#the vocal harmonies and the back and forth between vocalists is great too

[doedipus]

I finally got around to listening to the new (as of 2 months ago? idk how I missed it) KGLW single and man

man.

if they were able to keep that momentum for the whole thing I think it'll be a really really good album

[softyoongiionly]

Lucky Strike 🤍

Yoongi finally gets a night to show you just how much he’s missed you.

Pairing: Yoongi x Reader

Genre: non-idol au, drummer! yoongi, boyfriend! yoongi, smut, fluff

A/N: HIII this is based off a few of your requests, thank you so much for sending them in. Please feel free to cry over Yoongi with me because, I AM SO WEAK FOR THIS MAN, ITS A LITTLE CONCERNING.

Based loosely off of Lucky Strike by Troye Sivan :) 

***All words in bold indicate when characters are speaking Korean***

Word Count: 2.7k

Warnings: smut, language, Yoongi is a drummer and, has nice arms (18+ only please)

“Are you ready to go home?”

Yoongi’s soft voice is just enough to redirect your attention up towards his smirking face.

You stopped by his rehearsal space after work because, he’d texted you that he wanted to stay at your place tonight but, as usual, rehearsal is running late.

For the past two hours, Yoongi’s been on the sidelines as his band rehearses vocal harmonies for their newest song. It sounds amazing, as always but, you’re growing tired of hearing the same 10 lines over and over again.

Rehearsal is something you enjoy being a part of but, you’d be lying if you said it kept as much of your attention when your boyfriend wasn’t onstage drumming. Yoongi had been drumming for nearly 15 years but, you swear he continued to improve every time you saw him. He was fierce behind his set, smooth and violent all at the same time; it’s kind of become a kink of yours to watch him perform.

Your head ended up in his lap when he stepped off the stage and, immediately his hands were in your hair, absentmindedly stroking your head whilst his eyes were locked on the stage. He’d been giving his vocalists pointers on how to improve, his musicality shining through.

It’s fascinating to watch and, you’re never really the type of person to pull him from his work but, fuck you really missed him.

The two of you were lucky enough to be passionate about your careers but, it often pulled you away from one another. It’s something you were used to, Yoongi’s band has risen in popularity and, gone on tour multiple times this past year and, you’ve been given a new promotion roughly 6 months ago.

Distance you could handle because, for whatever reason, you almost missed him more when the two of you were both in the same city, as you are now. Because when Yoongi was home, you wanted him all to yourself.

It’s an unreasonable desire so you never vocalize it but, it’s there none the less.

But little did you know, Yoongi feels the same way.

You nod in response to his question, turning your head in his lap so that you’re facing away from the stage.

He smirks fondly down at you, scratching gently at your scalp, “You’re quiet today…” A finger is placed against your lips and, he snickers as you quickly catch it between your teeth, “Yah, are you hungry or something?”

His tone gets your attention and, when you look up to lock eyes with him, you know he isn’t really asking if you’re hungry for food.

Silently, you nod again, keeping his finger in your mouth before the voices of one of his band mates catches your attention.

“Hyung! Did you hear us?”

Yoongi’s younger brother Jungkook sounds annoyed and, the satoori that slips into his voice only adds to that suspicion.

You cringe at the thought of being a distraction but, Yoongi seems unbothered, pulling his finger from your mouth.

He keeps it on your lips as he responds, his eyes flitting towards his bandmates, “No, what is it?”

You love hearing him speak Korean but then again, you love hearing him speak in general.

Frustrated groans move throughout the vocalists before Jimin pipes up, “We asked if we sounded ok but, since you aren’t listening, I guess you wouldn’t know.”

At this Yoongi’s brows raise, his finger absentmindedly running over your lips, “Don’t be disrespectful. I’ve been sitting here listening for the past two hours and, I told you an hour ago that you sounded good so, I don’t know what else you want me to say…”

Jimin rolls his eyes, going over to sit on Yoongi’s drum stool as Namjoon pipes up, “Yah Jimin, he’s right. He was supposed to be out a while ago. Hyung, we’re all good here, thanks for staying late.”

You’re thankful you can understand them now with only a tiny bit of confusion and, you can’t help but bite back a smile as you hear Yoongi get annoyed.

He’s known for his calm demeanor and, in all the years you’ve known him, you’ve never really seen him lose his temper. But he gets irritated from time to time and, although it’s a little immature, you think it’s kind of hot.

With a (slightly) reluctant sigh, Jimin nods in agreement, his lips pursing before an apology leaves his lips, “I’m sorry hyung.”

Yoongi nods his head, acknowledging him, “Hoseok-ah…” He gestures to his guitarist, who’s been smirking throughout the chaos; he likes the drama, no matter how minuscule it is, “Try playing that new riff during their harmonies. I want to hear that before I go…”

Hoseok beams in his direction, eagerly hooking up his guitar to the amp as he looks towards Jungkook and Jimin, “On three…”

Of course, Yoongi’s idea is a monumental success and at the conclusion of their harmonies, they are all bouncing about with excitement.

“Yahhhh that sounded siiick.”

“We gotta do that this weekend, the fans will love it.”

“Hyung you’re a genius.”

Yoongi looks a little arrogant but, you know he secretly lives for their approval, “Am I dismissed now? Or are you gonna be mad at me for leaving?”

His tone has shifted back to his usual sweet yet sardonic flavor as he scans his younger brothers for any signs of contempt.

They all just laugh, waving him off as Namjoon comes through once again, “Enjoy your night Hyung, we’ll see you in a few days…”

Yoongi smirks and glances down at you, taping his finger against your mouth playfully, “Are you ready?”

A smile is on your lips then as you nod once more and, your quiet demeanor causes him to melt a little bit inside.

You’re usually quite outgoing, great in social settings, personable; it’s one of the reasons Yoongi was initially attracted to you. It’s the main reason his band likes you so much too; well that and, you make their oldest brother happy.

But when you’re in your feelings (like you are now), you retreat into yourself sometimes, allowing your softer side to show.

And Yoongi takes advantage of this every time because; you’re always trying to take care of everyone else and, he relishes being able to return the favor.

“Let’s get you home then…”

A few hours later, after a home cooked meal at your apartment and a bit of TV, Yoongi tells you he wants to lay down.

You don’t blame him, he started rehearsal at 8 that morning and by the time he wanted to go to bed, it was after 10:30 in the evening.

You urge him to go ahead and wash up while you straighten up the living room.

The shower turns on for a few minutes and, by the time you hear it shut off, you’re already changing into your pjs which consist of a big t-shirt and, not much else.

Yoongi’s opened the bathroom door to let the steam out as he brushes his teeth and, you decide that you don’t really feel like being apart from him.

Not even during such a dull moment.

He’s pulled on his t-shirt and boxers, his wet hair pushed off of his forehead.

He looks really good.

You lean against the door frame, catching his attention instantly, causing him to smile around his toothbrush.

He spits into the sink, “There you are…” Leaning down, he sips some water from the faucet before swishing it around his mouth and, spitting that out as well, “Are you all ready for bed?”

Your hand towel is used to wipe his lips and, you smile as he comes closer to you holding your arms open, “Yeah...did you have a good shower?”

He accepts your arms, pulling you against his chest and pressing a kiss to the top of your head, “Could have been better but, we probably would have ran up your water bill again.”

You giggle at his insinuation, walking backwards with him towards your bed, “I didn’t have my promotion then, I could definitely afford that now.”

He smirks, along with his brows rising slightly, “I didn’t think of that…now I regret not inviting you in there with me.”

“It’s ok, the bed is better anyway…”

In the next moment, you’re in his lap, lips attached to one another as his hands hold your hips against him.

“I missed you.” You whisper against his lips, which prompts a nod from him.

“Yeah? You missed me huh? What did you miss?”

His voice is husky with touches of arousal as lips work slowly with yours.

“Everything.” You scoot closer so you’re body is flushed against his before continuing. “Your voice, your lips, your hands…just being with you.”

You feel him grin against your mouth, his nose nudging yours as one of his hands starts moving up your thigh, “You’re so sweet to me.” His lips start kissing across the curve of your jaw whilst his hand inches closer to your panties, “I missed you too you know that right?”

“Mhm.” You hum, your head tilted back a bit as you open your legs a bit wider, your pussy aching with anticipation.

He notices this and as his lips move to the crook of your neck, Yoongi slowly begins placing wet kisses up and down the side of your throat, “Missed you so much. I missed your voice too, and your pretty face and, your laugh…” A dark smirk etches onto his lips as his fingertips brush over your clothed pussy. You’re wet for him and, fuck he loves that no matter how many times you guys do this, you still want him just as much.

“Did you miss me here too?” He moves his face from your neck, to look at you, the smirk still evident on his features despite the softness in his eyes.

You press against his hand, your hands clutching onto his shoulders whilst you nod, sucking your bottom lip between your teeth, “So much…”

“Yeah? Did your pussy miss me?” He coos as his applies pressure against your clit, rubbing slowly back and forth.

Nodding, you quickly connect your lips with his grind eagerly onto his hand, feeling your orgasm brewing in your gut way quicker than you’d like to admit.

Yoongi chuckles into your kiss, increasing the speed of his fingers, applying expert pressure between the lips of your pussy, “Can you cum in your panties for me? So I can see how much you missed me?”

“Y-Yeah…” Your voice is broken around the pleasure that’s infecting your body, your lips brushing with his as you try to keep your kiss going.

He licks his lips, his other hand  move to your hip to keep you steady, dark eyes flitting between your pussy and your face, “Oh she’s so close isn’t she? When’s the last time I touched you like this hm? It’s been a long time hasn’t it beautiful?”

Another nod is sent his way, your eyes squeezing shut, your hands tightening on his shoulders, “Yoongi-“ You moan softly into his lips, your forehead leaning on his and, he swears he feels like he’s gonna cum in his boxers at the sound.

“Go ahead pretty girl-“ Yoongi coos, suckling your bottom lip between his teeth, “Wet your panties for me…”

And how can you not?

Your orgasm is strong despite the limited contact and, it flows over you in waves.

The moans emitting from your lips are quickly swallowed by your boyfriend who keeps his expert touch on you despite kissing you like there’s no tomorrow.

“There you go, let it out baby…”

His words are so soft and, full of love that it spurs you on even more.

You’ve never been taken care like this; not before Yoongi.

He pours love into everything he does with you and, no matter how callous he may seem, nobody loves like Yoongi.

You can’t help it, as soon you recover from your orgasm, your panties are removed and, you’re sinking down on your boyfriends aching dick, setting a slow but deep pace on him.

“Oh sh-“ He moans into your neck, his arms wrapping around your body, “- shit…that feels so good.”

You’re kissing the side of his head, his cheeks, his ear; anywhere you can reach, needing to feel him in some way.

Riding him never lasts long because it’s his favorite position and, this time is no exception.

His hands are all over you, squeezing and smoothing over your skin, whilst he suckles the skin of your neck.

“Fuck…Y/N…” His moans are getting reedier now, nearing towards a whimper, which signifies that he’s close, “please don’t stop.”

And you don’t, you push down on him harder, running your fingers through his hair before tugging his face from your neck.

“I love you.” You whisper, looking into his eyes and, that’s enough to send him over the edge.

He whisper it back as he cums, his body shaking a bit underneath yours as he empties himself inside of you.

You’re not awake much longer after that but, Yoongi makes sure you’re comfortable in his arms before knocking out.

The next morning, he wakes up to the sound of rain.

He’s grateful for the sound, feeling nothing but warmth in his chest despite the frigid temperatures that likely await him should he go outside.

Good thing he doesn’t plan to…

He is a little confused by the lack of your presence but, the smell of toast quickly informs him of your whereabouts and, he can’t help the wide gummy smile that spreads across his lips.

He’s the luckiest man on the planet and, he knows it.

After a few moments in bed, Yoongi slips on his t-shirt and boxers before heading out to find you.

“Cause you taste like lucky strikes, you drag, I light -- Boy, tell me all the ways to love you…”

He smiles as he hears you singing along with a song emitting from the speakers and, he wastes no time in securing a place behind you.

“Good morning.” You giggle, placing a hand over his wrist as he wraps his arms around your waist.

He grins into your neck, nuzzling at the skin there, “Morning…”

His voice is laced with sleep and softness and, you could literally jump for joy at the thought of having him all to yourself for the entire day.

“Did you sleep ok?”

You feel him nod before he starts kissing at your neck, his hands rubbing your hips tenderly, “Did you?”

