming for attention, but Yoongi ignores. 

That is, until the hiccups start. He hardly registers the first one, working right through it. He thinks the next three are a fluke. The fifth hiccup hits hard, deep in his stomach. And by the tenth, he realizes they won’t be stopping anytime soon. 

He tries to work through them, tries to focus on the track and waits for them to go away on their own. But it proves too difficult for him to suffer through. The squeaky sound distracts him from the sounds of the instruments. His whole body jolts with each one, his hand flying off the mouse or making him click something he didn't intend to. His diaphragm jumps and slaps hard against his too swollen stomach making him wince in pain. And each hiccup leaves a burning feeling in his chest. He only makes it five minutes before he closes the software. 

He slides his chair over to his couch and throws himself onto it, kicking the chair away. Both hands wrap tightly around his middle, feeling it jump with his fast-paced hiccuping. Each loud chirp followed by a whimper or grunt. He tries to rub against the bloated organ, trying to press out the excess air in hopes it will make the hiccups stop. But it's no luck. 

It never is. He's tried so many times before. It was advice from Seokjin, who like him, gets pretty frequent bouts of hiccups. Seokjin mentioned his go to cure was to burp them away. No more airy middle, no more hiccups. It works for his hyung every time. But try as he might, Yoongi is not capable of making himself burp. 

He's tried ever since he was a teenager. Everyone always told him- "just swallow air, it's so easy." But he never understood what that meant. And he never did it right. Boys in middle school made fun of him for his pathetic attempts. When he joined the company, that weakness became a strength. They loved a trainee who didn't engage in the boyish antics and shenanigans that burping contests fell into. He became a big hit among the instructors. 

But the inability to burp came with its own rotten downside. He would always end up with pretty aggressive cases of hiccups any time he did anything to upset his stomach. Drink too many carbonated beverages? Hiccups. Eat too fast? Hiccups. Work out too soon after eating? Hiccups. 

And of course, eating too much? Definitely painful hiccups. 

He tried to swallow air anyway. But just seemed to make his case worse, each hiccup punctuated by a small airy burp that only served to hurt his throat and relieved absolutely none of the pressure in his stomach. All the slapping and jolting in his stomach was starting to make him nauseous. 

While Yoongi wallows in misery of his own making, there's another rapper down the hall who has been waiting patiently. It's 3:28. Hoseok remembers Yoongi agreeing to meet with him at 3:00 to help him. He's been stuck on the same bar of this track for days. He's tried to work through it, but he really feels like he needs reinforcements. He needs a second opinion. He needs Prod. SUGA of BTS. 

He knows Yoongi's been busy with all of his collaborations. It was with a heavy heart and a very full wallet that he approached Yoongi about it in the first place. He even willingly agreed to pay Yoongi for his time, not even at a member discounted rate. Yoongi's time is valuable. He doesn't want to disrespect it. 

But Yoongi is nothing if not punctual. Hoseok starts to wonder if Yoongi had forgotten. Or if he'd been so busy he'd fallen asleep at his desk- again. After half an hour of waiting, he finally decides to text the Daegu rapper. 

Hoseok: "Hyung, where are you?"

Yoongi texts back almost instantly. It's an ominous reply- "4342755"

Hoseok thinks for a minute, trying to make sense of the numbers. Could it be a phone number? A coordinate location? A new text lingo that he doesn't understand? 

He thinks he has it when he stumbles through his memory. It's the pass code to Yoongi's studio. Yoongi never shares that with anyone. Hoseok runs down the hall, thinking he'd mixed it up and Yoongi had been waiting for him the whole time. He feels like such a bad client. 

Hoseok smiles when he inputs the numbers and the door unlocks. He rushes into the studio, "Hyung, are we meeting-" He cuts himself off when be sees the desk chair is empty, sitting in the middle of the room. He hears Yoongi before he sees him. 

The chirp of a familiar sounding hiccup turns Hoseok's attention to the couch. He finds Yoongi lounging there, hands on his bare stomach with his sweatshirt pulled up. The bunched up hem rests on the top of his bulging stomach. It bounces with another hiccup before Hoseok approaches. 

The younger rapper coos, "Oh, hyung. What happened to you?" He sits beside his hyung, this scene all too familiar to him. Yoongi's always had a pretty sensitive stomach. 

"I ate too-too much," Yoongi admits, freely hiccuping between words. He has no embarrassment with Hoseok. The resident sunshine member has seen him at his worst, has loved and supported him through everything. He knows he has nothing to be ashamed of. "Was-wasn't my fault tho-though. I-I lost tra-k of t-time." 

