#top 70 albums of 2018

[slavghoul]

Full article from Metal Hammer 12/2022 that I posted an excerpt from in the previous post. BTW, Impera landed #1 on Metal Hammer’s list of best albums of 2022!

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It was January 2022, and we found ourselves sitting in the empty lobby of a snug Seattle hotel, overlooking the sunset over Puget Sound while soft rock wafted through the PA system. Across from us was Ghost frontman and mastermind Tobias Forge, and we spent nearly two hours talking about music, family, dogs and the steady ascension of Ghost from spooky Swedish underground band to arena filling titans. But mostly we were there to talk about Impera – their fifth album, then still two months away from release.

In the run-up to an album coming out – particularly one with a highly acclaimed predecessor, like 2018’s Prequelle – artists tend to convey palpable anxiety as they prepare to relinquish control of their work to the world. Not so with Tobias, who radiated ease and comfort. Impera had not yet seen the light of day, but he had already moved on. Looking back at that period today, he explains, “As soon as I am done making a record, I’m pretty much fed up with it. I don’t want to hear it, I don’t want to know about it, I just want to forget about it. Once it hits the ears of people, depending on how it’s being received, that’s where you start from scratch again.”

Following Ghost’s North American tour with Volbeat and Twin Temple, Impera was released on March 11. It seamlessly blended pop-savvy songwriting with elaborate arrangements and steady torrents of anthemic pop metal riffage that created a wormhole back to the lighter-raising, arena-rock majesty of the 80s. From the glass-shattering scream that opened Kaisarion to the synth-rock squall of Watcher In The Sky, it delivered one guitar-powered banger after another.

It was enough to land Ghost their first No.1 position on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart – their fourth Top 10 overall. Even bigger, in terms of vinyl and CD sales, Impera scored 2022’s biggest first-week sales for any album, of any genre. With more than 62,000 copies sold in the US alone, it easily bested The Weeknd’s February CD release of Dawn FM. In fact, Impera claimed the biggest first sales week for hard rock vinyl since Pearl Jam’s Vitalogy in 1994.

Critics united in swift and lusty praise. It might have felt heretical at the time, but many early reviews rated Impera as besting Prequelle on all fronts. Our very own Dave Everley wrote: ‘Impera wins on bolshiness, bravado and skyscraping songs alone. Ghost have turned in a modern metal classic with an arena rock heart. It turns out the Devil doesn’t have all the best tunes. Tobias Forge does.’ It’s safe to say any plans of “starting from scratch” were shoved to the back burner.

Ghost’s official Imperatour headlining run took them back across North America and then to Europe. Despite the lingering ravages of Covid across the live music industry, they thrived. “I am very happy that we managed to orchestrate a somewhat functioning but very successful album launch”, says Tobias. “We managed to nail 70 shows with just one cancellation. I think in this day and age in this year, that’s fucking great!”

Across the globe, stages were filling up with shows that had been booked many years prior. “We had to cut and paste a little with our touring schedule, because this past summer was basically filled with 2020’s line-ups,” says Tobias. “That made our scheduling a little… I wouldn’t say sparse, but we had breaks that were longer than normal. There are so many bands that are doing these weird dances. The last year of releasing an album into the void, with no touring and cancelling here and there and everywhere, and people having to rethink their lives, basically… We’ve been blessed not to have done too much of that.”

Logistics aside, somewhere along the line, that cultish little band from Sweden – the one with the creepy frontman singing about Satan and plagues and empires – went mainstream. Propelled by Impera’s momentum, the band tapped into new levels of cultural saturation thanks to appearances on mainstays such as Jimmy Kimmel Live.

“TV always brings you in front of new people”, says Tobias. “We did [The Late Show With Stephen] Colbert a few years ago, and every time you do something like that, you obviously expose yourself to a new scene of viewers. And that’s always great, unless you completely shit the bed on the air. Ha ha ha! I think we did do a few things this year that brought in a whole slew of new people into our fanbase.”

But ever the realist, he adds, “You might have a spike of people checking you out… but you don’t really notice if things like that had any effect. It’s not like the day after, all of your shows are now sold out and there’s a double night booked into every show you’re doing. It’s such a slow process that you don’t notice until a half year later when new fans come in and say, ‘I saw you on Kimmel’ or ‘I saw you with my dad.’ I wouldn’t say that being on Kimmel changed everything. It’s been slow, step-by-step, but it builds new branches onto the same tree and you keep growing higher.”

And higher they grew. In July, Mary On A Cross – originally released on the 2019 EP, Seven Inches Of Satanic Panic – was used in a Tiktok tribute to the show Stranger Things. The ripple effect was staggering. The song landed in the Top 10 of Spotify’s Viral 50 Global chart. As of this issue, the hashtag #Maryonacross has notched up well over one billion views. Ghost eventually released an official, slowed-down version of the song and the two versions combined now claim more than 180 million Spotify streams and counting. “For us, the Tiktok thing was or is just a giant bonus”, he explains. “That was never something that we planned.”

Surely the unplanned waves of publicity will ferry over legions of new fans, for whom an embarrassment of riches awaits. “One thing that I felt proud over, was the fact that we’ve been around for 12 years,” says Tobias. “We’ve made five records, a bunch of EPS, and I am glad that there seems to be a song that has a way to suck people in. And if they go into our world and like it, there is plenty to find. If you like Mary On A Cross, you can just jump on the train and go where we already are heading.”

It’s been an uncommonly good year for heavy music, but for Ghost it’s been more than a success – it’s been a coronation. Despite their demoniacal appearance and transgressive lyrical themes, they have negotiated the near-impossible task of attracting mainstream audiences while holding fast to the diehards in metal who have been there from the start. It creates the enviable problem of facing a new year with new pressures and heightened expectations. But Tobias has a plan.

“We’re doing a lot of touring again”, he explains. “On previous album cycles we’ve done four legs in America and two or three in Europe and repeated. We’re going to go into every territory next year, but there’s going to be one European tour, one American tour. We are going to do a little bit of everywhere. There’ll be a little bit of something up in upper Asia, on the far end there – a very well-established country with a lot of pop cultural fascination, and the home of videogames. And there’s going to be something in the Oceania world, and there might be something south of Panama, and there might be something slightly north of Panama. It feels pretty solid.”

He cryptically adds, “We’re going to come out with a little bit of change before that – good change. We’re not going to go silent. Some things are public, other things not in public view, but there are a lot of things brewing.”

We are journalistically bound to inquire about the next album and, unsurprisingly, Tobias remains mum. In January, he told us, “Everything I’m doing now is for the next record. I have a vague idea what that will be like and a vague idea of the title and the colour scheme.”

For now, that will have to do, but rest assured that as we all continue to enjoy the masterpiece that is Impera, Tobias is already hard at work, figuring out dramatic new ways to blow our minds. But he still allows himself the odd moment to stop and take it all in.

“To be able to make all of the shows that we’ve done, and to have a record that did fairly well, I think the sum of it is pretty fucking awesome,” he smiles. “I’m very thankful. It was a lot of hard work and a little bit of luck.”

[brucequeensteen]

ethan. i chose whatever music asks you haven’t done yet.

hi kieren im kind of obsessed with u. there are a lot that i havent done but some of them i cant be bothered to answer/genuinely cannot answer or the answer is just no so here's the ones i like <3

Do you listen to more oldies or more current stuff? A mix of both but leaning more to oldies, the majority of my favourite songs and artists are either from the 60s & 70s era, or the 90s & 00s era <3 

Would you wear a t-shirt of a band you're not into? Probably not, even if the design is cool i only wear band tshirts if i care abt the band. But if someone gave me an artist tshirt as a gift, i’d wear it AND listen to the artist it depicts 👍

Is there an artist or song that you like, despite being of a genre you don't usually like? I like all genres i don't discriminate. i’m bisexual 

A song or album from the 50s or earlier: this compilation album of old japanese pop 1950-1951… discovered through mash playlists

A song or album from the 60s: 1-800-are-you-experienced by jimi hendrix 1967 :) 

A song or album from the 70s: Born to run by BRUCIE 1975 raaaagghhhhhh 

A song or album from the 80s: King of rock by run-dmc 1985 💪💥

A song or album from the 90s Call the doctor by sleater-kinney 1996

A song or album from the 2000s: Cheap pop for the elite by kore. ydro., 2006

 A song or album from the 2010s: TRANSANGELIC EXODUS BY EZRA FURMAN 2018. GOAT

Do you and your partner/best friend share a special song? One you’d call “our song”? unfortunately for my boyfriend and i it is the predatory wasp of the palisades is out to get us by sufjan stevens which is indicative of how normal we both are 

Do you play any instruments? I’ve been “learning” the bass for about 2 years but havent made much progress but i can do basic riffs and improvise a little 

Who’s your favorite fictional band or artist? Marceline The Vampire 

When was the last time you cried when listening to a song, if ever? I couldn’t tell you the last time a song made me properly cry but i sort of cried listening to come on in yesterday because i was having a category 5 peter tork moment 

Your favorite artist from your city/state/country? At the moment its marina spanou and based on her lyrics i think she is literally from the same area of athens as me <3

A song you like in a language you don’t speak:

A song you like with lyrics in two or more languages:

songs that are symbolic of a time when i was literally and without exaggeration in the trenches. korean & english

Do you enjoy musicals? If so, what’s your favorite? Top 5: fiddler on the roof, jesus christ superstar, newsies, les miserables, hadestown.

Have you watched any musician’s biopics? Do you have a favorite? I’M NOT THERE DIRECTED BY TODD HAYNES MY NUMBER 1 ☝️ even if i am not the biggest bob dylan girl out there i fucking love that movie so much 

Do you listen to music when it's raining or do you stop to hear the sound of the rain? Im answerin this question cos i like it. If its raining really hard i take out my headphones and turn my music up so i can hear it out loud blended with the sound of the rain <3

Do you prefer live recordings or studio recordings? LIVE RECORDINGS ARE MY BEST FRIENDS. I dont know if i prefer them but theres something so comcorting and beautiful of hearing live stuff so yeah <3

Okay these were the questions i cared about. thank you i love you . heheheheh

[mrjoeiconis-blog]

From the Archive: BE MORE CHILL TRACK BY TRACK May 16, 2018: Hey, hi, hello. My name is Joe Iconis. I’m a writer and performer and, most notably, the person to blame for the music and lyrics of Be More Chill. I wrote the show, a musical adaptation of Ned Vizzini’s novel, with Joe Tracz and it premiered in a production at Two River Theater in New Jersey in 2015. A cast album was made and was enjoyed by the amount of people you’d expect to enjoy a cast album of a musical that played for six weeks in New Jersey. Then suddenly and without warning, after two years of release, people, in particular young people, discovered the show and became obsessed. One hundred million streams of our cast album later, the show made its Off-Broadway debut in summer 2018 at the Pershing Square Signature Center on 42nd Street, before transferring to Broadway!

Before we launch into the madness of a track by track breakdown of the Be More Chill OCR, let’s talk about the Be More Chill score itself, shall we?

The first thing that excited me about adapting Ned Vizzini’s gorgeous book into a musical was the opportunity to write about the issues teenagers face through a sci-fi lens. I’ve written plenty of teens before. I love that they wear their emotions on their sleeve but don’t always have the vocabulary to properly articulate those emotions. But here was an opportunity to not only delve into the minds of young people, but to tap into some of my favorite genre influences: monster movies of the 1950’s, Sci-Fi/Horror flicks of the 70’s and 80’s, and Teen Comedies of the 80’s and 90’s. In short: John Hughes (Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) meets John Carpenter (Halloween, The Thing.) 

Be More Chill is a classic musical comedy in disguise. It reeks of technology and is filthy with moderns sounds, problems, references, etc. But make no mistake about it: The show is as traditional as they come. Well, sort of.

The songs themselves are total showtunes; it’s the orchestrations that place us firmly in the genre world.

