#to 70's and 80's prog rock and pop

[lock-my-feelings-in-a-jar]

hello, i just wanna say that i really like you even thou we don't have much the same taste but i think you are a very nice person <3 hope you have a nice day today

omg thank you so much!! you seem very nice too!

AND my tastes tend to shift quite a lot over time and i do like a lot more music than what i post(even if i do get stuck on one specific band/type of music for a long time, i like just about any music at all). i'm also always interested in learning more about the ones that i don't know very well yet, so if you or anyone else ever wants to info/song/video/album dump about favorite bands or things to me, on anon or not, i would love it.

even if there is something that isn't really my thing, i like understanding what other people like about it, which makes me like it a little bit more too, if only for that reason alone.

the entire reason i made my blog in the first place was to learn about bands and to feel less alone while doing that. especially ones that i've always heard of but didn't really KNOW anything about and there are SO MANY out there, i'm just slowly picking some off that particularly stand out to me at the moment one by one. but i still like to learn about any of them, preferably from a person instead of searching. plus there are too many, i couldn't possibly search everything myself.

ANYWAY aaaaaa i hope you have a nice day too!! and week. and month and year and life.

[myvinylplaylist]

Journey: Greatest Hits (1988)

2024 Vinyl Reissue

Reissue Credits

Vinyl Produced by Steve Perry and John Jackson

Remastered from the original flat master tapes by Adam Ayan at Gateway Studios, Portland ME

180-Gram Audiophile Vinyl

Columbia Records

[go-go-devil]

Analyzing the Mouthwashing Cast by Their Assumed Preferences in Prog Rock

Swansea: Your average senior prog rocker. It's not his absolute favorite genre, but he enjoys a good amount of the classic 70's bands (and occasional obscure curve balls like Crack the Sky and Klaatu) without much interest for where the genre went afterwards. As long as the instrumentation and singing don’t sound "too goddamn weird" for his tastes he'd be willing to give any classic-sounding prog band a shot. Would certainly get into a LONG conversation about his feelings on Dark Side of the Moon and Leftoverture if he's in a good enough mood... or when he gets drunk enough.

Daisuke: Out of the whole crew, he's actually the most well-versed in the genre; from the 70’s and beyond. A combo of him inheriting his parents' CD's and also utilizing online music forums to take him down all sorts of prog and jazz fusion rabbit holes to find good job hunting music that certainly won't distract him at all! Generally prefers listening to individual songs rather than full albums since sometimes he just doesn’t have the patience to listen to multiple long songs back-to-back, but he certainly has a good variety of proggy songs under his belt. Definitely the only one who's ever graced the Tulpar knowing who Kenso or Liquid Tension Experiment are.

Him and Swansea's shared love of Yes is one of the very few music overlaps the two share, and his gushing about how awesome they are are some of the only times he’s able to break the ice around his boss and have a genuinely good-natured conversation with him.

Anya: To immediately assume that she wouldn't know a single thing about progressive rock would be a highly reductive line of thinking. Sure if asked about her favorite prog album she’d probably just say Hounds of Love, but that alone would not be enough to fully analyze the depths of her very specific tastes in the genre. In her pursuit of picking albums solely for the sake of their “vibes” she has ended up gaining a love for artists like Art Bears, Neu!, FM, and National Health (the latter she thought would be great to listen to while studying for her nursing exams). She has songs from Robert Wyatt’s Rock Bottom abruptly stationed between electronic ambient and pop songs on her mixtapes, her favorite Peter Gabriel album is Up, and she would be surprised to learn that Sally Oldfield’s brother also made a few of his own albums.

Suffice to say, if she ever tried to seriously focus on expanding her prog horizons the results would be GLORIOUS!

Curly: Unfortunately, the captain is this ship is the saddest case when it comes to knowing any prog rock. It's honestly quite tragic. He truly thinks that any 8-9 minute track is "pretty long" for a song and would be baffled to learn that Genesis wasn't always just an 80's pop rock band. The only Pink Floyd album he has ever listened to in-full is A Momentary Lapse of Reason, and his favorite song on it is "Learning to Fly." While his willingness to learn more about the genre prevents him from being a total lost cause, the captain still has a LONG way to go before he can even reach noob status.

Jimmy: There are exactly two paths that he could take on this subject...

The first (and most merciful) would be that he's just as lacking in knowledge of the genre as Curly and only ever listens to the same five power metal bands he likes during his weight-lifting sessions.

The second path would be that he does have a fair enough knowledge of prog rock and is just about as insufferable as one would imagine. We’re talking the full-mile here: Flexing on how cool he is for all of the “deep” albums he listens to, telling the guys long, drawn-out about all the incredible trips he’s had while listening to them in his “man cave” back on Earth (while failing to mention how smoking weed actually makes him paranoid instead of relaxed), quoting Frank Zappa lyrics to Anya then immediately quipping about how she just "wouldn't get" them, relating very closely to Pink from The Wall without the smallest speck of self-reflection as to why that might be. All that kind of bullshit. Fucking PRAY he never discovers Zeuhl music.

[asurrogateblog]

Cannibals, Pirates, and PhDs: How Did I Get Here?

I mentioned in some tags earlier that I’ve only actually been a real fan of Pink Floyd for under a year, and that the confluence of events that led up to it is pretty absurd. Some interest seemed to be taken in this, so I though I’d elaborate.

I didn’t know how to shorten this timeline and have it make any sense, so it’s... long. But idk, I think it’s pretty funny. If you’re nosy like I am this is for you.

My Backstory Timeline:

early childhood: my parents essentially mainline me and my little sister with The Beatles. I know almost no songs written past the 70’s until at least sixth grade. I develop a childhood crush on Paul McCartney, a joke that the universe really decides to play the long game on.

2014: my dad calls me over one night, and gravely tells me he’s been waiting to share something until I’m old enough. I brace myself to be told about sex or secret half-siblings. Instead, he tells me I need to listen to The Wall. Irritated at the idea of wasting an hour and half of my night, I nevertheless comply and go up to my room and put it on. I do not come back from this, clearly having inherited some sort of generational curse.

Around the same time, I am also secretly watching Hannibal every time my parents send me upstairs because Game of Thrones is “too gory”. This will trigger three important things: an interest in psychology, a love of horror media, and a classical music phase will train my attention span to last well past the three minute mark.

2014-2023: Over the intervening years, I become a casual fan of Pink Floyd, but make a deliberate point not to learn anything about the band. I like being able to imagine my own meanings for the songs. Also, I am motivated against this by a childhood memory of being deeply frightening by a picture of old Paul McCartney (LOL). I do not want that to ever happen again, so no learning.

Cut to April of 2023: I am finishing up my first year of my PhD program studying media psychology. I am in a bad place mentally, and am going through another horror movie phase to fill the hole. As a result, I get very into American Psycho. The main character, Patrick Bateman, is a fan of superficial 80’s pop music, particularly Genesis. I decide to start listening to Genesis to see if I agree with his tastes. While researching “best Genesis albums”, I come across The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. I listen to it, and am blown away. I had no idea that the Phil Collins band made music like that. This sends me down the prog-rock rabbit hole. I still won't learn any lore.

