#this goes without saying but if you have any songs from this year or albums/eps that are mostly songs from this year you recommend | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

demonsteapot · 10 months ago

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What type of music do you like / have you been jamming to recently? Any recommendations?

(my internet died halfway through this so i nearly had to rewrite it)

you caught me at a bad time i was schmooving to a sewerslvt playlist yesterday ;-;

okay to be serious for a moment. uh. i don't think i have super good or interesting (or normal) tastes in music? i can point you to some of the things i think are cool and good, and i can also point you to things that i listen to for mood.

ive also probably mentioned some of these before (probably all of them?) so sorry if there's repeats

(okay this ended up being longer than expected so cut vv)

good (mostly not depressing stuff?):

Bill Wurtz – weirdly dreamlike jazzy stuff (?) i recommend 'At the Corner Store' and then i recommend you listen to all his other stuff

Ujico*/Snail's House: ive probably ranted about this guy before; 'Cosmo Funk' is probably your entry level snails house song. sweet adorable future bass, my go to for free serotonin

Heaven Pierce Her – Ultrakill: Violence, the game's newest EP. generally melancholic but really sick especially in context. 'War Without Reason' is probably my new favourite track in the whole game? (you can tell i like amen breaks lol)

also ofc i have to mention john / TOOBOE!! shout out to @donutinsideofashark for introducing me to this guy. some recs: 'Tablet', 'Roman', and 'Appare kanpai' – stuff goes hard and makes me wish i knew jp so i could actually remember lyrics

mood (depressing and/or weirder stuff):

vivivivivi's Dead but Dreaming: concept album about a dead god, mostly chiptune instrumental stuff until the second-last track – personally I LOVE this album, but as someone said, it probably sucks unless you have autism (disclaimer: i'm not diagnosed autistic, this is a reference to the pinned comment). this particular album influences a lot of my works to be honest

two more vivivivivi beepbox albums, ones that are a little more lively: Sisyphus and Silly Little Songs from my Silly Little Head. probably not to the tastes of sane and normal people but i like the beeps and boops :)

sewerslvt: breakbeat stuff from a dark place. people seem to not like sewerslvt fans which is why i'm reluctant to talk about this one but whatever. idk what you'd call their genre (i've heard it described as ambient jungle, trance, something or other dnb, but most importantly NOT breakcore. call sewerslvt breakcore and you are signing up for a hell of a flamewar) listen if you like amen breaks and hate yourself (i hope not…) idk what to even recommend here… i stumbled across her first with Drowning In The Sewer years ago. i've been getting back into their stuff recently, which is probably not a good sign for my mental health… currently listening to 'was it weird that i listened to im god by clams casino's when i lost my virginity' which is a hell of a title

Heaven Pierce Her again – The Enigma of Heaven and Other Daily Delusions: weird album about religion and the internet. since this is hakita again there are amen breaks. good if ur fuckin WEIRD. i recommend most of HPH's work

i've also been listening to an ultrakill fan artist called Marzuku, who does – guess what – more amen break stuff. i don't know man, but 'At Ends' is pretty good

shit fuck of course the jvne section ends up being a whole paragraph just to say don't listen to their stuff.

THAT'S IT IT'S TIME TO WRAP THIS UP THANK YOU FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK. damn this got long. this is what happens when you ask me about my interests LMFAO

#not art #bernadette rambles #ask #:333 #also sorry for the ping donut

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thisaintascenereviews · 1 year ago

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Poptropicaslutz! - Face For The Radio

Virality is an interesting tool in terms of a band’s popularity, because I’ve found a few bands and songs through social media, especially Tik Tok. Poptropicaslutz, a band with a very weird name that makes no sense, went a bit viral a few months ago with a song from their debut album, Face For The Radio. I kept seeing it on my for you page, and I was really curious about it, because a lot of the comments were about how they sound like Panic! At The Disco, and the mid-00s neon pop-punk sound that bands like Cobra Starship and Metro Station. I was really curious about this band, and this new record, especially where they’re signed to Epitaph, so there’s gotta be something here, right?

Well, Face For The Radio is here, and it’s been out a few weeks, but this is a record that I really enjoy. I’d go as far to say that this is one of the most unique albums of the year, namely for how it sounds. This has elements of hyper-pop, electronica, and pop-punk, as well as a dash of hip-hop, but not much. You can hear a lot of modern influence, but there is a lot of nostalgia here, especially with the 00s pop-punk and Warped Tour scene. This sounds like something that would have come from that, and if it came out in the late 00s or early 2010s, this would be considered a classic, I’m sure. This record is only a half hour, but it’s a memorable half hour.

There are two vocalists in this band, and they both have great chemistry, all the whole sounding different from each other. A lot of this record reminds me what would happen if Cobra Starship or Forever The Sickest Kids made a hyper-pop album in 2023, having this neon sound with the emo lyricism but this glitchy, poppy, and experimental sound. There’s a bit of a Panic influence, because a lot of their lyrics are very wordy, theatrical, and more elevated in terms of vocabulary, which I really like.

The only real issue I have is its length, as a lot of the songs feel incomplete, or at least very bare bones, but the hooks are really good, the lyrics are really good, and the overall sound is cool. I will say that a couple of songs aren’t that great, such as “Sierra Echo X-Ray.” I don’t care for that song much, mainly its lyrics, but its hook is fine. The album is short, only a half hour, so it’s not like it takes much time going forward, but it does feel like it ends without any real conclusion, or that it goes by without realizing that it is the end, because of how short the songs are. This is a huge step above their debut EP, which I’ve listened to a few times and didn’t like much, as that felt much more disjointed and amateurish, so this is a huge step above that, but hopefully they get a bit better with song structure. I guess it’s good when the biggest problem you have with an album is that it’s too short.

#poptropicaslutz!#face for the radio #pop #rock #pop punk #hyper pop #cobra starship #metro station #breathe carolina #epitaph records

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athetos · 2 years ago

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hello ash the great opinions haver! any recs for metal albums that Aren't evangelizing/fascist/both?

My opinions are only adequate, but I have quite a few! I don’t know what particular genre of metal you’re into so here’s a decent variety!

Parkway Drive - a metalcore band that has quite a few songs off their album In Reverence that attack Catholicism and talk about killing God, the abuse prevalent in the church, etc. I highly recommend that album as well as their latest that just came out, Darker Still, for very anthemic metal that’s still very aggressive.

Archspire - a technical death metal band with my favorite bassist - seriously these guys shred. Very fast and aggressive, very heavy. Their music is concept albums based around human experimentation and are hard to explain, but phenomenal. All their music is good but Bleed the Future and Relentless Mutation are peak of their game.

Rings Of Saturn - a deathcore/technical death metal band that has lyrics about alien invasions and cosmic horror. Fantastic riffs, but if you’re not huge on deathcore’s growl vs screech dynamic you might not be as a big a fan. But they have instrumental versions of ALL their songs, and after their vocalist left this past year are solely instrumental! My personal favorite album is Ultu Ulla.

Blotted Science - instrumental experimental death metal where each song represents a different neurological condition of some sort. Very terrifying and just, one of my favorites of all time. The bassist from Cannibal Corpse is one of the members; I believe the other members are also from well-regarded death metal bands as well. Their album Machinations of Dementia is to die for.

Gatecreeper - a death metal band that’s great in all regards, but their EP An Unexpected Reality is my favorite album of 2021 - and it’s only 7 songs. 6 of them are just over a minute long, thrashy and violent, and the last is an over 10 minute long doom metal track. I’m still blown away listening to it today.

Brand of Sacrifice - a deathcore band that writes songs inspired by Berserk! Very vicious and explosive. They have some really cool stuff going on and shred. I don’t have a favorite album yet, but you can’t really go wrong just checking out whatever their most played is.

A day to remember - a metalcore/ post-hardcore - pop punk hybrid whatever you want to call it that’s one of my favorites. They have some poppier stuff as well as some very heavy stuff. I recommend Homesick and Bad Vibrations the most.

Dragonforce - this goes without saying. Power metal about dragons with extremely long guitar solos. What more could you possibly want? Inhuman Rampage is my favorite.

First Fragment - while their newest album didn’t resonate with me as much, their album Dasein is exquisite. I have no idea what the lyrics are; they’re in French, but my brief Google translate sessions tell me they’re about… philosophy? Truths of the universe? Scifi stuff? I have no idea. But if you love technical death metal and some delicious bass lines listen to that record.

Fleshgod Apocalypse - symphonic heavy metal that is relentless and melodic and brutal all at once. They have instrumental versions of some of their songs too. They’re concept albums as far as I can tell, with their album King being medieval themed and epic-sounding, and their album Veleno being nearly as good. There’s also an aria in one track. Much respect.

Avatar - I haven’t been as big a fan of their newest album, but these guys are anthemic metal that mixes clean vocals and screaming and have really cool concepts. Their album Feathers and Flesh is amazing, and tells the story of an eagle (day) and an owl (night) fighting.

The Dillinger escape plan - very manic sounding extreme metal that makes your brain explode in the best way possible. Not for everyone but you gotta at least check them out. Ire Works and Dissociation are my go-to’s, I have to listen to them more.

Bring me the Horizon - started out as an adequate if unexciting death metal band, jumped into the scene metalcore pool, slowly “matured” and refined their tone to fit on hard rock radio, then released Post Human Survival, one of my favorite albums from last year, somehow. Your mileage will definitely vary, some ppl still swear by their old stuff (although beware of the misogyny that was everywhere at the time), but their albums There is a Hell and Sempiternal are pretty good and throw stones at christianity, while Amos is as good as you can get for something that’s tame enough to get airplay. But post human survival is the best; there’s even features with Amy Lee and babymetal!

Cannabis Corpse - haven’t listened to an album of theirs in full but they’re a death metal band that has all original songs but the titles and lyrics are all about weed and are parodies of cannibal corpse song titles. They shred.

I’m at work and don’t have time to type up more, but if you’re still hungry for me, I also recommend inanimate existence, irreversible mechanism, alestrom, powerwolf, ice nine kills, and - since they no longer consider themselves a Christian band - Underoath, one of the best metalcore bands of all time.

#insert coins to continue #ash.mp3

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ericleo108 · 7 months ago

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Westside Connection

05/03/2024 Click here for Spotify, Apple Music, or Youtube. “Westside Connection” is my 76th official release and my 116th track published. This 6-track EP features Kokane from the Alcoholics, Tash from the dirty ogs, Xzibit, and Kxng Crooked. This is intellectual music with a hardcore vibe and a west coast sound that pays homage to west coasts legends like Dr. Dre along with conscious bars along side of some of the regions top mcees. It’s more than an album, it a connection, and it not just any connection, it’s a westside connection. The beats and features are all from Anno Domini. The entire project was produced by Keyano and the cover art is by Gigzlogo from Fiverr.

I talk about this blog post and other updates in the latest Sunday update here:

youtube

I actually really like “Symphonies.” I took the liberty of explaining why I haven’t made it yet in “hot fire.” I assume the position of and alcoholic and I show you whats important at the end.

Project overgrowth was a domestic civilian disobedience campaign that got started in chat rooms in the 1990s. The government had outlawed marijuana to such a degree that even having it on your land could land you in prison for decades. The problem and advantage is the plant is everywhere, and grows like a weed. So the project was to tell people to take marijuana seeds and plant them everywhere, especially in public parks until there is an overgrowth.

I did a word of the day rhyme for months. I wanna say 7 months, without looking. It doesn’t create enough attention and I don’t have the money or willpower to really make it have that wow factor. I want it to be fun and if I have to worry about all the technical aspects its not fun. Anyways, it’s my aspiration to achieve and like I said in my top 10 that I publish ever year on the blog, to work with Dr. Dre is the ultimate dream.