As I’d write the tunes on piano, I’d dream about what they’d sound like when given the full 80’s sci-fi treatment, and Charlie Rosen’s orchestrations satisfied my darkest, quirkiest musical fantasies. We worked closely on the specific sounds of this score. Our holy grail (especially when it came to underscore) was John Carpenter film scores. John Carpenter has directed countless horror classics, but he’s also famous for writing his own film scores. He was an electronic music pioneer and his work is immediately recognizable.

Other sonic influences included Oingo Boingo, Bernard Herrmann, Weezer, Tangerine Dream, The Offspring, and contemporary musicians with a retro flair like Sky Ferreira, Kavinsky, and Johnny Jewel.

“Jeremy’s Theme” Written at Joe’s 16th Street Apartment 2012/Two River Theater Library, during rehearsals 2015 I’ve always thought of this as the music that would accompany the production logos in a horror movie. The “American International Pictures presents… A Roger Corman picture…” cards. It immediately places the audience in an unsettled place. Something bad is going to happen and that bad thing is going to be otherworldly. 

We’re actually cramming a lot of information into 30 seconds. Up top you’re getting the beep-bop-boop of computer circuitry. It’s the technological equivalent of a scary thunder storm in a creature feature. Next, our first synth line arrives. Hello, synth. Nice to meet you. Won’t you please overstay your welcome for the next two and a half hours? I drove Charlie slightly crazy in regards to the specificity of keyboard sounds I was looking for as I desperately wanted to be faithful to the Carpenter/Alan Howarth collaborations that inspired much of the score. 

The track culminates with The Squip theme, played gloriously on Theremin by Danny Jonokuchi. The Theremin is a vintage electronic instrument played by the Thereminist moving his hands through the air to control pitch and volume. That instrument was used most often in 1950s sci-fi movies like The Day The Earth Stood Still, usually to accompany the visual of an alien presence. 

We’re one of the only musicals to ever use a Theremin in its orchestration. Be More Chill is a show about kids obsessed with all things outdated and unloved and the show itself is obsessed with all things outdated and unloved! How very! (Heathers reference.)

“More Than Survive” Written in Joe’s 16th Street Apartment, 2012 After our eerie mini-overture, the audience expects to be confronted by a demon or a triffid or worse. Instead, we jump cut to the shockingly mundane sight of an average high school kid staring at his computer in his undies. I’m proud that the first event in the musical is our leading man being caught with his pants down. It establishes Jeremy us a decidedly unheroic hero and also kick-starts a theme of pantlessness that continues throughout the entire show.

The “C-c-c-c’mon” motif was one I came up with early on in writing the song. I wanted a repeated phrase that expressed the frustration of wanting things to move at an accelerated speed, and one that could also sound like the chorus of a pop song. I love immediately subverting the expectation of what Jeremy’s waiting for to load—“Is it a major homework assignment? A college application?” Nope, it’s porn! That moment establishes the spirit of Be More Chill right off the bat. It also makes for awkward car rides when kids listen to the album in the car with their parents. Sorry, not sorry.

In the actual show there are even more mini-scenes between Jeremy and the people in his life. I wanted this whole opening to feel cinematic and sweeping and place Jeremy in the center of a world that is swirling around him. Kind of like the “Head Over Heels” sequence in Donnie Darko. 

The first person who connects with Jeremy enough to actually earn sung musical material is Michael. Michael brings his own music with him because he’s confident and, quite literally, marches to the beat of his own drummer.

Will Connolly’s voice just kills me on the album. He sounds like the love child of Michael Jackson and Billie Jo Armstrong. 

Notice the little synth line underneath the lockers scene with Chloe, Brooke, and Jenna. It’s a quote of “Rich Set a Fire.” The little synth line underneath the first part of Michael’s scene? “Michael in the Bathroom.” The guitar line in the second part? “The Pants Song.” That audience has subconsciously heard so many melodies from the show before the first number is even over! Underscore is sneaky.

It should be noted that “More Than Survive” was the first song I wrote for the show. After sending it to Joe Tracz, I sent it to Jennifer Ashley Tepper, who is now one of our producers of Be More ChillOff-Broadway. She wrote back:

“I tried to listen to the Be More Chill song, got 60 seconds in, and got furious at everyone for all of the noise/ questions/ distractions at work... so I'm gonna go download these on my phone and sit outside or hide in the bathroom to listen. BRB!!!”

Hiding in the bathroom. That’s so Be More Chill.

“I Love Play Rehearsal” Written in Joe’s 47th Street Apartment, 2013 After hearing so much about her in the opening, this is the first time we actually get to hear from Christine herself. Charlie and I wanted her song to sound different from the angular computerized vibe of the rest of the score. Enter recorders! 

Everyone associates recorders with elementary school music class and/or Renaissance fairs. That felt correct for Christine, who is warm, strange, confident, free-spirited, and literally dresses like an authentic Renaissance Princess at the Halloween Party in Act II! So much of Stephanie Hsu’s performance informed the song itself—she’s a brilliant actor and a soulful singer and it’s impossible to not conjure up images of her live performance when listening to her on the album.

The placement of this song moved around a whole bunch during our writing process and the eureka moment was realizing that the song’s not literally about play rehearsal. It’s a song about passion and freedom. It’s not the typical way to be introduced to a leading lady in a musical, which makes it perfect for Christine and for Be More Chill, in general. 

The original second song in the show was an internal duet for Jeremy and Christine called “Touching My Hand.” It was about Jeremy pining for Christine and Christine wondering if she should go on a date with Jake. There was some nice character material for Jeremy, but it gave us information we already knew and it made the show feel like some cute romantic comedy. It also felt antithetical to the character to have Christine’s first real song moment be about a guy. That’s not her and we needed to respect that.

Note that the original full title of this song was “Why I Love Play Rehearsal By Christine Canigula,” which is very fussy and precious and I loved it but it’s too cumbersome and I knew that someone would inevitably make me change it so I just did it myself. (RIP Fussy, Too-Long Title That Joe Loved.)

“The Squip Song” Written at Joe’s 16th Street Apartment, 2012 It begins as a retro-sounding “cool kid in a ’90s movie” rock song (with some Oingo Boingo horns added in for good measure) and then turns full blown sci-fi/horror fantasia. And it all goes down in a bathroom. There are a lot of bathrooms in this musical. 

This song is the first time we hear the “It’s From Japan…” refrain, which repeats ten million times over the course of the show. Gerard Canonico is a powerhouse of the highest order and he turned this song from a serviceable musicalized scene into a show stopper. The optional octave up jump on the second “It’s From Japan” is all Canonico’s doing. We had to add the big ending (including a toilet flush on the final button) just because it was so clear people wanted to clap after Gerard finished doing his thing.

Props to Josh Plotner on the vocoder, yet another retro instrument that’s rarely used in theater orchestration. It’s what makes the weird digitized voice sound. People usually think that it’s a mic effect but it’s all done live! Old school, baby.

For those who care: Gerard’s pronunciation of the word “correctly” is a nod to The Shining’s scary bathroom encounter between Jack Torrence and Delbert Grady.

“Two-Player Game” Written at Joe’s 47th Street Apartment, 2013/Rewritten during rehearsals at Ripley Grier Studios, 2015 I enjoy writing songs where characters have to work through some major personal issue while doing an unrelated task. (Ahem, “The Answer.” Ahem, “Ammonia.”)

Here, the boys talk about self-worth and the desire to be somebody else while playing a video game. Of course, the video game is actually telegraphing the journey they are about to go on but to Michael and Jeremy it’s just another nothing-special hang sesh. When I wrote that little 8-Bit “Apocalypse of the Damned” theme that threads through the song, I was inspired by being a kid and plunking out the melodies to grandiose John Williams orchestral scores on my Casio.

The original version of this song was titled “Level Up” and it did a lot of what “Two-Player Game” does, just not as well. It also sounded exactly like a particular song by The Clash and once I realized how similar the two songs were, “Level Up”s days were numbered.

It should be noted that I am the world’s biggest stickler when it comes to rhyme. I’m super old-school in that I believe things either rhyme or they don’t; none of that “half rhyme” garbage. I think rhyme makes theatre songs easier to understand and actually heightens the dramatic intention of the lyric. Disgustingly, “Two-Player Game” contains an accidental fake rhyme. By the time I realized, it was too late to change the rhyme. Every time I hear it, I cringe, and you can pay me a million dollars but I won’t tell you what it is. 

“The Squip Enters” The grand entrance of our antagonist: The Squip. It was important to our radiantly talented director Stephen Brackett that The Squip’s entrance feel larger than life. His staging of the moment was dazzling, and I needed to write a cue that rose to that occasion. The Squip enters to music that is tastelessly huge, appropriately so. 

It should be noted that I wrote The Squip with Eric William Morris in mind and I’m so glad his iconic performance of the role is preserved forever and ever on the album.

“Be More Chill – Part 1” Written in Joe’s 47th Street Apartment, 2013  I had a lot of trouble figuring out the musical style of The Squip. First I went down a computer-y road, but that felt too in line with the sound of the rest of the show. Then I tried a sort of 1950’s Dick Dale Surf Rock take. (Mike Rosengarten’s nasty, relentless guitar line is a remnant of that version of the song.) 

Eventually, I settled into what currently exists. There’s a timeless cool, laid-back quality to The Squip’s music. It’s approachable and sexy but never too scary or affronting. This is seduction music. The moments where the vocoder is adding the spooky digitized element the melody line (“don’t freak out and don’t resist…”) is where The Squip’s true colors are peeking through the façade just a little bit. By the time we get to “The Play” he’s given up on trying to seduce and is just trying to conquer, so his music sounds different.

The whole “Be More Chill” section is really just a classic “make-over montage” sequence (it’s even set at The Mall!) so I took some musical inspiration from make-over and training sequences as well. Think Karate Kid, Dirty Dancing, The Breakfast Club.

A lot of people are bothered by the harshness of the “everything about you makes me want to die” line. To me, that’s the whole point of the show. The tone may be comedic, but the characters in Be More Chill are actual teenagers struggling with actual problems. I don’t think being depressed or suicidal is a laughing matter, but I do think sometimes people feel like there is a voice inside their head telling them to hurt themselves. It would be insulting and untruthful to pretend that a kid like Jeremy wasn’t struggling with these thoughts. 

The humor, the fantasy, and the harsh reality co-exist in every moment of the show. And, in my experience, in every moment in life. It’s about learning how to deal with it and knowing which of the many voices in your head you’re supposed to listen to. But we’re not at that particular song yet.

“Do You Wanna Ride?” Written in [memory temporarily scrambled] I have no memory of writing this mini-song, it just happened. It didn’t exist and then it did. Look, I made a spicy song about stopping for frozen yogurt where there never was a spicy song about stopping for frozen yogurt. 

Lauren Marcus’s interpretation is a gift from the theatre gods and is a testimony to her brilliance as an actor, singer, comedian and all-around magic person. The yodel, the riff at the end, all Marcus. She’s the Goldie Hawn of musical theater. 

“Be More Chill – Part 2” When I stumbled upon the idea of the “Everything about you is going to be wonderful” section, that’s when the song really clicked for me. After being berated for all the things he isn’t, Jeremy finally gets teased with the promise of unadulterated love and adoration. It’s the false promise of spam emails about penis enlargement pills or the aspirational Instagram accounts of the Kardashians. The idea of: “If you just do This, everything will be Perfect.” The musical equivalent of “Make America Great Again.” Cheerful, optimistic, secretly sinister. The writing and performance make me think that it’s a theme song for an awful 1980s sitcom that never existed in the first place. “Everybody Loves Squips!” maybe.

Props to Dan McMillan for aggressively hitting that gong at the end for a big finish. 

“More Than Survive” (Reprise) Restart! The show essentially begins again and we fast forward through another day at school, this time with notes and instructions from Mr. Super Quantum Unit Intel Processor himself.