Summer of 2023: MEANWHILE, I am also going through another pirate phase. I have a fairly encyclopedic knowledge of 18th century piracy (and am still quite active in the Black Sails fan community). Around this time, I get really obsessed with this one random guy named Dennis McCarthy who was hanged in 1718.

I decide to work poor Dennis into a science fiction story I’ve been working on. The premise is essentially that the universe is an abandoned simulation, and a ‘glitch in the matrix’ starts to, among other things, bring people from the wrong time periods back to life. The format of the story is vaguely monster-of-the-week, in which the characters have to solve various problems caused by mistakes in the code. I think, “hey, you know what would be perfect for this? that fanfic I wrote about The Wall in high school.” Said fic (which that stupid fucking beatles movie stole from me) is about a world in which Pink Floyd never existed, but a wannabe rock-star discovers a box full of their records and decides to copy them. While he is touring his plagiarized version of The Wall, he realizes that the events of the album are starting to happen to him in real life. By working this concept into my new story, I go through another one of my periodical The Wall phases. It's in full swing when fall rolls around.

September of 2023: This semester, I take a grad-level narrative theory class in the English department. I decide it would be helpful to follow along with a specific example, so I choose The Wall. Using the terminology I am learning in the class, I start to realize that The Wall is…. incredibly narratologically fucked up. To help orient me, I watch the bootleg concert recordings, and the trick with the surrogate band sends me so out of my mind that I decide I must break my rule about never learning band lore.

This is where the two plot-lines converge. I don’t remember which came first, but around this same time, I think to myself “hey, if Genesis was hiding such an incredible album under the 80’s pop, what must Pink Floyd be hiding?” On that whim, I put on Piper at the Gates of Dawn, which equally sends me so out of my mind that I decide I must break my rule about never learning band lore. I needed to know what the fuck happened to get them from Piper to The Wall.

September-November: In the two months between the onset of this and finally making another sideblog, I dedicate all of my free time to learning as much about Pink Floyd as humanely possible (and writing a 20 page essay for that narrative theory class). As you can imagine, this is a lot to unpack all at once for someone who didn’t even know who Roger or Syd or any of the rest of them were. Luckily, I am over-educated enough to be a very fast learner. Aside from the band lore itself, I of course also fall in love with the rest of Pink Floyd's discography musically-speaking. Having this interest to latch onto genuinely pulls me out of my depression.

Cut to February 2024: I am really enjoying myself, and want to keep this going as long as possible, but I am starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel on Pink Floyd lore. I decide I need to feed the fire by supplementing with lore from another band. The Beatles seem to have a strong fan presence on tumblr, why not revisit a childhood favorite? The universe laughs at my expense.

That about brings us up to date. I have gone through so much character development over the last eight months, it’s crazy. Pink Floyd is definitely one of those things that is less of a “phase” and more of a permanent part of my mindscape. Weirdly enough, since I am studying media psychology, all of this has also been really good for my career? I never took an interest in -real- media figures (as opposed to fictional characters) before, and I feel like I have a much clearer sense of things now. It's definitely influenced my research, so whatever domino effect this has on my future is bound to get even funnier.

Anyway, that’s my backstory!

[v0id-c0rroded]

Thank you to @p0shspice for tagging me!

Shuffle your On Repeat Playlist and list the first 10 songs that come up!

Harpers Bizarre - The 59th Bridge Street Song (Feelin' Groovy): wow that's a strong start. An encapsulation of the summery 60s, an era I love as it was my Dad's teenage years and was a gateway into my wider music taste.

Banx & Ranx, Ella Eyre - Answerphone: The vocalist sounds like she's hit the pipe. Invokes memories of 2018, a mad, bad year.

Terry Fell - Truck Driving Man: Cowboy rock. Not much to comment on, I had a brief fascination with 50s music but haven't added to my ''pre-1960'' playlist for about four years.

The Beatles - Getting Better: Love it, on arguably my favourite Beatles album (it's either Peps or Revolver). Watched Macca play it live only last week.

Jethro Tull - Witches' Promise: Psychedelic elements still clinging on to Prog Rock in 1969/70. The transitional period. Always liked this song, sounds like it was actually recorded in the woods.

The Dandy Warhols - Every Day Should Be a Holiday: These lot were really fucking good. Way more to them than the ''Bohemian'' song.

Simon and Garfunkel - Leaves That are Green: ''I'm 22 now but I won't be for long''. And I remember when that felt like an older age too. Ffs.

Pierre Henry - Psyche Rock: The theme for Futurama is heavily derived from this. Bless him, he was going for futuristic, indefinable vibes but the entire ensemble is filthily late 60's.

Elvis Presley - Blue Moon: Another 50s song. For reasons I've probably forgotten now, I added most of my 1950s playlist during 2020/lockdown.

Roxette - Fading Like a Flower: Fantastic song. From 1991 but the 80s power pop hangover element is very strong.

Thank you! As usual I tag *anyone*.

[repurposedmeatlocker]

Share some of your music-related hot takes?

MAN...real loaded question anon. Where do I even begin??

It is hard to answer specifically because music taste is subjective. Something I feel is a hot take might be considered a common opinion by others. Anyway, I'll just list some that come off the top of my head.

While I am a big fan of 70's progressive rock, I do think it leaned on obnoxious pretentiousness around the later iteration of the decade. Most clearly seen in albums like Tales from Topographic Oceans by Yes, and most of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer's discography. ELP especially suffered for it. I still enjoy a few of their tracks, but many others just come off as...too much. If that makes sense. I can see where criticism lies when people say it became too obtuse.

On that note about prog, I think many of these groups eras in the 80s were really GOOD and commendable! Yes and Genesis knew they had to change their approach, and went head-first in exploring soundscapes in a way that, in my opinion, helped to re-invent the standards of modern pop music. I mean, you look at things like the work done by Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Yes's "Owner of a Lonely Heart", Adrian Belew era King Crimson. The production is stellar in combining prog mentality to pop standards. People that look down on these eras as them "selling out" don't know what they are talking about, and maybe are just pretentious old-fart haters themselves.

People who claim that "all hip-hop sounds the same" haven't actually taken the time to explore the genre. Also these people have to come to terms with the fact that their "reasoning" against the hip hop/rap (let's be real and include disco as well) are explicitly racist.

Similar argument can be made to people that hate country music for "all sounding the same". Please just explore the genres and artists! You don't have to say it is your favorite, but idk it is frustrating how stubborn some people can be when it comes to branching out to other music. People should be more open to trying things. Rock music fans should explore pop. Pop fans should explore hard-core musicians. There is so much wonderful art in the world. Too much to just selectively choose a single platter to stick to for the rest of your life.

[hey-have-you-heard]

Hey, Have You Heard These 50 Tracks from 2023?

Another year comes to a close and the music lover pulls up their trusty spotify playlist to document the high points of their year in music. You know the drill by now but in case you're new here... Songs are in alphabetical order (there is no internal rating to the 51) but if I had to choose a single song for everyone to listen to, it would be "Why Am I Alive Now", please listen to that track if nothing else. A Spotify playlist of the included songs is linked below for your listening pleasure

Fontaines DC - ' Cello Song Kicking things off with the only cover song on the list, Grian Chatten and band spin Nick Drake's song into something entirely their own, paying homage to Nick Drake's songwriting whilst pulling in the intricacies of their own unique sound and appeal.