Lyrics

Afterlife

(Xzibit’s verse)

Forever ever we rock the mic

Even when we’re dead the real will Rise

Like that zombie shit

That Jesus did

My music resurrects the feelin given

That self-determination

And inventive creation

Derivation

And attitude that’s audacious

X and I are legends

Next level like the episode

On the metronome

We flex on um, impeccable

The way we rhyme, it’s on a pedestal

These pussies are, delectable

My rise to the top is inevitable

Cuz I’m the shit, colorectal flow

From west coast to midwest

We have the most fun

They flex, but we test

And show them up

When you see me playa, just roll up a blunt

And we can reminisce about all songs we’ve done

Show you, how i did it all for the love

And bring this energy to the industry and build up my buzz

So there’s one thing that I seek

I need you listening to my symphonies

What you know about a fan base

Or all the hate you can take

Or all the waves you can break

When you surfing the music sample bank

It’s my destiny, to rock these beats

I be standing on my own two bringing that heat

That fire, to light the blunt

I’m looking at Xzibit like pass the Dutch

Alcohol and bud, I’m just tryna amass a buzz

They dissuade and front, while I rage and stunt

We fresh bud, you distillate carts

Been real from the start, and an ace, word to cards

This shit hear not for the faint of heart

Soon I’ll be meticulously arhythmically climbing the charts

What goes up, must come down

Unless you escape Earth’s gravity and your outer space-bound

Shh, you won’t hear a sound

As I transcend and descend on you and come for the crown

From west coast to midwest

We have the most fun

They flex, but we test

And show them up

When you see me playa Just roll up a blunt

And we can reminisce about all songs I have done

Show you that I do it for the love

And bring this energy to the industry and build up my buzz

So there’s just one thing that I seek

I need you listening to my symphonies

Hot Fire

I was putting in work

While you were getting worked on

I’m a hundred percent independent dawg

I own my own masters and control my songs

They trust in me because my word is bond

Bang this in the east

Bang this in the west

Turn up the base and make it sweat

Hot fire, on the deck

I bring the heat, til she wet and vexed

I ain’t in a gang but damn I bang

These lyrics are a verbal assault that I slang

You should be offended by what I have to say

They like my evil, sinister accolades

Sit and Stu in your hate, cuz I do what you can’t

I’m here to piss the world off and take some names

Of these wack Mcees that think they’re great

Cuz they can’t compare to what I’ve made

I was putting in work

While you were getting worked on

I’m a hundred percent independent dawg

I own my own masters and control my songs

They trust in me because my word is bond

Bang this in the east

Bang this in the west

Turn up the base and make it sweat

Hot fire, on the deck

I bring the heat, til she wet and vexed

I been grinding for years, without reward

I’ve made less and spent more than that job of yours

Tryna build an audience to go on tour

But the algorithm not interested in promoting my store

Success in the industry is more about

Who you know, not the songs you put out

How much you have to invest Is basically clout

Cuz you can pay for the promotion that plays you loud

In hip-hop, hard work doesn’t pay off

Unless you have an audience and can rock a crowd

If you don’t agree then tell me how

When the room is empty that plays your sound

But This flow so retro like you got it on your iPod

I wanna get that money like a reticulating python

Real real long, like pics from a Nikon

It’ll be forever Until I die like Rit or Dylon

I was putting in work

While you were getting worked on

I’m a hundred percent independent dawg

I own my own masters and control my songs

They trust in me because my word is bond

Bang this in the east

Bang this in the west

Turn up the base and make it sweat

Hot fire, on the deck

I bring the heat, til she wet and vexed

Happy Hour

(Hook)

We drinkin beers, takin shots

As you’re sippin suds, let your body rock

Weather in the cut, club or spot

Alcohol is what you got

This really isn’t funny, I have problems

And make them go away by shooting vodka

My gaba receptors can’t handle the interruption

I’d probably have a seizure if i just drank nothing

So Imma lean back sippin

World Spinnin for my health

We need free healthcare

Before I can afford some help

I spend money on addiction

Not accumulating wealth

As long as a drink in my hand

The problem solves itself

At the bar playin the game “you call it”

At happy hour,

(Hook)

This the type of music, To tell you how to do it

Because Technically, alcohol is a solution

My therapist said I need healing

But I don’t like sharing

So I drink, till I can’t feel feelings

Tennessee and Kentucky like a country song

That’s Jack and Jim whiskey in my cup

Thought I found a girl to love, and have some fun

Turns out I can’t remember who she was

You’re not a bad person because you drink

We all got problems, I hope you see

It’s okay to fall apart, relapse, and binge

Tacos fall apart and we still love them

But Cirrhosis of the liver ain’t gon’ develop itself

It needs help, so call me

(Hook)

We drinkin beers taking shots

As your sippin suds, let your body rock

Weather in the cut, club or spot

Alcohol is what you got

This the type of music, To tell you how to do it

Because Technically, alcohol is a solution

Damn I’m thirsty, I hope they serve me

If not I’m asserting

Project Project Overgrowth

(Tash Verse)

Puff puff pass and blaze the weed up

From Michigan to Cali go and spread that seed stock

This is Protect Project overgrowth

Go ahead and help it grow

This sound like the dope you roll and smoke

Puff puff pass and blaze the weed up

From Michigan to Cali go and spread that seed stock

This is Protect Project overgrowth

Go ahead and help it grow

This sound like the dope you roll and smoke

Throw those seeds in ditches

Til the weed takes grip and then

Plant them in parks

Undercover at dark

On the side of the road

Or in a box in your home

They call it a weed, so plant it and let it grow

The plan is to overwhelm the government

With marijuana germaneness

Put in the work to get

An overgrowth of permanence

Blow her back out

Then she ask for it again like please

All my boys with the bud be like “sheesh”

I do it for the love, and that buzz, capeesh

To bad we can’t make THC outta yeast

Drink a drink that beer

I know you’re thirsty

Celebrate, go shawty, it’s your birthday

Drink a drink that beer

I know you’re thirsty

Celebrate, go shawty, it’s your birthday

God’s plant is calling you to get dirtay

What you need to do

Is plant weed for Earth Day

then

Puff puff pass and blaze the weed up

From Michigan to Cali go and spread that seed stock

This Protect Project overgrowth

Go ahead and help it grow

This sound like the dope you roll and smoke

Puff puff pass and blaze the weed up

From Michigan to Cali go and spread that seed stock

This Protect Project overgrowth

Go ahead and help it grow

This sound like the dope you roll and smoke

These cali girls got me pitchin a tent

At Cocella wishing I was playin a set

Ride down PCH lookin out west

And she’s like “I want you to stay and get wet”

Cuz I do it for my girls

That growing all the herb

Harvest every 10 days when I’m chilling with her

She always horney, and likes to be on top

Feeling trim, and like a lollipop

Break it break it down now

How they gonna find out?

Germinate and spread around

Seeds while in your local town

Then

Drink a drink that beer

I know your thirsty

Celebrate, go shawty, it’s your birthday

Drink a drink that beer

I know your thirsty

Celebrate, go shawty, it’s your birthday

God’s plant is calling you to get dirtay

What you need to do

Is plant weed for Earth Day

then

Puff puff pass and blaze the weed up

From Michigan to Cali go and spread that seed stock

This Protect Project overgrowth

Go ahead and help it grow

This sound like the dope you roll and smoke

Puff puff pass and blaze the weed up

From Michigan to Cali go and spread that seed stock

This Protect Project overgrowth

Go ahead and help it grow

This sound like the dope you roll and smoke

Aspiration

I’ve made my name, like Dr Dre

I’m a legend from the lane I’ve paved

Edutainment, what you learn today?

Aspiration is the word of the day

Aspiration is about what you aspire to be

A goal that you strive for and try to believe

Obstacles in the way of what you're trying to reach

Is how you dominate adversity and learn to achieve

Failure is natural,

Make up what they lack, envoke

If you don’t have the capital

Put in the work until it’s equitable

If you have hate in your heart, let it flow

Back into your home and shut the door

Don’t start nothing, it won’t be nothing

Unless it’s your hope

To spread some love at the show

I got that feeling and let ‘em know

Coming real, is the next episode

I’ve made my name, like dr Dre (still)

I’m a legend From The lane I’ve paved

Edutainment, what you learn today?

Aspiration is the word of the day

Aspiration is about what you aspire to be

A goal that you strive for and try to believe

Obstacles in the way of what you're trying to reach

Is how you dominate adversity and learn to achieve

I need a doctor because I forgot about Dre

But the physician said, it’s nothing but a G thing

What your seeking, is chronic and riesling

You gotta guilty conscious from the envy you’re feeling

No diggity, I got some California love

All the way from Michigan I’ve been telling them thugs

From the D to LBC is the simplest cuz

That’s the route of the next shipment of bud

So I roll another blunt and try to focus

On writing dope bars while I’m toke’n

Puffin the leaf often leaves me stolid

But Dre in my mind saying “make it explosive”

We gotta smoke that weed, some devils spinach

While tracking the lyrics on beat and rhythm

I’m telling you, look before you finish

Let me put some kush up in it

I’ve made my name, like dr Dre (still)

I’m a legend from the lane I’ve paved

Edutainment, what you learn today?

Aspiration is the word of the day

Aspiration is about what you aspire to be

A goal that you strive for and try to believe

Obstacles in the way of what you're trying to reach

Is how you dominate adversity and learn to achieve

What If

Yo what's happening, it's King Crooked

I dedicate this to all the rappers out there

That's better than the rapper that's on right now

I know it's hard, hold up

I know you wanna make it to the tip-top

But it's difficult to get it in Hip-hop

So you side hustle, bag it in the Zip-Loc

Cause you're too lyrical to go viral on TikTok

Under the radar every time your shit drops

Cause they listening to kidz bop

And you like 'Ah nah... Dog... Y'all really think that shit's hot?!'

How many spitters the top ten got pen drop

Silence of the Lambs there's too many sheep

While you reaching for your dreams there's too many asleep

But you in there deep so you gotta keep going through the pain and the failure

You gotta keep growing

Let me tell you what this shit is about

This rap biz is a math quiz, figure it out

Bigger the problem you solve, the bigger your house

Bigger the cheques and six figure amounts hit your account

If music is your real occupation

This ain't no rap homie this is a consultation

A business conversation about your operation

I see the spot you're chasing like Roc Nation

What if you never meet Jay

You never meet Em'

What of you never meet Dre

You never meet them

You better be ready

You're never overweight to take chances

Then your chances can never be slim

I want you to make it

I know I can make it, I’ll build it up

Put in the work, but still hope for luck

In this philosophy of mine and I’ll tell you what

As long as the sun shines, Imma soak it up

I know I can make it, I’ll build it up

Put in the work, but still hope for luck

In this philosophy of mine and I’ll tell you what

As long as the sun shines, Imma soak it up

I don’t need to be at the tip-top

Just wanna represent hip-hop

Banksy to my Basquiat

Be like exit through the gift shop

Wanna bump it loud

Make the OGs proud

Be like he bite me here

But made it his own sound

I wanna be like Tyrese

Represent and take the lead

Change what you see

By educating through reach

Work with platinum producers

Teach my audience cool shit

Find a new ways to grove to it

While we’re making the music

Of course I want to meet Dr. Dre

But I’d take Timberland or DJ Quik

I would be honored to lay a rift

See if you’re open, and have the bandwidth

I’ll serve Um up like a sandwich

Put on Jurmain Dupree as the deli meat

Pharelle as the cheese and spread upon the Mustard seed

Learn some alchemist, Classified, or the Rza

Got that Metro Boomin' Swizz Beats like J Dilla

I know I can make it, I’ll build it up

Put in the work, but still hope for luck

In this philosophy of mine and I’ll tell you what

As long as the sun shines, Imma soak it up

I know I can make it, I’ll build it up

Put in the work, but still hope for luck

In this philosophy of mine and I’ll tell you what

As long as the sun shines, Imma soak it up

It’s hard not to be dark

Damn Crooked brought the art

I think about it all the time

What if my dreams are never realized

What if I never meet Em, What if I never meet Tay

What if I never meet Mary and get carried away

What if I never meet Cary and try to marry her and stay

What if we don’t become us but face rejection all the way

What if I never find love

What if I never become the one

What if I stop putting up money

Cash my chips and say I’m done

But on the real homie, I’ve already made it

I don’t have to work but still can’t pay for it

This all me, I don’t get no help

Don’t have a label or a manager, hell

I don’t have the money, I’m going into debt

Cuz this an investment and it’s going to sell

But what if I never blow up

What is I can never afford a home

What if investing in this rap shit was what’s was really wrong

What if I never get the opportunity to get out on stage

What if they never get to see love your way

What if my meds fail and I find myself harboring

Malcontent for the ones that are starving

What if my cards are spent

And my chips are in

I’m called and fallen

Come up short and like Van Gogh

I paint it like Bawden

She gotta know I’m all in

I love her and the thought of it

But what if I never meet Charlotte

I know I can make it, I’ll build it up

Put in the work, but still hope for luck

In this philosophy of mine and I’ll tell you what

As long as the sun shines, Imma soak it up

I know I can make it, I’ll build it up

Put in the work, but still hope for luck

In this philosophy of mine and I’ll tell you what

As long as the sun shines, Imma soak it up

And I know I’ll make it, cuz I’ll build it up

Put in the work, but still hope for luck

In this philosophy of mine and I’ll tell you what

As long as the sun shines, Imma soak it up

I know I can make it, I’ll build it up

Put in the work, but still hope for luck

In this philosophy of mine and I’ll tell you what

As long as the sun shines, Imma soak it up

All the what-ifs in the world can’t amount to the action you take

#rapper #hiphop #michigan #usa #music #hip hop #new music #Spotify #Youtube

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fineartsjournal · 8 months ago