The chorus goes into a reggae feel for a few measures at one point. The idea there is that sometimes things are the same but feel a little different and you can’t quite put your finger on why. The familiar feels unsettling. Reggae is a style of music associated with Michael, so I like thinking that maybe Jeremy has Michael on his mind in that one instant before Squip wipes the slate clean.

“A Guy That I’d Kinda Be Into” Written in Ripley-Grier Studios 2015, during rehearsal This was the last song I wrote for the show. I wrote it very quickly on a rehearsal break after not being able to nail this moment for years. I love that Christine gets this unexpected jangly little rock song as her second big number. 

Have you ever noticed how the female lead in musicals is often saddled with the most drag-ass songs? Part of my mission in musical theater is to never subject my female lead to an unmotivated obligatory ballad. 

It should be noted that Christine ends both this tune and “I Love Play Rehearsal” with an unexpected non-rhyme. Christine is a character who subverts our expectations of her at every turn. Gosh, I like her. 

“The Squip Lurks”  I’m eternally grateful we got to include this taste of underscore on the album. I’ve heard rumors that this plays in theme parks during the Halloween season. That’s the highest honor I could ever receive. 

The track name is a reference to “The Shape Lurks” cue from the Halloween soundtrack. And, yes, “Jeremy’s Theme” is also a nod to “Laurie’s Theme.” 

“Upgrade”  Written at a Two River Theater writing retreat, 2014 // Re-written at Ripley Grier Studios 2015, during rehearsal

The line “this is my favorite place behind the school” is one of Joe Tracz’s great creations, delivered incomparably by Ms. Marcus. I don’t know why I find it so funny but I laugh every time I hear it. I think it reveals so much about Brooke.

The notes of “Upgrade-upgrade-upgrade” in the first part of the song are the same notes as the pattern that begins “More Than Survive.” They are just a little scrambled up. The melody of “I already know what it’s like to be the loser” is the “Apocalypse of the Damned” theme song melody.

This song is notable as the first time the character of Jake sings in the show. Poor Jakey D. This is the only musical in history where the classically good-looking Prince Charming-type gets the least amount to sing. I still like the guy, though. It’s another testament to the brilliant Joe Tracz that a character like Jake, who could’ve been a one-dimensional asshole jock, is actually a kind, well-meaning popular kid. Dude can’t help that he’s pretty! Jake Boyd’s vocals are so sensitive and approachable and kind of remind me of Mr. Peanut Butter from Bojack Horseman.

The final chorus of the song is the same melody but we lose the swing and make it more of a driving rock. Damn. Things got not cute quick.

This song used to end with a long minor version of the “Na Na Na” theme from “More Than Survive.” It was very musically exciting and too long and did nothing to service the story and was cut.

“Halloween” Written at a Two River Theater writing retreat 2014 The Halloween Party is a mammoth sequence that begins Act II and I knew it needed its own theme song. I wanted to write a chorus that sounded like what it feels like to be shoved around in loud, hot, crowded room. The sort of song that would send anyone with social anxiety into a full-blown panic attack.

The Suburban Halloween Party is such a hallmark of the movies myself and my collaborators were inspired by and we endeavored to do those films justice and make the greatest Halloween party blowout sequence in musical theater history. Please note that when we wrote the show, there weren’t actually any other musicals with Halloween Party blowout sequences, so just by existing, we were automatically the greatest. Now we’ve got some competition. How fetch! (Mean Girlsreference.) 

There’s an element of group awareness in the “Halloween” lyric. “Cuz a Halloween party’s a rad excuse to put your body through mad abuse.” That’s because we’re experiencing the party through Jeremy. This is his first big social event and as much as he’s trying to be part of it, he’s still on the outside. He’s got a detachment that allows for a bit of perspective.

The dance break was arranged by Broadway legend Rob Berman! He based the melody line on a part of “Halloween” that was subsequently cut. It’s the “who’s got the peach Schnapps?!” section. I often add it back in when I perform the song in concert. 

Props to Amanda Ruzza’s propulsive bass line! Crank it up, crank it up!

“Do You Wanna Hang?” “Do You Wanna Ride?” strikes back! With new lyrics relating to Chloe’s Sexy Baby costume! Katie Carlson is yet another four-leaf clover in our incredible cast of musical theater misfits. Chloe is hilarious and monstrous without ever being a cartoon. She’s trying her best, just like everyone else, she just has… questionable taste. I’m so enamored with the way Katie does the final “Do you wanna stop?!” chorus. I think in that moment Chloe is trying so hard to be Britney Spears circa 1998. Which would almost work if she wasn’t literally dressed as an infant. There’s something charming and a little sad and completely hilarious about it to me. 

We never actually address the fact that Chloe is dressed as a baby (well, a “sexy baby”) in the lyric. In two million years all that will be left of this world will be a fat cockroach, a copy of the Be More ChillOCR, and a few confused aliens wondering what she means by “get inside my diaper, boy.”

“Michael in the Bathroom” Written at Joe’s 43rd Street Apartment, 2014 Many times as a kid and even more times as an adult, I’ve fled to the bathroom to escape a social situation. It feels like one of those no-big-deal things that everyone does and those are the exact sort of scenarios I’m drawn to when writing musical theater.

I’ve always been partial to the “Best Friend” characters. I want to know more about them and never understand why they exist only in the context of the lead character. In every show I’ve written I’ve imagined that when a secondary character leaves the stage, they’re walking into another show where they’re the lead. “Michael in the Bathroom” is the moment when the ultimate sidekick is allowed to take center stage and be the star of someone else’s show. I hope it makes the audience think about all the other secondary characters in the show like Chloe or Rich. They’ve probably all had their own “Michael in the Bathroom” moments over the course of the show, we just don’t get to see them. Oh how I long to write “Jenna in Her Bedroom.” Or “Brooke in the Alley Next to Pinkberry.” Maybe for the sequel.

George Salazar’s performance of the song is magic. It’s one of those miracle moments when a song and a performer connect in a specific way. The music and lyrics are a road map, but there are so many people who make the journey of a song like this happen. It all came together through a collaboration between myself and Ned’s characters and Joe’s book and Stephen’s direction and Nathan Dame’s musical direction and Bobby Tilley’s costumes and every other element that goes in to making any moment of theater. 

George is the first person to sing “Michael in the Bathroom” in the show itself, but while I was developing the score, the song was sung out of context by a few gents including Jason Tam, Seth Eliser, and Will Roland. They taught me much about the tune and I bow down to them.

I wrote the song in one sitting in 2014 and the content never changed, aside from the cutting of a short third verse right after the bridge. We cut it late in the rehearsal process in deference to the “too much of a good thing can be dangerous” rule of theater.

A few people have questioned my use of humor in songs that are otherwise quite serious. “Why do you have jokes in such a powerful song?” an uptight professor once asked. “Why is this hilarious showtune so stinking sad?” a late-nite comedian queried over drinks at McHale’s. The intersection of the comedy and the tragedy feels true to the human experience. The absurdity of having to work through things at the Worst Possible Moment is something I’ve experienced many times. Things are rarely all good or all bad but things are always messy. You find out you got into your dream school while you’re high at your racist grandfather’s funeral. You have to audition for a role on Stranger Things the same day that a mountain lion eats the family dog. (RIP Spot.) You have a panic attack while wearing a Halloween costume after fighting with your possessed best friend in the bathroom of High School Halloween Party. It’s all so forlorn and confusing and funny. To me at least. 

Charlie and I worked closely getting the arrangement just right. We wanted it to ebb and flow and sound like a pop song at first, never giving away that it will eventually turn into this tour-de-force musical theatre mad scene. I like when orchestration is at odds with the content of a song and doesn’t immediately announce what the song is about.

After going on this monumentally poignant journey, Michael undercuts it all with a spot of sarcasm, carrying on the great tradition of musical theatre characters who don’t really mean it when they say “I’m so glad I came.” (Follies reference.) The whole thing ends with the most sardonic cha-cha-cha ever to button a number.

“The Smartphone Hour (Rich Set A Fire)” Written at Ripley-Grier Studios, 2014 Jenna Rolan finally gets her moment of glory, unexpectedly, as the star of a seven-minute dance number. Katie Ladner’s turn as Jenna is so specific and inventive. She deflects the casual barbs thrown at her because she is not letting anyone ruin the time she gets to shine. 

I set out to write a song that dramatizes and activates the dangerous world that the Be More Chill characters exist in. We spend so much time with our kind, sensitive protagonists, it’s easy to forget the madness they are living in. It���s hard to be a teenager, especially today. It’s a menacing world where information travels at warp speed. As does gossip, rumors, insults, lies, etc. To me, “The Smartphone Hour” speaks to the ferociousness of modern teenagers and shines a light on the sort of environment that leads to bullying and depression and worse.

It’s also a splashy musical comedy dance number! I wanted it to feel overlong and unreasonably gargantuan. I thought for sure some smart theatre artist along the way would force me to cut this song. I decided I was going to fight for it. It may not cover a ton of story ground, but I felt that it was imperative to have the number in the show. It sets the audience up for the craziness that’s about to happen in Act II and lets us know that things have spun out of control—both in the story and in the show itself. I think subconsciously, the audience thinks: “A dance number about arson?! The rules of the show are changing! I hope nothing unexpected happens to the characters I love! They wouldn’t kill off Jeremy, would they? Well, if I’m watching a dance number about arson anything is possible! Oh no! #SaveJeremy!” 

Luckily, I never had to fight for the song. As soon as Chase Brock got his hands on it, he made it longer, in deference to the “too much of a good thing can be wonderful” rule of theater. Rob Berman’s arrangement of the dance break sounds like a sleepover from hell on crack and Charlie’s smartphone sounds bear more than a striking resemblance to the sort of sounds normally associated with the sinister Squip. Gossip is Evil, kids.

I really feel like we made the best Michael Bennett number Michael Bennett never choreographed. The final shouted: “End!” was all Chase’s idea and I love it so much. It’s a moment that lives in the real estate between musical theater Cheese Ball and rock’n’roll Middle Finger. A neighborhood I often hang my hat in.

The notes of the phone buttons that are heard after “he told me cuz he’s my best friend” are, once again, the same notes as the “More Than Survive” intro figure. Just reversed this time.

The title is an obvious reference to “The Telephone Hour” from Bye Bye Birdie. “Rich…” is by no means a parody of that song, but I think they are spiritual cousins. It’s another example of Be More Chill having a foot in the past and a foot in the future. 

“The Pitiful Children” Written at Joe’s 47th Street Apartment, 2013 / Joe’s 43rd Street Apartment, 2014–2015 / Ripley-Grier Studios and Two River Theater 2015, during rehearsals Oh, heavens, this song. The lyrics of this song changed a ton over the course of the rehearsal process and I never got it quite right. I love it on the album. It sounds like what would’ve happened if Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails wrote Les Misérables. Alas, dramaturgically, I don’t think I did a great job of telling the story that Joe Tracz laid out. Don’t be surprised if this one gets fiddled with in anticipation of our forthcoming Be More Chill off-Broadway production.

The orchestration of this song is one of my favorites in the whole show. It pushes The Squip firmly into digitized-demon territory. He’s worrying less about seducing people in this number and he’s letting his true colors show. His true colors are cold, industrial, heavy, and militaristic. There’s no question that this Squip has his sights set on world domination.

I like using lyrics that work dramatically and stylistically. The Squip’s “beep-bop-boop” is literally him speaking in his native computerized tongue, but it also conjures up images of an old-fashioned crooner scatting. It’s connected to Jeremy’s “C-c-c-cmon” and the Ensemble’s “Hey hey hey” and all the rest of it.

“The Pants Song” Written at Joe’s Family’s house on Long Island, 2014 My experience writing this song is very much an example of the comic/tragic thing that I often love to write about. 