Boygenius - $20 Screw star-signs and wizard school houses, which member of Boygenius do you align yourself with? I'm a Julien Baker stan but I adore them all, especially when their voices and styles are weaving in out of each-other in rapturous noise like this.

XL Life - Baby Steps Hardcore and punk has had a great year, a really great year, and XL Life have been a standout part of that. Backed up by a guest verse by Bob Vylan's own Bobby Vylan, Baby Steps is bursting with soul and emotion, driven by breakneck drums and heart-on-sleeve positivity

100 Gecs - Billy Knows Jamie 10,000 Gecs (the much anticipated follow up to 2019's 1000 Gecs) truly gave us the as-promised 10 times as many gecs, if a Gec is a unit of measurement for what can only be referred to as wild-genre-fuckery. Billy Knows Jamie gives us full on Bizkitesque nu-metal, including record scratches, a bass line Fieldy would be proud of and a rapid descent into utter chaos.

Algiers, Billy Woods, Backxwash - Bite Back Bite back is a masterpiece of ever-building tension, Carpenterian synths weave the track together as one musical idea gives way to another. With every new phrase and trade-off between vocalist, the threads pull tauter and tauter. The switch up at 3:10 still gives me chills every time I hear it.

Glass Beach - the CIA My favourite theatre kid emo's are back and doing what they do best, which is whatever the hell they feel like. You know when all the 70s prog rock bands fell into the 80s and needed to get radio-play so they fell into this weird sort of choppy watered down down art-pop sound (e.g. Yes)? This feels like that, but there's no actual need to conform, so Glass Beach are still free to get as weird with it as they want, whenever they want.

Blood Command - Decades Deccades is a very bad representation of Blood Command as a band (at this point I'm unsure if a good representation of the band exists), but it's a very good song. Hardcore and "Death pop" is out, R&B is in. Reverb soaked synths and horns, skittery hi-hats, layered vocals and lyrics about lost love and the Heavens Gate cult.

Liturgy - Djennaration I'll be the first to admit that Liturgy are an acquired taste (the first time I saw them live it made me feel physically ill), but if you can put on some headphones, turn up the volume and lose yourself in Liturgy's "Transcendental Black Metal" there is no other feeling quite like it in music.

Kesha - The Drama The continual evolution of Kesha's sound has been a fascinating thing to watch ever since Tik Tok put her on the brat pop map back in 2009, each album cycle has seen her stripping back elements of character, delivering ever rawer and more honest depictions of self. The Drama pulls away from pop almost entirely, what starts as a Lorde-like slow ballad tumbles into a nightmare-collage of upbeat synths, a circus show of theatrical excess as Kesha's desparately laments on a loss of faith in humanity and self. The song ends on an absurd mix of housecats and Ramones, oh the drama of it all.

Fever Ray - Even It Out Even It Out may not be the technically best song on Radical Romantics, but the idea of Karin Dreijer teaming up with Trent Reznor to make a gleefully unhinged song about violently attacking a child is just too funny to me. The rest of the album is also incredible and well worth a listen.

Follow You - Saint Agnes Oh, hey, speaking of Trent Reznor, Saint Agnes channel Nine Inch Nails on the massive distortion drenched choruses of this stand out track from Bloodsuckers. Lead singer Kitty's vocals soar over wailing guitars and crunching bass, this is the sound of a band triumphing through adversity.

Johnny Booth - Full Tilt I remember seeing a comment when this first released that summed up how ifelt about it perfectly. "This has slap fucks". Yes, selppin2, I couldn't of put it better myself. Johnny Booth have been consistently hitting it out the park for the past few years and this is no exception, absolutely brutal stuff.

Creeper - Further Than Forever Creeper's Sanguivore is an album to be devoured in it's entirety, I couldn't choose a single song so this is merely a goth-punk-opera overture. A nine minute long homage to the theatrical tendencies of Jim Steinman. If you enjoy any part of this, Sanguivore is a must listen for you.

Crosses - Ghost Ride Chino Moreno swaps out the rumbling wall of guitars of Deftones for pulsing bass synths and sparse electronic drums with the second album from his side project with Far's Shaun Lopez. Ghost Ride is a sultry slow build that crashes into industrial-pop(?) choruses.

Idles - Grace Idles (to my surprise) were my most listened to band of last year, and if Grace is a sign of things to come on Tangk, they're in with a shot for 2024 as well. Grace finds Joe Talbot swapping out the political battering ram of a growl he's employed previously for a soulful tone, a message of peace and love, and its hauntingly beautiful to behold. No God, no king, love is the thing.

BENEE - Green Honda You may remember BENEE from tiktok's 2019 supahit Supalonely, she's still writing bops. Two middle fingers up, leave you in the rearview, bops.

Free Refills - Grounded What can I say, I'm a sucker for a good bassline, and this is a great bassline.

Pendulum, Bullet For My Valentine - Halo (Matt Tuck Rework) On his rework of Halo, Matt Tuck keeps all the energy of the original mix but ups the aggression. This is the sound of Pendulum at their heaviest and best.

Tokky Horror, Scottish Gabber Punk - HAMMER 2 THE FACE (Scottish Gabber Punk Remix) Speaking of energy and aggression... it doesn't get much more energy and aggression than this, hammer 2 the face is a fitting title for the brutality of this track.

MSPAINT - Hardwired MSPAINT are a hardcore punk band with a notable lack of guitar, the instrumentation instead filled out with colourful synths. The result is a unique and engaging sound unlike anything else in the genre.

Empire State Bastard - Harvest ESB are my kind of supergroup, formed of Biffy Clyro's Simon Neil, Oceansize's Mike Vennart and Slayer's Dave Lombardo (yes, you read that right). Simon Neil is delivering career best vocal performances, Mike Vennart is stirring up unholy hell on guitar and Dave Lombardo is doing what Dave Lombardo does best.

Alice Longyu Gao - Hëłłœ Kįttÿ I didn't think we could get more unhinged than last years MONK, with it's thrash metal guitar and vib ribbon solo, but here we are in the year of our lord 2023 and I'm listening to car clown horns. BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM.

Bob Vylan - He's a Man Do y'all remember the Lindsay Lohan Freaky Friday movie? There was a great song in it called Take Me Away... anyway, I forget why I mentioned that, but this song is really fun.Great cheeky lyrics and love that guitar riff.

Fall Out Boy - Hold Me Like A Grudge This may just be a nostalgia pull, but that intro transported me back to hearing Dance, Dance for the first time. Hold Me Like A Grudge does a masterful job of pulling together elements of FOBs classic sound and their more recent poop sensibilities that has had me enjoying their sound in a way I haven't since Infinity On High

Evie Enby - Homies Oops, how did this get in here? Please appreciate the one note guitar solo.