Text

213341 Art Studio IIIA ⋆ Weeks 5 - Eueuguuughhhh

The plan: make something entirely out of my small selection of bargain bin albums, and present it.

Keeping in mind, the plunderphonics must flow. No further depth to the samples used, presentation is to be entirely encased in its technique - like any artwork produced prior to the invention of the camera.

So I could actually hear the new albums I brought, I ordered this bad boy on TradeMe.

…and it came not even two days later (albeit twice as expensive as I had hoped).

Without hesitation, I put it straight to work, ‘ripping’ audio all nine of my CDs, to which I stored them neatly both on my PC and on OneDrive, prepped and ready for all my sampling exploits.

Giving them a skimmed listen, I can proudly say that they're all terribly mediocre in their own special way:

The Shadows - Dreamtime: An instrumental soft-rock cover album featuring a pedal-steel guitar that gets old, really fast.

Theo Eastwind - One: Easy-to-forget folk rock with no dynamic flow whatsoever. It's just... loud.

Kim Stockwood - 12 Years Old: Decent, chill pop. I could hear a couple sample-able moments in there somewhere.

Fruit - Here for Days: Another folk rock album?? Slightly more memorable than One, but just as loud.

MC Trey - Tapastry Tunes: Probably the best one out of the bunch, but her voice throws me off - she's Fijian-Australian, why does she have a British accent? She had an interview with Rolling Stone, why does her channel have 274 subscribers?

James Hill - A Flying Leap: Instrumental ukulele album :(

Ylva Skog - Terra Firma: Avante-garde-y classical music, okay sampling material.

Clay Aiken - Measure of a Man: What? You haven't heard of THE Clay Aiken? 2003 American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken? Featuring an NZ-only cover of Bridge Over Troubled Water? Burn in hell, Clay.

Imelda May - Love Tattoo: Another acutally nice album; a whole lot of rockabilly jams! Also, the only album that the cashier recognized.

I also added, from my dad's records, this extra CD to my collection, called “Cool Fever - From Disco Jazz to Jazz House” that, while available in physical form through resellers, cannot be found in any digitally archived form online - and that added spice of obscurity is fine by me.

John Oswald! We're overdue talking about him. While we've made a fair bit of mention towards the second, isolated invention of plunderphonics in the Bronx; John Oswald's definition of the genre saw more 'academic' origins.

With works stemming as far back as the late 1960s, his time at the Simon Fraser University would see him participating in the 1968-onwards World Soundscape Project (an ecologically-focused wildlife sound collage which is quite self-explanatory); using these sound collage methods, and informed by the literary Cut Up Technique popularised by William S. Burroughs, Oswald would perform various sampling experiments from the mid-70s onwards.

In 1985, Oswald presented to the Toronto Wired Society Electro-Acoustic Conference his essay on plunderphonics - which coined the term. His paper laid out the philosophy behind the genre, and its place within the history - and legality - of music.

He then applied these philosophies with the 1988 EP (and subsequent 1989 album release) - Plunderphonic - with a parodical take on the album cover for Michael Jackson's Bad, where MJ's torso is collaged with a nude model.

This accompanies the central track to the release, daB, which jumbles around the song Bad to an extent not dissimilar to Collage #1 ("Blue Suede") 28 years earlier - to take the 'lowbrow' pop hit and flip it into the 'highbrow'.

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What it accomplishes in its seven-minute runtime is a technical marvel, a satiric time capsule that sounds as fresh as it sounds incoherently groovy, humorous, and even spooky.

Although Plunderphonic was distributed freely and at expense to Oswald, it goes without saying that Oswald landed himself in legal trouble due to the nature of this release; with the Canadian Recording Industry Association ordering the destruction of all undistributed copies.

The music video for daB released in 2016 after two years of production, and visually ensnares the idiosyncrasies of daB to a 'T'. In a later edition of the Plunderphonical Chronicle, I will mention the symbiotic relationship that the genre, in a specific, 'meme-y' form, has had with video editing.

In 1993, Oswald released his magnum opus, the logical endpoint to the genre, Plexure. The following screenshot is taken from the official entry on plunderphonics.com:

Micro-sampling just about every charting CD release from the decade, Plexure features 20 minutes of "megaplundermorphonemiclonics", with a new sample appearing roughly every second to a total of "1,001 electroquoted contemporary pop stars*" as well as "*including hundreds of morphosoniferous performers".

It's best compared to quickly changing radio stations, but you have to appreciate the technical prowess that goes into an album as DENSE as this.

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It's an intense listen, but I'd recommend it at your Plexure.

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aaronmaurer · 11 months ago

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Music I Liked in 2023

Every year I reflect on the pop culture I enjoyed and put it in some sort of order.

Although I didn’t discover a lot of new artists in 2023, many of my favorites put out new records that I really enjoyed. Rather than forcing them into any sort of order or tiers this year (since that could honestly change day-to-day), the following recommendations are simply presented in alphabetical order by artist. Check them all out!

Or, failing that, here’s a playlist of songs from my top 15(ish) records for your sampling pleasure:

Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness – Tilt At the Wind No More

I’ve found Andrew McMahon’s post-Jack’s Mannequin output to be a little hit-or-miss, but the most recent two albums, this one included, hit in all the right ways. A collection of perfect power pop-punk walls of sound like album-opener “Lying on the Hood of Your Car,” lead single “Stars” and my personal favorite, “Submarine,” that grow on you with each listen and invite sing-alongs at every chorus.

Belle and Sebastian – Late Developers

Less than a year after releasing 2022’s excellent A Bit of Previous, Belle and Sebastian delivered another winning collection of indie confections in Late Developers. From warm blankets of melody like “Give A Little Time” and “The Evening Star” to the chamber pop of “Will I Tell You A Secret” to the synth-rock dynamo “I Don’t Know What You See In Me,” one of the catchiest songs I heard in 2023, the record is proof Stuart Murdoch and Co. still have a lot up their sleeves.

blink-182 – One More Time…

As a fan of 2019’s Nine, I wasn’t convinced that a reunion with Tom DeLonge was essential for blink-182 to make worthwhile music, but I’m still glad the guys could patch things up and get back into the studio together. One More Time… may not be quite as expansive as its predecessor, but it’s a solid addition to the band’s discography with shots of adrenalized pop-punk infused with the experience of age (though not necessarily maturity…).

boygenius – the record & the rest EP

A lot of the 2023 indie rock discourse revolved around the first full-length record from Lucy Dacus, Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker’s collaboration, and while I like it quite a bit, I find it doesn’t quite cohere enough to hit the heights of the individual outputs of each artist (or their 2018 EP) for me. That said, when it goes, it really goes — the soaring harmonies of “Not Strong Enough” prove it deserving of every Song of the Year accolade it’s been nominated for, and “Satanist” is a winkingly fun riff-rocker (that is to say, they picked the right two songs to play for their SNL performance this year). The valedictory lap of the rest EP is a less essential, yet nice, treat from a trio of excellent songwriters enjoying a breakthrough year.

Fireworks – Higher Lonely Power

I missed the train on emo stalwarts Fireworks’ early 2010s heyday but got onboard with this new record thanks to a couple podcast and blog recommendations upon its release on New Year’s Day 2023. Call it “Faith Deconstruction: The Album” – an interrogation of American Evangelicalism and rumination on life after it. The opening screamo burst of “God-Approved Insurance Plan” quickly cedes to more melodic and probing tunes like “Megachurch,” “Jerking Off The Sky” and “Blood In The Milk.” The beautifully wistful album closer “How Did It Use To Be So Easy?” may very well be about a romantic breakup, but to my ears, it might be narrated by God themself, assuring the listener that “you could be happy without me:” the ultimate ��come to me all you who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest,” when the burden is religion itself.

Foo Fighters – But Here We Are

The Foos’ strongest effort since 2011’s Wasting Light sadly comes in the aftermath of drummer Taylor Hawkins’ death (as well as that of Dave Grohl’s mother). The vibes hearken back to their 90s best, with melodic prowess to match the more hard-rocking moments.

Peter Gabriel – i/o

More than two decades after his last album of original material, Peter Gabriel’s completed i/o arrived in December 2023 (after monthly song drops throughout the year). Worth the wait, the record comes in multiple mixes (I am currently partial to the Bright-Side Mix) and features his uniquely accessible art-rock, blending moody atmospheres with big pop hooks. While Gabriel reflects on the darkness in the world and our technological age, he shares moments of great hope and uplift, none more so than the record’s closing salvo “Live and Let Live,” a gorgeous tribute to peace and unity and those who came before that we can look to for guidance.

Gorillaz – Cracker Island

Gorillaz’s latest record is a very vibe-y affair, awash in hazy, vaporwave-inflected synth grooves without sacrificing any of Damon Albarn’s aptitude for writing indelible hooks. This collection of songs is one I’ve returned to time and time again since its February release.

Great Lake Swimmers – Uncertain Country

The latest collection of indie folk from Toronto’s Great Lake Swimmers has an inviting, communal feel that is easy to get lost in. This is partially attributable to choral accompaniment on a number of songs as well as several snippets of studio banter that bring the record to life, pushing against the isolation of the pandemic era during which it was conceived. The beauty and hope of the songwriting (and its reflections on the natural world) shine a light out of that darkness.

Grouplove – I Want It All Right Now

Another shimmering collection of hook-laden songs find California collective Grouplove firmly in their zone of cathartic sing-along rock mixed with quieter ballads. While I Want It All Right Now doesn’t necessarily reinvent the wheel, it slots right in among the best of their output.

Joy Oladokun – Proof of Life

Proof Of Life is one of those records that seems at once both familiar and fresh, as Joy Oladokun shares introspective reflections on race, faith and sexuality with impeccable artistry. Collaborations with the likes of Manchester Orchestra, Mt. Joy and Chris Stapleton add texture to the mix but take nothing away from her own voice which rings out strong and clear. A favorite of the year.

The National – First Two Pages Of Frankenstein & Laugh Track

The National overachieved this year by releasing two full-length records less than five months apart. First Two Pages… is a bit more subdued overall and I think I currently prefer Laugh Track as a whole, but I wouldn’t eliminate any tracks from either. Both albums reward repeat listens and have a lot to offer fans of the band.