I had tried to write a song for Jeremy’s Dad for the longest time and could never crack it. Joe Tracz said to me: “I just wish Jeremy’s Dad could have a song about the lesson he learns. That if you love somebody, you put your pants on for them.” Essentially, I am an idea thief. I immediately knew that sentence was a song, I just didn’t know how to write it. We were doing a developmental reading of the show and I was feeling the pressure. There was a date I needed to have the song in by and I had nothing. The day before I needed to have the song, I decided that after rehearsal I was going to have a drink with my best friend Jason SweetTooth Williams and then go home and write the song. And then my Grandma died. After a long illness, my grandmother Flora (RIP Flora) left this damned earth at the Iconis home on Long Island. I needed and wanted to be with my family. After doing all the things that you do when a loved one dies, I went downstairs to my family’s basement at 2 AM and wrote “The Pants Song” in one shot. Sometimes you have to write a song about two guys in their underpants on the night your beloved grandma dies.

Paul Whitty starts in such a forlorn, hurt place at the top of this song. I bet the audience thinks this is going to be a perfect-time-for-a-cigarette-break “sad dad” number and then it turns into a total bop. Much like the “We love everything about you…” section of “Be More Chill,” this was another song that I wanted to feel like a rockin’ version of the theme song from a 1980’s sitcom. Only difference is, the mythical sitcom that “We love everything about you…” comes from is phony and corporate and the “Pants Song” show is heartfelt and cool, Must See TV material.

There used to be a song for Jeremy’s Dad earlier in the show called “The No Pants Song,” where he extolled the virtues of not getting dressed. It was a sad, lazy waltz. The whole thing was one-joke, but I did love the final stanza:

ALL THE EXERTION OF PUTTING ON, THEN TAKING OFF JUST TO PUT BACK ON SEEMS TERRIBLY UNNECCESSARY TO ME WOULDN’T YOU SAY? I’M FINE WITH A Y-FRONT COVERING MY FRONT EVERY DAY

It should be noted that many of my musicals feature moments of pantslessness for male characters. This feels fitting as I am often pantsless when I write said musicals. Write what you know, Joe. (ReWrite reference.)

This is the only song in Be More Chill that features a big, in-your-face key change. I’m normally very discreet about my key changes, but a tasteless shift up a step for two men dancing in their undies feels earned. 

The in-store music playing in the background of The Mall sequence is actually a Muzak version of “The Pants Song.” The moment I wrote the tune I knew it was destined to be the annoying music played on a loop in the atrium of a mall. The sort of irritating ear worm that slowly drives the employees of Payless and Sbarro’s mad.

“The Play” As a kid who spent hours listening to the big action-packed climaxes of the Sweeney Todd OCR, the Sunset Blvd. OCR, and the Carrie soundboard bootleg (thanks, 1996 Playbill Online message boards for making that one happen!), I’m so thrilled we got to include ours on the album. The underscore is straight-up cinematic, with all the themes of the past two hours crashing into each other like violent zombie bumper cars.

A few people have asked me if the cascading downward piano line in “The Play” is referencing “Suppertime” from Little Shop of Horrors. While the two riffs sound similar I was actually alluding to, you guessed it, John Carpenter film scores. The 5/4 time signature and downward modulation are dead giveaways. But I do agree that the line sounds not dissimilar to “Suppertime,” which is fine by me! Little Shop was my first musical and has clearly influenced me in countless ways as a writer, especially on Be More Chill. 

The “Michael makes an entrance” line came late in the game and is a testament to the “sometimes the best thing a writer can do is just musicalize the stage direction” rule of theater. 

One of my favorite bits of orchestral business is the twisted music box version of the “More Than Survive” chorus. Hella Danny Elfman. (Shout out to Rich’s Nightmare Before Christmas belt buckle! The 1990’s are alive and well and living inside my musical.)

The “Squip Death” section was hatched by Eric William Morris and myself in the basement dressing rooms of Two River Theater. It’s hard to make out, but as the Squip is destructing he’s speaking Japanese. The Japanese was translated by my bestie-since-fourth-grade Michael Ettannani. We’ve all got our Michaels.

“Voices In My Head” Written at a Two River Theater writing retreat, 2015

The point of Be More Chill is that we’re always going to have voices in our head, both good and bad, telling us what to do. The trick is to figure out which ones to listen to. The fear and doubt and anger and anxiety never really go away, but you can find a way to manage them. At one point in our process Joe Tracz articulated this by saying: “At the end of the show, there are still voices in his head, but the loudest one is Jeremy’s.” Yet again, I am a lowdown dirty idea thief. I stole Joe’s words and turned them into our finale.

Since the show begins and ends with ensemble numbers led by Jeremy, I thought this was a nice opportunity to chart our leading man’s growth. I wanted the vibe of the chorus to be different from “More Than Survive.” It’s more laidback, it’s more confident, it’s more playful. It’s more (ahem) chill. Even when the Ensemble kicks in with the “Na’s Na’s” from the beginning of the show, it’s less aggressive than it used to be. There’s harmony and everyone’s singing together instead of singing at each other.

It was important to all of the creators of the show that the triumph of our show not be that Jeremy gets with Christine. The personal triumph for him is that he’s able to deal with his “stuff” enough to have a normal-person conversation with her. I don’t know if Jeremy ends up with Christine after the events of Be More Chill. Maybe he does. Maybe he ends up with Michael. Maybe he ends up with no one. It really doesn’t matter. What matters is that he has figured out that his voice is one that is worthy of being listened to. And that allows him to get on with his life and move forward. All of the characters being together shouting “C’mon, let’s go!” is a triumph to me. They don’t know what’s next, but they’re going to go through it together. An army of Creeps, taking on the world hand in hand.

Robert Altman used to talk about how he never understood why movies ended with weddings. Why is the story over just because two people kiss? There are no real endings in life except, maybe, death. Musically, I didn’t want the show to end with a big held-out chord or with arms-around-each-other “it’s all gonna be alright!” sweetness. I wanted the very end to feel raucous and alive and like the music is tumbling toward something. Toward the future.

The joke of the ending is that even though the kids at Middleborough deactivated The Squip and prevented a total take-over, chances are good that all of the neighboring high schools have been completely taken over. No one is safe, all we can do is prepare ourselves as best we can. They may offer you fortune and fame. Love and money and instant acclaim. But whatever they offer you don’t feed the… Squips? Sorry, wrong show. Smiley face, lipstick, kitty paw.

[unrelaxing]

an incomplete media list from 26.03.2024 to literally today (25.05.2024)

I kind of fell off keeping track of my media consumption for a little while, so this is not going to be like my previous lists, and is more of a 'these are the ones I remember' list.

I watched a lot of documentaries until Netflix (the villain) kicked me out for not being the main account holder. Downfall: The Case Against Boeing is a 2022 documentary that caught my eye due to the whistleblower that supposedly killed himself while testifying against Boeing. The documentary is about two airplanes that crashed on late 2018 and early 2019, caused by an update that Boeing deliberately attempted to hide in order to sell their new 737 MAX to airlines.

MH370 The Plane That Disappeared is another plane crash documentary - this time trying to solve the mystery of what could have happened to a Malaysian Airlines flight that disappeared in 2014. It mostly goes into theories, because even today we don't really have any answers. YMMV in terms of said theories and whether or not it goes into crackpot conspiracy territory, but I think it's important to also state that some families of the deceased themselves think that things have been hidden from them and that it's not just people trying to make a big deal out of it.

Last Stop Larrimah. This one had me hooked. It's about a 70-year-old man that goes missing in a town with only 11 other people, all of whom hate each other. I feel like if that doesn't intrigue you, the documentary is not for you, because there is no other way to explain how quickly I clicked on this when I saw that synopsis. INCREDIBLY well made, as well, and managed to follow the subjects over a number of years.

Into The Deep: The Submarine Murder Case. I thought this was so unique for a true crime documentary because when the murder happens, a documentary was actually already being made on the murderer, due to the fact that he's an entrepreneur trying to build a rocket. The documentary has been called is an inadvertent "portrait of a killer", and it is super haunting.

Outside of documentaries, I watched the Spy x Family movie Spy x Family Code: White twice in cinemas, a solid 8/10. I listened to The Tortured Poets Department by Taylor Swift (which I actually reviewed, 1/10). I also listened to Bewitched by Laufey, which was a really nice 50's Cinderella vibes album (7.5/10) and The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess by Chappell Roan, which took a while to grow on me, but did (6.5/10).

Also, I binge watched PBS Eons on YouTube, because pre-history has always had me on a chokehold.

Hopefully the upcoming month will have me reading more - I dove back into BBC Merlin fandom and Hetalia and as a result stopped reading for a hot minute. Luckily, I have weirdly strict top/bottom preferences for both fandoms that go against the popular fandom trend (it's likely my preferences are BECAUSE of the strong fandom trend, I can get petty like that... though it's more likely to do with who my favourite is not matching who fandom's favourite is because UNSPOKEN FANDOM RULE TENDS TO BE THAT PEOPLE'S FAVES = THE ONE WHO BOTTOMS WHICH PEOPLE SHOULD REALLY TALK ABOUT MORE) and I therefore am likely to run out fic super quickly or get impatient looking for fic that suits me, so! More books. PLUS, Hetalia fandom always gets me re-invigorated to read history stuff, and I actually bought some books from the vintage market today which I'm so excited about.

[akwardlyuncool]

Sitting To Know You Collection May Roundup

______________________________________________________________

Sitting To Know Your Collection: Week 19  (May 6th - May 12th)

Album: Duality (2015) by Set It Off  

Play Count: 3

Top 2 Tracks: 

Tomorrow ft. Jason Lancaster (Track 9)

Bleak December (Track 10) 

I’ve been spotty with Set It Off for the last few years and coming back to this album in particular after hearing some of the critiques, it was a little much. I’m just gonna say it, I knew every word to this whole misogynistic album. To be fair not every song is misogynistic, some of them just feature nice guy syndrome hahaha (Looking at you Bad Guy.) To be extra for real though, cause I wasn’t lying, I sang along and had fun with all of it like I was back in the summer of 2015, but I acknowledged the mess this time and that’s what made me think a little bit. It’s like watching your favorite 2000’s rom-com, you know what’s up. 

Sitting To Know Your Collection: Week 20  (May 13th - May 19th)

Album: Without Fear (The Complete Edition) (2020) by Dermot Kennedy 

Play Count: 2

Top 2 Tracks: 

Outnumbered (Track 10) 

Days Like This (Track 17) - Cover

I love this man’s voice so much and that’s why I’m sad it only got 2 very choppy listens. The complete version is like 70/80 minutes long and that’s why I struggled. I randomly saw a clip of a live performance he did years ago and the love has been there ever since. Now that particular song he preformed supposedly got reworked and changed into a different song on this album and the original only lives on YouTube. I'm mad hurt on that one, however the album is still really good and I'm not letting that sour my opinion at all. It’s a little moody and hopeful, but also very questioning. Y’all know how British rain sounds lol. I haven’t listened to his latest release yet, but I still can’t recommend him enough though. Trust me when I say this is a NEED to check out. 

Sitting To Know Your Collection: Week 21  (May 20th - May 26th)

Album: Stay Inside (2018) by Elder Brother 

Play Count: 4

Top 2 Tracks: 

I Don’t Miss You (Track 7)

Battle (Track 8) 

Elder Brother reminds me of fall 2019 and when I put this album on I’m just reminded of how good that moment was. (Little did I know what this album foretold.) If you need to feel comforted while you’re laying in bed or just walking around the house, this is a great choice. Tracks 6-9 are such a good run of songs that I can’t recommend them enough. I tried to pick songs that weren’t already my favorite as my top tracks so I highly recommend you check these out. If you’re unaware, look into this side project of Kevin from The Story So Far and Dan from Daybreaker, you will be pleasantly surprised. And if you are aware, listen again. 