FIZZ - I Just Died My general lack of enthusiasm for The Beatles is fairly well documented by this point, but one of the best things they did for pop music was use the clarinet on When I'm Sixty Four. Well good news, I no longer have to listen to The Beatles to get my clarinet fix. Now that the Beatles reference for this year's list is done.. I just died is a song about an absolutely mortifying experience delivered with great mirth. It's a fantastic, sing-along-in-the-shower bop, and have I mentioned the clarinet solo?

CLT DRP - I Put My Baby To Sleep (It's pronounced Clit Drip) What can I say, another explosive, genre defying, track by one of the best bands in the world. Now go listen to the entirety of Nothing Clever, Just Feelings.

Orla Gartland - Kiss Ur Face Forever Joyous, peppy and "let's play a game of emotional monopoly, in the name of monogamy" may be the best couplet I've heard this year. It's just fun, so much fun.

Bring Me The Horizon - LosT When LosT first dropped, I referred to it as the geccification of BMTH, I meant that in the best possible way. I really enjoy how the hyper-pop elements lift this track up. "The next time that I open up to someone will be my autopsy" is one of the finest Oli Sykes-isms we've had in a long time.

Swans - No More Of This Okay, so the actual Swans track that should be on this list is The Beggar Lover (Three) but apparently putting an uncompromising, nigh impenetrable, 43 minute long epic in the middle of a playlist is terrible for retention, and I'm a coward. But if you have a spare 50 minutes, go give it a listen.

Pupil Slicer - No Temple Pupil Slicer continue to prove themselves to be one of the most exciting bands in Mathcore. Pushing against the boundaries of genre in a genre where pushing against boundaries is a core philosophy, No Temple is, according to the band, the heaviest song they've ever written. The bass guitar work is an exceptional standout for me here as it pushes against the rest of the song.

Carly Rae Jepsen - Psychedelic Switch With every CRJ album project comes a B-sides album, and with every B-sides album comes an absolute banger. Psychedelic Switch is undoubtedly this for the Loneliest Time/Loveliest Time project. You'd be forgiven for thinking Daft Punk themselves reunited to produce this french disco flavoured bop.

Soft Play - Punk's Dead Who the fuck are Soft Play? Sound like a bunch of lefty snowflakes. I've missed these boys, doing this kind of thing. The Robbie Williams feature is inspired.

Chappell Roan - Red Wine Supernova Red Wine Supernova is sexy, self-assured, feel-good, sapphic fun. It's a testament to how good a song is that lyrics like "I heard you like magic, I've got a wand and a rabbit" doesn't detract from it, but actually elevates it's effortless charm.

JAAW - Rot JAAW are an industrial metal "supergroup" formed of members of Therapy, Three Trapped Tigers, Sex Swing and Biglad. That is likely mostly gibberish to the average music listener, but to a niche few, it's a very exciting prospect. What it sounds like is swelling, tumultuous walls of noise, tortured screams, screeching guitars and pulsing distorted bass. Catharsis through noise.

Better Lovers - Sacrificial Participant More supergroup! Greg Puciato teams up with ex-members of Every Time I Die and Will Putney (of Fit For an Autopsy). I was devastated by the split of ETID, (off the back of the phenomenal Radical adn jsut before I was due to see them live), but Better Lovers is one hell of a silver lining. Puciato's energetic vocals bounce wildly off of the erratic musicianship that was the cornerstone of ETID's sound. It's a perfect match on record and is even better live.

Architects - Seeing Red Bless Architects. They're a band that are truly a victim of their own success, as they've tried to pull their sound and ethos in new directions it's been met with a huge amount of negativity from their own fanbase. Seeing Red is a reaction to this. "You want heavy? Here's heavy. Are you happy now?". Blegh.

Teen Mortgage - Sick Day Sick Day is a 2 minute punk blitz about how you are worth so much more than your labour and how having a cute cat you want to look at is a perfectly valid reason to stay at home. Capitalism 0 - Cats 1.

Purity Ring, Black Dresses - Shines Purity Ring and Black Dresses are both Canadian electronic duos and that's about where the similarities stop, but that just makes this collaboration all the more interesting. There's so much going on here, the chaotic harsh frenetic noise of Black Dresses, Ada Rook's screams, the twinkling synths of Purity Ring and sing-song melodies of Megan James. Somehow it pulls together to create something of true beauty in its own weird way.

Dream Nails - Sometimes I Do Get Lonely, Yeah Dream Nails take on the rising issue of incel culture and red-pill ideology, with grace and empathy. Pointing fingers not at individuals but at the systems and powers that enable and create these pipelines to hatred and bigotry. It's a bold and challenging idea, executed superbly.

Baby Dave - Sounds Good When a fan sends you an unhinged voice message out of the blue offering you a bite suit and dogs to shoot a music video, obviously the thing to do is make a song out of it, then take them up on their offer and use it as the video for that song. There's a great OPM era The Streets vibe to this track that plays off nicely of the grounded reality of its subject.

Sleep Token - The Summoning Sleep Token do the impossible, they make prog-metal (the unsexiest of all genres) , undeniably sexy. Nowhere is this clearer than on The Summoning, a 6-and-a-half minute epic of a track with multiple time signature changes and tonal flips, that somehow still oozes with a swaggering sexuality throughout it's runtime. The out-of-nowhere funk switch up on the end of this track is perfection.

Lambrini Girls - Terf Wars Love those Lambrini Girls, they say what I'm thinking, and they say it loud.

Ezra Furman - Tether This one had me in floods of tears from the first listen. A classic string-laden piano ballad about inescapable pasts and the desire to cut yourself free from who and where you've been.

The St. Pierre Snake Invasion - That There's Fighting Talk This track does two things it builds and it STOMPS, like real "put on your heaviest boots and then strap lead weights to them because they need to be heavier" stomps. An industrial-mathcore floor-filler, the song crescendoes then continues to crescendo into ever greater insanity. Get Stomping.

Calva Louise - Third Class Citizen Calva Louise's sound has evolved so much since I first fell in love with the band listening to their 2017 debut single Getting Closer. Third Class Citizen has elements of Muse in it's bass-lines, stadium-sized guitar riffs and fizzing production. The vocals and lyrical content make it something altogether its own though, the palpable fury in vocalist Jess' voice as she demands "Respect, motherfucker" is real and visceral.

HEALTH - Unloved Off the back of their genre spanning, multi-release collaboration project, DISCO4, RAT WARS sees HEALTH back in a focused mode and delivering their heaviest album to date. Unloved is a moment of relative respite on the album though, a Depeche Mode tinged track, soaked in 80's reverb and ready for the goth club. HEALTH pull you into their world of misery and beauty with catchy hooks and pulsing bass.

Anohni and the Johnsons - Why Am I Alive Now This year saw the release of "My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross", Anohni's first studio album with her band since 2010's Swanlights. The abrasive electronics of her solo albums are traded in for warm soulful tones and a raw almost live-feeling instrumentation. It's a beautiful, deeply emotive, and incredibly present sounding album. Feeling as if you are being drawn into the recording process itself, Why Am I Alive Now? is an existential lament on finding purpose in a purposeless world, in navigating through suffering to find hope and love. On learning why to be, when it feels like the world is set on stopping you from being.