Hoseok chuckles, resting a hand on Yoongi's upper thigh. He struggles to fathom how Yoongi can think he's not at fault. "You always lose track of time, hyung. Someone needs to get you a watch to track your meals" He chides. 

"Sh-shut up," Yoongi would usually play back with him, but he's not in the mood today. "Don't te-tease me. I don't f-feel good." 

"That's okay, babe." Hoseok's hand wanders to a spot on Yoongi's hip. "I'm sorry. I see you're not feeling well." The other hand cups Yoongi's cheek. "I shouldn't make fun of you." 

Yoongi hiccups again, "Exactly. I'm still yo-your hyung. You need to respect-me." 

Hoseok has to bite back his giggles. It's amusing to watch Yoongi try to lecture him while he looks so small and bounces with cute squeaky hiccups. The expressions on the older rapper's face after each one are adorable. "You're right, hyung. What can I do to help you?" He asks, but the hand that he'd rested on Yoongi's hip is already slowly creeping toward the exposed skin of his stomach. 

Yoongi's aware of it too. He feels Hoseok's cold thin fingers gliding against his warm stomach. "You're gonna rub it fo-for me, Seokie?" He's basically begging, a deep pout on his lips. He feels so uncomfortably bloated and he's so over the hiccuping. He just wants to feel relief. 

Hoseok's hand movement becomes much more deliberate. He immediately palms Yoongi's stomach, pressing into the firmness with as much pressure as the older rapper permits. His hand bounces in conjunction with each of his hyung's hiccups. "Oh, poor hyung. They sound painful," Hoseok coos. 

"Well, it doesn't exactly feel goo-good," Yoongi groans, choking on his next hiccup, "I want them t-to stop." 

Hoseok rattles off a few common remedies, each one Yoongi doubts and challenges. He claims nothing ever works. Hoseok tries scaring him, but that just ends with a light punch to the shoulder and a loud hiccup. In a last ditch effort, Hoseok recommends kissing. It's not something they haven't done before, or something they wouldn't do again. But Yoongi shoots it down claiming he's not in the mood, feeling too full to do anything that could turn nefarious. Hoseok doesn't miss the growing blush on his cheeks as he turns his head away. 

At that the dancer deflates, having run out of remedies he remembers. He just goes on, rubbing Yoongi's stomach and suppressing the urge to giggle at each hiccup. After several minutes of rubbing, Hoseok's face lights up with a new idea. "Hyung, do you still have a heating pad in here?" Hoseok remembers Yoongi having one on hand while he was recovering from his shoulder surgery. 

Yoongi just points to a cardboard box in the corner of the studio. There's a sticky note hanging above it that reads "Lost and Found" in Jimin's handwriting. The dancer chuckles, going over to the box. He rustles through items in the box. It really does seem like a lost and found. It's filled with miscellaneous items that would otherwise clutter the studio space. Many of the member's personal items filled the box. He actually finds a bracelet he'd thought he lost in addition to the heating pad. 

He plugs in the heating pad and resumes his gentle rubbing while it heats up. "Maybe this will help, hyung." Hoseok speaks in a whisper as he lays the heating pad across Yoongi's upper stomach. He still uses his hands to massage under his hyung's bellybutton. Yoongi relaxes into the heat. 

Yoongi's persistent hiccups shake the heating pad. Hoseok has to frequently readjust. But after a few more minutes, the hiccups eventually fade out. After two full minutes without hiccuping, Yoongi lets out a relieved sigh, "Finally!" 

His stomach still aches from fullness, but he's glad to finally be rid of the hiccups. He feels a lot better, no more lingering nausea. He turns to Hoseok with a bright, gummy grin. "Hob-ah, I really owe you one." 

Hoseok really knows he didn't do anything. The hiccups had just run their course. Still, he's happy when his hyung is happy. "How about you help me with my song and we call it even?" The dancer remarks, recalling his original intentions. 

Yoongi's eyes widened, realizing he had completely forgotten he agreed to help Hoseok today. "Shit, Hoseok-ah. Yes, we can do that! Let's go to your studio." Yoongi lunges to get up from the couch and winces at the way his stomach cramps when he moves. 

Hoseok picks up on the wince. "It's okay, hyung. You still clearly need to digest. How's tomorrow?" Hoseok offers. 

Yoongi smiles timidly, "Sure."