Sitting To Know Your Collection: Week 22  (May 27th - June 2nd)

Album: Moonlight (2019) by Johnnyswim

Play Count: 2

Top 2 Tracks: 

Flowers (Track 7)

Lost In Translation (Track 4) 

I think this series is really forcing me to listen to these library discards cause this is the fourth one it’s shot out at me. I needed to listen to them anyway but this pushes me a little bit more. I knew one song from this album previously, so I was mostly going in unaware. Not of the group though, just the album. I’m usually pretty quickly drawn to Johnnyswim, but this one had to grow on me. If I’d gotten more listens in I feel like I could be more confident in it. It’s just not that strong off those first few listens. That being said, although it’s not my favorite album of theirs it’s still pretty decent and worth checking out if you like their stuff. Soulful pop-y kind of music. 

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I haven't been updating the playlist that's supposed to go along with this series, but I'm changing that and will include it at the end of these updates. Will include spoilers, but thanks to checking it out anyway.

The Playlist!

[louisupdates]

The physical article via soyannemona [1.10.2023]

[article translated via Google Translate.]

Louis Tomlinson, a world idol in Miribilla

The former member of One Direction starts this Sunday at the Bilbao Arena the peninsular section of his 'Faith in the Future' tour

Josu Olarte | Sunday, October 1, 2023, 08:39

The individual emancipation of a successful group is always a complicated issue, especially when that process is gestated in the sparkling and feverish universe of the 'boybands', which only rarely lead to long-distance solo races. Of course, every rule has exceptions as well— notorious, as those starring global stars such as the former N'Sync, Justin Timberlake; Robbie Williams (Take That); or more recently, Harry Styles, with whom Louis Tomlinson (Doncaster, 1991) coincided in One Direction, the quintet that emerged from the television contest 'X Factor', which happens to be the most successful boyband in history, after having sold more than 70 million copies of the five albums they released between 2010 and 2015.

With his band gestated from television, Louis Troy Austin (he took the last name Tomlinson from his stepfather) learned about the hysteria of the fans and the challenges of fame (he was even speculated to have a relationship with Styles), and had six years of dazzling success, which reportedly earned about 50 million euros to each of its members.

Tomlinson— who on Sunday night will give one of only three concerts of his tour in Spain at the Bilbao Arena (21.00 hours)— may have always been seen as the most disposable boy in the band, but like his companions (Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Liam Payne), he has tried to continue his career on his own since 2016. "With One Direction, I gained confidence on stage and vocally. Now I have to find my style and my place in the industry," he acknowledged, shortly after chaining a series of solo singles that although he says he is proud of them now, does not consider them musically representative.

Overcoming the death of his mother and an 18-year-old sister, Tomlinson continued to fight for emancipation as a singer and composer who, apart from Styles who is already at the top-level pop league, seems to be consolidating more solidly than his colleagues. Despite this, with "Walls", his debut in 2020 in which he included new songs and solo singles such as 'Just Hold On' [ed. This is untrue. Just Hold On was not included in Walls.], he seemed to explore all possible directions with choral production, from electronic music to sensitive ballads or Oasis-esque pop guitar, whom he covered in his first student band, from which he would be expelled.

Emulate The Indie Sound

With the ground paid by his television screening (linked to the 'X Factor' program [ed. 2018] as a mentor for new talents), Tomlinson embarked in 2020 on his first global tour of 80 concerts to promote his debut, 'Walls'. It was a massive and very profitable tour, given a pandemic situation and the forced stoppage caused by the virus. Louis took advantage of this time to offer a concert via livestreaming from London, becoming the soloist with the most virtual tickets sold (more than 160,000), a record ratified by the 'Guinness Book of World Records'.

After the tour and the break with Syco, the label of Simon Cowell, the head of 'X Factor', Tomlinson focused on the gestation of his next job with the support of the multinational BMG. Preceded by the single 'Bigger Than Me', the album 'Faith In The Future' was harshly criticized by the British press, but topped the sales charts in the United Kingdom in November last year. If his debut 'Walls', considered 'irrelevant', was criticized for his lack of musical definition, his new work has also been the subject of criticism for unreservedly emulating the sound of the British indie of the millennial era, pointing towards festival pop rock.

Perhaps in response to this recurring criticism in his solo career, Louis has included in the Deluxe edition of his latest album an ironic song entitled 'Copy Of A Copy Of A Copy'. In his concerts, Tomlinson presents himself with an organic and guitar-style band that evokes indie pop. In addition, it offers a great display of lights and sound, along with an unbridled enthusiasm of its followers.

Exceptional measures to avoid camping

The expectation raised by Louis Tomlinson has led the organization to take exceptional measures for access to the concert venue, and thus avoid the camping that, in recent days, dozens of fans from different parts of Europe had formed in the vicinity of the Bilbao Arena. Thus, the tour promoter has warned that attendees will be able to start queuing from nine in the morning this Sunday, but never "before." Those who arrive earlier will not only not receive the bracelets, but will also be moved to the end of the queue. Security members will place "sequentially numbered" wristbands on the wrists of the spectators "on a first-come, first-served basis." Fans must return to the queue at three in the afternoon and go to the access of the track located at gate A. "Security will respect the wristbands for one hour - from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. From four o'clock, the followers will line up as they arrive.

[numetaljackdog]

Top 100 favorite albums as of March 2023 (full list under cut)

1. Radiohead - Amnesiac

2. Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory (Bonus Edition)

3. Rina Sawayama - Sawayama (Deluxe Edition)

4. Black Dresses - Forget Your Own Face

5. 100 gecs - 10000 gecs

6. Laura Les - i just dont wanna name it anything with "beach" in the title

7. 100 gecs - 1000 gecs

8. Bring Me the Horizon - Sempiternal (Deluxe Edition)

9. Linkin Park - Meteora

10. Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns

11. System of a Down - Toxicity

12. Radiohead - Kid A

13. Toby Fox - UNDERTALE Soundtrack

14. Linkin Park - Reanimation

15. My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade / Living with Ghosts (The 10th Anniversary Edition)

16. Radiohead - OK Computer

17. Against Me! - Transgender Dysphoria Blues

18. Linkin Park - Minutes to Midnight (Deluxe Version)

19. 100 gecs - 100 gecs

20. My Chemical Romance - Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge

21. Laura Les - hello kitty skates to the fuckin CEMETARY

22. Torres - Silver Tongue

23. Left At London - t.i.a.p.f.y.h.

24. Nirvana - Nevermind (Deluxe Edition)

25. food house, Gupi & Fraxiom - Food House

26. Chevelle - Wonder What's Next (Expanded Edition)

27. Tallah - Matriphagy

28. Breaking Benjamin - Dear Agony

29. Motionless in White - Creatures (Deluxe Edition)

30. Limp Bizkit - Significant Other (Explicit Version)

31. Limp Bizkit - Three Dollar Bill, Y'all $

32. Ada Rook - UGLY DEATH NO REDEMPTION ANGEL CURSE I LOVE YOU

33. Laura Jane Grace - Stay Alive

34. Jethro Tull - Aqualung

35. Fontaines D.C. - Skinty Fia

36. BACKxWASH - HIS HAPPINESS SHALL COME FIRST EVEN THOUGH WE ARE SUFFERING

37. Bayside - Interrobang

38. Black Dresses - Forever In Your Heart

39. Three Days Grace - One-X

40. Sophie - Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides

41. 100 gecs - Snake Eyes

42. Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory EP

43. Kittie - Spit

44. BACKxWASH - I LIE HERE BURIED WITH MY RINGS AND MY DRESSES

45. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

46. Toby Fox - Deltarune Chapter 2 (Original Game Soundtrack)

47. Chongo - Mad Rat Monday

48. Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral

49. Motionless in White - Infamous (Deluxe Edition)

50. Indigo Girls - Indigo Girls (Expanded Edition)

51. Talking Heads - Remain In Light (Deluxe Version)

52. My Chemical Romance - I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love

53. Spineshank - The Height of Callousness [Special Edition]

54. The Used - The Used

55. Linkin Park - Live in Texas

56. Baroness - Yellow & Green

57. Death Grips - The Money Store

58. Nirvana - In Utero - 20th Anniversary Remaster

59. Hozier - Wasteland, Baby!

60. Radiohead - In Rainbows

61. Bring Me the Horizon - There Is a Hell, Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven, Let's Keep It a Secret

62. Three Days Grace - Human

63. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly

64. Limp Bizkit - The Unquestionable Truth (Pt. 1)

65. Kate Bush - Hounds of Love (2018 Remaster)

66. Bring Me the Horizon - POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR

67. Bring Me the Horizon - That's The Spirit

68. Go! Child - Coffee And Ramen

69. Limp Bizkit - Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water

70. We Are The Union - Ordinary Life

71. Chevelle - This Type of Thinking (Could Do Us In)

72. Evanescence - Fallen

73. The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

74. Jamie Paige - Bittersweet

75. Hayley Williams - Petals For Armor

76. Nirvana - Bleach

77. For the Likes of You - Withered

78. Bring Me the Horizon - Suicide Season Cut Up!

79. Lena Raine - Celeste (Original Soundtrack)

80. Holy Grail - Ride The Void

81. Tenacious D - The Pick of Destiny

82. a-ha - Scoundrel Days

83. Demon Hunter - Storm the Gates of Hell

84. Black Flag - Damaged

85. Masakazu Sugimori - Phoenix Wright - Ace Attorney OST

86. Kendrick Lamar - DAMN.

87. Alexisonfire - Crisis

88. Various Artists - Queen of the Damned

89. Limp Bizkit - Still Sucks

90. Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill

91. Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits

92. Architects - Holy Hell

93. Laura Les - REMIXES 2017

94. Linkin Park - Living Things

95. brian david gilbert - songs with videos without videos

96. Frost Children - SPIRAL

97. Parkway Drive - Horizons

98. Limp Bizkit - Gold Cobra (Deluxe)

99. Various Artists - Phineas and Ferb

100. Vanilla Ice - Hard To Swallow

[happyzyx]

zhang yixing for basic stardom magazine, 21st issue 2023 – interview transcription

THE DREAMER FROM CHANGSHA: An Interview with Chinese Rapper and Performer Lay Zhang

Tagged the “King of China” by his fans in Asia, the highly-praised musician, dancer, actor, and author, Lay Zhang, is rising to glory as he continues to hone his craft and inspire the world with infinite ambition. Headlining MetaMoon last year, the inaugural New York-based music festival, as part of his first-ever solo global tour “Grand Line 2: Infinite Lands” and releasing into 2023 with a remarkable agenda.

While getting his start from the well known K-Pop boy group EXO, Zhang furthered his growth as an individual artist, accumulating over 70 million followers across all social media platforms and magnifying his career through evocative performances and stellar roles in both television and film. His captivating journey has not only forged him into an international superstar, but has also led him to become the highest-ranked Mando-pop star on the Billboard 200 chart in 2018, and the first Chinese artist to enter the iTunes Top 60 in the U.S. with his third solo album Namanana.

Q. You dove headfirst into the music industry after enrolling in the Star Academy talent show in 2005, where you unexpectedly became a finalist in the series. While you never thought you’d ever become an artist, what changed for you during this time in your life?

ZYX. While Star Academy, I was critiqued a few times on stage for not being professional enough. Hearing that gave me the motivation to prove them wrong and become better in all aspects. I like proving people wrong. It’s a good challenge. At the time, I wanted to prove to the judges and fans that I could be better. Becoming the artist I am today wasn’t what I originally had in mind. Looking back, I think I became an artist as I started to improve on my weaknesses. It was not a conscious choice, but rather the desire to prove that I could be better and show everyone that I could be professional.

Q. In 2008, you trained as a performer in South Korea, eventually debuting as a part of the K-pop group EXO. Talk to us about your journey and how you ended up here and now.