HMLTD - Wyrmlands THE WORM IS HERE! Wyrmlands is an example of one track on an album that should be listened to in its entirety. The Worm is a concept album at its most conceptual, eschewing genre and at times structure entirely in favour of narrative and ~vibes~. It's a dizzying disorientating listen, that will leave you' with more questions than answers, but thankful for making an attempt 're mind awash with unanswered questions and fresh ideas.

Billy Woods, Kenny Segal, Danny Brown - Year Zero Year Zero refers to an apocalyptic cultural reset. Society has reached a breaking point and we must start from scratch, everything before was for nothing. Billy Woods and Danny Brown play two different sides of the same coin. Woods, stony faced and deadly serious "My taxes pay police brutality settlements" is the herald of the end "Burn it down with us inside". Danny Brown, the manic joker, revelling in the freedom of a new world, rhyming Good Will Hunting with Cool Runnings and dropping bars about ice cream machines. It's a compelling way to deliver a narrative.

[popentertainmentmusic]

Ken Sharp – I’ll Remember the Laughter (Jet Fighter)

Back in the day, when an artist could not fit all the goodies they had stored up on a single slab of vinyl, they would release a two-record set. The latest collection by pop/rock anthropologist Ken Sharp is an embarrassment of riches. It wouldn’t even fit in a two-record set, at 50 tunes it’s more like a three-record set or a box set.

The album title I’ll Remember the Laughter is rather apt because laughter is not the only thing this brace of tunes will make you remember. It is a stylistic traipse through the history of 60s and 70s AM/FM radio (with a little 80s and beyond mixed in for good measure).

Sharp has grown a cult audience for his sharp pop songwriting skills and on-point understanding of popular (and also obscure) music of the past. Taking a sonic trip through I’ll Remember the Laughter is like coming across a transistor radio from the multiverse; an alt-history of songs that could have, should have and would have been hits in the glory days of Top 40 radio, only if they had just been recorded in time.

It is a place where Todd Rundgren rubs elbows with T. Rex, The Knack hangs out with Hall & Oates, and The Raspberries had the kind of career that merited inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The styles of I’ll Remember the Laughter are all over this place – and I mean that in the best possible way. From the bluesy shredding of “No More Silver Linings,” the strutting bubblegum pop/soul of “42nd Street” to the catchy prog of “Halyx Rising (Lora’s Song)” to the sunshine pop of “Dennis” to the soulful lament “Cracking This Heart of Stone,” the album is a primer of musical styles and feels.

“Lightning Crash” feels like an old lost Cheap Trick fave, while “Shut Out the Lights” rides on a Clapton-esque guitar line. “Ghetto Child” (not to be mixed up with the Spinners classic of the same name) does share that song’s Philly International soulful vibe, as does the sweet intro to “Are You a Lover or a Fighter?” which eventually moves into more of a blue-eyed soul feel. “Between the Lines” on the other hand, pulls from the paisley underground school of The Dream Syndicate and The Bangles.

Beyond Sharp’s sharp originals, I’ll Remember the Laughter also offers some adventurous and intriguing covers. There is a swinging version of The Who’s “The Kids are Alright” and two (count ‘em) covers of songs from a semi-obscure pre-superstardom album by 80s pop/rock icon Rick Springfield of “Jessie’s Girl” fame. (Springfield adds some tasty backing vocals to Sharp’s recordings of his songs.) However, possibly the greatest cover is a stunningly catchy version of “Girl,” which is remembered in pop culture as the song which Davy Jones performed in his guest appearance on The Brady Bunch.

So, if you miss the glory days of pop radio, where diverse styles rubbed shoulders in a mind-boggling array of music – with the only true through line being that most of it was one hell of an earworm – you can recreate that sensation with I’ll Remember the Laughter.

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©2023 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: February 6, 2023.

[lekbury]

I don't know who will read this but if you listen to prog rock you shouldn't be ashamed if you like their radio friendly songs, if you like Yes, don't be afraid to listen to 90125, it's a decent and catchy album, this applies to any other band who went "pop" in the late 70's or the 80's in general

[supermacaquecool]

MUSIC ASKS: 1, 2, 5, 13

Music asks

1: A song you like with a color in the title

Purple, yellow, red and blue by Portugal the man.

This album had me on a grip during my hs years lmao The disaffection and cynicism of the song are still p good tbh, like yeah, enjoy your drugs skkdkfkf

2:A song you like with a number in the title

Number 9 by Moon Hooch

I'm a saxophone enjoyer, and Moon Hooch is always fun to listen to. For whatever reason, the NY metro sample really adds to the ambience of the piece (we do have the low hum to go with the piece, so maybe that's why.) A lot of methodic build up with the sax here and some really good energy.

5:A song that needs to be played LOUD

うっせぇわ by Ado.

Ado's vocals are just incredible, she's an incredibly versatile and fearless singer with great texture in her voice, great growling, she does angry singing so well. It's just amazing. Blast your ears with her singing.

The song also had japanese parents up in arms, which is pretty funny lol Peak youth culture.

13:One of your favorite 80’s songs

This gave me pause because I'm a contrarian lol Not really joking, I grew up listening to a radio station that played a lot of pop hits from 80s and 90s, so a lot of songs I resent purely out of over familiarity.

So have this. I like instrumental prog rock from the 70s and 80s, and this single-álbum band killed it, we even got a xilophone in here.

L'epice by Dün

[fagboysupreme]

okay im attempting again to post my

RDR2 Modern AU Music Taste Headcanons

and if this crashes tumblr again i’ll be upset beyond belief

Arthur: Honestly enjoys whatever’s popular at any given time, but has a deep love for country classics. Johnny Cash in regular rotation.

John: 2000′s emo shit, grunge and Vocaloid. probably wanted to look just like Machigerita-P at some point. (ditto, honestly.)

Abigail: 80′s chick music and riotgrrl rock. Very fervent enjoyer of all things Cyndi Lauper, Stevie Nicks and Courtney Love.

Dutch: the most godawful mix of incel indie and RYMcore post-rock. ever wanted to hear a constant rotation of Swans and Weezer?

Hosea: showtunes and comedy music. big fan of Weird Al, Bo Burnham and ESPECIALLY Tom Lehrer. adores the original Cats soundtrack.

Micah: hideously tryhard noise music that he moreso enjoys tormenting others with. this guy will play Whitehouse on any and all first dates.

Charles: his autism is anti-loud noise flavor, so he errs towards ambient chill pop stuff like Animal Collective and Beach House. (the kind of thing i hate sorry charles)

Sadie: any and all country songs about killing or inconveniencing your husband. also Paramore.

Bill: bro-country. got tricked into listening to Ram Ranch once and cried for three hours.

Javier: gives me metalhead vibes but also the only artists I think he really cares about are Gorillaz and Arca and i cant explain why

Lenny: probably enjoys most things. i think he likes late 90′s conscious rap like De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest a lot tho

Sean: goofy boy rock bands like Tub Ring and The Presidents of the United States mixed in with the most awful 2000′s trash rock that he pirates

Kieran: white gay twink indie like Car Seat Headrest, Cavetown and a little bit of Jack Stauber

Mary-Beth: unironically, movie soundtracks. this the kind of girl who sits around listening to the LotR score like a dork.