With a smile, you nod back, eyes fluttering at his touch, “I always sleep better when you’re here…”

Your confession warms his heart and, he hugs you tighter, his lips moving slowly across your shoulder.

“So do I-“ He tilts your chin towards him, “Maybe we shouldn’t sleep without each other anymore…”

Before you can react to his suggestion, he kisses you, sighing out as he feels your lips.

“Maybe we shouldn’t…” You whisper, smiling with him whilst you kiss him back, your heart skipping in your chest.

“Fuck…you’re pretty…” He groans, moving away from you reluctantly because, he doesn’t want his interruption to mess with the meal you’ve been preparing, “I gotta go look at something else before I start misbehaving.”

You giggle at his ridiculous statement, shaking your head before tugging his wrist as he tries to walk away.

One last kiss is pressed to his lips before you pull back, catching the softness in his eyes, “Love you.”

He smirks, thumbing over your lips, “I love you…” He jerks his head back towards the stove, “Now stop kissing me before you burn our breakfast. You’re insatiable I swear-“

An affronted noise comes from your mouth because, HE definitely kissed YOU first and, you throw a banana towards him as he laughs, trying to make a quick getaway.

“Dick…” You mutter to yourself but, your cheeks are on fire with the urge to smile while you return your attention back to breakfast.

Tell me all the ways to love you…

[theeverlastingshade]

Heaven Or Las Vegas- Cocteau Twins: 30th Anniversary

Of all the bands who couldn’t be better primed for a comeback from a cultural standpoint while being highly unlikely to ever reunite in any sort of compacity whosever, Cocteau Twins occupy a peculiar place within the musical landscape of 2020. Even if all touring wasn’t completely postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cocteau Twins (the predominant trio being vocalist Elizabeth Fraser, guitarist/synth programmer Robin Guthrie, and bassist Simon Raymonde) seem unlikely to ever reunite for the kind of festival comebacks that have brought back many a legacy act due to the implosion of Fraser and Guthrie’s marriage. And yet while they were largely unheard of up until their 1990 sixth LP and masterwork, Heaven or Las Vegas, their run from their highly promising 1982 debut Garlands through HoLV has continues to prove incredibly influential with each passing year on a multitude of underground and mainstream acts alike, influencing acts as diverse as SIgur Ros, Arca and so many more. While Cocteau Twins have never released a record that’s less than good, HoLV still stands as the pinnacle of their creative output, and the defining landmark statement of the increasingly ubiquitous sub-genre widely tagged as dream pop.

Since emerging as a gothic rock band at the beginning of the 80s, Cocteau Twins have cultivated a singular stain of pop/rock informed by the contemporary gothic rock and post-punk of the last several preceding years like The Birthday Party and Siouxsie and the Banshees of and the transcendent vocal harmonies of The Beach Boys and Kate Bush. Emerging originally as a three piece for Garlands, Cocteau Twins then stripped things back to just the two piece of Fraser and Guthrie for their great sophomore LP, Head Over Heels, before landing on Raymonde to lock down the low-end on their spectacular third LP, Treasure, solidifying their lineup for all future output. By the time that Cocteau Twins were gearing up to record HoLV, the band was simultaneously on the precipice of legitimate international success and complete implosion. Raymond had just gotten married, and he lost his father in the midst of recording the record, while Fraser and Guthrie had just had a daughter named Lucy Belle, and their marriage remained teetering on the brink of dissolution due to Guthrie’s frequent mood swings and paranoia as a result of his increased drug use. They had also just signed to the revered indie label 4AD after Victorialand, and following the lukewarm reception of their great fifth LP, Blue Bell Knoll, the stakes had been heightened for them to release a record that hit. There had been obvious populist sensibilities coursing throughout the music of Cocteau Twins as early as HOH, but Treasure was the last time that they sounded completely unabashed about their undeniable populist sensibilities until HoLV.

 The records that followed the glossy, populist propulsion of Treasure scaled back the immediacy while doubling down on the overall sense of immersion. Victorialand and Blue Bell Knoll, the two records between Treasure and HoLV, are positively meek with respect to the stratospheric heights reached on the former and latter, but they’re far from underwhelming, and showcase the inimitable trio refining their approach to melody while demonstrating a heightened sense of suspending tension. On HoLV, the band draw from everything that they attempted prior onto their largest canvass yet, and as soon as opener “Cherry-Coloured Funk” kicks off in earnest you can hear the warm immediacy of Treasure rushing forth in even greater force. Victorialand is their most insular, ambient-adjacent record, defined primarily by Fraser’s voice being mixed into the greater wall of sound instead of high in front leading the arrangements. The guitar work is some of their most gorgeous to date, but it lacked the immediacy that made Treasure pop. The same is true for BBK, but that record marks a notable shift in their trajectory towards more conventionally structured songs, even though there’s a sense of restraint that keeps a lot of the songs here from truly soaring. Regardless, BBK is still a great record from start to finish, and the highlights like life-affirming “Carolyn’s Fingers” and the exhilarating title track set the stage for where they were about to go with HoLV.

On HoLV, Cocteau Twins shift their gears from the ambient-leaning direction of Victorialand and BBK back to the ethereal pop of Treasure, but with a much tighter focus. On HoLV, songs barely dip past the 3 and a half minute mark, and not a second is wasted on anything other the absolute barest arrangements necessary to convey each song’s emotional heft. As is the case with pretty much every Cocteau Twins record, it’s Elizabeth Fraser who really steals the show throughout the course of HoLV. Her wildly acrobatic vocal runs shift from ecstatic, to wistful, to seductive, to empathetic on a dime, and while always a remarkably expressive vocalist she had never gone for broke with her vocal runs quite the way she does on HoLV. The instrumentation consists of lush, kaleidoscopic guitar/synth arrangements richer, and more melodic than anything that Guthrie had previously recorded. While Raymonde has always been a bit of the band’s secret weapon, there’s no mistaking this sublime basslines as the major grounding force that keeps everything tight throughout the course of the record. Raymonde’s bass lines are immediate yet forceful, providing a sharp sense of momentum even at the music’s most cathartic.

 Cocteau Twins aren’t a band that are generally regarded first and foremost because of their lyrics, but on HoLV Fraser pens the band’s most heartfelt, and urgent writing of her career, focused primarily around the birth of her daughter. While some of the songs are more literal in their depictions of her newfound love (“Laughing on our bed/Pretending us newly wed/Especially when/Our angel unleashed that head” from “Wolf in the Breast” comes to mind), some of the songs like “Fifty-Fifty Clown” present more cryptic allusions to the exact nature of her feelings “And is this safe flowing, love, soul, and light/Motions in all motion, emotions all”. Throughout the chorus of the title track, one of the most spellbinding moments of the band’s career, Fraser delivers what seems to scan as the album’s thesis “Singing on the most famous street/I want to love, I’ve all the wrong glory/Am I just in Heaven or Las Vegas?”, proclaiming her desire for love above all else, and questioning whether the band’s success has brought them closer to bliss or oblivion. The vocal melody is her the strongest on any Cocteau Twins song, and her examination of success rings universal for anyone with the self-awareness to question why and how they got where they are, and where the path that they’re can lead if they get too caught up in the thralls of success. And the closer “Frou-Frou Foxes in Midsummer Fire” has lyrics that seem sung in tribute to Ramonde’s father “And day from night take all/Bad thoughts and soothe/All he was/Knows you” effectively ending the record with the cycle of life and death.

In spite of the immense cohesion that holds it together in its intended sequencing, HoLV almost plays like a greatest hits record thanks to the filler free, 10 tight compositions that make up its runtime. Although each of their first five records are great in their own right, most have a few songs that overstay their welcome. Each song holds its own within the greater whole, with strong dynamics, hooks, melodies, infectious rhythms, and guitar/synth arrangements that are taut and immediate, but never dull or simplistic. The songs are bursting with color, but there’s never a sense of indulgence on display, and none of the songs waste anytime not building towards something or delivering some kind of release, all the more impressive given the brevity of each song. Highlights like the one-two punch of intro “Cherry-Coloured Funk” and “Pitch the Baby” are downright disarming in their succinct, yet dense arrangements coupled the wide-screen scale of the production which had never before sounded so rich and clear on any of their prior records. The title track and “Fotzepolitic” are the two strongest songs that the band have ever released, and propel HoLV to heights greater than it being just a spectacular pop record. The title track is propelled by funky basslines, a minimal electronic drum beat, radiant synths, and an squealing electric guitar lead that congeal into a sublime carnival that Fraser gets terrific mileage out of by belting out with more urgency than she ever had before, or has since. And on “Fotzepolitic” the band gradually build up a jangly, galloping guitar lead over a strutting bassline and those ever present gleaming synths. Fraser’s delivery is at her most playful, built throughout the last bridge she teases a palpable sense of flight and then her voice drops out of the mix as Guthrie delivers a solo that spirals into stratospheric, euphoric release. It's the grand culmination of everything that the band had done up to that point, and still exudes a legitimate sense of catharsis that very few other songs I’ve listened to have achieved,

Despite the fact that Cocteau Twins were almost completely unknown outside of the UK until the release of HoLV you can hear the angelic undertones of their singular strain of pop in a myriad of underground and mainstream music throughout the 90s up to the present. Any musician playing music that vaguely falls into the broader realm of dream pop likely owes Cocteau Twins an immense debt, as well as chamber pop luminaries like Julia Holter and Grouper, and shoegaze and post-rock legends like Slowdive and Sigur Ros. In addition to informing the aforementioned outre acts, the gloomy, sensual sensibilities of Cocteau Twins also went on to inform a great deal of down-tempo pop music. They’ve been namechecked by Radiohead, sampled by both Arca and The Weeknd, and you can hear their gothic stylings informing pop stars as diverse as Lorde and Billie Eilish. As poptism has completely shifted the critical music discourse towards accessibility above all else, HoLV occupies a peculiar position as a classic record. The stunning melodicism, sublime chemistry, rich instrumentation, and expansive production rendered HoLV an immediately recognized classic upon arrival, but not only has it gotten better with age, but it’s seemed to have become a notably more influential sounding record on far more than just indie music throughout the last decade. And yet for all of the attempts at reverb-addled bliss, no other musician has released a dream pop record before or since the release of HoLV that come close to matching its singular beauty.

 Although Cocteau Twins only remained active to release two good but not great records following HoLV before disbanding, the mark they left on music on the whole is indisputable. Their rich discography set a new standard for melodically rich, adventurous pop music unbeholden to the commercial realities of the music industry in a way that ever diluted their idiosyncratic sound. Although Elizabeth Fraser has played live since their split, most recently with Massive Attack while touring the 20th anniversary of their opus, Mezzanine, the possibility of a legitimate Cocteau Twins reunion has always seemed live a stretch. The creative and romantic partnership that disintegrated between Fraser and Guthrie, coupled with the lingering memories of the immense tension that bore the bulk, if not entirety of their output may always prove a barrier to great to justify reconciliation. But even in the likelihood of that sealed finality, the records that the Cocteau Twins made during their golden years of 1983-1990 sound crisper, and more refined with each passing year. With each successive act trying their hand at dreamy sounding, reverb smeared pop music propelled by thick, groovy basslines and lush choral harmonies, the potency of the music that the Cocteau Twins made during those years becomes that much more pronounced. It’s been 27 years since their last LP, and yet the sound that they helped to cultivate and then crystalize on HoLV continues to grow in relevance with each passing year.

Essentials: “Fotzepolitic”, “Heaven or Las Vegas”, “Wolfe in the Breast

[atinytokki]

Here’s my first impressions (aka this is what 2020 is gonna sound like folks)

Alright so I’m really behind today, as some of you know I literally just got back from vacation and it’s also my first day of classes this semester and it’s just craziness. Yes I’m posting the first chapter of Yeosang’s spin-off today. But people seemed to like my first impressions of the last album so I’m going to do them again. Thankfully (?) this album is a lot shorter so I can pause and talk about stuff.

Warning! a loooong post, squealing, incoherent thoughts smashed together, and crying ahead. A lot of crying. Keysmashes included.