ZYX. Going to Korea and leaving both my hometown Changsha and my mother was scary. There were hours and hours of training in a completely foreign environment. Sometimes, after training, I would go downstairs to the practice room and learn how to produce music. It was unusual for a trainee to be that interested in producing music and I was not very good at it. Becoming a dancer for SHINee was a huge milestone for me. It showed me that I was on the right path. Then, when I made it into EXO, I was overjoyed. In the early days, we traveled a lot between China, Japan, and South Korea. There were a lot of happy memories going into the studio and practicing new songs with my members, but nothing could compare to performing with them live. I felt, and still feel, so proud to be an EXO member and to see everything that we accomplished together. When I started doing more solo activities, I found it challenging. All of a sudden I had to do things alone and without my members by my side. It was hard, but it made me grow and helped me to become the person I am today. Now, my schedule is always filled with commercial shoots, television shows, variety shows, recording music, and trying to be an entrepreneur.

Q. After 10 years with EXO, you finally decided to focus on your solo career. How did your experiences with EXO and in South Korea influence the artist, dancer, and businessman you are today?

ZYX. My brothers in EXO gave me so much strength and motivation to become the best artist and person I could be. I did a lot of training in Korea. While it was tough, it gave me the skills I needed to become an artist and dancer that I am today. I reflect on those days often when I help train my trainees. I want to make sure I give them everything I had and more. I met a lot of talented people who took the time to explain things and trained me. I have deep gratitude for that time in my life.

Q. How did you discover your individual sound and personal brand since venturing out on your own? Who and/or what have been some of your most prominent influences?

ZYX. I’m not sure that I have found my sound yet. I like making music and performing. I would love to spend all of my time on stage and in the studio, but I think it’s the same with my brand, where I’m still experimenting and in the process of discovering it. Now that I’m over 30, I have to figure out who I want to be in the next decade. In the past, I’ve taken inspiration from people who have been able to dance, sing, and perform. I also appreciate people who are kind and hardworking.

Q. Sharing your culture with the world is incredibly important to you. Talk to us about the process of merging languages, as well as Eastern and Western influences into your music.

ZYX. I am blessed to have many talented musician friends around the world. Normally, I’ll work with a producer and songwriter in Los Angeles. I’ll have about a week of song camp sessions where we are locked in the studio from noon to midnight. We’ll spend time making music, vibing and dancing nonstop. I also learn a lot of English and we eat a lot of cookies during these sessions. Once we’re done, I’ll take the recording back to China and talk to my team and other creative friends about how we can incorporate Chinese instruments and stories into the music.

Q. How does it feel to be named the “King of China” by your fans and community?

ZYX. I don’t know if I’m the “King of China”. That’s a strong statement. I am just Lay Zhang from Changsha, China. I am a man who loves the people of his country and making music. For me, music is my arena where I get to challenge myself and others. I want to experiment and make better music. Sometimes, I’m down to “battle” people when it comes to music, but it’s always in good spirits and fun.

Q. You are in the process of making new music to be released this year. Talk to us about your creative process. Is there something you do to get into a creative state of mind?

ZYX. Music gets me excited and making music gets me even more excited. I’m always looking for a reason to get into the studio. I don’t really need to put myself in a creative state of mind. I wait all day, sometimes weeks, to get into the studio and explore my ideas. and if I can’t wait any longer, I’ll just pull out my laptop and start making beats whenever I am. I always enjoy testing out my ideas and making music feels like the most natural medium for me to express them right now.

Q. How do you think your music is being experienced by others?

ZYX. I hope people are happy when they listen to my music. When they play songs like “Veil”, I hope they are dancing in a room with their friends and having a good time. I live seeing people so covers and reacting to my music in different ways.

Q. What kind of impact do you hope to achieve through your artistry and career as a whole?

ZYX. I hope that I can inspire to not only go after their dreams, but to also give it their all as they pursue them. Dreams are precious and beautiful. I want people to treat their dreams with the most respect. Respecting your own dreams will make them come true.

Q. In what ways do you ensure you are continuously evolving, both as an artist and the person you are away from the public eye?

ZYX. I have many teachers, mentors, and staff who give me a lot of advice. They’ll tell me the ways in which they think I should work on my vocals or how to handle certain meetings. I always want the people around me to be honest—all facts, no cap. If I’m not good, let me know so that I can get better.

Q. What message would you like to send to the world about who you are and what you stand for?

ZYX. Hi, it’s Lay. I’m a dreamer who hopes that everyone can achieve their dreams in this lifetime.

Q. Can you tell us about a project or piece of work that you’re particularly proud of?

ZYX. I live all my projects like they are my children. No child is better than the other and they all came at important stages of my life. My most recent project was West, and this was fun to release because “Veil”, the title song of the EP, was made almost five years ago, back in 2018. I normally make my records at least a year in advance, so it was great to hear “Veil” again. When I discussed it with my team, we all knew it needed to finally come out. With West, I even made “3 Wishes” on Zoom. We were in little boxes waving to each other and just hoping the internet was good enough so that we could hear all the sounds being made. Then, we’d go offline, do our own parts, and send them. There were times when someone would get knocked offline and then we’d have to wait even longer. The making of West was very fun and different project.

Q. How do you handle creative blocks or moments of self-doubt?

ZYX. To be honest, I don’t have many creative blocks, but that is probably because I’m constantly learning and doing something different. Self-doubt is tough, but I’m always reminded of all the people I have around me who depend on me. I also think about my fans who have supported me this entire time. It gives me the power to know I can’t let them down.

Q&A

Q. Who is your favorite designer?

ZYX. Pier Paolo Piccioli. He has been just a dear friend to me.

Q. What are the last three songs you played?

ZYX. “3 Wishes” by LAY, an unreleased demo I’ve been working on, and “God’s Plan” by Drake.

Q. How would you describe yourself in five words or less?

ZYX. Artistic, determined, passionate, a dreamer, and serious.

Q. What is the most challenging aspects of being and artist of your stature?

ZYX. There is a lot to do. My schedule has always been packed and full of activities. It’s a good thing because it means people still like me and want to see me. As I get older, I know I’ll get less popular, and fewer people will care about my music and career. It’s a big scary to be totally honest. It’s something that I will have to learn to deal with.

Q. What would be doing right now, if it wasn’t for your music career?

ZYX. If I wasn’t an artist today, I would probably be a music teacher. I would definitely still be doing something related to music.

Q. Who would you most like to collaborate with?

ZYX. I want to work with people who are innovating and pushing themselves creatively. I feel so inspired by people who are able to produce, write and sing. I really aspire to work with open-minded people.

Words by KIMBERLY HADDAD

©小羊扛起霸王��就跑

[metyouattherighttime]

my favorite taylor swift songs over the years / me as a swiftie over the years

~2015: literally never listened to music LMAO didnt even know about the existence of taylor swift

2016: my dad had the red album on apple music so i knew “i knew you were trouble” “22” “we are never ever getting back together” yk. the popular ones.

2017: not knowing wtf was going on with taylor, blasting “shake it off” in the car and singing along because it was on a “thats what i call music” cd

2018: went to the rep tour literally glendale night 1… i basically only knew her popular songs then and i was in the nosebleeds but i wish i had known the songs.. “gorgeous” became my fav. got a spotify account around this time and watched the rep mvs

2019: listened to some of taylors music on spotify (back when u didnt need premium) “welcome to new york” was my fav. i did see that lover came out and i saw part of the man mv on tv

2020: ashamed to admit but this was my gacha phase peak. “i knew u were trouble” is back on the charts but “wtny” stays on top. saw part of the cardigan mv on tv but other than that I HAD NO IDEA FOLKLORE AND EVERMORE EXISTED

2021: FEARLESS TV CAME OUT ON MY BDAY AND I HAD NO IDEA. BIGGEST REGRET OF MY LIFE

red tv comes out. this is my tiktok music era so i hear all too well 10min ver and its stuck in my head. i think wtny was still my fav LOL

2022: ive had her on my radar since red tv so i was excited for midnights! i started listening to her music little by little. i listened to midnights the moment i got home from school that day (i had exams or sm) and i immediately fell in love (especially yoyok, the great war, and dear reader/ literally the holy trio) then i started listening to a bunch of taylor songs and her music was all i listened to LOL yoyok was my fav! (honorable mentions: yail and wildest dreams)

2023: spent 70% of my time listening to music on taylor and the other 30% on gracie abrams… yoyok still remains my fav but i listened to all her albums front to back, loved all of them. and in the summer i got tickets to the eras tour! (listened to speak now tv and 1989 tv the day it came out obvi)

2024: absolutely flabbergasted when she announce ttpd like two days before my show. had the time of my life at the eras tour and died dead when she sang dear reader and holy ground (which im embarrassed to say i didnt know much of the lyrics to) my fav remains yoyok! (honorable mentions; yail, whos afraid of little old me?, long live)

[randomvarious]

Today's compilation:

Old School 1993 Funk / Hip Hop / Electro

I think what's most striking about this very dope collection of mostly 80s party jams is that, when this album was originally released in 1993, people were *already* referring to this music as being representative of the "old school." I mean, the latest song on this thing is Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock's 1988 classic, "It Takes Two," and while that's universally regarded as a hands-down old school party-rap standard today, it's wild to think that people were willing to call it "old school" *just five years after* it first came out. Like, imagine considering literally any song from 2018 old school right now?! Crazy, right?

But this fantastic release seems to have already known the deal: three years after the 80s had ended, and still to this day, we were going to refer to a lot of that decade's output as definitively old school. And the brass at Thump Records were clearly proven right by this notion, because, even in these current 2020s, we still refer to this album's overall sound—that electro-synthy-fat keyboard bassline-post-disco-boogie-funk stuff—as 100% old school; not much of the material that preceded it, and no agreed-upon opinion about anything that came after it, either; but one thing that we all seem to know for certain is that the 80s were definitely a part of the old school era.

So, if you're looking for some of those vintage clap-and-stomp old school block party grooves, then this CD is simply essential listening. We've got total classic good-time party-rockers all throughout this thing, like Parliament's "Flashlight," George Clinton's "Atomic Dog," and the Rick James-produced "All Night Long," by the Mary Jane Girls. Also another big hit that topped Billboard's Hot Soul Singles chart in 1981 with Frankie Smith's "Double Dutch Bus," which famously featured a bunch of Ebonic lyrics that would later go on to be sampled by Missy Elliott in her own 2002 rap smash, "Gossip Folks":

Teena Marie comes through with her #3 R&B hit, "Square Biz" as well, and pioneering Brooklyn rap crew, Whodini, deliver two cuts off of their 1984 platinum-selling LP, Escape, with one of their biggest singles, "Friends"—whose spine-tingling electro keys would find their way into Nas' "If I Ruled the World," and whose chorus would also get interpolated by Everlast during his rootsy folk-blues phase on "Ends"—and its B-side, "Five Minutes of Funk."

And, really, I could've picked pretty much any other random handful of songs from this album and written as glowingly about them as I did the ones above, but I don't wanna overload this post. So just know that just because I didn't end up devoting a few words to most of these songs, that doesn't mean that they don't deserve an equal amount of praise, because they definitely do.

A terrific CD, from top to bottom, that makes for an awesome way to channel 70 minutes of some of those beloved and bygone 80s old school party vibes.

And if you want *3 and a half more hours* of 80s goodness like this, I also have my very own Spotify playlist that's of a slightly different stripe, which includes more dance-pop and freestyle on it, along with classic electro, hip hop, and a little bit of new wave too 😊.

Highlights:

Frankie Smith - "Double Dutch Bus" D-Train - "You're the One for Me" Tom Browne - "Funkin for Jamaica" Parliament - "Flashlight" Whodini - "Five Minutes of Funk" George Clinton - "Atomic Dog" Mary Jane Girls - "All Night Long" One Way - "Cutie Pie" Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock - "It Takes Two" Teena Marie - "Square Biz" Whodini - "Friends" The Gap Band - "You Dropped a Bomb on Me" Spyder-D - "Smerphies Dance"

[greensparty]

This Month in History - December

There are quite a few landmark anniversaries I'm celebrating this month:

Dec. 2, 1988: The Naked Gun opens

In Dec. 1988, the first of Zucker-Abraham-Zucker's cop spoof was released. Here is my piece I got in 2018. Happy 35 NG!