Tilly: any and all mainstream 60′s-70′s music no matter how lame or dorky. absolutely adores the really early boy band era of the Beatles.

Karen: rave music, hyperpop, breakcore, basically anything that’d cause a victorian child to explode.

Uncle: his playlist is just a russian roulette game, most of the time you’ll get prog rock and sometimes you’ll get Jimmy Buffett and it’s pretty much a crapshoot.

Grimshaw: mostly likes jazz, is usually too busy to listen to any music and if you asked her her favorite artist she’d shrug and say “leonardo da vinci i guess”

Swanson: enjoys metal and punk, is basically just that one joke that was in every ad for Monsters University. (you know the one)

Strauss: Field recordings of people screaming. nah but fr i dont think he actually gets much out of listening to music. classical maybe. hes old.

Pearson: old-timey folk songs and sea shanties. big fan of The Pogues as well. Javier told him about Scottish pirate metal once... big mistake.

Molly: mid-2010′s tumblrcore girl pop. every argument with Dutch is usually book-ended by relistening to “Cry Baby” or “Norman Fucking Rockwell” again

Jack: fucking baby shark or some shit idk hes four years old

Trelawny: 90′s and 2000′s r&b and pop. this man WILL scam you and then go home and listen to TLC.

[save-me-san-fran-psychonauts]

Oh man, now I wanna know what your headcanons for the rest of the Psychic 7's music tastes are (possibly accompanied w/ Helmut's reaction)

RUBS ME HANDS TOGETHER OKAY SO.

A little preliminary stuff, i have a headcanon that Otto invented a psitanium radio that was powerful enough to dip into All of the radio airwaves (including some secret broadcasts that would definitely get them nixed if they were ever discovered) so the psychic 7 had a whole array of good tunes and radio broadcasts to listen to.

Also all of the music in this is going to be based around/before the 80s OKAY NOW ONWARD

Starting with Otto since I talked about that in me recent post: he didn’t exactly care for music back in the early days. He found it distracting and overall he liked the ambience in his lab more than whatever was on. Maybe he’d listen to classical, but overall, he was not a music guy.

That is, until the late 70s came around and the first synths started to hit the radio. Since then he has been a pretty big fan of industrial noise and early techno/electronic. Maybe a bit of synth pop if there isn’t any singing (again, a bit too distracting). Stuff like Kraftwerk, Einstürzende Neubauten, and Brian Eno.

[Helmut had been trying to get Otto into music for a long time and on one hand, he knew he should’ve expected that Otto would be interested in music produced by machines, and on the other he just wishes that it didn’t sound like the sound of hammering steel plates and loud beeping. They do bond over Gary Numan tho]

Now, Ford Cruller is an old fashioned dude. He absolutely loves Classical music, however I see him as an early Jazz and Country kinda dude. Especially with a bit of acoustic guitar. He liked it simple. Maybe as he got older he would get a bit into the prog rock scene, but early days looked a bit like Django Reinhardt (introduced to him by Lucrecia) and Johnny Cash. And all the classical music you can think of. (His Prog Rock scene might look like Emerson Lake & Palmer, Yes, Blue Oyster Cult, and Camel)

So, Ford 🤝 Bob

Liking acoustic guitar

however where Ford liked it simple, Bob’s taste leans more toward Folk Rock music. John Denver of course, but also Simon & Garfunkel, Cat Stevens, Fleetwood Mac, Crosby Stills & Nash, the works. He appreciates the quiet music but he loves to let loose sometimes (especially after meeting Helmut).

So remember when I said Ford was into jazz? It’s cuz Lucrecia introduced him to it (the good stuff, I mean). She is the other member of the psychic 7 who is a huge music connoisseur and loves to play new music she picks up at the record store. However, overall she is a lover of that classic 60s Rock alongside the Swing Jazz she would listen to with Ford. Something they could dance to together. Of course, she still listened to some of her music back from when she was in Grulovia. Alongside The Kinks and The Rollingstones, she listened to Gabor Szabo, Dorothy Ashby, and Django Reinhardt. Maybe in another lifetime she would’ve appreciated Ali Farka Toure in the 90s.

Cassie is an appreciator of pop rock. She listened to a LOT of early mandopop singers like Judy Ongg and Zhou Xuan back in Shanghai, so when she came to the states she took some of her music with her. She shared some of the shidaiqu music from China with Lucrecia and Ford and they showed her the world of American 50s and 60s pop rock. She absolutely listened to a bit of Elvis Presley, but I think she preferred female singers like Lesley Gore, The Shirelles, and Nancy Sinatra.

Helmut thinks there is no bad music, but he does have his preferences. He absolutely listened to 60s psychedelic rock like The Doors and The Grateful Dead. MAYBE a bit of The Beatles. But he loves his friends’ music and listens to it with them all the time.

Compton is by far the hardest for me to think about music wise. What the hell does this dude listen to. He might find music a bit overwhelming? Maybe he likes a little classical???? I’m not sure. He probably listens to 12 hours of rain noise.

[gypgypzzzy]

This is me assuming the musical tastes of the Wilkerson family:

Hal

This is kinda obvious, he loves rock from the 70's and 80's, I think he has a special connection to prog rock but when he feels more in a pop mood he probably listens to glam rock.

Artists/singers: Cream, Derek & the dominos, Blue Öyster Cult, Twisted Sister, Ratt, Van Halen, Queen, Pink Floyd, Santana, Yes, King crimson.

Francis

I think he must have one of the most varied musical tastes: he listens to pop, metal, punk, everything that sounds good is good for him. When he talks about music he connects with everyone because he knows about all genres.

Artists/singers: Abba, Stevie Nicks, Madonna, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Gun's N' Roses, Kiss, Descendents, The Vandals.

Dewey

he obviously loves classic music and wants to look like a musical elitist because of that but privately he listens to pop, some 60's rock and Spanish songs like bamboleo.

Artists/singers: Classical music artists, Fleetwood Mac, Abba, Lady Gaga, Gipsy Kings, The Beatles, Elton John, Queen.

Lois

In public she listens to pop songs or ballads usually sung by women, she wants to look like a lady but in private she listens to songs who take her back to when she was young and make her feel like a rebel.

Artists/singers: Blondie, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, The runaways, Whitney Houston, Cindy Lauper, Bananarama, Stevie Nicks, Fleetwood Mac.

Reese

He loves punk and all its sub-genres, especially 2000's punk pop with lyrics about being a misunderstood teenager or bizarre lyrics, if he had the patience to learn tempos he would probably play the drums. He also likes rap/punk fusion and grunge.

Artists/singers: Sum 41, the Offprising, early Green day, descendents, the vandals, Beastie boys, Suicidal tendencies, gang green, Black flag, NOFX, Agent Orange, Good Charlotte, Lit, Bowling for soup, Blink 182, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden.