Post-MV thoughts before I listen to it again: There’s way too much to focus on and I’ve watched it many many times to look at the choreo and the storyline stuff that’s happening, but this is my first time listening without the video so I’ll notice more musically this time. But first I wanna say; YEOSANG’S LINES!!!! I’ve been screaming for forever that he has a beautiful deep voice and needs to be given parts that compliment it. And wow it finally happened :’) Anyway here we gooo

건배하자 like a thunder!! Can you believe they literally spoiled the entire hook of their next song in Beginning of the End? *flashbacks to my utter confusion when that happened* San sounds amazing and I like the little echoey thingies. Gives it a real nostalgic feel. Jongho already popping off vocally barely 10 seconds in. Mingi’s rap here and the transition to Hongjoong’s— rap line goals. The attitude in that mm-mm made me smile ngl. This prechorus might be my favourite part of the song. Seonghwa sounds heavenly. An EDM drop bringing back that hook, good decision and again it kinda feels nostalgic?? Especially the oh-oh-ohs which are also giving me a pirate drinking song vibe wow 0.0 Wooyoung with that 불러 불러 lol. Yes the Yeosang part!! I love a good post-chorus switchup and he. handled. it. perfectly. There’s even harmony, yall know how much I love harmony. And SINGING RAPPERS AHAHDJAHAK YESSSSS. Back to that glorious prechorus but it’s Yunho’s turn. This chorus is just such an anthem. I’m bopping rn. San in this bridge— he said I am a VOCALIST listen to my beautiful VOICE. Yay the rappers going back and forth again!! It’s like If Without You. Man I can’t believe I get to replay this song forever. 2020 is gonna be lit. You hit those notes Jongho! I’m always blown away by this kid, and that scoop earlier mmmm. Just nodding very energetically right now. Perfect end to the song. 100/10!!!!

Okay I’m pausing before the next one starts because no I am not prepared. It’s just like last time; I know Hongjoong wrote this and I know it’s gonna ruin me but I have no idea how and when and what it’s even gonna be like but anyway, too bad, let’s just go.

Oh kinda futuristic sounding opening with the synths? Yooo the vocal thingy in the background, sounds like a sample of some kind, that is super cool and I hope we get more of it. Ok I paused just to write that, let me unpause. This is gonna be a long one, I can already tell, sorry guys 😅 And the beat changed right before the vocalists came in. definitely a back and forth thing here in two registers, very sweet. Wow. WOW MINGI WOW. This rap is?? It sounds super mature and idk just full of confidence. I’m shook. Ok the chorus. Holy cow this is LIT lit. Nope nope I need to pause and go back. This is so chaotic, I feel like I’m missing things?? I’m listening to that chorus again because there were so many elements there. I just wanna take this song and break it down second by second to hear every single sound hahahah. I’m only catching an odd word or two here as far as lyrics go. Oml harmonies 💆🏻‍♀️ Alright Hongjoong’s rap. OMG if he sounded sassy in Answer this is a whole new level and I LOVE IT. Flow is 100/10. The “are you gonna take me there” gives me chills. This song needs a dance this chorus is TOO LIT. Am I at a rave rn??? Oh thank God the bridge took it back a level. Ok I’m pausing because I think I caught some of the lyrics this time. If I’m not wrong I heard 난 궁금해 저 끝이 궁금해, 더 가까이 조금 더 가까이 ? Which is something like “I wonder, I wonder about the end. Closer, a little bit closer” if I heard correctly. I need to look up the lyrics in full later because Hongjoong has a big brain and his lyrics are always 🤯🤩 Ok unpause. Final breakdown! Yep this is going on repeat the rest of today. Jongho yussss with the ad libs. No it’s over ㅠㅠ Alright this one is already vying for top spot this album. We shall see. But I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. HONGJOONG GENIUS.

Um so yeah I saw them perform this live for their anniversary thingy and cried so this should be fun. At least I already know the song so how much can it hurt me? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Smart of whoever put this album together to stick this song right in the middle and make us cry between head banging to the other songs. Mingi in the beginning is just 💖💕💘💝💓 San ballad king. I need more ballads from him. Jongho, of course, with perfect vocal control. Oh Seonghwa too, I need more ballads from him. Wooyoung with T H A T part. A tear is forming, I just love this chorus. People are saying the song should be in a drama and I 100% agree. Everyone together FOREVER YOU ARE MY STARRR. The little drum frills it’s so cute :(( Yay Hongjoong, and his cute little voice I’m UWUWU. Wooyoung with the high note and I’m ascending........... Chorus again and this is the real meaning of crying in the club. It just occurred to me that the second verse seemed really short. Yeosang + Hongjoong + that guitar in the bridge is *chef’s kiss*. This is so emotional, do we really need to do this at 4am?!? I’m just gonna vibe for a sec, it’s the last chorus. The ad libs were so perfect and the way it ended— wow. I need a moment.

From my understanding this is a full version of the Precious Overture they gave us last album. Tempted to go back and see my first impressions about that one, but either way i have a distinct feeling my wig is about to be snatched. Let’s GOOO

So far, it’s starting the same. Creepy humming and all. Okay scratch that, we have a vocal melody. Yunho sounds great ugh I’m so proud. Sorry, San’s voice just takes me to another plane of existence or something, how can it be that smooth and gorgeous, someone please explain. Building to something now... Oo. OO?! Hongjoong’s rapping. This is so cool oh wow, and into this vocal part which I believe is the chorus?? wOW wow it’s amazing to hear this having already heard the bgm, this is like a new level of appreciation. It really all goes well. Ah we have a switch up now with Seonghwa. guys GUYS GUYS you know how I feel about switch ups. Sorry I’m going back to catch something. The tempo changed here and really grabbed my attention. The bass is also super cool, it’s actually the same melody as the treasure opening (and the opening of this song) but much lower, I believe. Uh oh guys this might be vying for top spot too. Let’s continue. Ok Mingi’s rap which I’ve already heard. Um I’m confused now. It’s Hongjoong’s rap again? Is this the chorus?? Woah woah hold on I gotta pause. Because. Wait, what?? This is the chorus??!? Yoooooooo bold move! I have no idea what is going on but I love it. Continuing on. Ah yeah ok the vocal part with Yeosang again, so I guess the rap + vocal part is the chorus? Also I neglected to mention but Yeosang is killing this song. Ooh okay this bridge is building some suspense. Feeeelingggggg.... And now a shouted version of the rap for the final chorus. Okay wow I’m impressed that they took it this direction. And Jongho with the ad libs is PERFECTIONNNN. Oop okay they’ve added the revised-lyric Treasure part to the end here. And the lyrics are the same as in Precious (Overture) so I’m guessing we still didn’t find the treasure, good grief. How long is it gonna take to find this treasure 😅. And it ended like that. Well. WOW. Again, I could listen to this on repeat all day. Again, I am deceased. Instant fave.

I’m pretty sure this is the exact same as I already heard on the trailer thingy but we are gonna react to it anyway.

The orchestra really loosens my tear ducts like nothing else. It’s beautiful, who else is doing it like them?? “Did you find your treasure?” Yes, I found ATEEZ 🥺. The way he says “finally found it” . This is Maddox btw. Also about Maddox, hang on I’m gonna pause for a PSA: guys if you don’t know Maddox please PLEASE check him out. He’s doing the amazing narration on this (and Intro too), he’s a soloist under KQ and one of Ateez’s hyungs who they look up to. In addition to his superior narrating talents, he is also an amazing vocalist. If you like R&B and lo-fi music I would definitely recommend him, he just dropped a single called Color Blind, his insta is xxmaddox, he’s a great guy and YEAH that’s all for my plug but go stan him, he is deserving and proof of the fact that KQ artists are talent through and through. Unpausing! The way the orchestra swells and then goes into a piratey sounding theme is so motivating and familiar :))) “Can you hear those voices?” HNGJRKSNDN WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE SCARY. This is the Epilogue, it’s supposed to be like the denouement, the falling action!! The bad guys should be gone now! What’s next?? Treasure Ep: Answer to Question? Because that’s what I have after this album! More questions!!! Anyway, the bass here and the humming 👌🏻 100/10 for the instrumental. And in ATEEZ fashion, they leave me thirsting for more.

So that was my first impression/live reaction to the mini album! I think it’s Horizon and Precious fighting for #1 currently. Maybe I’ll reblog with second and third and fourth impressions... Thanks for reading if you got this far! And tell me what your first impressions were and if I missed something big while I was keysmashing. TTFN~

[kickdownthewalls]

TOP 20 ROCK/METAL ALBUMS OF 2019

Been looking back at the list I made last year and it is hard to say if 2019 was better or not. I feel like, if nothing else, there were fewer let-downs and more out-of-the blue surprises, so I guess that means it was an improvement. For anyone who says there are no good metal albums coming out these days, I say they just need to dig a little. So many great bands have been forming in recent years and started looking back to the origins of metal before death and black metal ruled the world. Since that was the era I grew up in, it isn’t too surprising that a lot of my choices this year hark back to earlier times. Case in point…

20. BEWITCHER - Under the Witching Cross 

First up is one of many bands to put a modern spin on a retro sound and this one is even from the PNW (Portland). In this case, the most obvious comparison is early Venom. “Hexenkrieg” even has a chorus like “Acid Queen” and a bridge straight outta “1000 Days in Sodom.” Lyrically, Bewitcher may be even more primitive, with lots of references to Satan, goats, and witching of all sorts. Musically, however, they do show some real diversity and skills, mixing up lightning-fast tunes with slower, pounding metal. No sophomore slump here, thank Satan.

19. INCULTER - Fatal Visions

Norway is starting to establish itself as a home for raw and brutal old-school thrash metal, with the likes of Condor, Deathhammer, and Nekromantheon delivering some wildly OTT albums in recent years. Inculter are a bit newer but really impressed with their debut in 2015 and are back with an even more lethal release in 2019. The riffing is relentless, although the band does do a good job of mixing up the tempos throughout. Still, fast thrash with touches of early Sodom and Sepultura is the core of Inculter’s sound and it is the perfect soundtrack for getting out your aggression here at civilization’s end. 

18. MIDNIGHT PRIEST - Aggressive Hauntings

I’ve been following this Portuguese outfit since their debut nearly a decade ago and have seen a solid increase in songwriting and production, along with a solidification of style. Many bands have stolen King Diamond’s sound and style, but Midnight Priest use it as a jumping-off point into a realm of their own. The vocals cover a great range with theatrical lyrics of hauntings, convents, and candles, while the music is firmly in the classic 80s vein with some wildly catchy riffs that remind me as much of Priest and Accept as they do King and Fate. 

17. FATAL CURSE - Breaking the Trance

Hailing from the middle of upstate New York, this power trio has more in common with their NWOBHM-loving brethren across the northern border than they do most US bands. Fortunately, they pull it off with the effortlessness only a group of dyed-in-the-wool fans of the music can. Songs like “Can’t Stop the Thunder” and the title track overflow with pure, punchy energy that reminds me of the heyday of Diamond Head and Jaguar. It’s a short but power-packed debut that bodes well for the band’s future. 

16. BABYMETAL - Metal Galaxy

Although this might seem out of place, I’ve always had a love for electronic dance music and this is the best combination of metal and dance I’ve heard yet. While the first two Babymetal records had a cool sound, they felt kind of samey and it was hard to really remember any of the individual tracks. Not so here. “Da Da Dance” is pure anime energy, while “Shanti Shanti Shanti” incorporates Indian instrumentation and melodies and “Oh! MAJINAI” can only be called a pirate anthem. Even “PA PA YA!!” with its rap bridge totally rocks. Some folks are turned off by ‘manufactured’ bands like this, which I totally get, but I’m more interested in the results and “Metal Galaxy” is a really solid, diverse album that I’ve come back to many times already. 

15. IRON GRIFFIN - Curse of the Sky

Finland is apparently the world’s capitol of metal (most bands per capita) and represents all types well. Iron Griffin is a thoroughly original and enjoyable mix of 70s occult and hard rock, early USPM, and classic epic metal. The production is nice and organic, with each instrument shining through, especially the bass. Vocalist Maija Tiljander can deliver the mellow and screaming parts with equal panache, while all of the instruments are handled by Oskari Räsänen (drummer of the divine Mausoleum Gate). If you enjoyed their EP, this album is 100% better and that is saying something. 

14. VIGILANCE - Enter the Endless Abyss

Haven’t heard too many Slovenian heavy metal bands (Hellcats is the only other one I can think of), but Vigilance is quite impressive in both delivery and originality. Their style is a fairly complex mix of classic, speed, and black metal. The riffing is solid, with plenty of Maiden-esque harmonies to be had, while the vocals are gruff in the vein of Amok-era Sentenced. Every song is a bit of a journey, without being overblown, and it makes for a very satisfying album experience. 