Dec. 5, 1973: Band on the Run released

In Dec. 1973, Paul McCartney and Wings best album (possibly the best Non-Beatle album he did) was released. Here is my piece I wrote in 2018. Happy 50th BOTR!

Dec. 6, 1968: Beggars Banquet released

In Dec. 1968, the 9th U.S. album from The Rolling Stones. Earlier this year I got to review the Record Store Day reissue of the album. I'd definitely put this up there with Let It Bleed and Exile on Main Street in the pantheon of Classic Stones albums. Happy 55th BB!

Dec. 6, 2013: Inside Llewyn Davis opens

In Dec. 2013, the Coen Brothers' criminally underrated folk musician epic was released. Here is my piece I wrote in 2018. Happy 10 ILD!

Dec. 10, 1993: Wayne's World 2 opens

In Dec. 1993, the sequel to Wayne's World was released! It might not be as loved as the original, but it is better than people think. I wrote about this in 2018 and director Stephen Surjik wrote me back with some thoughts. In 2022, I saw it on the big screen at Nice, a Fest. Happy 30th WW2!

Dec. 10, 2003: Big Fish opens

In Dec. 2003, one of Tim Burton's most underrated movies was released. Taking Burton's visual style and combining it with a family drama with fantasy elements was a gamble that paid off. It's something that feels new each time I've seen it since. Happy 20th Big Fish!

Dec. 11, 1998: Rushmore and A Simple Plan both open

In Dec. 1998, two of my favorite movies from that year opened on the same day. Here is my piece I wrote about Wes Anderson's film and Sam Raimi's film. Happy 25th Rushmore an ASP!

Dec. 12, 1973: The Last Detail opens

In Dec. 1973, Hal Ashby (who was on a roll at the time) had one of his best released. It was one of the great movies of the 70s. It was also one of my Top 5 Boston Movies of All Time! Jack Nicholson was in rare form as he and Otis Young played Navy men transporting younger sailor Randy Quaid to the NH Navy prison and showing him a good time along the way. Happy 50th TLD!

Dec. 14, 1988: I'm Gonna Git You Sucka opens

In Dec. 1988, Keenan Ivory Wayans' 70s LOL comedy opened. Here is my piece I wrote in 2018. Happy 35th IGGYS!

Dec. 14, 2018: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse opens

In Dec. 2018 one of the best Spider-Man movies was released. I actually named it my #7 Movie of 2018! By diving into the Miles Morales storyline, they took the Spider-Man story we all know so well and made it seem new again. Just last Summer they released the awesome sequel: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was released. Happy 5 S-M:ITS-V!

Dec. 15, 1978: Superman opens

Speaking of super hero movies: In Dec. 1978 one of my favorite big screen Superman movies was released. Here is my piece I wrote in 2018. Happy 45th Superman!

Dec. 15, 1993: Schindler's List opens

In Dec. 1993, one of Steven Spielberg's finest works was released. Here is my piece I wrote in 2018. Happy 30th SL!

Dec. 16, 1988: Rain Man opens

In Dec. 1988, the Oscar-winning Best Picture and biggest grossing film of 1988 was released. With the exception of parodies (i.e. The Hangover's Vegas gambling scene), nobody talks about this as much. The road movie of long lost brothers one autistic (Dustin Hoffman) and the other selfish used-car guy (Tom Cruise) was actually quite touching. Sure it was the 80s feel-good movie era and whatnot, but the performances were among both actors' best. Happy 35 RM!

Dec. 17, 1973: Sleeper opens

In Dec. 1973, one of the funniest movies ever made about the future was released. Woody Allen was in his prime when he played a man who is cryogenically frozen in 1973 and is defrosted 200 years later. This is definitely one of his funniest ones. Happy 50th Sleeper!

Dec. 17, 1993: The State premieres

In Dec. 1993, the now-legendary sketch comedy series of NYC comedy group The State premiered on MTV. Here is my piece I wrote in 2018. Earlier this Fall, I actually got to see The State reunion tour when it was in Boston. Happy 30th TS!

Dec. 17, 2008: The Wrestler opens

In Dec. 2008 Darren Aaronofsky's greatest movie was released. Here is my piece I wrote in 2018. Happy 15 TW!

Dec. 18, 2013: Her opens

In Dec. 2013, Spike Jonze greatest movie was released! Here is my piece I wrote in 2018. Happy 10 Her!

[krispyweiss]

Yasmin Williams and Tarta Relena at Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio, March 28, 2023

Yasmin Williams is the reason why the term see a concert - rather than hear a concert - remains in use.

For while it’s temping to close one’s eyes and float down the cascading river of Williams’ solo-instrumental music, to do so puts one at peril of missing the fascinating visuals of the 26-year-old musician at work.

Williams made her Columbus, Ohio, debut before some 70 hard-listening fans March 28 at Ohio State University’s Wexner Center for the Arts - “It’s weird - why do they call it THE Ohio State?,” she asked - on a double bill with Catalan vocal duo Tarta Relena, whose choral voices washed over a church-mouse audience.

On their first U.S. tour, Helena Ros and Marta Torrella were mesmerizing, filling the small Wexner space with an admixture of Gregorian, new-age and operatic, often a cappella, music accompanied by ambient, computer-generated sounds; a mic’d metal urn; clapping hands and stomping feet; and phasers on their microphones. Their 55-minute set in Catalan, Spanish and English drew from the sixth-century B.C. through to Bjork, eliciting a standing ovation and a sense of wonder among the listeners who were left as intrigued as entertained.

Then came Williams, who spent 65 dizzying minutes hypnotizing the audience with still-untitled songs from her forthcoming third album - including one that will feature the “angelic” Aoife O’Donovan on wordless vocals - plus samplings from 2018’s Unwind and 2021’s Urban Driftwood across a 10-song playlist that found “I Wonder” dedicated to the victims of the March 27 school shooting in Nashville.

Like her predecessors, Williams earned a standing-O and played no encore.

Akin to Leo Kottke and Tommy Emmanuel in that she sounds like several musicians at once, Williams is an entirely singular musician.

Deep in concentration, with her guitar across her lap and a mic pointed at her tap-shoed feet as they clicked and clacked on a piece of wood on her guitar case, Williams employed a capo, a guitar hammer, thumb and finger picks and a kalimba Velcro’d to the top of her axe to create the soundscapes that range from the contemplative “On a Friday Night” to the more rambunctious “Guitka.”

She knocked on the guitar’s body and used her index fingers on its neck to create rhythm and melody inside unorthodox, open tunings.

Engaging and talkative, Williams introduced each song with a story about its origins; explained how her musical path had taken her from “Guitar Hero” to Nirvana (“easy to learn”) to Jimi Hendrix (“not easy to learn”) to where she is now.

And where she is now is a musical space inhabited by one. When a fan asked how Williams manages to do what she does, the musician happily revealed her technique.

“I don’t know,” Williams said as everyone shared a laugh.

Grade card: Yasmin Williams and Tarta Relena at Wexner Center for the Arts - 3/28/23 - A/B+

3/29/23

[butcharyastark]

Speaking of jcs, can I have a rating of the musicals/ different versions?

HOWDY, IM SO GLAD YOU ASKED.

keep in mind ive only watched a handful of recordings or productions compared to other ppl but i do have Opinions on the ones ive watched. [cracks knuckles] so:

1. biased maybe because i just watched it but the 50th anniversary arena tour (circa early 2023, there have been other castings last year ik but this year's one is the one i love). i had the chance to go see it bc it was in my state this month and its the latest one i've watched but it instantly blew away all the other versions i've seen. just... the great singing of 1996 london cast and great acting of 1973 movie and creative staging like the 2018 live in concert.... it had everything and there was not a single ball dropped or a single bad or even meh actor or song or artistic decision. i am usually not one to rec ppl to go buy a ticket to an event but seeing it was the best intro to musical theater or live performances i could have ever had and AHHHHHH. sm details of this will stay in my mind forever re: jcs i can't pick one thing to deacribe bc it's Everything and i'd be here for two hours if i tried. it has my FAVORITE ending of any jcs production and idk if any other production will compare to the high intensity emotions and poetics and symbolism combined with amazing singing like this one.

2. have to go with 1996 london cast recording. i havent seen it and idk if there are even any bootleg recordings of it, but the album is The jcs album i relisten to. fucking A+++. again, maybe i'm biased bc this was my first full jcs album (as opposed to random songs), but idk if anything else but the 1973 movie studio recording album can compare purely musically to me. i love how you can HEAR the acting in the emotional singing while also not sacrificing the singing itself (looking at you 2000 movie judas), and idk i feel like it so clearly tells the story in the tone even without being able to see it, and that's fantastic. every other jcs production in terms of singing and audible acting gets compared to this one, for me. this is the one i hear in my head when i remember or mentally sing the lyrics.

3. 1973 movie. carl anderson. first official filmed jcs production. 70's outfits. meta narrative. do i need to say anything else? this was my second jcs version i consumed when i Got Into It and man im glad it was. when i first watched it, it seemed kinda just alright (probably bc im not a huge fan of movies from the 70's or 80's), but the further time goes on the more i realize this is kinda just The jcs. the classic jcs. i said 1996 london cast recording is what i compare everything else to musically, but i feel like this version is the one that every other version has to live up to. simple question: is your jcs production better than carl anderson painfully crying out "he won't listen to me!" on a mountain in the desert in a fringe outfit as jesus steps out of a tour bus, yes or no? and most of the time the answer is no.

i'm not a huge fan of older movies but the acting and music in this is top tier, the costuming is fun most of the time, the sets are neat, and the underlying metanarrative about an acting group performing jcs inuniverse for a film or smth is rlly interesting. it's the only other jcs album i have saved in my music folder besides the 1996 london cast recording. 9/10

also as a judas fan this is also the judas i compare every other judas to bc... goddamn carl anderson covers every base. desperation and anger and righteousness and tenderness and pain and bitterness and longing.... he has the range. and honestly it's got my favorite version of Superstar so far. i don't think anyone else has topped carl anderson's version yet.

4. swedish arena tour (idr the year). amazing casting, AMAZING acting, fucking incredible costumes, great singing. the only reason it's this far down this list is bc i prefer other character interpretations, but like, the appeal of bisexual vampy switch jesus who flirts with most of the apostles inbetween his main love interests of biker milf mary magdalene and legolas-in-a-mesh-shirt judas... simply cannot be understated. pretty much every artistic decision is 7 or higher out of 10. it's a very consistently good production, and a very gay one. i like the swedish translated lyrics also.

5. 2000 movie. i think everyone knows by now how bad this one is but it's so campy and jcs is inherently ridiculous as both the appeal and the concept that it loops back around to being good. it's not my fave version but it was my third jcs version and it was honestlly rlly fun to watch. what it lacks in singing, it makes up for in acting. i think Heaven On Their Minds, Everything's Alright, This Jesus Must Die, The Last Supper, and Superstar are the numbers that shine here. i think this movie is actually my favorite versions of everything's alright and this jesus must die. i really like the symbolism they try to use in this one. ik i said i genuinely think the acting makes up for the singing, but this might be higher if judas actually SANG. or if pilate was less sympathetic bc i actually hate this pilate djdjfj this version gets points for being much less antisemitic than other jcs productions with the priests, and then immediately loses them by being noticibly more racist than others in the temple. also my favorite peter is in this one. his acting in the last supper is like 25% of my enjoyment of this version.