(I have a Reese playlist on spotify please check it)

Malcolm

He has varied musical tastes but tries to hide it, in public he listens to punk and metal, not famous bands because he doesn't want to seem "basic or poser" he even "hates" those bands like Green day, Metallica or Megadeth in public to seem more interesting. He's a big fan of bassists and love Primus because of that and he doesn't like grunge but loves the album Ten by Pearl Jam. He listens to pop in private, and a lot of prog rock that he discovered due to his father's musical tastes.

Artists/singers: King Crimson, Yes, Primus, Pearl Jam, Abba, NOFX, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Porcupine Tree, Dead Kennedys, Minor threat, Bad Brains.

[stylesnews]

A year ago, the guitar was in dire straits. With songs like Travis Scott’s “Sicko Mode,” Ariana Grande’s “7 Rings,” Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts” and Panic! At the Disco’s “High Hopes” among the most consumed of 2019, programmed beats and horns were the sonic flavors of popular music. Sure, there were outliers — the Jonas Brothers’ “Sucker,” Maroon 5’s “Memories” and Post Malone’s “Circles” among them — but as the rock and alternative genres embraced artists like Billie Eilish, whose innovative music made the traditional band approach feel outdated, the days of chords and solos seemed numbered if not headed towards irrelevance.

Then came the coronavirus pandemic and things changed. Forced to perform from home or in rooms not intended for live music during lockdown, many artists went back to basics and out came the trusty six-string. For iHeartRadio’s “Living Room Concert for America” in March, Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl played an acoustic Guild on “My Hero”; Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day strummed to his band’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”; and even Eilish, with her collaborator brother Finneas, sang her hit “Bad Guy” accompanied by only a Fender acoustic. Other benefit livestreams like Global Citizen’s “One World Together At Home” event saw the Rolling Stones, Keith Urban and Shawn Mendes strip down their hit songs for unplugged versions. And in April, Miley Cyrus delivered an emotional cover of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” on “Saturday Night Live” with Andrew Watt, himself a COVID survivor, on guitar.

At the same time, there was an electric guitar solo being heard on one of the most-played songs in the United States. Harry Styles’ “Adore You,” which has logged 1.1 million radio spins in 2020, according to Mediabase, and has been streamed more than 400 million times, per Alpha Data, features the playing of Kid Harpoon (real name: Tom Hull), Styles’ friend and producer, who handled the guitar parts for much of the Brit’s excellent “Fine Line” album, released in Dec. 2019. As it turns out, the melody of the solo, which also serves as the bridge to “Adore You,” was first hummed by Styles for Hull to emulate. “I did it with my mouth into a microphone,” Styles told Variety in October. “And then Tom sent me this video trying to get it to sound the same. He spent a couple of hours getting it.”

Why include a guitar solo when most pop songs would never dare? “I feel it’s kind of like ‘La La Land’ saving jazz  — only for rock ‘n’ roll,” Styles cracked when posed with the question. But more seriously speaking, Variety‘s Hitmaker of the Year added: “I’m not a spearheader of the movement, like, ‘Let’s bring back guitars.’ There’s plenty of times when [a song] doesn’t sound better with a guitar, and you don’t use it. But a lot of the references I grew up with have guitars; and it’s the first instrument I played, so it makes sense that I would like the sound of them more. I don’t think the guitar is dying. Guitars are great and always have been.”

In fact, guitar sales in 2020 have been robust. Music retailer Sweetwater reports more than 50% year-over-year growth in guitar purchases, with even larger increases during the peak COVID months of April, May and June “when customers most likely hunkered down to practice and create music after watching all of the streaming video they could handle,” according to a rep for the Indiana-based company.

The spike extended to other string instruments as well, which saw growth of more than 70% year-over-year in the price range of $299 or lower. The metric indicates that “new players are joining the fold,” says Sweetwater, which has been in business for over four decades and operates online. (Competitor Guitar Center, with more than 250 physical locations in the U.S., did not fare as well, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month.)

Even in the virtual world, learning to play an instrument has taken off during lockdown. The platform Yousician, which provides interactive learning for guitar, bass, ukulele, piano and voice, currently reigns as the No. 1 app for music instruction while its sister product, GuitarTuna, is tops for guitar tuning.

Ask current writers and producers working in pop and hip-hop about their process and you soon learn that an acoustic guitar is often the beginning or the essence of a hit song. Among Variety‘s 2020 Hitmakers, the trio of Taz Taylor, Charlie Handsome and KC Supreme credited a guitar loop as the foundation for Trevor Daniel’s “Falling.” For Maren Morris’ “The Bones,” producer Greg Kurstin noted: “The first thing I noticed was Jimmy Robbins’ guitar hook; I wanted to keep the song rooted in that.”

“So many hit songs from 2020 started with a acoustic or electric guitar, whether it be a melody line or simple progression,” says songwriter and producer Jenna Andrews, whose recent credits include BTS’ “Dynamite” and Benee’s “Supalonely.”

And often, those guitar-based foundations remained through the finished product — for instance, 24KGoldn’s “Mood,” with its impossibly catchy sun-kissed guitar riff, and Powfu’s “death bed (coffee for your head).”

“I know it sounds kinda old school, but I love it when a well-recorded acoustic pops off on the radio,” says Sam Hollander, whose hits include the aforementioned “High Hopes” and Fitz and the Tantrums’ “HandClap.” “The bulk of my songs tend to be born on guitar. Without that foundation, the lyrics and melodies never really emote the heartbeat and emotion that I’m trying to dial in. There’s just a general warmth to it that’s hard to replicate. It’s like the warmest chocolate chip cookie.”

“I think the prevalence of guitar in 2020 has a lot to do with hip-hop producers using more emo and punk-rock influences,” offers Angie Pagano, whose AMP management company represents Tommy Brown (Ariana Grande, Blackpink) and Mr. Franks, among others. “Juice Wrld really helped bring this into the mainstream over the last few years. We’re seeing a great blend of emo and trap these days.”

Indeed, the year’s most-consumed hits leaned hip-hop — Roddy Ricch’s “The Box” landed at No. 1 on the Hitmakers list with Future and Drake, Jack Harlow and Megan Thee Stallion in the Top 10 — but even DaBaby’s “Rockstar,” the No. 3 song of the year, referenced a guitar in its chorus, albeit alongside mention of a Glock pistol. That visual may go against what Hollander calls “the Kumbaya vibe of the guitar,” but the song still features an acoustic strum at its core.

In the case of Styles’ 2020 successes, which also include the ubiquitous “Watermelon Sugar,” his producer further explained that, while aware of what was reacting on the charts at the time they were recording, Styles wasn’t about to chase the trends. Said Tom Hull: “We [thought], we can’t play the commercial game in terms of what’s happening right now. What we can do is make music that really resonates with us. There’s no blueprint. You just have faith. We love records from the ’70s and ’80s; weird prog rock music that might be a seven-minute instrumental; then you’re listening to Shania Twain, like, ‘This is awesome, too.’ The goal was to make something we will always love, and if it completely flops commercially, at least we know we love it. We have that.”

[starrybluez]

Thank you @music-on-canvas for the tag 💙

Build your perfect band! (tag game)

choose something for every category by recombining elements of different existing bands or musicians to create the perfect band according to your preferences.