13. TANITH - In Another Time

After being blown away by their performance at Frost & Fire IV, I was very pleased to see Tanith sign with Metal Blade and release a killer debut. Trying to describe the band’s sound is difficult, as they incorporate a lot of different elements. There is a definite 70s vibe and some early prog-rock influences at work, with complex song structures that thankfully never get self-indulgent. The blending of male and female clean vocals is another highlight and both work remarkably well with the melodic riffs. The bass playing is also worth noting, as it winds its way through each song in perfect counterpoint to whatever the guitar happens to be doing. Bonus points for writing a song about the Cassini probe and its journey to Saturn.

12. ATLANTEAN KODEX - The Course of Empire

When I hear the term ‘epic metal,’ this is exactly what comes to mind. It incorporates the most grandiose elements of bands like Manowar, Bathory, and Solstice, but Atlantean Kodex somehow take it to the next level. This isn’t a collection of catchy songs, it is a weighty opus that you need to sit back and let cascade over you. It has been six years since their last record but you can definitely hear the time was well-spent and great care taken to craft each song just so. Although it doesn’t surpass The White Goddess in grandeur, it is close behind. 

11. SUICIDAL ANGELS - Years of Aggression

Greek thrash very much in the vein of the classics from ’88-’90. Solid production, straightforward but great riffing, and a wide range of tempos. There are songs that swing back and forth between fast and slow, some that are mid-tempo throughout, etc. I love that Suicidal Angels sound like they are equally influenced by the Germans and Bay Area thrashers equally, with nods to outliers like Sepultura and Artillery as well. The band tends to sound pretty much the same from album to album, and that is true here as well, but it feels like this is one of the best collection of songs they have put together yet. 

10. POUNDER - Uncivilized

Here is another great US band, this time formed by some death metal merchants looking to do something a bit more traditional. Pounder really do a great job covering all the bases and Uncivilized overflows with catchy riffs and melodies, anthemic choruses, and a great deal of diversity. Speed metal like “Red Hot Leather” is followed by a power ballad in the form of the AOR-tinged “Long Time No Love” and both are excellent. Shades of Rainbow permeate tracks like “The Mists of Time” and “Uncivilized.” Early Pretty Maids is a good reference point for the styles covered and the gruff but melodic vocals. Stellar debut and I’m really hoping the band forges on as I think there a great deal of potential here for even better work. 

9. TOXIKULL - Cursed and Punished

This one almost slipped under my radar but glad I managed to hear it. This is the stunning sophomore release from Portugal’s Toxikull and is prime power/speed metal with searing vocals and some of the best change-ups and most memorable choruses of the year. Imagine Judas Priest’s Painkiller with more modern production and even more adrenaline and you have a pretty good idea of what to expect. Clocking in at just over a half hour, this is a solid album that never disappoints. 

8. DESTRUCTION - Born to Perish

Destruction was never my favorite of the German thrashers but I still enjoyed most of their albums, even if they started to sound pretty much the same shortly after the reunion in 2000. I felt like something was different with this new one, as the opening snare drum assault of the title track got stuck in my head almost immediately. The overall style is still very much modern, thrashy Destruction, but there seems to be a little more melody overall and the songs feel more thought-out and memorable. It is always heartwarming to hear a band releasing one of their strongest albums this far into their career. Now we just need a US tour… 

7. MYSTIK - Mystik

Another release that I nearly missed out on is Mystik, who hail from Sweden and pack a real wallop of melodic speed metal with compelling vocals and strong choruses. The production is that perfect balance between pro and underground and gives the music a really timeless feeling. This is another short album that gets to the point and delivers, song after song. The vocals remind me a bit of early Warlock and Acid, while the music has a darker edge and the two complement each other to a T.

6. ROTTING CHRIST - The Heretics

These Greek pioneers have really walked a wide-ranging path over the years, from raw black metal to polished gothic metal, and on into uncharted realms where those elements and more all come together in sublime fashion. There is a truly epic quality to the songs on The Heretics, even with all of the songs being in the 3-5 minute range. Gruff vocals are juxtaposed with clean backing vocals and chanted choruses, with the music covering equally diverse ground. A work of startling, dark beauty and possibly my favorite Rotting Christ record to date.

5. VULTURE - Ghastly Waves & Battered Graves

This is pure German speed metal, with frantic yet melodic riffs, relentless drums, and piercing vocals. Bands like Ranger and Speedtrap brought the sound back to life a few years back and Vulture really take it to the next level. The aggression and rawness is still intact, with nods to early Exodus, but there is a keen sense of melody and strong songwriting that runs throughout the record. Plus, possibly the best album title of the year.

4. AVATARIUM - The Fire I Long For While

I have always enjoyed Avatarium’s records, this is the first time that it feels like the band has really come into its own and produced a remarkable piece of art in the process. The heavy, doomy riffs are still plentiful, but there is a deeper resonance to the melodies and riffs than ever before. The powerful vocals of Jennie-Ann Smith take the center seat, but the increased use of organ and fuzz-heavy guitars and bass really rounds out the sound. The shift from 100% Leif Edling-penned songs to the majority coming from Smith and guitarist Marcus Jidell also no doubt lends to the more unique character of The Fire I Long For (though I must say that “Epitaph of Heroes” would be right at home on Ancient Dreams). 

3. DEATH ANGEL - Humanicide

As much as I love many bay area thrash bands, I think Death Angel have secured themselves as my all-time favorite. Their first three albums are timeless and the albums since the reunion have been close behind. The worst thing I can say about any of the records is that they are good but maybe not as memorable as the ones before (notably The Evil Divide and Killing Season). Humanicide is probably my favorite since The Art of Dying, with a wide range of styles, memorable choruses, and the artistic blend of rough and polished that Death Angel does so well. 

2. SOILWORK - Verkligheten 

It has been a while since I’ve paid that much attention to Soilwork and now I wonder if I’ve been missing out because this album is a monster. The combination of styles here, from melodic death metal with blastbeats to 80s metal to frantic thrash is intoxicating and executed so perfectly, the album just blows right by. “Full Moon Shoals” exemplifies the range perfectly, with one of the best bridges I’ve heard in ages. It feels like Bjorn’s involvement in the retro-minded Night Flight Orchestra has helped to give Soilwork a broader sound as well as a tighter focus on crafting the songs into something more than just a collection of riffs. Even the bonus Underworld EP is consistently strong, while many bands would just toss their throwaway tracks on such a release. For a band’s 11th album, Verkligheten is not just above average but near the top of the band’s best works, period. 

1. SACRED REICH - Awakening 

Sacred Reich was one of the brightest stars of the late 80s thrash wave, with a strong debut and a timeless follow-up, but, like so many others, they lost their way in the 90s and eventually disbanded. Although it took the band 23 years to finally get their comeback record out, damn, it was totally worth the wait. Everything that I love about Sacred Reich is here: speedy riffs mixed with chugging mosh parts, a hypnotic rhythm section, Phil’s one-of-a-kind vocal assault, and every song a winner. Even “Death Valley,” which I didn’t care much for on first spin, has grown on me with its groovy, stoner vibe. The timing couldn’t be more perfect for Sacred Reich’s heartfelt, socially-conscious lyrics, too, and Awakening is hopefully just that: the dawn of a whole new era for OD and tha Reich! 

There may not have been any big-name releases this year, but the underground came through with a ton of brilliant new releases. Narrowing down my list to 20 was more difficult than ever this year and I’d like to mention several other bands that nearly made the list: ALCEST, ANGEL WITCH, APHRODITE, BARBARIAN, CALYX, CRYPT SERMON, DEMON HEAD, EXCUSE, HAUNT, HELLISH GRAVE, KRYPTOS, LUCIFERA, METAL INQUISITOR, ROCK GODDESS, SANHEDRIN, SCREAMER, SMOULDER, and SPIRIT ADRIFT. Definitely check out any and all of these albums, preferably on Bandcamp where you can also buy them.

With so many smaller and retro-minded bands hitting the scene this year, there were also plenty of demos, EPs and 7” singles. Among the best: BEASTMAKER, CIRITH UNGOL DENIAL OF GOD, GALAXY, HAUNT, MIDNIGHT DICE, MIDNIGHT SPELL, SHADOW WARRIOR, SOLICITOR, SOURCE, THE NIGHT ETERNAL, TYRANN, and VISIGOTH. GALAXY in particular has the potential to really be something special and I can’t wait for their next release.

Will 2020 top this year? Hard to say, but there are plenty of promising releases on the way from SODOM, HELLOWEEN, DELAIN, NIGHTWISH, DARK ANGEL, and LUCIFER. Maybe MEGADETH will surprise us with a worthy comeback, too, you never know. It will be a chaotic year for the world, no doubt, so we are going to need some good, solid metal releases to help us cope. Horns up!

[kpop-obscura]

Top 10 K-Pop Songs of 2019 (Pt.2)

Link to (Pt.1)

5. TXT - Our Summer

Very light and airy during the verses but hectic during the chorus. A kind of calm funk style. The vocals are sort of distorted, like they have a lot of texture, and a lot of the singing is in this high pitch that actually sounds great. Their voices blend together into this almost unrecognizable electronic harmony.

These guys had a great rookie year, ‘Crown’ was an awesome debut title track and ‘Cat and Dog’ was also really nice. Really looking forward to their future albums if all their B-Sides will have this level of quality

4. ONF - Ice & Fire

Such a fun catchy song, the way it fades back and forth between intense symphonic choirs and subtle soft verses is uncanny. Hyojin’s voice is so well suited for the chorus, the sort of lazy but beautiful way he pronounces ‘ice and fire’ is so good. This group has some great vocalists, definitely one of the most interesting boy groups in terms of vocal diversity. All the reverb and echo create this layered lush sound.

A lot of shimmery chimes and horns mixed with a heavy drum backbone make this simultaneously intense and soothing. Been coming back to this track all year and it never gets old.

3. IZ*ONE - Violeta

Some insane synth perfection. IZ’ONE has been given incredibly high-quality songs from the start. Both their mini-albums are full of great B-Sides, their producers are just incredible.

This instrumental is crazy, the melody during the chorus is so unique and abrasive. Between Violeta and La Vie en Rose, they have crafted this graceful yet extremely hype sound, with lush beautiful string sections but also high-energy fun verses that feel like they should clash but don’t. Like a weird kind of elegant-techno-pop.

2. GFRIEND - Sunrise

GFRIEND probably had the strongest year of any girl group. ‘Time For Us’ is full of great songs and ‘Fever Season’ is really solid too. ‘Sunrise’ came out really early in the year, and set the bar pretty high for everyone else.

Not sure if I’ve ever heard such a symphonic pop song that has such a classical feel to it. The piano and strings, especially during the chorus are so emotional and bittersweet and it all feels very theatrical. It walks a line between pop and ballad that I didn’t think was possible.

The vocals here are on another level. Yuju is so steady and her voice carries large parts of the song. Eunha also has this incredible vocal run at 3:28. that makes for such a memorable ending.

1. TREI - Gravity

One of the best debut title tracks from a kpop group ever. The fact that this group kind of flew way under the radar is incredibly disappointing, but you can’t really blame people when they weren’t promoted seemingly at all in the second half of the year.

Gravity is a beautiful song, Juntae is immediately one of the best idol vocalists in this generation and having only three guys in the group makes his voice extremely prominent in almost every song. Changhyun is an absolute beast rapper, he’s got a great flow and always uses his voice to its full potential. He’s also an incredible producer having written and composed multiple songs from their debut EP as well as some of EXID’s previous songs as well.

There aren’t many idol groups doing stuff like ‘Gravity’ it has more of an indie sound than a pop sound, and the chorus feels more like a ballad than an electro extravaganza. I don’t know how they manage to combine the softer vocals with upbeat rap verses and have it all feel consistent but they do. Really hope these guys can make a comeback soon.

[usgunn]

September 15, 2019

CLICK HERE for the September 15, 2019 playlist

1.    The Girls - “Jeffrey I Hear You” (1979)

Soul Jazz Records just put out a compilation of music that was important and influential to artist Keith Haring.  Lots of great early-80′s downtown New York punk/funk/new wave/etc.  This was the first I had heard this song, by a group led by visual artist and Haring pal George Condo.  I’m a sucker for a one-chord song.

2.    The Wake - “Of The Matter” (1985)

This was a Glasgow-based group that put out music on Factory Records, running in the same scene as New Order and the Durutti Column.  Emotional and urgent, with some amazing synth and bass work.   