6. 2018 live concert. full disclosure, i haven't finished this one yet, but i love it so far. i love the outfits and the staging and the energy and casting. this singing is not my favorite and i'm genuinely not sure if john legend knows how to act or if they just cast him bc he's john legend (i'll find out in the second half ig bc i also didn't like the acting of the 50th anniversary tour jesus in the first half and THEN--) but judas does a good enough version of heaven on their minds which is my main criteria for judging a jcs production in personal likes and i do Love the meta themes of casting a real superstar singer as jesus christ given the themes of the musical. i like the dynamics between judas and mary in this one. i think judas is in the closet in this one which is very sad but his outfits absolutely make up for it. it is a spectacle and a half and i'm enjoying it so far. it might get bumped up to #5 depending on how the second half goes.

7. original concept album. i know it's very weird putting the origin of the whole thing at the bottom, but that's not because it's bad, it's just not smth i'm in love with as a whole. i do need to relisten to it--actually i will do that today--but it was really good the first time i heard it, i'm just not a fan of the sound of early rock and prefer the way various versions adapt the music in progressively more modern times. objectively talented singing tho and heaven on their minds goes OFF. i may have more takes after relistening, but that's it rn.

8. i've listened to a bunch of other tidbits of assorted performances, mostly judas solos, bc as i said, i judge a jcs production by its heaven on their minds performance and i went scouring through classic and modern versions of that at one point. this is not part of the proper ranking bc i haven't listened to them in full, but i wanted to mention them here at the end. if anyone wants a list of my fave recs of that to look into:

original mexican cast (1975)

original japanese cast (1976)

mexican revival cast (1984)

original russian cast (1992)

original czech cast (1994)

jesus christ surferstar (2003)

all female jcs recording (2022)

most of these albums can be found just uploaded on youtube or even spotify which is very cool, please check them out, i had fun skipping thru them.

and uhhhh there's all the versions i've watched in full, or mostly watched, and a few of the ones i've done neither! ik this is very long (longer than i intended) but i hope this is what u were looking for and was entertaining or helpful!!

[musicarenagh]

New Jersey’s Finest: The Local 12 Shines on ‘Abandon’ You know how it is with debut albums - there's just this buzz of excitement around them. And when it's an alt-rock album, that anticipation kicks into overdrive. That's exactly the vibe with "Abandon" by these guys called The Local 12 from New Jersey. From the minute it kicks off, this record just plunges you straight into their unique, multi-layered rock sound. "Abandon" just nails that alt-rock essence while still feeling fresh and distinctive. It opens up with "Wave At The Window" which sets this really upbeat, melodic tone with the lyrics telling a little story. But then the smooth piano solo and electrifying guitar riff come in and add all these cool layers. Hooks you in right away. The next track "Godforsaken" shows off how seamlessly these guys can blend genres. The lyrics are very cinematic and the music has the bar just completely vibing between jazz, film score vibes, and trippy sound design. The vocals are on point and the sound production is top-notch. Through the whole album, The Local 12 keeps their sound super diverse. Tracks like "King of Small Time" bring in this funky groove while "Hitchhiker's Guide" takes you into this mellow, psych-rock space that's giving major '70s prog-rock nostalgia. Every song brings something a little different to the table so you stay engaged and surprised. They give off this nostalgic feeling that'll remind you of iconic bands like Blur, Nirvana, and Steely Dan. But they're distinctly their own vibe too which is what makes their potential so exciting. As the album keeps going, they don't let up on impressing you with how versatile they are. The closing track "Stranded" starts as this poignant ballad but then evolves into this massive, uplifting anthem pulling together piano, guitar, strings - all while the lyrics hit you right in the feels. One thing that really struck me about this album is how cohesive the theme of abandonment ties everything together. Whether it's a relationship ending, feeling isolated, or a personal transformation - The Local 12 explores all these different shades of that experience. Adds so much extra depth and resonance. The Local 12 is Dave Iannucci, Dan Ream, Pat Ream, and Eric Bailey - they formed in 2018 but you can hear their tight chemistry and passion for music all over "Abandon". The rich arrangements and emotive vocal delivery show how dedicated they are to their craft. Long story short, The Local 12's debut "Abandon" is an outstanding alt-rock album that showcases their eclectic style and serious musical talent. With its contrasting haunting melodies and driving rock anthems plus the thoughtful lyrics, it's a must-listen for any rock fan. They set that bar high with "Abandon" which just makes me psyched to hear what they'll do next. Listen to Abandon https://open.spotify.com/album/7JnhICf1Ed66JoEEpSaIgZ Follow The Local 12 on Facebook Spotify Youtube Instagram

[tornadoauction]

My lore as requested by the cardinal spirit of Laurel Canyon.

Early Childhood I grew up in Texas. At 8, I was singing, playing Rock Band, with my friends and my friend’s dad said I sounded really good. This was one of the first times I thought I could be good at music. At 9, I received a walkman and really enjoyed changing the stations on the little device.

Training I started taking piano lessons in 2011. At my recital, I played Firework by Katy Perry. Later, I studied percussion with Akie Takada. She introduced me to the idea that music is more than just the instrument that you play. Music is a spirit that you have a relationship with that can be positive or negative. This has influenced my songwriting practice greatly.

Early Influences - 2000s rock - 60s/70s rnb - Music videos on AOL and Yahoo from the early 2000s - US radio hits circa 2016-2018 - Vh1 top 20 music video countdown

New York This time made me a more poetic and intellectual lyricist.

Los Angeles This time pulled me into a richer and more open production style.

Previous Albums - Color of You (2018) - Drum + Voice (2023)

Upcoming Albums - Heart in Cancer (2024) - TBA (2025)

[aykutiltertr]

Tamam Tamam - Summer Cem - Rhythm Karaoke Original Traffic (Germany Worl...  Ayrıcalıklardan yararlanmak için bu kanala katılın: ( Join this channel to enjoy privileges.) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqm-5vmc2L6oFZ1vo2Fz3JQ/join Şarkının Orijinal Versiyonunu Linkten Dinleyip Ritim Karaokesiyle Çalışabilirsiniz. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmctqUnzUVw Aykut ilter Ritim Karaoke Kanalıma Abone Olun Beğenip Paylaşın. Tamam Tamam - Summer Cem - Rhythm Karaoke Original Traffic (Germany World Music) Şarkı Sözleri Miksu Tamam, tamam Vor der Tür stehen rund 1000 Mann (mhh) Bitch, es gibt keinen Kuss auf die Hand (eh-eh) Nur Fotos plus Autogramm (ja) Easy, easy, tamam, tamam Immer rufen die Kunden mich an (wrrr) Und sie bring'n mich um den Verstand (ja) Heute schneit es 100 Gramm No sıkıntı, tamam, tamam Mhh, popp' eine Molly Mhh, rock, rock your body Mhh, durch die Stadt im Ferrari Mit Kahbas und Barbies zu 'ner 80er-Party Uhuhh, red nicht, fang an Der Beat geht ba bam, ba bam Beste Ware aus Amsterdam Easy, easy, tamam, tamam Tamam, tamam Tamam, tamam Tamam, tamam Easy, easy, tamam, tamam Tamam, tamam Tamam, tamam Tamam, tamam Easy, easy, tamam, tamam Egal, wo ich hingeh', ich werd' erkannt (ja) Fragt mal, warum, weil ich bin bekannt (eh) Nobu Malibu, wer kann, der kann (ja) Easy, easy, tamam, tamam Pronto, pronto, avanti, lan (ja) Komm mir nicht mit falan filan (heh) Eine Faust, dein Kafa Zidane (huh) No sıkıntı, tamam, tamam Mhh, popp' eine Molly Mhh, rock, rock your body Mhh, fahr' mit Hassan und Ali Auf Schnaps und Bacardi zu 'ner 80er-Party Uhuhh, red nicht, fang an Der Beat geht ba bam, ba bam Beste Ware aus Amsterdam Easy, easy, tamam, tamam Tamam, tamam Tamam, tamam Tamam, tamam Easy, easy, tamam, tamam Tamam, tamam Tamam, tamam Tamam, tamam Easy, easy, tamam, tamam Easy, easy, tamam, tamam Summer Cem Article Talk Read Edit View history Tools From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (March 2024) Summer Cem Summer Cem during Rock im Park 2018 Summer Cem during Rock im Park 2018 Background information Birth name Cem Toraman Born 11 April 1983 (age 40) North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany Genres Pop rapgangsta raptrap Occupation(s) Rapper Years active 2003–present Labels Banger Musik, German Dream Entertainment, ersguterjunge Cem Toraman (born 11 April 1983), better known as Summer Cem, is a German rapper of Turkish descent. He is known for frequent collaborations, particularly with KC Rebell and others.[1] He has had seven albums with three topping the German albums chart, solo album Cemesis in 2016, and joint album Maximum with KC Rebell in 2017 and Endstufe in 2018. Discography Albums Year Title Peak chart positions Certification GER [2] AUT [3] SWI [4] 2010 Feierabend 85 — — 2012 Sucuk & Champagner 10 32 26 2013 Babas, Barbies & Bargeld 5 25 26 2014 HAK 4 7 8 2016 Cemesis 1 4 4 2018 Endstufe 1 4 1 2019 Nur noch nice 2 4 6 Collaborative albums Year Title Peak chart positions GER [2] AUT [3] SWI [4] 2017 Maximum (credited to KC Rebell x Summer Cem) 1 1 1 2020 Maximum III (credited to KC Rebell x Summer Cem) 2 1 8 Singles Year Title Peak chart positions Album GER [2] AUT [3] SWI [4] 2014 "Mafia Musik" (feat. Farid Bang) 59 75 — "100" 83 — — 2018 "200 Düsen" 94 — — "Tamam tamam" 7 11 45 "Chinchilla" (feat. KC Rebell & Capital Bra) 11 14 35 "Casanova" (with Bausa) 4 4 37 "Crew" 28 51 — "Santorini" (feat. Veysel) 15 30 65 "Alles vorbei" 44 74 — "Molotov" (feat. RAF Camora) 27 25 60 "Weg weg weg" (feat. Farid Bang) 79 — — 2019 "Diamonds" (featuring Capital Bra) 3 5 5 "Yallah Goodbye" (featuring Gringo) 5 10 20 "Bayram" (featuring Elias) 23 37 70 "Rollerblades" (featuring KC Rebell) 8 13 21 "Primetime" 9 14 25 "Summer Cem" (featuring Luciano) 6 6 6 "Pompa" 16 29 55 "Mambo No. 5" 34 65 74 2020 "Geht nich gibs nich" (with KC Rebell) 4 7 15 "Fly" (with KC Rebell) 4 6 14 "Valla nein!" (with KC Rebell featuring Luciano) 2 3 7 "XXL" (with Miksu, Macloud and Luciano featuring Jamule) 2 2 3 "Geh dein Weg" (with KC Rebell featuring Loredana) 4 6 8 "QN" (with KC Rebell) 9 17 29 "Wow" (with KC Rebell) 26 49 86 "Anani Bacini" (with KC Rebell) 23 41 64 "Amcaoğle" (with KC Rebell featuring Capital Bra) 14 24 27 "Down" (with KC Rebell) 5 — 28 Featured in Year Title Peak chart positions Album GER [2] AUT [3] SWI [4] 2014 "Hayvan" (KC Rebell feat. Summer Cem) 78 — — "Manchmal" (Majoe feat. KC Rebell & Summer Cem) 76 — — 2015 "Augenblick" (KC Rebell feat. Summer Cem) 71 — — 2016 "Benz AMG" (KC Rebell feat. Summer Cem) 37 — — "Rap Money" (Kollegah feat. Summer Cem) 64 — — 2017 "Banger Imperium" (Majoe feat. Farid Bang, KC Rebell, Jasko, Summer Cem, 18 Karat & Play69) 82 — — "Bis hier und noch weiter" (Adel Tawil feat. KC Rebell & Summer Cem) 23 72 97 Adel Tawil album So schön anders 2018 "Royals & Kings" (Glasperlenspiel feat. Summer Cem) 70 — — "Sag schon" (Veysel feat. Summer Cem) 18 31 41 Veysel album Fuego 2019 "Rolex"