This was tough, because I don't think I'd want to change anything about my faves: Duran & Wings but here goes...

Number of Band Members: 5

Band Name: "The...Duran Monkees"! 🐒 (I'm sorry this is already sounding bad) Alright how about "Hodge-Podge"! 😂🙈 No I'll go with "Duran Stardust". I guess. 🤨

Band Members (1 per Instrument): lead singer - David Bowie, guitarist - Jimmy Page, bassist - John Taylor, drummer - Tony Thompson, piano/keyboards & backing vocals - Paul McCartney

Additional Background Vocals: Ella Fitzgerald, Tina Turner, Annie Lennox (background...who am I kidding...they'd out-sing all the dudes in the band like they always do. Okay so maybe it'll be 8 band members). Guest Vocalists: Madonna, (80s-90s era) Prince, Simon Le Bon, George Michael, Jimi Hendrix

Decade: 70s - 80s

Instruments: acoustic guitar, drums, bass, electric guitar, rhythm guitar, sitar (guest starring George Harrison & Ravi Shankar), synthesizer, piano, harpsichord, flute (guest starring Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull), violin (guest starring Sharon Corr from The Corrs) and some other random instruments

Singer's voice like: David Bowie/Jim Morrison/Paul McCartney/Greg Lake/Simon Le Bon (feeling indecisive again)

Genre(s): rock, pop, glam rock, prog rock, folk rock, synth pop, jazz

Album Cover: (I know it's a Madonna album but I was really wowed by this album art)

Album Title: Cosmic Station

Song Title: Sing Blue Silver Moon

Style of Songs: So Glad To See You Here - Paul McCartney, Wings (and more), Heart Of The Sunrise - Yes, New Religion - Duran Duran

Clothing Style: glam rock, new romantic, 80's glam, bright colors, 60's & 70's prints, or just breaking into John Taylor's wardrobe.

I don't know if I did this right or if it turned out quite the way I was expecting. Tagging (no pressure): @discreetmusic @duranarchy-in-the-uk @fatal-plastic-kiss @tiggertaylor @wonhakwoon @medazzabon @musicacuantica @slashscowboyboots @astarrynightinparis and anyone else who feels like it. It was a bit of a challenge, but fun!

*pls don't reblog because of reasonable reasons

[david-gonzo]

2021 : My favorite albums released within this arbitrary construct of time.

While my list of albums barely reflects it on paper, this year was mostly about funk and pop music for me. A lot of digging into new wave-ish pop classics from the 80s, to dissect what make them tick, as well as deep mining missions into the worlds of funk. I looked to music more than ever to lift my waning spirits in many stressful troubled times this year, and while there were many cathartic death metal blasts along the way, feel good music was good for my soul.

Valerie June - The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions For Dreamers

Released in March this year, this album was with me nearly the whole year. The first 2 or 3 months after it came out, I listened to little else, just playing it on repeat. It truly does act as a sort of balm to my soul and puts me in a better place mentally. She puts a smoother sheen on her usual unique soul country blues blend with great results. This has jumped up somewhere high on my all-time albums list for sure.

Turnstile - Glow On

A late addition to my list, but it shot up to the top of my favorites pretty much upon first listen. Well written hardcore punk/pop songs, the whole thing is an upbeat uplifting good time. Every song is a bouncing up and down banger that makes me feel like almost like a teenager just getting into an all-ages club for the first time to dance to the music I want. It reminds me of Bad Brains in a way, but instead of the reggae jazz sounds, it borrows beats and vibes from hip hop, bossa nova and funk to a joyous effect. I’m sure many have released albums in this territory before, but I’m not sure if they were as good of songwriters as these guys are. Every song is a compact hook bomb, insidiously burrowing into your ear and begging you to give it another spin. Can’t recommend enough, just a hell of a great time album.

L'Imperatrice - Tako Tsubo

The real odd man out of my list, this excellent pop album from the French pop/funk group L’Imperatrice got a ton of summer spins from me this year thanks to luckily catching the perfect Submarine on KJHK one day. The music is finely crafted pop funk jams with clever vocals (at least what’s English, half the songs are sung in French) creating a Jamiroquai meets Cardigans, 70’s funk disco yet entirely modern sound. Just a good time album, anytime.

Mastodon - Hushed and Grim

A double album made in dedication to their recently deceased manager/best friend & their grieving process certainly made for great inspiration. Hushed and Grim has everything great about Mastodon, bonehead catchy heavy riffs, epic prog sections, top notch musicianship, great vocals and above all else great songs.

Alison Krauss & Robert Plant - Raise the Roof

Just like their 2007 classic Raising Sand, Raise the Roof is a magical blend of their two musical worlds to create a lovely calm place to chill out. The sound of this record is much smoother adult contemporary rather than the swamp bluegrass vibes of the last one, but it still works. The production is clean but full of depth and soul, just like their voices.

Aesop Rock + Blockhead – Garbology

Another year, another Aesop album in my top ten, no surprise there. As an album this probably wouldn’t be high on a ranking of all Aesop’s fabled albums, but it has several great top tier tracks that raises it based on the sum of all parts. Blockhead’s beats were a perfect spacious soil for which Aesop to spread his lyrical seeds.

Emma Ruth Rundle - Engine of Hell

While I had certainly enjoyed some earlier songs from her (and her album with Thou last year was really great) it wasn’t until I heard Blooms of Oblivion that I was hooked. The melodies, the details in the story of the lyrics, her performance, the simple haunting arrangement…just amazing. The rest of the album holds up in comparison to its highlight as great songs on their own, even if she does sound a lot like Tori Amos. This dark folk record grabbed me and became a real contemplative vibe for a lot of 2021’s fall for me.

Wormwitch - Wolf Hex

More great black n’ roll riffs from the Canadian Wormwitch. With this werewolf themed effort, they dip into some folk territory which adds some nice colors to what is a fairly grim, yet still fun affair. Honestly this album isn’t as good as their previous one Heaven that Dwells Within, but I still completely enjoyed it. Just a good “no thought required”, good banger of a time.

JPEGMafia - LP!

This album has a very punk rock attitude and JPEG’s lyrics are angry, intelligent, and funny all at once. The evolution of his beats is truly amazing, having achieved a sound that’s more commercial and polished while also feeling esoteric and somewhat abrasive at times. At times it almost feels like LP! Is its own genre, outside of hip hop and yet firmly planted upon its roots. Imagine if Childish Gambino did 10 more albums, each one more expansive and experimental than the last, and then that evolutionary knowledge was downloaded into another young man from Flatbush, New York and then grew into something else entirely.

Malignant Altar - Realms of Exquisite Morbidity

A last-minute addition to the list (as it was just released December 20th) this vile gore soaked debut from Texas is straight up filthy modern death metal just grabs you by the balls and knocks you in the teeth at the same time. An instant classic in my book.

Honorable Mentions: Not really that many this year, but it was another weird year where I did even more comfort listening and had a harder time getting into new music.

Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio – I Told You So

Gatecreeper – An Unexpected Reality

Yves Tumor - The Asymptotic World

Gojira - Fortitude

Pino Palladino +Blake Mills - Notes with attachments