3.    Canyons - “When I See You Again” (2011)

Canyons were a “production duo” from Perth, Australia--about as close as one can get to the edge of the world.  They put out one album, Keep Your Dreams, which this song comes from, that veered wildly from clattering electronic productions to more pop-inflected songs like this one, sung by former Sniff ‘n’ The Tears (a band I had never heard of previously) frontman Paul Roberts.

4.    Mood Rings - “Pathos Y Lagrimas” (2013)

Mood Rings were a dreamy Atlanta rock band that signed to Mexican Summer records, put out a really interesting album, VPI Harmony (from which this song comes), and then appears to have fizzled out.

5.    Seely - “Soft City” (1997)

Another Atlanta band, from much earlier than Mood Rings.  Started by two former Georgia Tech architecture students--Steven Satterfield (now chef-owner of Miller Union restaurant in Atlanta) and Lori Scacco (now a multi-disciplinary artist in New York).  They were the first American band to sign to legendary UK post-rock label Too Pure, and recorded their second album with John McEntire from Tortoise and the Sea and Cake.  This song comes from their third album, Seconds, which was produced by Scott Herren from Prefuse 73.

6.    Super Numeri - “When The Sun Dials” (2003)

Weirdo Liverpudlians making music that exists somewhere between Miles Davis’s 70′s jazz fusion experiments and krautrock.  They put out a couple of albums on Ninja Tune and then disappeared, with main-man Pop Levi going to make some kind of annoying solo albums and play bass for Ladytron.

7.    Rosinha de Valença - “Asa Branca” (1971)

Just stumbled across this this past week.  A Brazilian guitarist and composer from the 70′s.  Don’t know much else, but was captivated by the guitar playing here and the sort of surprise horns in the middle of the song.

8.    Brittany Howard - “History Repeats” (2019)

So, I don’t know much about the Alabama Shakes, although I did like a few things I heard from their last album, Sound & Color, that made me think they are probably a much different band than I think they are.  But singer Brittany Howard has been putting out a few singles in advance of a solo album coming out soon, and I’ve been really into them.  This song in particular has a weirdo groove to it and doesn’t really go anywhere in the best way possible.

9.    Dutch Uncles - “Combo Box” (2017)

Dutch Uncles are a Manchester band that’s been one of my faves of the past few years.  Their music is REALLY nerdy, which makes sense since it’s supposedly all composed by their bass player, a musical composition student, using computer musical notation software, which the band then learns how to translate to rock band instruments.

10.   Yellow Magic Orchestra - “Taiso” (1981)

Legendary Japanese supergroup, composed of Yukihiro Takahashi, Haruomi Hosono, and Ryuichi Sakamoto.  All three members were well-known in Japan before the band formed, although only Sakamoto is really well-known in the US due to his film-scoring work.  They made eclectic synth-pop, always with an eye towards the pop world.  This song comes from my favorite overall YMO album, Technodelic.

11.    Alan Braxe & Fred Falke - “Penthouse Serenade” (2002)

For a few years in the early 2000′s, French duo Alan Braxe & Fred Falke treated the world to several wonderful dance singles and several more top-tier remixes for other artists.  And then there must’ve been some bad blood, cause it all just stopped.  Unfortunately their true masterpiece, “Rubicon,” is not on Spotify, but I’d put this song up as one of the best of the rest.  Before teaming with Falke, Braxe was briefly part of a group with Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter called Stardust.

12.    Lindstrøm & Christabelle - “Baby Can’t Stop” (2009)

I go back and forth on Swedish electronic music guru Hans-Peter Lindstrøm.  But I love the album he made with Swedish vocalist Christabelle, Real Life Is No Cool.  Unfortunately Christabelle has never shown up anywhere else.

13.    Alexander Robotnick - “C’est La Vie (7″ Version)” (1987)

Robotnick is an Italian dance-music producer who’s been kicking around for almost four decades.  I don’t know much about him, and honestly don’t remember how I stumbled upon this song, but I love it and now you are hearing it.

14.   Hintermass - “While Away” (2016)

Hintermass is a collaboration between Tim Felton (former guitar player for Broadcast and Seeland) and Jon Brooks, aka The Advisory Circle--one of Ghost Box Records’ primary artists.  Their music is a winning combo of Felton’s meditative, baritone pop songs and Brooks’s electronic production.

15.    Dennis Wilson - “Time” (1977)

Yes, that Dennis Wilson--Beach Boys Dennis Wilson.  He made one really deep solo record in 1977, Pacific Ocean Blue.  This emotional tune kicks off side two, showcasing Dennis’s ragged vocals over soft rock piano balladry, before kicking into something else entirely...

[cjostrander]

The Devin Townsend Project: Sky Blue

Hello guys! Thank you for the response on my latest reviews. It tempts me to continue putting the newer ones out but today i am going to tackle a curiosity album that is also due for an anniversary review. I just started listening to this musician a few months ago and have taken quite a strong liking to his overall work. This album is by one of his full band projects and is technically part of a double release. The first being this disc and the second one being the follow up solo album to Ziltoid the Omniscient. I reviewed that one a month ago and found it to be a surprisingly solid release so here’s to hoping this is another solid review. It’s reached five years old so let’s see how its aged.

Rejoice: We begin with some metallica futuristic effects to set up an interesting ambiance. Muffled female vocals in the background begin over a rough rhythm section before Devin arrives with a nice sense of grit in his voice. The aggressive instrumentals will do well for fans of standard metal that focuses on rhythm. It does lack in terms of melodic catchiness since it lacks a full chorus. As an opener it doesn’t ease listeners in casually and takes them on very bluntly; risking losing a casual listener. I could see decent live potential due to its experimentation with backing vocal choirs and a rhythm focus that could keep an audience entertained. Aside from that it feels like its missing something to really latch onto the listener this early on in the album. 6/10

Fallout: The guitars begin with a more melodic tone over computerized female vocals. It takes its time in warming up before the female singer arrives to deliver some rather engaging vocals. She brings a sense of melodic catchiness that the previous track lacked. Devin does a solid job of delivering complex high notes that never seem to wear down. Its a nice dual role between him and the female vocalist that seems to be a common staple on his work with the Devin Townsend Project. It does a good job of avoiding the risk of smothering the listener with overproduction and really brings a sense of climatic ambition to the album; which will surely stand a strong chance of convincing the listener to continue on with their listen. 8/10

Midnight Sun: Acoustic riffs begin this track with an interesting surprise because based on his prior work i was expected some much heavier work; but this album seems to be showcasing a more classically melodic focus. Devin experiments with heavily layered harmonies that mesh with the full feeling instrumental melodies to create a strong sense of atmospheric depth. It certainly shifts a bit more towards the ballad side of music but does offer the listener a risky experiment that does well and showcases Devin’s consistent level of complexity; even if he goes overboard at times. The thing that i do appreciate about him is that he is fully indie with owning his own label and writes pretty much everything that he has released. It showcases a true sense of honesty and what his true vision in his music is; with all its positives and shortcomings attached. It makes it easier to connect with these tracks when looked at it as such. 8/10

A New Reign: Devin begins with a slightly darker but equally holistic set of vocal harmonies. The instrumentals bring forth a decent showing of melody while Devin and his female vocalist work together to create an emotionally powerful vocal duo. Their layered atmosphere is very beautiful and will do a great job of providing a therapeutic outlet to the listener during a time of frustration. They do bring in some tense moments in here with gloomy keys and guitar work and some spaced out growl vocals for added emphasis. I do wish that the drums had a little more complexity in the album so far since past albums have really showcased that guy’s talent; but these kind of songs are simplistic enough instrumentally to be understandable in that regard. It helps keep some smothering out of the mix and doesn’t throw off the tempo in it as well. 8/10

Universal Flame: This is a highlight track and as close to a single as there is on here. It begins with an immediate shout of powerful bliss and energetic instrumentals to proper it even higher. The backing female vocals give it a nice sense of beauty while avoiding smothering things. Devin takes on a slightly different style vocally and uses softer harmonies to create a nice texture for the listener to soak into. The lyrics will stick out a little bit more this time and should be nice to sing along during the chorus; which actually sticks out this time firmly. This would make for a decent live track and is a nice one to get slowly energized to; after waking up in the morning. Devin really showcases some power during the mid section with growl vocals that actually add emotional urgency to the vocals as opposed to direct aggression. The guitar solo is a great focal point that will further enhance it’s live appeal as well. Definitely recommend this track if you are just browsing; though his albums typically seem best enjoyed in sequence verses shuffle; due to their very complex structure. 9/10

Warrior: This middle track begins with more cheery guitar melodies and powerful vocal harmonies. The female vocallist arrive for slightly rougher instrumentals in the background. They create an interestingly chaotic rhythm that is nice to focus on for a bit before they shift into softer atmospheric melodies. As with the majority of the other tracks; the vocals are too layered to really make out what she is saying so unfortunately lyrics rarely seem to get the chance to ponder over and appreciate. It’s not a bad piece but definitely is a bit bumpier with just the female vocalist featured as opposed to her and Devin working together to strengthen each other up evenly. 7/10

Sky Blue: Devin arrives over a soft bass line to deliver low harmonies that will be easy to appreciate as the instrumentals slowly wake up in an effective manner. It’s a more electronically subtle track that gives the minimal instrumentation a nice sense of interest that outweighs the risk effectively. The female vocals continue to do a good job when focused on but this relaxing piece focuses pretty strongly on a sense of melodic bliss instrumentally. I could see it being an interesting piece to see played live since it would be a good piece to wind things down after more his heavily ambitious work. Not bad at all for a title track! 8.5/10

Silent Militia: A solo vocal call to arms begins over heavily muffled samples before the drums arrive with the guitars to slowly begin to energize the listener. It contains a more aggressive yet cautious rhythm that will showcase interestingly live. It uses softer transition segments to showcase the subtle electronic effects; bass lines; and female harmonies. Devin delivers a pretty powerful chorus that makes effective use of his growl vocals and could make this one of the heavier tracks on the album. It still isn’t heavy by the standards of his older solo work; but provides a gradual change of pace that still manages to fit neatly with the tone and focus of the previous tracks. 8/10

Rain City: This nearly 8 minute song begins with a shift towards calming key work that provides a soothing support for Devin’s gradual entry. He focuses on soft harmonies that gradually grow in emotional urgency as the electronic drums grow. The female vocals combine for a layered effect that will develop a strong level of complexity that is beautiful and extremely relaxing. This song brings forth a strong sense of melody that shaping it up to be one of the most interestingly effect tracks on the album; which will make its longer runtime eagerly worth the sit through. I’d be interested to see this live but considering it’s heavily dominance on electronica in the background and atmospheric flair; it’d be a challenge to reach this level of strength. 9/10

Forever: Devin begins with a layered vocal style that works over a soothing yet spaced key presence. It provides a holistic feeling that will continue to provide a sense of relaxation that helps to make this album different form most of his previous ones. It feels very heavily like a suitable pick for an album closer so considering there are two more tracks and one is 8 and a half minutes long; i’m curious how this is going to effect the flow of the album. 8/10

Before We Die: Drums begin this track with a nice sense of powerful ambition that makes the previous track understandable. It has a nice sense of emotional beauty and motivational energy to get the listener compelled to resolve whatever issue is troubling their mind. The drums deliver a slightly more energetic presence in the mix but remain in the background firmly still. choir vocals are used to a very pleasing effect that delivers a strong sense of emotional complexity to the track. They are a smart trait to add more interest to the listener this late into an hour long album. It also shapes it up to be another of the album’s highlight tracks. I could see it being a very solid live track that would deliver an ambitious performance while using the choir segment to garner a sing along moment with the audience. It would actually be a very beautiful sight to see live so i’ll have to look for live videos  when i get a chance. 10/10

The Ones Who Love: This finale track is only a minute and a half long and is basically a choir closing that feels like a continuation of the previous song. 0/0

Overall album rating: 8.1/10

Not a bad score for this album and it’s a good pick for when you want something that is softer while energetic verses his more aggressive material. It does a good job of avoiding the risk of being overdone; so i could see this being one of his more mainstream friendly albums that is a decent length listen but a smooth one at that. Other than that i hope you guys enjoyed the review; now i have to head out and get ready for a wine festival today.