The New Pornographers – Continue as a Guest

Any year with a new New Pornographers record is a treat and Continue as a Guest is a winning addition to the Canadian indie rockers’ catalog. A range of diverse instrumentation including synths and woodwinds adds new colo(u)rs to the band’s palette and although the pandemic-influenced lyrics delve into isolation and malaise, it doesn’t come at the expense of their trademark popsmart melodies, adding up to an enveloping listen I kept on repeat for much of the year.

Paramore – This is Why

Following the new wave-influenced After Laughter, Paramore continue to evolve their sound with This Is Why. The post-punk-leaning production creates space for jagged guitar riffs, grooving basslines and driving percussion while Hayley Williams’ dynamic vocals glide over top. Can’t wait to see where they go next!

Sufjan Stevens – Javelin

Javelin marries Sufjan’s gift for intimate balladry with his penchant for excessive sound collages, in all the best – and most heartbreaking – ways. Songs often begin softly and soon explode into multi-layered vocals and instrumentational flourishes, with deeply felt lyrics about love and loss. What first seemed like a breakup album was made all the more poignant by the revelation that it was inspired by the death of his long-time partner earlier in the year.

BONUS! A Few More Recommended Listens From Perennial Favorites

Andrew Bird – Outside Problems

Dave Matthews Band – Walk Around the Moon

Manchester Orchestra – The Valley Of Vision EP

Metric – Formentera II

Noel Gallagher’s High-Flying Birds – Council Skies

#music

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d-criss-news · 3 years ago

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20 Questions With Darren Criss: How Acting Has Helped Him Make New Music

While Darren Criss has graced our TV screens with a range of characters, from high schooler Blaine Anderson on Glee to serial killer Andrew Cunanan on The Assassination of Gianni Versace, he was last spotted just being himself, on our For You Page on TikTok. “I’m walking to rehearsal with a guitar on my back with a Trader Joe’s bag ... I did not bring an umbrella because I forgot that it was raining. I’m rocking that NYC musician life,” the Glee alum explained in the hilarious clip posted three days ago.

While Criss’ acting work has earned him acclaim and stardom, he leaned into making music during the pandemic. On Aug. 20, he dropped a new EP, Masquerade, featuring five new tracks that Criss says were inspired by the different characters Criss has embraced throughout his career. After Criss wrote songs for his musical comedy web series Royalties and Apple TV+’s animated sitcom Central Park before the pandemic struck the United States, he then used those experiences as a precursor to his new EP. As Criss continues to promote his new music, he answered 20 of Billboard's questions – giving us a peek into how his new EP came together, and how growing up in San Fransisco shaped him as an actor, singer and all-around artist.

1. What inspired your latest project, Masquerade?

Although I would have preferred that it come at a far less grim cost, I finally had the time. Before the pandemic, I had written 10 new songs for my show Royalties -- along with an original song for Disney and another for Apple’s Central Park. These were all assignments in which I was writing for a certain scenario and character. Go figure. It was the most music I had ever written in a calendar year. This really emboldened me to rethink how I made my own music— to start putting a focus on “character creation” in my songs, rather than personal reflection. The latter was not proving to be as productive. The alchemy of having this time and having set a new intention with my own songwriting and producing made me put on a few of my favorite masques and throw myself a Masquerade.

2. How do you think your background as an actor complements your music?

They are one and the same to me. I treat acting roles like musical pieces— dialogue is like scoring a melody; there’s pace, dynamics, cadence, tone. Physical characterization is like producing -- zeroing in on the bass line, deciding on the kick pattern. Vocal characterization is like choosing the right sonic experience, choosing the most effective snare sound, and mixing the high end or low end. It goes without saying that it works in the complete opposite direction. Making each song is taking on a different role literally and employing the use of different masques to maximize the effectiveness of the particular story being told.

3. On Instagram you wrote that “Masquerade is a small collection of the variety of musical masques that have always inspired me.” Which track do you identify with most in your real life?

Everybody absorbs songs differently. Some key into the lyrics, some into the melody, some the production, some into vocal performance. When I listen to songs, I consider all of their value on totally different scales. So it’s hard to say if there’s any track I “identify” with more than any others, since I -- by nature -- identify with all of them. I think I just identify with certain aspects more than others. If it helps for a more interesting answer, I will say I enjoy the slightly more classical, playful -- dare I say -- more Broadway-leaning wordplay of “Walk of Shame,” but that’s just talking about lyricism. I enjoy the attitude of “F*kn Around,” the batsh--t musicality of “I Can’t Dance,” the relentless grooves of “Let’s” and “For A Night Like This.” All have different ingredients I really enjoy having an excuse to dive into.

4. What’s the first piece of music that you bought for yourself, and what was the medium?

Beatles audio cassettes: “Help” and “Hard Day’s Night.” I just listened on repeat on a tape-playing Walkman until my brother and I got a stereo for our room with a CD player in it, which was when I just bought the same two albums again, but this time as compact discs.

5. What was the first concert you saw?It’s hard to say, because my parents took us to a lot of classical concerts when we were small. But I guess this question usually refers to what was the first concert you went to on your own volition, and that my friend, was definitely Warped Tour ’01. My brother and I went on our own— two teenagers going to their first music festival, in the golden age of that particular genre and culture. It was f--king incredible.

6. What did your parents do for a living when you were a kid?

My dad was in private banking and advised really, really wealthy people on how to handle their money. My mom was, by choice, a stay-at-home mom, but in reality, she was my dad’s consigliere. They discussed absolutely everything together. They were a real team, and I saw that every single day in the house. They both had a background in finance (That’s how they met in the first place.) and were incredibly skilled at all the hardcore adulting things that I absolutely suck at. They were total finance wizards together. So of course, instead of becoming an accountant, I picked up playing the guitar and ran as far I could with it. Luckily, they were all about it.

7. What was your favorite homecooked meal growing up?

My dad was an incredible chef. For special occasions, I’d request his crab cakes. They were unreal. I’ve never had a crab cake anywhere in the world that was good as my dad’s.

8. Who made you realize you could be an artist full-time?

I don’t know if I’ve actually realized that yet.

9. What’s at the top of your professional bucket list?

The specifics change every day, but the core idea at the top is to continue being consistently inconsistent with my choices, and to keep getting audiences to constantly reconsider their consideration of me. But I mean, sure, what performer doesn’t want to play Coachella? What songwriter doesn’t want to have Adele sing one of their songs? What actor doesn’t want to be in a Wes Anderson film?

10. How did your hometown/city shape who you are?

San Francisco. I mean, come on. I was really lucky. The older I get, the more grateful I am for just being born and raised there. It’s an incredibly diverse, culturally rich, colorful, inclusive, vibrant city. By the time I was born, it had served as a beacon for millions of creative, out-of-the-box thinkers to gather and thrive. I grew up around that. The combination of that with having parents, who were unbelievably supportive of the arts themselves, laid an incredibly fortunate foundation to consider the life of an artist as a legitimately viable option. It’s a foundation that I am supremely aware is not the case for millions of young artists around the world. I was absurdly lucky.

11. What’s the last song you listened to?

I mean probably one of mine, but not by choice. I know, lame. But I’m promoting a new EP, what’d you expect? But if you wanna know what I’ve been listening to, as far as new s--t is concerned: a lot of Lizzy McAlpine, Remi Wolf, and Charlie Burg.

12. If you could see any artist in concert, dead or alive, who would it be?

The Beatles is an obvious "yeah, duh." Sammy Davis, Mel Tormé, or of course, Nat King Cole. I would’ve loved to see Howard Ashman give a lecture on his creative process and his body of work.

13. What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen happen in the crowd of one of your sets?

I feel like just having a crowd at all, at any one of my sets, is pretty wild enough.

14. What’s your karaoke go-to?

The real answer to this I’ll write into a book one day, because I have a lot to say about karaoke etiquette. I have two options here: I can either name a song that I like to sing for me, for fun, or I can name a song that really gets the group going. The answer depends on what kind of karaoke night we’re dealing with here. So I will say, after I’ve selected a ton of songs that services a decent enough party vibe for everyone else, then I would do one for me, and that would be the Beatles’ “Oh! Darling.”

15. What’s one thing your most devoted fans don’t know about you?

What I have up my sleeve.

16. What TV show did you binge-watch over the past year?

Dave is a stroke of genius. There are episodes that I believe are bona fide masterpieces. Also, My Brilliant Friend is a masterclass in cinematic television.

17. What movie, or song, always makes you cry?

It’s A Wonderful Life.

18. What’s one piece of advice you would give to your younger self?

Get used to sharing everything about yourself and your life now, or more astutely, to the idea that you don’t necessarily get to control how your life is shared. I know it’s not really your thing, but you’re gonna have to get used to it, so start building up those calluses now. And don’t worry, all the stuff you love now will be cool again in your mid-thirties, so keep some of those clothes because you’ll be a full-blown fashion icon if you just keep wearing exactly what you’re wearing. Oh nd also, put money into Apple and Facebook.

19. What new hobby did you take on in the last year?

I’ve always been a linguaphile. My idea of leisure time is getting to study or review other languages. This past year, I took the time to finally dive into learning how to read, write, and speak Japanese. Other than making music, it was one of the biggest components of my 2020-2021.

20. What do you hope to accomplish or experience by the end of 2021?

I hope I get to play live shows again.

#darren criss #billboard #masquerade ep #press #sept 2021

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woodrokiro · 3 years ago

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Do It For the Band, Part Five (fic)

Fandom: Bleach

Pairing: IchiRuki:

Summary: When Tatsuki said she wanted their sophomore album to be the next Rumours, this is NOT what she meant. Band AU. Read Part One, Two, Three, and Four.

Against her better judgement, Tatsuki takes an early flight home the next morning, so she really doesn’t know what went down.

Frankly, between battling her colossal hangover and focusing on not puking on the plane when it hits turbulence: she doesn’t even think about it until later in the week.

Since the tour ended, the band has a week off to just chill and take some time for themselves before regrouping and planning their next move. Tatsuki goes straight home to smoke weed and binge dumb movies on her to-watch queue. Chad and Orihime had plans to stay in their last tour city for a while since they had friends and family there.

And as for Ichigo and Rukia…

Who knows. They’re both such dorks that they’re probably that gross couple who serenade each other in bed, naked, making weird metaphorical lyrics about the sex they just had.

Gross. But kind of sweet.

She makes a point to not think about or reach out to any of them (besides Orihime, of course) the entire week - not that she doesn’t love her team fiercely, but they all need the break away from each other... Especially after they spent all their time together making the album and going on tour, and especially if Ichigo decides to show one of his new Rukia-love ballads to the band upon their return.

Still, she attempts to check in with Ichigo on the fifth day over text.

How ya doin’, tiger?

He doesn’t respond for a few hours, but she doesn’t think much of it. He’s always been sort of a shitty texter, and there’s a strong chance all the raucous love-making isn’t reminding him to check his phone.

She’s on the fourth episode of Terrace House’ newest season, debating whether one of the cast members is a chaotic queen or absolute garbage when she hears the familiar ping of a text message on her phone. She picks it up and reads:

Fine.

Huh.

Not exactly the sunshine-y answer she expected, but then again: it’s Ichigo. He’s not exactly a sunshine-y person, even when - apparently - he’s radiantly happy.

She shrugs, deciding not to push it. She’ll find out soon enough how everything’s going when they have practice in a couple days.

Practice is in Chad’s garage, and Ichigo, Chad, and Orihime are already there.

She mostly chats with Orihime, who has so much to update her on about her newest recipes, like natto ice cream and sriracha orange juice, and hey, Tatsuki, what are your thoughts on this newest article I found about robots dominating the planet within the next five years?

Tatsuki glows in the babble, chuckling when she can’t help herself. Says the first sounds… Interesting, the second sounds like maybe she can keep revising it a little, and that last article sounds like it might be from a not so trust-worthy news source.

Her friend tries to argue the source’s credibility when she looks over at Ichigo. He’s silently tuning his guitar, head bent and posture weirdly… Slumped when she catches his eye.