"I'm going to bring my laptop to you, though. Now that I know the key code." Hoseok jokes. Yoongi laughs, deep from his belly despite how much it hurts. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: I researched a lot of content to try and find any content of Yoongi hiccuping. I managed to find things for all the other members except Yoongi. Until watching Memories of 2021 anyway, which is where I clipped that gif from. Seems like this is the perfect time to post this.

As always, thanks for reading to the end! Feedback is always appreciated. And please let me know if I missed any tags or TWs. Please call me out for any errors you notice!

[totally-awkward-random28]

It's happening.

Harry's House

is out May 20th and WE WILL ALL COLLECTIVELY UNALIVE. I MEAN- HAVE YOU SEEN HIM IN THE NEW ALBUM PROMO?!?!?!?!-

SO I'LL ROUND UP ALL THE NEW ALBUM CONTENT IN THIS POST BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY I NEED SOMETHING TO STARE AT AND BECOME HYSTERICAL, OBVIOUSLY.

The all important site:

https://youarehome.co/

its twitter:

https://twitter.com/youarehome?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

its discord server:

discord.gg/youarehome

All the 'behind the doors' and tweets:

Now there's a whole bunch of cryptic messages hidden behind the doors which I'm too lazy to compile, so to cut a long story short, larry is real and Harry is one crazy genius.

According to Pitchfork, Harry’s house will include 13 songs.

EXCUSE ME? I MEAN? WE KNEW HE'D DELIVER BUT? EXCUSE ME? HOW WILL WE SURVIVE 13 FOOKING TRACKS?!

Harry's site has also been updated and oh my gosh it' so damn pretty-

And finally, the fated album trailer:

https://youtu.be/zVANaD9WSTA

He looks so pretty and feminine oh and the concept? Amazayn?

OH, AND REVERSED?-

https://twitter.com/easyloveaiono/status/1506665122474999810?s=20&t=13RXQgyDL8VV6rLCo6m9uw

yeah let's just die.

[gothprentiss]

BONUS (god, did you want one?)-- fave tracks of the year:

conception - by the blues (2022). oh man i did not like this song at first. i was like god, what is this hard rock moment we're making me hear, did we not want to go a little bit harder with the bluesy concept, do we hate me, etc. and then i was like hm this is an interesting and thoughtful use of distortion on roy khan's voice. and then the chorus hit (AWKWARD FEELIN! LIKE A DOG DOWN KNEELIN! WON'T YOU THROWMEABONE FOR GOOD OLD TIMES, CARESS ME FAITHFULLY...). this is not a good song this is a Good song. this is a song roy khan and tore østby sat down and made for me.

epica - in all conscience (omega alive) (2021). it’s a live track. they labeled it as omega alive because they like me to suffer for my deep love of them. ANYWAY. in all conscience was either a b-side or a bonus track on design your universe (2014) and has been a favorite of mine for years— i distinctly remember my feeling of profound betrayal when the only version of it available on spotify was the evil acoustic version (to be clear: epica live tracks are amazing. their acoustic tracks are all always the worst thing that has ever been musically inflicted upon me). anyway as the long-suffering president of the in all conscience fan club, my service was rewarded by this INCREDIBLE MUSICAL EXPERIENCE. the omega alive recordings are sort of, like, half live, insofar as they were recorded during covid, without a live audience, and clearly in chunks. the result is that you get some really standout and relaxed vocals from simone simons, who gets down like a fucking champ during their typically long ass live albums (cf 2013’s retrospect, which was a one-off 3 hour long performance), but has always gotten flack for her vocals. for reasons i will never understand. sorry this is the year of epica i can’t shut up about them. but anyway— this song is in particular an incredible showcase of her vocals: the expressive, clear “pop voice” (which i guess is the going term?), soaring operatic notes on the chorus, sinking low to the deeper, richer edge of her vocal range on the final chorus. i think the instrumental is good too, probably, or whatever— they are on omega alive, it’s just that simone is fucking my shit so profoundly up that absolutely anything could be happening behind her. also, the only time i’ve ever thought she sounded like she might not be a truly incredible vocalist was when her voice was badly mixed with their choral arrangements (i’m looking at you, terrible fucking album the holographic principle 2018), but here she just, like, fucking dominates them. like my god.