[maxblog2019]

Diva Sweetly: In The Living Room

In The Living Room is an extremely fun indie pop record with enough diversity in its track-list to never get bored. “Cult” kicks off the album with a catchy bass/guitar riff accompanied by some bloopy keyboards (I love that bloopy keyboard sound and I don’t know how else to describe it). Diva Sweetly knows how to keep things interesting by playing around with tempos and time signatures. Often when bands use irregular time signatures it can just come off as pretentious, like “Hey I bet you can’t keep up with this!” but the 5-4 time of the second track, “Detox Island” serves the bouncy feel of the song perfectly. Vocalist Karly Hartzman sings with a reserved precision that reminds me of Elaiza Santos of Crying. 

Daniel Gorham takes up lead vocals on “Wax On My Candles”, and while I’m not as crazy about his singing style--it’s a bit too generically emo/pop-punk for my taste--the songwriting is still just as strong. And the contrast between the two vocalists can be fun when they harmonize or trade lines back and forth. For example, “Education” features some beautiful harmonies with several overdubbed vocal tracks. That’s a great track which unfortunately ends with a fake infomercial that wasn’t really that funny the first time and I find myself skipping over on subsequent listens. Sorry to be a bummer. 

“Beneath The Floorboards” is the obligatory slow acoustic track, providing a nice little breather before transitioning into the album’s most intense track, “Dark Horse Lane”, which is the closest thing the album has to a straight-forward punk song. But there’s nothing predictable about In The Living Room. Diva Sweetly mixes brightly colored indie-pop, emo, and a hint of math-rock to create an infectious debut album. 

Grade: A-

[futuresandpasts]

Futures & Pasts | MRR #414

My column from Maximum Rocknroll #414 (November 2017), one of the rare months this year when I mostly wrote about demos from new bands, as opposed to reissues of records from thirty-plus years ago. 

The time that I’ve spent writing this month’s column has been marked by all sorts of strange happenings and general flux. The skies in Portland have been smoke-streaked and raining ash for days because a couple of jackass kids tossed firecrackers into the evergreen forests of the Columbia River Gorge to the east of the city, setting tens of thousands of acres of trees ablaze in the process. My hometown of Houston is still largely underwater after catastrophic hurricane-triggered flooding, and even though it’s been twelve years since I left the city, this might be the first time that I’ve felt so genuinely separated from it, helplessly watching from the opposite side of the country as the places and things that defined my formative years (for better or worse) are completely upended. I quit the radio show that I’d been doing for the last year and a half because the pressure of coming up with a two-hour program week after week without repeating myself was making me lose my mind just a little bit, so I’m back to doing a podcast from my apartment whenever inspiration strikes and I can already tell that it’ll be a better change for me. And I started a new band called COLLATE with two friends a few months back that finally recorded this week, just in time to make some tapes for a short tour down to California in mid-October—come hang out if you’re in Chico, Los Angeles, San Francisco or Oakland and you want talk about oddball ‘70s and ‘80s post-punk records with us.

Five years after Dark Entries’ remastered vinyl reissue of UK minimal wave duo LIVES OF ANGELS’ 1983 cassette Elevator to Eden, they’re back with a brand new LP collection called Hole in the Sky drawn from the group’s unreleased odds and ends and archival tracks sourced from hyper-obscure tape compilations. In contrast to some of their aesthetically similar contemporaries like SOLID SPACE or SECOND LAYER, LIVES OF ANGELS didn’t splinter off from the fertile early ‘80s UK post-punk scene, and in fact vocally rejected it—multi-instrumentalist Gerald O’Connell apparently dismissed everything from the era with the exception of COCTEAU TWINS, DEPECHE MODE, and NEW ORDER. The influence of the latter is especially apparent, and when O’Connell’s wife Catherine takes her turn at the mic (see “I Know About You” or “After Dark”), the result is a sort of striking bedroom synth-pop driven by the mechanical heartbeat of a vintage drum machine, suggesting slightly ragged takes on “Ceremony” or “Age of Consent” as sung with the detached warmth of Alison Statton of YOUNG MARBLE GIANTS. The Gerald-sung songs “Call Moscow” and “Somebody Else” also point to some shared wavelengths with jangly home-taping pop freaks CLEANERS FROM VENUS, who appeared on more than one mid-’80s small-run cassette comp alongside LIVES OF ANGELS, but best of all might be the dark electro-punk minimalism of “Look Out Kid,” spun almost entirely from reverbed drum machine clatter and retro-futuristic synthesizer that connects the dots between KRAFTWERK and the NORMAL. (Dark Entries, livesofangels.bandcamp.com)

From an obscurity dug out of the archives of the 1980s cassette underground to something more contemporary that could convincingly pass for the same: Imagery is the debut four-song tape from MIDNIGHT GARDEN, which appears to be one person armed with a four-track machine in modern-day Toronto crafting fever dream post-punk that sounds like the half-decayed remnants of a demo originally sent to Rough Trade in 1981. The driving, melodic bassline running through the opening and standout track “Structures” immediately had me thinking of early FOR AGAINST (clearly going after my own heart here, as I’ve been trying to rip off the same for years), cutting through the cavernous echo of some tom-heavy drumming and deadpan vocals buried under a thick fog of tape hiss. Then there’s “What Moves You?,” with an insistent back-and-forth of scalpel-edged single-note guitar and pulsing bass that occupies the liminal space between the stark, rhythm-minded approach of Factory Records’ early ‘80s post-punk faction (think pre-electronic SECTION 25) and the desperate and moody atmosphere of goth-adjacent bands like the CHAMELEONS. When you’re this reverent of your source material, it’s all too easy to come off as overly forced and derivative, but the roughed-up and off-kilter aesthetic of these recordings gives MIDNIGHT GARDEN the homespun spark that made the first wave of fiercely DIY post-punks so provocative in the first place. (whatmovesyou.bandcamp.com)

TABLE SUGAR have been making the minimalist art-punk of my dreams in Olympia since at least late 2016 when their demo Introductory Material first surfaced, but it took a tip this summer (from my friend Jay over at Dynamite Hemorrhage) for the band to actually be brought to my attention, and despite all of this brilliant racket happening less than two hours north up I-5 from me in Portland. For any of y’all who rightfully flipped your lid for LITHICS, take note: TABLE SUGAR are truly the next great post-punk weirdos of the Pacific Northwest. Sparse, taut guitar lines stretch out between throbbing bass and choppy drumbeats like the string connecting a pair of tin can telephones, while twin vocalists intone their parts over one another in cool monotones and ecstatic shrieks, sometimes within the span of the same song. “M.e.” even throws some violin into the equation which will undoubtedly evoke some references to the feral femme spirit of the RAINCOATS, but much like their freewheeling Australian counterparts in BENT, TABLE SUGAR are guided less by any rigid adherence to the scratchy groundwork laid down by the RAINCOATS (or DELTA 5, or the AU PAIRS, or…) and more by their foremothers’ general gleeful refusal to color inside the lines. (tablesugarband.bandcamp.com)

Blown-out basement punk newcomers STRANGE FATE hail from the woods of Western Massachusetts, where I spent most of my twenties enduring way too many shows dominated by mysterious guy hardcore bands who were in various phases of moving on from fawning ORCHID worship. I was so desperate for something like this during my time there—frantic, no frills femme-led DIY racket, with dual yelped vocals from guitarists Callie and Lindsey that bring to mind those first two NOTS singles when they were still inviting endless “KLEENEX meets the URINALS” comparisons. STRANGE FATE have the same penchant for whiplash choruses consisting primarily of shouted chants, with most of the songs careening to their end in just barely over a minute. For sheer econo-punk brilliance in 2017, look no further than “I Don’t Wanna Know,” whose lyrics are little more than the title delivered over and over in a snotty sneer over slashing guitars and urgently bashed drums for exactly 60 seconds, although the breathless repetition of “don’t tell me! / don’t tell me nothing!” on “Round Up” is pretty great, too. (strangefate.bandcamp.com)

Oakland’s MINERALS are the latest offshoot of the GRASS WIDOW family tree (the shared DNA is from bassist Raven Mahon), and the new trio’s EP One demo builds upon the same melodic but slightly gnarled framework that made GRASS WIDOW such a revelation in the early twenty-tens. All three MINERALS sing, sometimes with one voice in isolation and sometimes with multiple intersecting parts that briefly overlap in quietly unassuming harmonies, backed by guitar lines twisted into complex shapes and rhythms that subtly shift between tension and sprawl. “First/Firth” and “Third/Therm” are the EP’s gauzy, slowburning pop visions, while the loopier, bass-driven lilt of “Second/Second” and “Fourth/Forth” nods to all of the coolest women of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s post-punk universe. Someone please do a vinyl release of this as soon as possible! (minerals2.bandcamp.com)

[stevecanmakeanythingnerdy]

Battle #27

Janet Jackson: Control (Side 2 )

Vs.

Quarterflash : S/T (Side 1 )

Janet Jackson: Control (Side 2 )

Janet Jackson is the youngest child of the very famous Jackson family. The family is a product of “local” upbringing in Gary, Indiana and helped launch the careers of other famous Jacksons, such as Michael. Janet began her career with the variety television series The Jacksons in 1976 and went on to appear in other television shows throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, including Good Times and Fame. Other incidents (such as the Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction from over a decade ago) are footnotes in her resume as well, but what sets her apart is her music. She got off on that career perhaps slower than her brothers but I think it’s safe to say enjoyed as much if not more success than them in the long run. Signing a recording contract with A&M Records in 1982, she became a pop icon following the release of her third and fourth studio albums Control , and later Rhythm Nation 1814. It’s hard to say which of these two albums had more appeal and success, but they both largely attribute to her setting herself apart. Both figuratively AND literally. With this album, she gained (*ahem) CONTROL (#seewhatididthere) from her family affairs, getting out from under her father’s clutches and attempts to access her fortunes. Janet cited it as one of the hardest things she has ever had to do. Side two may not have all of the BIG hits, but you should recognize a few of the titles, for sure. “The Pleasure Principle” starts off and right away, the dance beats are club worthy and catchy. This was a charting single off the biggest R&B album of 1986. “When I think of You” follows in that success pattern. It’s lighter fanfare but perhaps a more recognized hit. You can probably already imagine the back and forth simplified piano chords. VERY 80’s with the noises and fake key-horns. Even a decent breakdown and it rocks like a lullaby back and forth. The song comes across as honest, which I think is partially true of the whole album and why it sold so well. A laugh at the end helps solidify it all. “He Doesn’t Know I’m Alive” is an emotional tune (which I suppose is to be expected- Janet was only 20 when this came out and most likely written at 18 or 19) It does have a fair share of tooting horns though, too much for me. It’s the please notice me song. Another minor B side charting single follows with “Let’s Wait Awhile”. You would immediately recognize it if you have heard it. Really showcases the pop range of the younger sis. You can really hear the Michael blueprints here though. Even a little scat style vocal is explored. It’s often a record like this (3 or 4 into a career) where the artist seems to be open to exploring new things or just determined to destroy expectations that either really great things happen or really disastrous things. I think in this case Janet came out of her shell and landed on top. “Funny How Time Flys (When You’re Having Fun)” is the last tune. Is it a bonus French jam? At least it sounds foreign at the intro. Slow and jazzy. Lazy Sunday. Acoustic in nature and minimalist In stature. Is it necessary? Probably not, but then again why not? The icing on the cake to all of this is Janet is a soon to be 2019 rock and roll Hall of Fame inductee. She deserves it honestly.