She raises her eyebrows at him without interrupting Orihime’s chatter. You good?

He shrugs, gives a weak smile and thumbs up before returning his attention back to his instrument.

Uh oh.

Ichigo Kurosaki does not do weak smiles… Or thumbs ups, for that matter.

It’s another few minutes before Rukia swings the door open, a bit of a sweaty mess and running out of breath.

“Hi all, I’m so sorry I--”

“You’re late.”

Everyone swings their attention to Ichigo, who observes their keyboardist stone-faced. The shocked silence that follows is short, but suffocating.

Rukia flushes before she blinks, raising her chin. “Yes. As I was saying… I’m sorry I’m running late, everyone. I had a lunch meetup with an old friend that went longer than expected. Please forgive me.”

“Chill, Rukia - you’re fine. You’re only five minutes over.” Tatsuki shoots a look at Ichigo, who’s still ruthlessly eye-ing daggers into Rukia.

What the hell…?

“... Whatever. Let’s just get started. Go over everything to catch back up to speed, and all that.” Ichigo plugs his guitar into the speaker, and Rukia nods as she quickly sets up her keyboard.

Practice from there is…

Like. It’s good. It is. Despite the long break, everyone is still on top of their shit: Tatsuki’s beats are muscle memory by now, and Chad is as on it as he ever was. Ichigo and Rukia are in perfect sync, per usual.

The energy, however, is another story. While there was always some sort of joy and excitement when they all played together, now it’s like the air is stiff, heavy. From behind, Tatsuki can see Rukia keeps trying to look at Ichigo during all the parts they usually harmonize together, to get some sort of connection.

Ichigo doesn’t even remotely glance her way the entire time.

They’re near done with the entire set when Ichigo clears his throat, turning to the rest of them. Urahara has joined them by this point, watching with an unreadable smile as ever.

“So… I think we should scrap Sun and Moon from our main set.”

Orihime lets out a soft gasp. Chad’s fingers accidentally let loose a note on the live bass. Tatsuki chokes on her spit.

“Sun and Moon? You mean our crowd pleaser? The one we always end shows with a bang on?”

“It’s not our only crowd pleaser, we’ve also got some other great ones. I’m just afraid it’s gonna be a one-hit wonder, ya know? And with that note…” He turns to Urahara. “What do you think about us going ahead and starting to write for our sophomore album?”

They gape at him.

Even Urahara raises his eyebrows. “That’s… Well. That was fast.”

“Is it? Our album is more like EP, anyway - just a little longer. Like a warm-up. And it’s good, of course I’m proud of it - everyone worked so hard on it - but, just… Why not start now? Why not take advantage of the momentum we’ve got going on?”

Rukia clears her throat. “Ichigo, that’s… We’ve got such a good grip on what we have -”

“I just think Soul Vibes is static for us. Outdated.” He quickly looks back at her before returning his attention to Urahara.

Rukia looks like she’s been slapped.

“I think we’re more dynamic now, even just in these few short months. And yeah it’s fast, but - we have time, right? To get started on writing?”

“I suppose so.” Urahara looks at Tatsuki and Chad, who both shrug. Something’s really off here, but Tatsuki sort of sees his point. It’s clear Ichigo’s raring to write something new… Why not?

“Sure, if you’d like, I can make some arrangements with the music studio. You and Rukia can go in there and--”

“Actually, I was thinking we can work on some stuff alone before presenting it to the group.” He stops Tatsuki when she begins to sputter. “Look, I know the whole reason for pairing Rukia and I for songwriting was to get us working as a team. But we’re fine now…”

Ichigo looks back at Rukia, and they share a look that’s so… Tatsuki doesn’t know what it is, but she sees Rukia swallow heavily in response.

“We’re fine now.” He repeats grittily. He starts again, stronger: “We collaborated on some cool shit, now I think it’s time to make it a little more diverse like I mentioned earlier. Have my songs, have her songs, have Chad’s songs if he still wants - all threaded together with Tatsuki’s beats. Why not?”

The room is quiet as they contemplate it. It’s not a bad idea, but…

Tatsuki glances over at Rukia, who’s looking down at her hands.

Urahara clicks his tongue.

“Well, Kurosaki, you raise a good argument. I don’t see why not, and I’m not hearing any objections… Just one thing: you’re not striking Sun and Moon quite yet. No arguments! Hear me out.” He stops Ichigo with a hand. “You’re not striking it until any of you come up with a song just as good, if not better. There’s power in that one, you can’t deny it. Make something as rock n’ roll as that and the team will talk. Let’s just… Keep each other in the know, all right?”

The band - Rukia included, albeit softly - agrees, and they start to pack up.

Tatsuki doesn’t know what’s going on; she’s always down for making more jams, she knows Ichigo and Rukia have got more up their sleeves, that Chad definitely deserves to put more of his stuff forward - but that… Look the two vocalists shared…

What happened that night after she left the bar?

She doesn’t have much time to wonder, however, because suddenly she’s shaken out of her thoughts when she hears Ichigo approaching Orihime about whether she wants to go out and get a couple of drinks.

Tatsuki’s heart is too busy falling to see Rukia’s stricken face.

#my stuff #ichiruki #bleach #ichigo kurosaki #rukia kuchiki #do it for the band

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lwt28brave · 3 years ago

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369 free merch + promo + singles

Welcome to another ramble by me because I am bored and can't help but think that the free merch thing has to mean something. Or not, because... expect the unexpected. I won't bring anyone else into the conversation but I'm incorporating some messages I sent into a GC pretty much unchanged.

There’s been a lot of talk surrounding the fact that we got studio pictures and then radio silence again, which I agree it’s not nice but not unheard of. And I know we all joked about the possible meanings of 369 but, after all, nothing really pointed to July 15th other than circumstantial evidence (a year it’s 365. 369 could be a year + four days. We don’t know when to start counting, but hey, July 11th is the day he left Syco, let’s start there because it seems important to him. Last year had 366 days, anyway).

The rest is under cut because this got out of hand pretty fast.

Let me preface this by saying I don’t think 18 months it’s such a long time for an artist not to release new music, but I understand that the circumstances might play into why the fandom is so on edge. As someone who’s been there for all of Louis solo career, I get why people might look at everything going on and have 2017 flashbacks. I get them from time to time. I remember him saying the album was ready to go, I remember the shift with Miss You and his tweets full of frustration, I remember TXF. And I wish to take a glimpse into 2021-Louis-brain too, let’s be honest, because Walls might have come out in 2020 but half of the songs were written by 2017. I am not the same person I was back then, and I hope he isn’t either.

But Louis already said we won’t be getting a new album this year. And I do think that him being a perfectionist plays a role into that, no matter how many fingers we can point. The pandemic also contributed to the state of fandom dynamics nowadays. We were supposed to get a tour last year, which equals lots of content, and we got silence then a livestream then more silence. And now we got some content then back to nothing (that we can see—I don’t want anyone to come and call Louis lazy in my DM’s again, I don’t have the patience for that).

Let’s recap. We have an 18-months-old album that got little to no promo back when it should have gotten it, and while I will always support all the projects going on, but, frankly and while this might sound shocking giving my annoying perseverance to stream the album day and night, I don’t think the numbers are so bad. There were never any intentions to have Walls reach newer demographics. The singles aren’t being pushed right now and, certainly, weren’t promoted when they should’ve been. They never got radio play and, nowadays, can’t be added to playlists by his new label… (and we can’t really expect them to do better when the artist has already moved on from that project and the team and discography can’t or won’t help). Obviously, the push we got with Defenceless was great, and it could be even bigger if we got the hang of Tik Tok, but I don’t want the fandom to feel like we’re failing Louis, or we could be doing more, when it’s out of reach unless we get really lucky and creative with those algorithms and trends.

So, now, do I believe we’re getting new music? Does 369 feels like a buildup? It does and, at the same, it doesn’t. From a marketing perspective, for a brand to tease something for so long without clarifying anything it would mean the loss of interest from the potential clients/buyers, creating a feeling of weariness if it goes on for too long, which could pivot them to look for other things to spend their money or time on.

So, no. I don’t believe the 369 thing was being intentionally promoted when Louis teased it the first time, and I think that’s a mistake. If it really has some deeper meaning that can be associated to his next project, I think mentioning it back in March to wait until the end of April to bring it up again and, even then, sell a product related to it without specifying anything about it is a mistake. As a strategist, you have to plan while keeping in mind we (your potential clients) have the attention span of a fish. It’s harsh but it’s what it is. Not to mention this ploy, if it is promoting something, does absolutely nothing to reach new demographics… once again.

I am talking from a professional standpoint here, not throwing blame at Louis but at whoever runs this shit (please, get back to me, I did send you a CV). It’s not as easier as looking for old patterns and discerning whether we’re getting something or not. We have to assess this as a potential new situation and thenwe can focus on analyzing.

Do I believe we’re getting new music? I suspect there’s something coming but it’s just that, a supposition. It’s an assumption that’s once again, pretty baseless. Is Louis sending out new merch to promote a new single? Is he just being grateful?

Let’s look at the facts. The last merch drop was called 369, so it has some kind of significancy. There’re 369 letters/presents. At least one journalist, that we know of, got one of them. We got a few articles almost two weeks ago already talking about Louis in a general sense, re-introducing him to the public as a successful musician and nothing else (which is always great to see). It could be slow seeding, to test the waters. We could have more coming, or it could have been a one-off because he was out and about for the EURO thing andwriting music and making sandwiches for charity, so it’s good to remind people of his existence. Don’t fade away, yada yada yada.

As I mentioned above, he made it clear that he wasn’t going to be releasing an album this year, but that something BIG was coming/going to happen. Right now, I’m expecting a single that could be tied to the documentary, and parallel promotion of both. Maybe we will get Louis’ music in a Netflix show thanks to BMG deal with them, too.

I don’t think we’re getting a new LP (long play, not Liam Payne) until the tour for the previous one is done BUT I think an EP would be an interesting and very clever move. It could help keep his name relevant and get him some presence in playlists and some radio-play without changing too much the setlist of the tour and, at the same time, pave the way for his sophomore album, giving him a much fair chance of breaking into the charts.

Alas, I can’t really make any of this happen. If the sound is summer-y, which could be because of the video of them dancing in the studio, I will say they are already a little late. If you want a summer hit, but you don’t think it will be an instant hit but a sleeper (not really the term I’m looking for, but you get me), release it during spring. If the sound is more like COACOAC it won’t make sense to release it until late August or September because emo music hits harder during autumn and winter which leaves me wondering why now, why now (if it’s now, which I doubt, given the silence from his socials once again, but then, not a good move to send more things related to 369).

So here’re my thoughts on all of this. If you have any questions I will be happy to answer them but let’s be honest, this has 1,3k words so most of you won’t even read all of it.

#Louis Tomlinson #industry #369 #music industry #music promotion #EP #predictions that won't come true

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k-hiphop-trash · 4 years ago

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GROOVL1n PROFILES AND FACTS

It was founded on June 26th 2019.

RAVI

Real name: Kim WonSik (김원식).

Nicknames: Ambidextrous Rapper, Lava, Lucky Boy.

His stage name Ravi means “charming”.

His favoucolours are black and white.

His hobby is body training.

Among the members of VIXX he sleeps the most.

His most valuable belonging is his lyrics notebook.

He is allergic to dust.

He enjoys drinking coffee at night.

Heloves doing graffiti.

Hehas several tattoos including: “YOLO, You Only Live Once” on his chest; an angel on his left side; “Love attracts love to the wearer”.

He was born on February 15th 1993.

He was born on Jamsil Dong.

He is 183 cm.

His bloodtype is O.

Hehas a younger sister.

He founded his own hiphop label GROOVL1n on June 2019.

He won the 2020Brand of the Year Awards: Idol Variety Star.

He is part of the k-pop group VIXX and part of the sub-unit VIXX LR, were he is a rapper and dancer.