kate bush - hounds of love (live) (2014). so hounds of love is a perfect song. my only possible gripe about the studio version is that i could imagine a version with a bit more edge which would really just like, grab my heart. like if you put a really prominent and kind of snarly (like there’s barking on the song. you know the drill. dog it up!) guitar over the synths and strings— that would really be something. and emergent in the live version off before the dawn? you get something like that. kate’s voice has gotten a bit lower in time and the more emphatic instrumental complements it well; it takes it from this airy, flighty, young song to something with more emotional weight, which feels culminative and really vulnerable. she’s a genius. it was already a perfect song. this also goes for cloudbusting, btw. one reason i tend to end up loving live albums more than studio albums is that the live versions tend to take songs i love and add some novelty to them, whether it’s just the artist’s current performance style, or a total reimagining, or just a different mix and experience of the song, and this version of hounds of love is, like, the absolute apex of that.

side note— while i do feel the half-gatekeepy need to be like, i’m an og (relative to my age + generation) kate bush fan, i’ve been up her ass for more than a decade, and in such a specific and annoying fashion (someone i knew in high school tried to record a cover of wuthering heights for me as a birthday present bc i was so annoying about mz cathy. but little did they know that i also believe no one should ever try to cover kate bush.), the big-time resurgence of running up that hill this year has me fantasizing about another kate bush tour. odds feel low when you consider that before the dawn was her first concert series in… 30 years? but my hand to fucking god i would drop literally everything and spend untold amounts of money to see her live.

lexie liu - magician (2022). a serve! one of the only pop acts who is consistently rewarding to follow, imo. i love the esoterica angle she takes on the album (i wish it were more consistent throughout, but wcyd), which adds dimension and variety to her recent electro-pop stylings. lexie's music always has really nice production too-- she's always had a futuristic aesthetic, which i think is most impressively achieved vocally. there's always something sleek and metallic in the vocal mixing, but not in a way that ever seems wrong: when she sounds robotic or overproduced it's a distinct and intentional effect (e.g. really playfully done on 3.14159). anyway, magician is a COOL SONG! the whole run of ganma / magician / diablo / mira is really transcendent, imo.

pj harvey - who by fire (2022). like, let me be clear. this is a year of big categorical wins for me. and one of those is definitely pj harvey covering my favorite leonard cohen song. that's why it's here. HOWEVER. it's Not Good. the instrumentals and vocals are separately very cool, but they combine and sound exactly like what they are, which is a song made for a tv show. the silver lining to that is that this song sounds like it's from a tv show with respectably artful music, like... big little lies season 1? something not made for netflix. i wish the song were good but i still listen every time :( :) :P

pusha t - diet coke (2022). MISSY WAS OUR ONLY MISDEMEANOR!!!!!!!! normally my favorite songs take a listen or two to really grow on me but this was just immediately IT. had a fabulous giggle at some of these pmc joke bars (my workers compensated so they don’t strike), love the piano on the beat, the way it moves between sparse tinkling notes and heavy clusters is like… floral! ornamental! normally i don’t get a lot of replay value out of short, repetitive songs, but turns out it doesn’t take a lot for pusha t to do it for me. i wasn’t really into the jay z feature on neck & wrist so just so you remember + diet coke were this, like, one-two punch that totally won me over. YOU ORDERED DIET COKE THAT’S A JOKE RIGHT?

albums of the year! shoutout to @explosionshark for the tag-- i was scheming one of these anyway and now i have LICENSE

some notes: i don't follow new releases very closely, so there's a pretty neat split of new this year / new to me / new friendship with old albums here. this isn't untrue to my music taste but this was very much a like, 'i have one or two core artists and then am just kind of dicking around with some new stuff otherwise'-style year. these are all in abc order. there are some notes where i feel like i must say something. that being said:

new this year:

ashenspire - hostile architecture (sometimes songs feel like they were just made for my tastes. béton brut is one of those) blackbraid - blackbraid i blood incantation - timewave zero conception - state of deception

is this album "good", you might ask? to which i reply: how dare you address me. it is the music event of my entire lifetime. ROY KHAN'S BACK BABEY!

the damned - night of a thousand vampires (give me a live album and i go ape. simple easy elegant.) darkthrone - astral fortress (i feel like i should be embarrassed by this one. but darkthrone just tickles me.) epica - the alchemy project

another "don't ask me if it's good, ask me if it makes my grinchy little heart grow three sizes" album. it marks a blessed and glorious era, imo, of epica both having a clearly defined sense of their sound (which they lacked in the 10s, as far as i'm concerned) such that they feel like they can 'alchemize' it, and epica actually experimenting with what they can wrap their sound around. if their next studio album sucks you can find me wailing in the nearest earthen cave

lexie liu - the happy star nas - king's disease iii pusha t - it's almost dry ripped to shreds - 劇變 / jubian (the reverberating OUGH! in violent compulsion for conquest is always in my head) sudan archives - natural brown prom queen undeath - it's time ... to rise from the grave vein.fm - this world is going to ruin you wormrot - hiss

honorable mention of 2022 goes to M.I.A. MATA. i know she's in perpetual trouble for bad politics. i know my deep love for /\/\/\Y/\ (2010) is unpopular. despite everything i still think she rules and puts together some of the coolest noises around.