Quarterflash : S/T (Side 1 )

Quarterflash is an American rock group formed in 1980 in Portland, Oregon. The band was originally made up of the two current members, Rindy Ross (lead vocals and saxophone) and her husband Marv Ross (guitars). Along with Jack Charles (guitars), Rick DiGiallonardo (keyboards/synthesizers), Rich Gooch (electric bass), and Brian David Willis (drums and percussion) the rest of the band is formed. Quarterflash is notable for having a lead singer who also played the saxophone. In a 1982 interview, Rindy Ross said that she viewed the saxophone as an extension of her voice, enabling her to express things she could not express with her voice alone. The group was formed by merging two popular Oregon bands, Seafood Mama and Pilot. They originally continued under the name Seafood Mama, and had early success with the song “Harden My Heart”, but thankfully changed to Quarterflash once the song picked up steam and labels took interest. I’m sorry, but GOOD CALL. Can you even imagine a more corny name? Fucking seafood mama?!? What?!!! Even just Seafood would be fine, it’s the addition of mama that makes it lamer than no hush puppies with your Seafood meal. Seafood Mama. GTFO Quarterflash! Why not Pickle Loaf? Bloated Socks? Fetish Meat? Sadly ANY of those are better than Seafood Mama. Wow. Just, wow. But I digress... Quarterflash signed to Geffen Records and released their self-titled debut album Quarterflash in September 1981. By middle 1982 the album had gone platinum. They had a follow up in the works, but in between had singles which ended up on popular soundtracks. Yes, things were looking good for Seafoo...er...Quarterflash. By the middle 80s though they were dropped from their label and disbanded. So that aforementioned chart topper, “Harden My Heart” is the first cut on their debut. Another great choice because it’s a pretty solid tune with a good message about independence. Smooth sax and at the appropriate levels. Not too crazy/lead off sax. Rindy has double duty with both lead vocalist and solo saxophonist in the band, and she’s really good at both. She has a smokey Stevie Nicks kind of voice and it helps to create this early 80s jukebox jam. Empowerment-core! It’s followed up by “Find Another Fool”-another hit in its own right. Maybe not AS big, but it made a splash and helped push the album to platinum. A decent rock level on this one. Plus some angelic harmonies. Berlin (the band) is a sincere comparison. Some violin Shiz too! At one point there is even some sax vs violin call and response. Quarterflash Mama! No denying the talent levels at least. It calms down a bit with “Critical Times” and it’s shhhuuuuuuullloooooooowwwwwww jam tempo. Harsh the buzz for sure. Did the drummer writer this one? (#seewhatididthere). Rindy steps back and one of the dudes take lead vox for this one. “Valerie” sees a return to form though. Rindy is back and the rock ensues. The song sounds vaguely familiar...possibly a radio player? Still, not the strongest or best cut. Definitely the first two for that moniker. “Try To Make It True” is the last and mid paced ballad that ends Quarterflash’s debut rookie card. It has moments of clarity and perception but it’s buried deep in the middle for a reason. Melody gets an A+ but overall a fade to black. I must say, I kind of hate it when the sax tries to take too much of a lead role. It’s a fine line of “too showy” vs “just filler” and in this case Quarterflash gets it. Just the right amount of sax.

So in today’s battle Janet Jackson took control and began her dominance in the music world she burned 158 calories over 22 minutes and 5 songs. That averages to 31.60 calories per song and 7.18 calories per minute. Janet earned 10 out of 15 possible stars. Quarterflash took their 22 minutes to sax us up on their debut. 5 songs were played and 162 calories were burned. They averaged 32.40 calories burned per song and 7.36 calories burned per minute. They earned 8 out of 15 possible stars. Even though they’re only a quarter flash, the other three quarters are rock and roll. Quarterflash wins!

Quarterflash : “Find Another Fool”

https://youtu.be/DHoIs1e_1Xg

#Randomrecordworkoutseasonsix

#Randomrecordworkout

[nellpire]

[080704] Nell - IZM Korea Interview (translation)

Q: I think you've slowly been changing, starting with your previous album. Was that your intention? Jongwan: If there was something we changed or made an attempt at, it's that we used a bit more of sequence programming. Rather than wanting to strengthen that side, we failed many times at establishing a balance between acoustic and electronic sounds in the past so we couldn't use it on our albums, but we've been studying some over the past five years.

Q: 'Time Spent Walking Through Memories' is over five minutes long. It's good enough to be a single but you're not a band that usually gets played on the radio, and I'm wondering if maybe it isn't too long to promote. Jongwan: We worked extremely hard on the arrangement of that song. We thought a lot about whether we should change the bridge cords, should we try a different rhythm or not etc. But we decided to just keep it as it is. If you look at our past albums, we didn't care if our songs might be considered too long, but these days there are times when we cut the length and unconsciously try to censor ourselves. I always really hated that. But in the end, it got cut for broadcasts anyway. So because of that, we went back and forth a lot.

Q: What is your main intention with this album? Jongwan: Sound-wise, we hope there is a flow between the programming and keyboard-driven parts and the acoustic parts. We also arranged the tracklist with that in mind.

Q: So over-all, does that mean you wanted to capture aesthetic beauty? Jaekyung: You said it so coolly. (laughter) That's how we want to express it, too.

Q: You seem like a team that sets out to make albums, so you give off a feeling of stability. Jaekyung: I think it's because we experienced the nineties. It was an album-oriented time, as you know. So that's what we want to be. It's a given, but I think it's different nowadays. Jongwan: I don't like it when feelings get interrupted. When you listen to a song and it's really good, there has to be the satisfaction of having that feeling continue into the next one, but in today's digital single generation, you can't meet that need.

Q: I want to compliment people who create albums, for shedding blood and sweat as they make their songs and figure out how to structure their story. Jaekyung: We grew up listening to cassette tapes, and you can't skip tracks on those. Now there are times when you skip tracks while listening, but back then you had to listen from the beginning right to the end. I think that was really meaningful. Music wants to express something and I think albums are the best way to do that. So you have to listen to them from beginning to end.

Q: So you need to have mass appeal in order to let people know about your album. I think 'Time Spent Walking Through Memories' has just enough of that. Jaekyung: Thank you. When we were finishing up writing and recording, we thought "this is the music we have to do activities with..." The promotional method in this country is set in stone, so you have to keep expressing (the same song) no matter how hard it is.

Q: If the song is good, that's enough. The problem is how to connect to the listener. Jongwan: We've also thought about that a lot. That's what we talk about with our CEO about the most. Since only a specific age group watches broadcasts. Honestly, people in our age group don't really watch TV. Since we have no way of communicating with those people, we're always trying to come up with new ideas. There are some people we can't reach.

Q: You said Nell decides the tracklist order. The last song clearly needs to be persuasive. Doesn't it also need to have a touch of mass appeal? Jongwan: Honestly, we've thought of ourselves as mainstream since our first indie album. Since the feeling is so natural to us. We don't really know what mass appeal is, but we think of ourselves as mainstream.

Q: I think mainstream is what comes naturally to the people who write the songs and play the music. Jaekyung: In that case our music is definitely mainstream.

Q: I think your melodies flow really well. All the way until Promise Me, it flows so naturally. What do the rest of the members feel about them? When Jongwan brings the songs. Junghoon: It's always been really fun to write music together, since Jongwan doesn't bring ten songs at once, but works with us on one song at a time. That's pretty much our creation process. And arranging the harmony is different every time. Sometimes we finish in twenty minutes, other times we stay up all night for three days.

 Q: What are some songs you thought turned out really well once you had its outline? Jongwan: The first song Separation Anxiety, Time Spent Walking Through Memories and Promise Me. And the tenth track 12 Seconds. Jaewon: The songs I liked in the studio were Drifting Apart and 12 Seconds. Jaekyung: We wrote Fisheye Lens not with instruments, but based it off a baseline made through programming. I felt it from the first time I heard the song. Personally I like Fisheye Lens and Separation Anxiety. And Time Spent Walking Through Memories is good too.

Q: You said you wanted to achieve a good mix of programming and real instruments, so which song would you say this comes out in? Jongwan: Separation Anxiety and Tokyo. Tokyo is a song me and Junghoon came up with when we visited a music shop in Japan. You can try instruments freely in that store. We wrote the melody there and worked on the song when we came back to Korea.

Q: What do you think of yourself as a vocalist? Jongwan: I still have a long way to go. I have my own good points, but I think I have a long way to go, not just vocally, but musically. I often feel that I am too inexperienced to be able to express the things I have within me. I just need to practice more.

Q: Nell has brought the sorrowful sensitivity of Radiohead to the Korean music scene. The color is different for each song yet that basic gloom always remains. British bands like Radiohead find their reason for this gloom in their reaction to their environment, but I'm curious about Nell's reasons and relation to this sorrowfulness. Jongwan: We've all been friends since we were young, so we play around a lot when we're together, but if we look back on ourselves individually, I think that feeling has always been there. I don't think we're optimistic people, or that we only think of things in a good light. Jaekyung: I'm not sure I would describe it just as 'gloom'. I think you only think of it as that because that's how people describe it. And doesn't Korea's environment honestly fit the expression 'gloom' even better? We've gone through Radiohead's circumstances too, to 100%.

Q: Are you saying that Nell's sound is a reflection of today's younger generation's environment? Jaekyung: I don't think I've ever seen a happy person. Jongwan: I've never felt like we are representative of that, but I do feel like it has influence on us. I feel like it's just not possible for people today to be happy. There are so many personal themes in our music that I think it'd be better to say express our own personal feelings rather than other people's environment or sentiments, but I guess you can't ignore the correlation to our generation.

Q: Nell is a faithful band. You've released seven albums, almost one a year. Where does this faithfulness come from? Jaewon: Every time we feel like we've gotten old and our passion is fading, that pushes us even more. We ask each other, "aren't we just playing around too much these days?" (laughter)

Q: You released two albums after getting picked up by Seo Taiji. Even though they were good albums, that label kept following you around. Junghoon: Saying that we didn't feel burdened would be to lie. We just did our thing and we've continued to do so since we left that company. It doesn't hold us back much.

Q: There must have been both pros and cons. Jongwan: For pros, we had our eyes opened to recording in a proper studio. We learned a lot about production and engineering. We got to know what it feels like to record by ourselves and listen back to it. It was a great help to us musically. Also in terms of relations, a lot of people got to know about us. I don't think there were any great losses for us. As for the things people around us said... it would have been the same no matter who we were. People talk a lot about why we left the company, too, but that was just because our contract expired.

Q: I'm curious as to why you call this your fourth album when already had two indie albums when you began (Reflection Of - Speechless - Let it Rain - Walk Through Me - Healing Process - Separation Anxiety would make this album their sixth). Jongwan: The bands we liked when we were young never counted their indie albums as studio albums. In a way, you could say it was something romantic to us. The way we see it is, we can't do anything about it if people call Let it Rain our first album and it doesn't really matter, but it's kind of a pity. So we just call it our major first album.

Q: I'm curious about the reason you released your acoustic album Let's Take a Walk. An album clearly needs to be persuasive, but that one seemed like a personal album. Jongwan: We often perform acoustic rearrangements of our songs at our concerts. Once we had completed our third album, it seemed like we wouldn't be able to do that anymore. Also it seemed like it would be difficult to recreate the emotions from that time. Plus, we had many memories from our performances. In a way, we released the album as a commemorative album to celebrate our memories as a band.

Q: What kind of album is your first album Let it Rain? Jongwan: Personally, I think it's an immature album. It's not immature in a negative sense, but recording-wise. During our indie days, we had so many regrets about recording, so we paid extremely close detail to the recording of that album. Since expressing emotions is essential, I have no dissatisfaction with it.

Q: And your second album Walk Through Me? Jongwan: It was the first time we tried for an acoustic sound. The things we wanted to include that we never could. And we wanted to show layers of programming little by little. We researched a lot. In that sense, it was a real relief.

Q: What about your third album Healing Process? Jongwan: It took the longest to make, and we agonized over it a lot. Also, we changed companies. Jaekyung: As much time as it took, we also attempted so many new things. Melody scale, soundscape etc, we changed in every way.

Q: If you were to pick Nell's greatest album? Jaekyung: Personally, I like Let it Rain. I think it's an album that can connect both with people who know Nell and those who don't. Jongwan: I think it's either Healing Process or Separation Anxiety. I feel like we took one more step forward as a band on Separation Anxiety, and when we made Healing Process we changed record labels and the scale got bigger, and at the same time we made so many memories that I personally feel very proud of that album. Junghoon: My favorite is Separation Anxiety. The reason is because of the sound. I feel like we managed to record the programming sequences I had always wanted to try a lot more naturally than on the previous albums. Jaewon: Let it Rain is meaningful to me. And the album I like the most is Separation Anxiety.

Q: So what is a song that can define Nell? The song you are the most artistically pleased with? Jaekyung: Saying this feels like giving the song too much power, so it's hard, but... If I were to pick, I'd say the rearranged White Dwarf Star from Let's Take a Walk and Words You Shouldn't Believe. Jongwan: I think the albums are what defines Nell. Junghoon: It's such a hard question. If I am to pick one that is most Nell-like, it's Onetime Bestseller. Personally I think that's our most beautiful song. Jaewon: I... don't know.