He went to Seoul Jamdomg Elementary School, Jamsil Middle School, Jamsil High School and Howon University with a master in Musicology.

He is a very good MC and is a fairly good freestyler.

Ravi’s ideal type is a pretty and self-conscious woman.

His motto is “You Only Live Once”.

His favourite artists are Kanye West, A$AP Rocky, Chris Brown, Drake, Big Sean and August Alsina. He is also a fan of G-Dragon.

He became part of VIXX because he was one of the winners of the show “Mydol”.

He features on Chad Future’s new music video “Rock the World”.

He wrote the song “What U Waiting For” thinking of the members.

Park MyungSoo offered him to work together when he was impressed after his cover of the song “Fire” on his show “Park Myun Soo’s moving TV”.

He participated in SMTM4 but was eliminated.

He wrote VIXX LR’s “Beautiful Liar”.

In June 2018 he produced a song for the girl group ELRIS.

To promote one of his albums he held a guerrilla concert at Gangnam station.

On April 2nd 2017 he uploaded a picture of a French Bulldog to his Instagram officially introducing “Buttie”, VIXX’s new member. His nickname is “BADA$$”.

He debuted as a soloist on 2017 with his mini album “R.EAL1ZE”.

He is part of the group “Parka Friendship”, including Taemin (SHINee), Kai (EXO) and Timoteo and SungWoon (HOTSHOT). His song “Ravi Da Loca” mentions their name to express his gratitude towards them. He says his best friends are Taemin and Kai.

He appears in Brian Joo’s MV “Let This Die”.

If he were a girl he would go out with N among the VIXX members because he is really nice and reliable and he would probably not be a cheater.

He is the 3rd idol with more songs registered to his name.

He won the golden medal in bowling with Ken on the Idol Star Athletic Championship 2018.

Jellyfish anounced on May 24th that he would be leaving the company but will still promote with VIXX.

He cares a lot for the members of GROOVL1n.

He has a YouTube channel with a mini series were he interviews different artists.

CHILLIN HOMIE

His real name is Jeon WooSung (전우성).

He was born on September 3rd 1999.

He is 178 cm.

He was born in Seoul but lived in Pohang for a long time, which is why he considers Pohang his hometowm.

He started rapping at 18.

He debuted in 2018 with his single “Gang Move”.

He joined GROOVL1n on 19th September 2019.

He is part of NFL crew.

On Februa 1st 2020, he released his first EP album “Saviour from the Hell pt1” with a music video for his title song “WASSUP”.

He rapped for 2 years before applying for SMTM at 20.

He was a contestant on SMTM777, SMTM8 and SMTM9.

He used to play piano when he was young but his fingers didn’t straighten well so he learned to play the piano and the flute.

He got his first tattoo at age 20 on his face which says in kanji “better safe than sorry”; meaning you have nothing to worry about if you are prepared. He also has a chain tattoo on his left arm that has the birthdates of the members if NFL Crew.

In SMTM9 he was a member of team Giriboy&Zion.T with Wonstein, Lilboy and Skyminhyuk.

He made it to the mic slection stage on SMTM9, but decided to drop out due to his panic disorder. Due to this, rapper Skyminhyuk performed a solo stage on his place.

He appeared talking to Ravi, the CEO of his label, about his mental health and Ravi showed lots of interest and preocupationfor his well being.

His career role model is JTONG.

He uses English on his songs because it sounds nice and looks good.

He used to go everywhere, including SMTM recordings using public transportation, but since signing with GROOVL1n he goes on the label’s car. He says this is one of the many benefites of having a label to back you up.

He also said that during the two first times he participated in SMTM he looked rough and grubby, nothing like in SMTM9. He also said that he once asked for new music equipment and the company bought it for him in a short time.

He likes clear weather and dislikes rain and snow.

He loves football and his favouclib is Pohang Steelers from K league and Arsenal from Premier league. He has a friend that play on Pohang FC and his favourite Arsenal player is Hector Bellerin.

In order to learn and understand English he uses the translator and watches translated songs.

He featured on Ravi’s single “ASURA” along with other GROOVL1n members that was released on December 7th 2019.

He’s worked with artists like Mckdaddy, DSEL, Eptend, Wonstein, LilBoi and others.

With his upcoming album he wants to break the strong image that a lot of people get from his rapping.

COLD BAY

His real name is Oh InSeob (오인섭).

Nicknames: Cold Valley, Coldy.

He was born on July 7th 1993.

He was born on Iksan, North Jeolla.

He is 182 cm.

He has 2 older sisters.

His bloodtype is O.

He went to Korea University.

His first music tour was with Ravi.

He debuted on July 22nd 2019 with his single “Ruined”.

He collaborated with Ravi and Xudo on the track “Fashionable (prod. gXXD)”.

XYDO

His real name is Park ChiWoong (박치웅).

Hewas born on January 29th 1994.

He debuted on August 14th 2019.

He is from Seoul.

He collaborated with Ravi and Cold Bay onthe track “Fashionable (prod. GXXD)”.

He was an underground R&B artist.

He collaborated with Ravi on his song “Hoodie”.

He says his name is hard to pronounce in English so you can just call him C.W.Park.

He already completed his military service.

His stage name, Xydo, comes from: “Try” in English is “시도하다” in Korean. The pronunciation “Shido” is similar to Xydo and he wanted a name without preconceptions, so he chose Xydo.

He says music is his best friend and that he can share it wether he is happy or sad.

He isn’t sure of how long he’s been pursuing music.

He likes songs made to express himself.

About his music: he does want his music to be tied up in one place and doesn’t want to categorize it into any genre. However, if he were to do this, he would say R&B and Pop.

He says he wants to be different from other artists and says that he wants to show his own colours.

He likes Jamie Foxx, Miguel, Nao and wants to work with Ruel.

He likes watching movies, specially ScyFy, and if the weather is good he likes to play basketball.

To people that wants to pursue music: finding your true self is the most important and he is still doing that himself.

He says having international fans is awesome and that it suddenly feels like his world is wider and brings a new perspective. He also wants to visit any place were there is a fan of his no matter how far.

One song he recommends: “I like many genres rather than just one thing. From what I’ve listened to lately, I would like to recommend “Remember Me” by Umi.

A song of his that he recommends: “Lee Sang”, because everyone tries to do something they want. I think there were times when it felt like something was getting farther and farther away.

When he feels down and feels about to guve up, he tells himself: “Believe in myself”.

A song he’s proud of is: “Drawing”, because there were a lot of difficulties in making the song but he overcame them.

NAFLA

His real name is Nicholas Choi and his Korean name is Choi SeokBae (최석배).

He was born on February 28th 1992.

He is from Pasadena, California.

He went to University of Southern California.

He was a member of MKIT Rain.

He is a member of 42 crew.

He is 162 cm - 169 cm.

He has an eyebrow piercing.

He likes to die his hair red.

The name Nafla means”Natural Flavour”. A friend of his thouht of this name after drinking something that said “100% Natural Flavor”.

He joined Groovl1n on December 22nd 2020.

He has a tattoo on his left arm.

He has collaborated with artists like Babylon, Dumbfoundead, Dynamic Duo and Woo Taewoon.

He would like to collaborate with Frank Ocean.

He went to Universit with Killagramz. They used to exchange messages through Facebook.

If he wasn’t in MAKIT Rain, he would like to be signed in 1llionaire.

As of 2016 he lived on his studio.

He has been friends with Ravi for a while.

After Show Me The Money he remained good friends with Kid Milli and often jokes around that he is a member of Mkit Rain.

He founded MKIT Rain with Loopy.

Some Mkit Rain members were involved in a marihuana scandal when they were caught smoking it, Nafla was one of them. He later made an Instagram post apologising for his behaviour. However, his charges were dropped since it was the first time he committed an upinfraction regarding this matter.

During his 60 second evalua in SMTM, The Quiett said it was the first time such a good quality rap and performance was shown on national tv.

When he gets dresses, he chooses his hat first and coordinates the outfit to compliment it.

His top favourite rappers (2016) are: #1 Gaeko, #2 Beenzino, #3 E-sens, #4 Lobsta, #5 G-Dragon.

He and Loopy met in a bathroom during a concert in the USA.

The car he won in SMTM777 was given to Loppy as a present to thank him for everything he had done for him.

He won SMTM777 with team Giriboy&Swings.

According to Loopy, Nafla was thinking about leaving MKIT Rain for a while and his leave was officially confirmed through Instagram on early December 2020.

He won Best Mixtape of the Year 2015 with “This & That”.

Nafla has a lot of respect for Just Music, specially Swings and Vasco.

Nafla was involved in a diss with CJamm. Neil, who was in the same crew as him, Young Creation, dissed CJamm and somehow Nafla got involved. It was nothing serious and there weren’t any bad feelings afterwards.

During SMTM777 he was selected as the leader on the group battle and every of his team members said he was really nice and helpful. Regarding this, he said he was happy to have Loopy by his side because he has a lot of experience and helped him a lot.

Source: https://kprofiles.com/chillin-homie-profile-and-facts/; https://kprofiles.com/ravi-vixx-profile-facts/; https://kprofiles.com/cold-bay-profile-facts/; https://kprofiles.com/xydo-profile-facts/; https://kprofiles.com/nafla-profile-facts/

#groovl1n #ravi #vixx #coldbay #cold bay #xydo #chillin homie #nafla #smtm #mkit rain #show me the money #khiphoptrash

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dojae-huh · 3 years ago

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In the three years you have observed jaedo and learned about jaedo, has there been any behavior that you least expect from them? For example, you think Jae might do something, but he didn't! Or is everything within your scope of speculation! By the way! Time flies! You like NCT for three years! What do you want to say or feel about NCT in the past three years @. @? Also want to know what you want to say to jaedo? Sorry, I have a lot of questions

Time flies... I lived in 4 different places, changed 3 jobs and am moving soon to a 5th location.

Doyoung blushing so hard when Jaehyun appeared in the comments during IG life. There are sides of neos we don't see and have little awareness of. Doyoung protects his personal life, so it's hard to know how romantic or mushy he really is, does his sentimentality affects his love life or not, what is important to him, etc. There is still no concensus on who is behind the couply look, who bought the couple hoodies (booze/snooze), for example. As an outsider I only see clearly his professional side.

Jaehyun having fun feeding vultures. It wasn't out of character, but it was a nice surprise to get to know how open minded he is. Very few people not interested in nature/biology are not disgusted with vultures. And Jae is not the member who regularly shows his love for animals (it's Taeyong and Taeil) to know how far his inquisitiveness goes.

I didn't expect NCT to become this big, to be honest. Granted, it's a new era of k-pop, when even female solo artists sell loads of albums, still, I didn't think the group will surpass Exo. Just shows how social platforms (vlive, YT, bubble) changed the game.

I'm dissapointed the vocal line is still not used how it should be. Sticker doesn't have songs like "No longer" or "Without you", where the vocals are very clear. Taeil showed us new hights, he really has full on flex moments, but his high notes are kind of lost on the tracks, not being focal points. Doyoung's "stay" doesn't have the same power as "Sorry that I walked away". Do has a cool line with a great delivery "3, 2, 1" in "Far", but the effect of it quickly fades away. In short, the voices are mixed in a way, that it's hard to see how strong the vocal line really is. My grievance with b-sides on "Sticker" is that I can imagine other groups sing it with autotune without a big loss to the result. I mean, it's been 5 years, "Without you" is still the best song from the vocal line. All the ballads we have are so-so.

Taeyong says that neos participate in deciding theit trajectory, but I don't believe it. I don't think it's a bad thing per se, but not all producers know how to work with NCT.

In short, I still think the potentional hasn't been fully realised (sans TaeMark, they get good tracks). Ironically, neos were weaker as singers during the first EPs, but in general they were recorded/showcased better.

Because NCT took a long time to become famous (in comparison to other SM groups), it was evident neos had a lot of fears and dissapointments. Finally, they can relax. It's nice to see everyone be so confident, energetic and hyped being million sellers. They have new freedom from doubts and insecurities.