new TO ME this year:

armani caesar - the liz (2019)

clipping. - visions of bodies being burned (2020) coil - unreleased themes for hellraiser (1987) (incredible writing music) epica - omega alive (2021)

i've got a lot to say about epica for this list but it's because i'd tuned out for... a DECADE? and saw a new live epica album and was like yeah, sure, let's give that a try. and now i'm a diehard tryhard epica stan again. life's good! the thing about this album is that it's, like, not a normal live album-- recorded during covid, they clearly had the latitude to spread it out into a couple of sessions, ensuring relaxed vocal performances (not that simone simons has ever been bad live. don't even think that.), really energized instrumentals, and also some absolutely bonkers mixing. i think this is really like, epica's sound perfectly balanced.

leonard cohen - thanks for the dance (2019) sarpanitum - blessed be my brothers (2015) snowsedim/雪沉 - lead to evening death (2018)

actually the wrong album cover here lol, the website just didn't have the right one. the album cover here is anthology of ebony (2017) which i don't like. anyway this works for me in the same way symphonic metal does: you get two ostensibly contrasting styles of instrumentation and performance which sound bonkers and exquisite together. traditional chinese instruments sound fucking amazing-- ethereally brutal-- with more traditional metal stylings when they get the balance right.

tribulation - the children of the night (2015) (probably i like down below (2018) more, but you can't beat this album art) veil of secrets - dead poetry (2020)

VIBEKE STENE'S BACK BABEY! I FOUND OUT I'D MISSED THIS ALBUM BY TWO YEARS IN THE LAUNDROMAT!

watain - casus luciferi (2003)

new APPRECIATION this year (these all get explanations):

kamelot - poetry for the poisoned & live from wacken (2011)

this is to some extent a lie, because this is one of my all-time fave symphonic metal albums, my favorite kamelot album, AND a reissue with a live album. so it's never been underrated or forgotten for me, or anything like that. but recall that this is the the year i found out roy khan was back!!!!!!! it's been 11 years!!!!!!!!!!!! and this is also the year i bit the bullet and actually looked up reviews for this album, which i hadn't done before because i'd assumed they were negative (the karma / epica / black halo run is often lauded as this perfect kamelot era). and they were pretty good! anyway this album rules. if you ever hear anyone hyping up the karma thru black halo era as kamelot’s best just know they're a coward who hates sexy vampire music and visions of the end and such like.

kate bush - aerial (2005)

i've always felt more at home with late 70s/early 80s kate bush; 50 words for snow, aerial-- even the sensual world and the red shoes-- don't get as much play for me. taking some time to appreciate aerial (see above: slower, calmer, more meditative music isn't really my vibe) was really worthwhile. beautiful storytelling, dreamy and honeyed music.

lacuna coil - comalies (2002)

they did a 20th anniversary remake album which was kind of cool but drove me back to the original, which was my middle school bus music. my middle school bus music ruled.

nick cave and the bad seeds - no more shall we part (2001)

honestly a super underrated bad seeds album for me until this year. it probably is down there with push the sky away (2013) as my least favorite part of their discography (which, to be fair. is still music i wuv). but still! i got REALLY into the lyricism on the album (hallelujah and darker with the day are transcendent), and got obsessed with the building intensity on the sorrowful wife. it's transcendent and cathartic. i think the way the instrumentals get pared back to let the lyricism shine is often a bit... like... you can do better, you know. in fact, their last two albums have been standout examples of not sacrificing a cohesive and compelling album sound to push the lyrics forward. but even so, definitely a familiar friend this year.

siouxsie & the banshees - peepshow (1988)

like poetry for the poisoned, this was NOT an underrated album for me. it's my favorite siouxsie album. that is a high ass bar! BUT! i got nice new headphones this year and switched to apple music for lossless and the instrumentals on this album are how i test all new headphones. and then once i'd tested them, i just... hung around some more. honestly if you're looking for a baller music experience, go listen to scarecrow in the dark, loud as hell. with, you know, good headphones. it feels like you're tiny and being jangled around the ribcage of a dancing animatronic skeleton in a funny little hat. it's a great fucking album. i think i go nuts for it like once a year. whatever.