Q: Is there an album you were listening to while making yours? Or an album you've been listening to a lot recently? Jaekyung: I didn't listen to any while we were making ours. Recently I've been listening to Travis and Radiohead's new songs. But honestly, I liked Radiohead's albums from the nineties better. Jongwan: I'm listening to Silverchair's most recent album these days. They're from around the same time as us and I like that they haven't lost their color. Junghoon: I've been listening a lot to Frou Frou, this electronic music duo from England and their 2002 album Details. Every style I can think of is included on that album. Jaewon: If we're talking about rock albums, then Muse and Yellowcard. These days I've fallen into black drummers. Also I like the OST of the movie Once.

Q: Do you think you will still be making music in your forties? Jaekyung: Yes, of course. It's a given. Junghoon: I want us to be a band like U2 or Aerosmith who keep on promoting for a long time. They still look like they're in their twenties.

Feel free to use, but please credit Nellpire.

[request-littlemix]

Little Mix - Dangerous Woman Tour Feb. 4

So good... 😌.  I don’t know how long this will be so...

Before I get to Little Mix, I just want to say that Victoria Monet is really talented and is worth checking out and Ariana Grande is such an incredible vocalist. When will your fave sing live while riding an exercise bike hmm?! She sounds so good performing live. This tour is seriously about tiny yet fierce women showing off their talent. Well done ladies!

Ok so! I really didn’t know what to expect from the crowd when the girls came on, but man was I impressed. As soon as their video montage started to play the crowd was screaming and cheering! Salute was their first song and the crowd really got into it. After Salute, Jesy introduced the girls and herself. Then they performed the Hair/Whip My Hair mash up. After that, Jesy had to run backstage (I’m not sure what happened). While she was gone, Perrie did the whole “turn on your lights, up-down-up-down” thing. Then to kill more time they did a screaming contest between the left and right side and I was on Perrie’s side and we won 😜!! When Jesy came back, they performed Wings, which the crowd loved, especially when they did their harmonies after that back and forth with the audience. After Wings, Jade introduced Secret Love Song, calling it their little LGBT anthem. Then they performed Touch, first starting with the acoustic version with Leigh and Perrie’s verses, then going into the regular dance version. After wards they performed Black Magic and ended with Shout Out To My Ex. I was so sad they didn’t do Move! But oh well, can’t have them all I guess. (...you know what, I have a bad memory, what if they did and I just didn’t remember?!!)

Vocally of course they were amazing as usual. I don’t remember what song it was but the crowd cheered for each of the girls when they performed their solo (it was probably SLS). I was so freakin happy about that 😆. Poor Jade had issues throughout their whole set with her in-ear monitors but that didn’t affect her vocally. She only missed one line in SOTME I think and she had to take both in-ears out. 

Also I loved how much better they are at interacting with the crowd. I know their set was short, but I didn’t feel any dead moments, you know what I mean? They knew how to hype up the audience. And I freakin love that you can feel their friendship just emanate from the stage! idk maybe that’s just me and my bias view, but it just feels so genuine when they’re performing together.

They’re so pretty!! I wish I bought seats that were closer to the stage so I could’ve gotten an even better look. I was so happy that Perrie wore her platinum blonde short wig for the show, she looks so great in it. They all looked amazing to me. 

I’m so proud of them and so happy at all love they got from the audience! I was in the upper section and there were a bit of people from my area that went down to get closer when the girls came on. I’m just so happy that there are people here that love them too. 

They deserve to have their own headlining tour in the US 😩!! I went with a friend who wasn’t that familiar with the girls, but after wards she was like omg they’re so good! I was like yes! they! are!!! She’s gonna check out more of their music now...so yay me!

Anywhoo, that’s all I can think of for now. I did take some video and pics, but the quality sucks. I’ll try and upload them later if you guys wanna see them.

My only complaint was that whoever was responsible for filming for the big screen sucked! Maybe they don’t rehearse the camera work or something idk. But they were so slow to put each girl on the screen when they did their solo parts. I was like c’mon hurry up!! smh. 

If you got this far, thanks for reading!

[avaliveradio]

Behind The Music with John O'Brien on But You're Gone

Artists: John O'Brien

Song name: But You're Gone

Music Genre: pop/jazz/R&B/rock

I live in... St Augustine Beach, Florida

Link to play: https://open.spotify.com/track/22pMfP6guhsOqkDqyCgWiu

This song is about when it’s time to move on after a relationship ends. I started writing this some years ago when I lived in a summer resort community and every summer the rich and powerful would come from all over the world. I was playing music in a couple of the nightspots there as a solo and was approached by a beautiful foreign woman who asked if I could play at her summer home for a small party. Of course, I said yes, but when I showed up it was just her and I. We started a relationship and she was very private with her personal life at first, which I thought just went with the territory.

I found out she had a very rich father from southern Europe and slowly found out that she had a boyfriend back home. However, there was a tremendous amount of passion and sincerity in our relationship. When I looked at her deep brown eyes my heart would skip a beat and all I could think about was my vision of us remaining together. We started our relationship in the early summer and went into the early fall when she suddenly started showing up around town and seemed to be just picking up guys on vacation. I was devastated and then her fiancé from Spain (unknown to me) showed up!

It took about three weeks for me to resign myself to the fact that it was over between her and I and that I really needed to move on in my life. It really was “just a fling” for her even if it was very real for me. Interestingly, I finally finished the song about two months before finishing the recording of the new album and we actually put the bridge of the song together in the recording studio while recording the basic tracks. It was my bandmates who said that I should make it clear in the lyric that I got over it and that I wasn’t in love anymore. I do love the song.

The reason I create music is… because there are deeply held, emotional messages inside of me that I really want to express. In everyday life, one does not really have the opportunity to express emotions so that others can hear them. Songwriters are lucky in that they can do that, and they can express their emotions on such a deeply personal level and hope that they connect with the people who listen to those songs.

It’s that sense of self-expression that is hard to capture, at least for me, outside of writing music and lyrics. In terms of the music, it is the active matching the emotional expressions with the musical progression that carries that forward as an active and real passion. I’ve been writing music since I was a preteen and I recently looked back at my notes which I always keep and I will be putting out an album soon with some of my earliest songs on it the way I wrote them – just me and my guitar and my vocal. Every one of them recalls a very explicit and especially dear adventure in my life. I recently decided to move towards a full-time career in music which until now escaped me because of the financial burdens. For years I’ve been playing 4-set gigs in bars where, quite frankly, they didn’t want to hear original music and instead wanted to hear covers of their favorite songs. After too many years of complying with that formula, I decided to change what I was doing completely. I bought a really nice Takamine acoustic guitar and started playing my original music at festivals as a solo, added a percussionist for a couple of festivals after that and then added a bass player and a keyboard and lead player.

That all happened over an 18-month span and all I played was original music. The act sounded so good that I decided to record an album. The five of us worked in the studio and remotely to produce the tracks which we then fully mixed and sent to a marvelous mastering shop outside of London for final mastering. The album had over 100,000 Spotify streams in the first week was out and a number of very positive reviews in the web and blogsphere. We’re now scheduling performances and a tour and I think this is exactly what I was hoping would happen when I decided to become a full-time musician.

How do you think this release represents your current direction.. This single “But You’re Gone” reaches to a number of my influences at the same time. I’m a very big fan of R&B, pop, jazz and rock all at the same time. The elements of the song touch on all of those influences in one form or another. My keyboard player, Mark Connolly added a beautiful Fender Rhodes piano piece which sits underneath the R&B style of my bass player, Ray Ploutz who played fretless, my drummer David Matthew plays a tremendous rock beat and my lead guitar player Dwayne “Chubby McG” McGregor sets out a great jazz guitar style. All of these very talented musicians found their own voice in the song and then the harmonies and tags are beautifully set forth by Amy Hendrickson. As a result, the song does exemplify the style of music that I would like to continue producing and performing. I am very much a believer in collaboration in music production. The way we created this album was that I would bring a song to, what I call the “rhythm section”, which is myself my bass player and my drummer. We would spend hours working out an arrangement for the song that would bring out the intent and beauty of the progression itself. After that we would record the basic tracks in the studio and begin to add vocals and accompaniment. I’m in Florida and my keyboard player is in Rochester, New York and he would record tracks and send them to me, and we would go over them in a live online remote studio setting so we could agree on where the keyboard tracks and synthesizer sounds would go for each song.

After that I would add vocal scratch tracks then circulate those stems to the guitar player who would put them into his own studio and create the lead guitar parts. After that, I would get together with the vocalists I work with and we would develop an approach to the overall vocal piece of the song. In answer to your question, I do work very closely with musicians and listen very intently to what it is that they believe would enhance the song itself and the production and final product. I always listen to advice from great musicians.

What most inspires you?:  I most inspired by two things. Of course, like all other songwriters I am moved by the subject and feelings of love that people can feel for each other. But I am also moved by peoples’ situations and what pains them outside of the realm of love.

For instance, my song California Wildfire is a song I wrote after reading many news reports of the feelings that the people in Paradise, California had when they were awakened from a deep sleep and in a matter of moments had to run for their lives with nothing but the clothing that they had on. When I saw the news reports of it, I felt I had to do something, and I am strong believer that we must as a people and as humans address climate change which is the cause of those wildfires being so prevalent. Of course, I also wrote the song that you and I discussed in our last interview “By The Throat” about losing a loved one to opioids. It tries to answer the question “what else could I have done to prevent it?” The music video for that song will premier in a couple of weeks

I create music because I can’t not create music. In the words of a songwriter friend in Nashville, he tried everything he could not to be a songwriter, but he failed. I guess when you have the capability of expressing yourself in that manner, in a way you don’t have any choice except to express those feelings even if it’s just sitting by yourself with the guitar or piano and putting together the musical expression of your feelings. For anyone who wants to write a song I implore them to just sit down and do it. It’s a real catharsis. Creating music enriches my life for a number of reasons, but so far it’s not money! I guess the act of performing, particularly if you’re doing your own music, is an incredible experience and there’s really nothing like it. Seeing the reaction of people when you’re performing or when you have feedback about a recording you did that is very positive is sort of an emotional rush that it’s hard to get anywhere else outside of a personal relationship with someone.

I don’t think I will ever stop creating music, basically because I can.

My favorite instrument is the guitar when it comes to playing, although I do play piano just not very well. I’ve written several songs on the piano, a couple of which became very popular and one of which is on the new album.

My voice is my favorite instrument and on the album I recorded a song I wrote on the piano with a popular female vocal artist in Los Angeles which appears on the album “Leaving In Your Own Time”. She recorded her vocal in LA and we merged with the production here in Florida and it came out very beautifully. Interestingly, it’s a song I almost dropped as I originally wrote it in 1979 and just didn’t think it would go anywhere, but I sent it into Taxi Music for review just to see what they would say and the response was that I would be out of my mind to drop the song – so I didn’t. We just finished recording a bilingual version of the song which we will have out as a single in the next few weeks. I am hopeful that the Hispanic community will embrace the song.

The music business… it changes so rapidly now that it’s hard to really even say where it goes next. I read Billboard every week just to get a clue about what’s going on, but even that doesn’t really work with all of the music moving over to streaming, the changes in how the charts are calculated with “album equivalency”, the change in popular music as it moves slightly away from traditional rap to hip pop and ultimately to hip pop with strong vocals and it and the rise of adult contemporary as a genre for the listening public including younger demographics. It’s a real jungle out there. Being a musician today gives you so much more opportunity to create and market music. The one thing that I would caution any musicians out there to avoid is trying to follow the trends. The listening public to music is expanding extremely rapidly and even a small niche can now result in a highly popular type of song and recording including instrumental sounds. Also, I would advise to stick to an instrument. In listening to alternative rock and alternative pop today one rarely hears guitar and in many cases, there are no live instruments on the recording at all.

I don’t think this will last since the creativity in many cases seems to be rooted in coming up with a new sound rather than new music. I don’t think this will last. You have to bring yourself to listen to every kind of music that’s out there and when you least expect it, you are going to fall love with a new type of musical progression or harmony which is largely absent from much of today’s music.

Website & social media links: Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2Vb5M2W Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/john-obrien Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnobriensmusic Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/johnobriensmusic/?ref=bookmarks  ReverbNation: https://www.reverbnation.com/johnobrien7 Bandcamp: https://johnobrien1.bandcamp.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwzP4-jgRZ1ofrEaKgQWX4w

John O’Brien interviews with host Jacqueline Jax on building your musical team, achieving your dreams as a songwriter and keeping the faith even when things get hard. “The day you wake up without feeling inspired is a day you never want to have. “