As for JeeDo. They are doing the best they can. My only wish is for the time they can be open or, at least, free from the fear of their carrier being destroyed by antis/rumours to come sooner.

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melancholic-pigeon · 4 years ago

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Too Short For Ao3 Fic #3? 4?

SO this is the extended edition of the bonus wip I did with Sally's birthday. The overall fic it belongs to is Extremely Smutty, so I went in and revised out the brief references and I'm posting the family-centric g-rated stuff for anyone who wants that but not the smut! Cough.

Also, I felt bad about missing WIP Wednesday again. Lolsob.

Percy rouses at around eleven PM to a sketch of himself on Jason's pillow. There's a note on the other side.

I wanted to wake you up to say goodbye, but you looked so comfy I didn't have the heart to. your mom's presents are in the bag by my desk. say hi to everyone for me. I'll call tomorrow anyway.

love you to the moon and back.

-J. ❤

Complete with a little red heart. He doesn't even care that the doodle of him next to it, burritoed in a pile of blankets, includes a little spot of drool— he can tell by the rest of his cartoony, ballpoint features that Jason put it in because he thinks it's cute.

(And by the fact that he's said so, several times.)

Percy gathers up his junk. The cornflower blue sweatshirt he steals goes halfway down his fingers. He's come to accept that at six foot three and counting, Jason is the taller of them and always will be— barring some sort of horrible wood-chipper accident or curse from a grumpy deity.

Fortunately, there's something about looking up to meet someone's eyes that Percy finds incredibly attractive. He has since Annabeth outgrew him for the first time in eighth grade.

He heads out in his own jeans and the boxers he packed and the sweatshirt that smells like cinnamon. Once he boards the train, he stands with his arm around a pole and the other holding the bag against his chest, and tries to stay casual and keep the grin off his face.

It's almost midnight when he gets home. His mom, of course, is still awake, so he heads into the living room to greet her.

"My other half says hello."

There's a pile of presents on the coffee table. He puts the bag with the rest of them and sits down, kissing her cheek.

"He didn't have to get me anything." She closes her book and eyes the bag with a fond sigh. "How is he?"

Percy's the same way she is, always happy to do favors and give gifts, but feeling pretty awkward about receiving them. Jason's even worse, the three of them in an ongoing and circular competition to never let any of it go reciprocated.

"Working too hard, as always. Pulling As and winning games and barely sleeping to do it. His stepmother's up his ass and his father's a bully, so, you know, news at eleven." He leans his head onto her shoulder. "That's why he gives you stuff. He's trying to show you how much he appreciates you."

She sighs, and Percy knows it's because she's just as frustrated by the whole thing as he is.

"He knows I appreciate him too, I hope."

"Without a doubt." Percy smiles at her, watching as she goes a little pink and smiles back. "You have a talent for making him feel appreciated."

"He treats my baby like a prince," she says softly. "That's why I appreciate him so much in the first place. How could I do anything else?"

Percy turns his face into her shirt collar, another futile attempt to hide his goofy expression,

"He really does, doesn't he?"

Holding doors, pulling out chairs, offering an arm on unsteady streets. Jason's never laid his coat over a puddle, but Percy's pretty sure he would, if the option presented itself.

His mom starts playing with his hair, her fingers light and familiar.

"I'm just happy you're happy, sweetheart."

He knows that feeling too.

Half asleep from the petting, Percy lets himself be a little babyish. It's after midnight now, which means it's her birthday, and he knows that sometimes she misses when he was Estelle's age and little enough to curl up in her lap. He's way too big for that now, obviously, but he can still slide down the couch and rest his head there.

"You too, Mama."

She looks at him, her eyes misty with emotion and almost green in the light.

She's smiling, too.

She smiles a lot, these days.

—

In the morning, Paul makes coffee while Estelle helps unwrap the avalanche of presents. She's at the age where ripping paper makes her squeal with hysterical laughter, which worms its way into Percy's heart and melts it into pudding.

Several of them are from Percy's friends, including a handbound book of original recipes from Leo, a lovely silver bracelet inset with mother-of-pearl that Beckendorf made himself, and a huge sheathed knife with a matching decorative handle from Clarisse. The last one makes his mom snort as she gets up to put it on the bookshelf, out of reach of curious toddler hands.

"Decorative. Sure."

"I bet she'd teach you how to use it if you asked."

"I know how to use a bowie knife, dear. Your father and I used to catch and cook our own fish when we went camping."

"Which reminds me, he still hasn't taken me out," Paul cuts in, frowning. "I've been saving up dad jokes and embarrassing stories for four years."

"I'll bug him about it the next time we talk," Percy promises. "It's probably the ADHD."

"Do you want me to bug you about bugging him?"

"If you haven't set something up by blueback season, yeah."

Percy and Paul went in on a pound of jasmine tea, which his mom reaches for next. She immediately asks for a cup— it's one of two days out of the entire year where she lets other people wait on her, for a change, and even that took a lot of cajoling.

Paul makes the tea, since Percy usually scalds the leaves and it turns out tasting like grass. She probably wouldn't complain anyway, but it's her birthday, and she deserves to have the best tea that can be made in their kitchen.

"Is the last bag from Jason?" Paul sets the mug on a coaster in the middle of the coffee table, and Percy scoops the baby into his lap so she doesn't try to grab it. She mashes her tiny hand against his cheek.

"And Thalia. I'm not sure if they went in on stuff or he just packed them both in one bag to make it easy."

Either is a possibility. He watches as his mom reaches in and pulls out a large wrapped frame, Thalia's spiky handwriting answering the question.

Whatever's inside, it makes her shut her eyes and exhale deeply through her nose.

"Please pass on that I am absolutely furious."

She turns the frame around. An autographed vinyl EP of Sign O' the Times by Prince— one of the albums Percy grew up on, though she skipped a number of the songs when he was little. Thalia must have spent a fortune on it.

"That woman is incredible," Paul breathes, lightly touching the glass. "How does she get this stuff?"

"See!"

"She has friends in high places." Percy grins as Estelle reaches for the album, and holds her over the glass so she can touch it too. "She's also really good at barter chains."

His mother shakes her head, but he can tell how delighted she is— the two of them have spent hours animatedly talking about music, Thalia hanging on every word and groaning with jealousy over the concerts his mom went to in the eighties.

"I know exactly where I'm going to put it."

Thalia got her a turntable for her fortieth birthday last year, as well as a full set of replacements for every worn-out record in their collection— and had the originals framed too, since they had sentimental value. They're currently occupying the better part of two walls of his mom's study.

There's a blank spot by her bookshelf, right underneath the first copy, that the autographed album will fit into perfectly. Percy grins.

"I'll hang it up for you later."

She doesn't argue. There's only Jason's left, his careful print written out across the same paper Thalia used. The crinkling draws Estelle's attention, and she gleefully reaches over to help tear it off.

Their mom gasps at what's inside and puts a hand to her mouth, her eyes going bright.

It's a watercolor portrait of Percy and Estelle, laughing by the shoreline. She's dressed in a little bucket hat, a ruffled swimsuit patterned to look like a clownfish and the coolest shades in the world— sparkly blue frames shaped like seashells that he kind of wishes he could get in his size. He's in a wetsuit, having spent the morning surfing, and he's holding onto her hands so she can jump at the waves. In the distant background is the Montauk lighthouse.

It's beautifully done, like everything else Jason's ever put to paper, but Percy's never choked up like this over one of them.

"You remember that, Beluga? That was on my birthday, when you came and visited me and Jason at the beach."

"Beach?" she asks, expectant. Paul bursts into laughter, sounding as rough-voiced as Percy feels.

"You're your mother's daughter, sweet pea."

"Beach!" Estelle insists. Percy noses her pudgy cheek.

"It's too cold to swim, baby." His mom's eyes are sparkling, still a little teary. He can see Estelle in the smile on her face. "But we could go for a walk and visit."

"Brunch first." Paul kisses her— Percy averts his eyes, wrinkling his nose at his sister to make her giggle again— and gets up, heading back into the kitchen.

It's a lovely way to spend a late morning. Pale blue araucana eggs courtesy of Grover's new hens, a blueberry coffee cake from Nico by a fantastic hole in the wall in Hell's Kitchen, Paul's signature home fries made with blue potatoes and seasoned to perfection; all of it delicious.

Jason calls while Percy's doing the dishes. After his deep, resonant performance of the happy birthday song, the five of them chat on speakerphone for a little while, though he has to excuse himself pretty quickly to keep banging through his reading.

"Maybe next year," Percy sighs. His mom puts her hand on his hip, then crouches down to help Estelle with her light-up sneakers.

"He's always welcome for a rain check."

"He's always welcome, period," Paul adds. For the second time, Percy gets dangerously close to sniffling.

Montauk is a little far for a day trip, so they head to Brighton Beach instead. Estelle's shrimpy legs get tuckered out more quickly than the grownups' do, so Percy ends up carrying her on his hip, snuggled into his jacket to block the chilly breeze. She points at seagulls, shouting triumphantly every time.

"More bird!"

"That's right. A whole flock of 'em."

They watch for a while as the gulls fight over a discarded pizza crust. Then Percy feels an arm around his back and a head against his shoulder.

"I don't know how I got so lucky," his mother murmurs, barely audible over the rushing of the waves.

Percy's eyes sting.

For most of his life, her birthdays had been spent without fanfare. He was rarely actually there for them anyway, and Gabe complained so much it was easier to just ignore the day and focus on survival instead.

She'd been triaging like that since before she even met his dad, keeping herself afloat when nobody seemed to care if she drowned. It would have been easy to lie down and give up. Percy's pretty sure he would have, in her place.

He turns to hug her with the obligatory proclamation of a Stella Sandwich. He catches Paul's eye over her shoulder, and gets a wide, sentimental grin in response.

"Luck's got nothing to do with it," Percy tells her, leaning his cheek against the top of her head while his sister wriggles with delight between them.

"Listen to our son," Paul adds. "He's very wise, as you raised him to be. This is all on you, honey."

Within moments, she's surrounded by her whole family on all sides, and Percy has another arm around his back, and he's getting a little choked up over it all.

When she first started dating Paul, back when Percy was still in middle school, she'd spent weeks all aflutter. It was the happiest he'd ever seen her at the time. They'd sit outside and work on her car together, and she'd slip into song like a grease-stained fairytale princess without even thinking about it.

Seeing them interact is like cool water on a burn, Paul's devoted kindness soothing a lifetime of sitting back and watching people treat her like dirt. He worships her, just like she deserves and long overdue.

"I love you," she says, tearful and muffled in someone's shoulder. "All of you, more than anything."

"Love Mama," Estelle replies, and that's it— Percy's blubbering.

It'll never undo the damage, but it's about time she got a chance to heal and thrive.

-here in our bed, chapter 7, ~6200 words

#wip wednesday #yes I know don't look at me like that #i wrote this #sally jackson #paul blofis #estelle blofis #family fic #oh lord the cheese

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dandaelions · 3 years ago

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finally some good fcking food aka "empathy" thoughts

I woke up bright and early, got dressed, made some coffee and cut up some peaches, warmed up a croissant that I got from a local bakery yesterday, and sat down to listen with a ksoo-state of mind. then my supervisor suddenly asked me to join a meeting (so much for blocking off my calendar 🙃) aaaaand then I got busy all day lol but now I've finally got some free time to soak this in

rose: a simple acoustic track – more brighter and upbeat than “that’s okay” but still in the same vein. it feels a bit run-of-the-mill if I’m being completely honest, but that's probably just me and the fact that I don’t usually go for acoustic songs like this lol. gosh the lyrics are cute though, songwriter ksoo came through with the romantics 😊🌹💕 can definitely see how they were gunning for widespread listenability with this one. also the mv was so whimsical and fun! it made me laugh in a few places, not to mention ksoo going about his day without a care in the world is all I really care about seeing. the animations were so cool!

I’m gonna love you: less folk, more contemporary pop with that guitar lick in the intro. I had to pause and replay ksoo’s first bit here, I just couldn’t believe that was him! whoa this kinda of pseudo-rapping is quite a different sound from him. his lower register is so smooth omg. oh yeah now that's a beat drop!! LOVE the chorus! not familiar with wonstein but I'm surprised to hear a rap feature on this album, I didn't think that would be something ksoo would go for but it sounds really good here! their little harmonies YAH. also adlibs yesssss!! for those of us hoping for an r&b song, here it is!

my love: he brought the whole soundstage for this one, mmm yes love this chill down-tempo vibe. oh gosh he's mixing just the perfect amount of falsettos and growl into some of these lines here, he's so good at creating those smooth-harsh edges if that makes any sense lol. not to bring bbh into this but I’d really love to see ksoo perform this song as a duet with him!

It’s love: oh man he sounds GOOD good! ooooh wow all those flourishes and accidentals and runs oh my god. THIS is the song for the live lounges! the stripped-back instrumentals let him be front-and-center on this one, oh I really hope he performs this one live!! the hushed strings add that romantic vibe that really makes it feel like he's serenading us 🥰 ooh when he goes down an octave in that last part and then back up again OH MAN

dad: this brought tears to my eyes, what a beautiful and touching tribute 🥺 oh no I looked up the lyric translations and now I'm crying 😭 my dad and I tend butt heads a lot, and growing up I didn't understand why, but as I've grown older I've realized it's because we're so similar, and at the end of the day he's sacrificed so much for me :((( anyways not to get super deep and personal but just hearing the raw emotion in his voice brought up a lot of my own emotions too. I'm sure his dad is very proud of him right now :)

^^me going from "dad" to "I'm fine"

I’m fine: ALRIGHT HERE’S THE RIFF THAT’S BEEN HAUNTING ME FOR THE PAST TWO WEEKS. oh god that intro 💆‍♀️💆‍♀️💆‍♀️!!!! a little darker than the previous tracks – the bass and guitar infuse some latin flavor here. hoo WOWWWWWW the way he weaves his voice (which he sounds just DIVINE here) around those instrumentals, also LOVE the way his enunciating the lyrics, like plucking guitar strings, and is this in a harmonic minor key? the way this ebbs and flows and goes up and down and the way he slips into falsettos oh my god this song alone fed me better than whole albums have this year, I cannot imagine anyone other than ksoo doing this justice. this song just is a big steaming mug of spiced hot chocolate. also can we just give it up for songwriter ksoo I looked up the translation and yeah big hit of sweet melancholia right here. my fave song on the album!

rose (eng ver): oh sheet I don’t know if anything would’ve prepared me for “your lips look so fine and you’re looking so cool” but the damage is done my hp is at -2 🤕 these lyrics are cute too! but I think I prefer his korean lyrics over these :) ofc he sounds like he's been speaking english his whole life adskjfdkj it's so amazing how he preserved all of those vocal details from the korean version

si fueras mia: the spanish ver of “it’s love…I really can’t believe that’s HIM singing this omg what I would give to see a live performace of this. I’m not a spanish speaker (all I have are two years of high school Spanish to my name 😔) but like he's actually blowing the pronunciation out of the water!! absolute mad props for putting a spanish song on his debut ep, that was a bold move and it paid off! if I had to choose, I like this version better. again, so blown away by how he sung this the exact same way as the korean version, that's not an easy feat!!

overall: I mean what more can I say, this is what people have waited YEARS for and it's finally here. in true ksoo form, it doesn't try too hard to impress or demand your attention. its simplicity is its charm, and in a landscape of blaring electronica, it's a warm soothing escape. I'm happy 😊

#album thoughts #this is like the busiest monday I've had in a long time adskfadsk #hope you all enjoyed the album too!#I'll be digesting this for a while :)

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sinceileftyoublog · 3 years ago

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Philippe Cohen Solal & Mike Lindsay: A Pop Tribute to Outsider Art

From Left: Mike Linsday, Hannah Peel, Philippe Cohen Solal, Adam Glover; Artwork by Gabriel Jacquel

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Outsider visual artist and writer Henry Darger’s fame was essentially happenstance, so it’s fitting that Philippe Cohen Solal’s decades-long obsession with Darger is chock full of coincidence. In 2003, the member of longtime neotango group Gotan Project found himself with a day off on tour in New York City and decided to venture over to the American Folk Art Museum, a choice that would change his life and culminate in Outsider (¡Ya Basta!), April’s collaborative album with Tunng’s Mike Linsday, the first adaptation of Darger’s words in music.

At the museum, Solal, unaware not only of Darger but of outsider art in general, saw a Darger work, and, as he told me over the phone earlier this year, “fell in love.” Looking closer at the details of the work, he saw something he recognized: the name Kiyoko Lerner, who had lent the work to the museum. The very same name of a woman he was set to meet the next day in Chicago as recommended by a mutual friend back in Paris. The friend suggested they meet due to their love of tango. “We met and talked a bit about tango,” he said, “but quickly, I asked her about Henry Darger.” She began to tell him exactly who she was, the story that’s become increasingly well-known in the annals of Chicago cultural history.

Lerner and her late husband Nathan (himself a prominent Chicago photographer) were Darger’s landlords; Nathan discovered Darger’s work in his “very messy room” shortly before Darger’s death in 1973, most notably his 15,000+ page novel In The Realms of the Unreal as well as his magazine-traced illustrations and watercolors accompanying the book. (The book, a fantastical epic about child slave rebellions, would go on to inspire visual artists and musicians for decades; indie rock band Vivian Girls took their name from characters in the book, and Darger would even be referenced in The Venture Bros.) Nathan immediately knew he had something special, and he and his wife took control of Darger’s estate. Darger would start to become formally recognized by the art world, his work prominently featured in museums and documentaries. Nathan died in 1997, and Kiyoko would continue to operate as head of the estate and donate her collection to various museums across the world.

In 2006, Kiyoko flew to Paris and met up with Solal at the first Darger exhibition in the city, at La Maison Rouge. It was immediately when he left the show that Solal had the idea to make music inspired by Darger’s art. “At the time, I didn’t [even] know that [Darger] wrote lyrics,” Solal said. “I had no clue.” In reference to Darger’s war between children and adults, Solal had the idea to write “adult music for children,” or vice versa, and wrote a track that wouldn’t even end up 15 years later on Outsider. He visited Kiyoko at her Chicago apartment. “I spent a few days immersed in his art. I didn’t know precisely what I wanted to do, and then I discovered he wrote lyrics. It very much changed the project.” Nobody had thought to put Darger’s lyrics to music, and Solal wanted to put his stamp on the increasingly large pool of reinterpretations of or references to Darger in the arts and culture world at large. Kiyoko put him in touch with art historian Michael Bonesteel, who led Solal to more lyrics.

Not wanting to go at it alone, Solal got the idea to do a collective project adapting Darger’s lyrics to music with various friends. He reached out to the likes of Calexico’s Joey Burns and Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner, but Lindsay was the one who really stuck. Solal and Lindsay were fans of each other’s bands, and the latter visited the American Folk Art Museum while on tour at Solal’s recommendation, he himself rediscovering Darger’s work. In 2015, there was another Darger retrospective at the Paris Museum of Modern Art, and Kiyoko, who attended, suggested to Solal that he reveal his song adaptations of Darger. “I didn’t tell her I only had one song at the time,” he laughed. That was his inspiration to reach out to Lindsay. “I thought maybe I’d do a 5-track EP. I called Mike and reminded him of my project and asked him, ‘Are you ready to work on that with me?’”

Solal and Lindsay separately wrote the melodies and basic arrangements of the songs that would end up on Outsider, and they recorded and produced the record together. Lindsay introduced Solal to Northern Irish musician/singer/multi-instrumentalist Hannah Peel, who would voice the Vivian Girls. Solal asked Adam Glover, a singer he knew through his manager, to be the voice of Darger himself. (“He was very young...but he can sing like Sinatra or Dean Martin,” Solal said.) The four created an album with Darger’s words using traditional pop instrumentation and song structures but also children’s instruments; Peel even created her own music box to play some of the melodies. Sometimes, the words were spoken, as on “Hark Hark, My Friend, Cannon Thunders Are Swelling”, while other times the vocals are isolated in harmony, as on “We Sigh For The Child Slaves”. “We know more about Darger as a painter and visual artist, so it was important to have Darger as a storyteller,” Solal said. Furthermore, the group wanted to capture the raw spirit of Darger’s art by rendering the voices distorted, shifting their pitch to make them sound almost out of tune. The instrumentation, meanwhile, ranges from slinky electric guitars to strings, and even barroom-style piano on the penultimate “We’ll Never Say Goodby” [sic]. “With our small team, it was lean and simple to do this music,” said Solal. While most of the titles and words were taken directly from Darger, down to the spelling of “Goodby”, the album touches on Solal’s story, too. Instrumental interlude “851 Webster Avenue” is named after the address of Lerner’s apartment Solal visited for the first time, when his fascination with Darger really took off.

Solal can’t exactly pinpoint what ever fascinated him about Darger, both in general and as the world changes, but he has some clues. “At the time, what was interesting to me was it was clear [Darger] was a self-taught artist, and maybe I felt a bit moved by that because I’m a self-taught musician,” Solal said. “I never went to music school, but I understood that without any specific art education or practice at an art school, you can create something...Henry Darger is an amazing example of someone who created his own world.” Darger’s style of illustration, his drawings traced from magazines, made up for the fact that he wasn’t a technically great drawer, and it complemented his heightened sense of color. Moreover, Solal feels kinship with some aspects of Darger’s childhood. Part of the inspiration for In The Realms of the Unreal was that Darger himself was sent to an asylum that put children to work. “When he was a kid, everybody called him crazy,” said Solal, “But I’m sure he didn’t think he was crazy. I remember when I was 9 or 10, I thought I was crazy. Nobody called me crazy, but I thought I was.” He found commonalities in, simply, being misunderstood.

Solal also questions what it means to be an “outsider” artist; in reality, Darger spent most of his time inside, confined in a room creating fictional worlds. Funny enough, according to his diaries, he was fascinated with the weather, tracking the accuracy of the predicted versus actual weather, but that’s about all for the outside world. On the day JFK was killed, for instance, Darger had nothing about it in his diary entry. He chose to interact with the world through the magazines he would trace, and through collections of items like Pepto Bismol bottles, National Geographic issues, and broken glasses. He wasn’t much for interpersonal relationships. Not only was Nathan Lerner unaware of Darger’s artistic enterprises, but neither were the young artist couple with whom Darger actually shared his apartment. Solal thinks that Darger’s resistance to presenting himself as an artist was as a result of his childhood experiences. “If the outside world was not so mean to him, maybe he’d be less scared to show who he was to the rest of the world, even just to his neighbors,” he said. “It’s funny that we call him an outsider. He was more an insider but was protecting himself from the outside world.”

Perhaps, subconsciously, the more that creative folks learn to look through Darger’s eyes, the less likely his, or any genius goes unnoticed. Solal remarked that many of the folks involved in Outsider almost had to “unlearn” their craft. Andrew Scheps, who mixed the album, at first didn’t know the context and gave Solal and Lindsay a product that was “too clean;” Lindsay explained Darger’s story and the importance of having strange-sounding narrative effects in the records. “When he worked [after that] on the mix, we found Henry was back in our songs,” said Solal. The individuals involved in coming up with animated videos for each of these songs, French animator Gabriel Jacquel with art direction by Pascal Gary (aka Phormazero), also had to abandon their fundamentals and learn to draw like Darger. Overall, exploring his work provides admirers like Solal the opportunity to dig deeper, from figuring out how to bring Outsider on stage to “finding new ways to tell the story,” like podcasts, interactive maps, short films, and Spotify playlists of Darger’s favorite music. “This man is full of mysteries,” he said. “I hope my future is Outsider for a while.”

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