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bundleofyarrow · 4 years

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requests open!

new milo x reader content appears! hello world, i'm fresh to the pokemon fandom trying out writing fanfiction for the first time. i've started the first few chapters of my milo x reader over at AO3 called A Bundle of Yarrow. i'm also taking requests for general milo x reader imagines or longer scenes that can fit into ABoY's universe. while i will be writing the main storyline, i thought it would be fun to make a part of it collaborative and have other milo x reader fans send in ideas for scenes that fit between chapters. check out the rules page for more!

i'm new to all of this, so people feel free to comment or message me with suggestions. the link to the fic on AO3 is above, but in case you prefer reading on tumblr, below the cut is the first chapter. just a heads up, it starts in leon x reader land but moves into milo x reader as the story progresses.

enjoy!

Chapter 1: Postwick

Galar is a land of hills. Or at least, Postwick is, and it’s just about the only thing you’ve seen since you arrived. Soft curves of verdant green, sometimes tawny gold with a bale of hay or two. There’s a sign around here that says this is a farming town since days of yore, and the near constant whines of Wooloo are determined to never let you forget it. Lying on one such hill, almost completely vertical, you oversee the main road were balls of wool roll where they please. You feel transported, like you’re viewing another planet from some place outside.

The giddy hollering of children and Pokemon at the house not far away pulls you back to earth. A young girl bounds up to you with an anxious-looking blue creature in her arms.

“Look! It’s my new Sobble~ Leon got it for me! Isnt’s he great?”

Your cousin’s bright eyes implore you to sit up, propping yourself on your right arm once you realize one of your legs has fallen asleep.

“He’s adorable Gloria.”

You lean in closer to take a look, you’ve never seen a Pokemon like this before. The Sobble turns his face into Gloria, clearly shy and overwhelmed.

“It looks like he’s already taken to you!”

She looks down and holds him closer, beaming, rocking slightly.

“It’s okay, this is my cousin. That means part of our family!” Gloria turns slightly so her Pokemon can safely peek out at you. “I’m sure he’ll warm up to you too!”

You give the Pokemon your softest smile, and while he doesn’t completely warm up to you, he leans in a little to get a better look at you. Baby steps.

“Oh yeah, I also came here to say that dinner’s ready!”

The sound of sizzling meat and peppers hasn’t escaped your notice, but now the smell entices you to go and socialize with the family neighbors. Gloria shuffles back down the hill towards the fanciest house of Postwick, where the Champion of Galar and his family lives.

You take your time getting up and brushing off the grass from your clothes. A breeze rolled over the hill, reminding you that your Alolan wardrobe is way too thin for Galar’s climate. As you climb down, you see the neighbor boy, Hop, waving skewers at you before turning back to his bunny Pokemon, who kicks up some embers to give the meat a little extra char. You try to put on a smile as your auntie puts food in your hands and introduces you to everyone. It’s hard not too feel awkward, being not only new to this group of people but to this entire region, but you genuinely are looking forward to having the best time you can while you’re here. Eventually the adults get distracted by Hop’s antics, where he ropes in Gloria to do yet another trick with their new Pokemon. You sit down at the table nearby and just watch for a bit.

If you had been distracted, you wouldn’t have noticed the pair of big eyes pop up from the side of the table, topped with green tufts of hair shaped like leaves. You must have had quite the expression of surprise on your face when a little orange hand darted towards your food, because two bigger hands immediately scooped up the trickster before he could make off with your food.

“Now now Grookey, that’s not champion behavior!”

The admittedly cute Pokemon flailed in Leon’s grasp for a bit, shedding some fake tears until he was given a wedge of grilled Mago berry.

“Sorry about that, this little one is quite the handful around food.” He tried to seem stern but you could tell he was more amused. “He didn’t startle you too badly, did he?”

You strangely don’t feel that shy around Leon. It feels like you should be more star-struck, but maybe because this is the first time you even really knew he existed, he came off more as an ordinary guy with a flair for the dramatic. He seemed like a nice guy, wanting to give everyone a little attention, which also made him seem a bit spread thin. But you could see him start to settle as the light faded from the sky and fans stopped coming by to cheer at him.

“Oh not at all, I was just a little surprised! If I wasn’t paying attention, he would have be feasting like a king.”

The Grookey pouts as you let out a light chuckle, taking a finger and lightly rubbing his forehead.

“And have a massive stomachache tomorrow that I would have to deal with!”

Leon says everything with a little bit of a laugh, and his eyes seem like they are permanently smiling. He looks between you and Grookey while seeming in thought.

“You’re staying here in Galar for a while now, yeah? What are your plans?”

You slide over a bit to let Leon sit next to you as he sets Grookey on the table between you. His cape and hair make him seem larger than he is, and talking with him at eye-level feels like talking to Leon, the person not Leon, the Champion.

“I’m not entirely sure to be honest. I just had to…” You’re never sure what to say about your past, and the uncertainty of your future. “…get away for a bit. Maybe start over, find a clean slate.”

The breeze picks up again and you feel the sleeve of your shirt slide a little down your shoulder, exposing some skin. You don’t realize that you should be embarrassed about it until you catch Leon’s gaze eyeing your collarbone and then quickly looking back to the Grookey. It was common to show skin on the hot coasts of the Alolan islands, but as you take a look around, everyone around you is more covered up.

“I’d like a bit of adventure, I think.” You say absent-mindedly as you readjust your top, oblivious to Leon fidgeting a bit.

“Ah, well-” He moves in his seat again, “what do you think of this here Grookey?” Leon rests a hand on his head and lightly rustles it. “I think you two might get along!”

This took you by surprise, the last thing you were expecting was to be offered a foreign Pokemon.

“O-oh really?? But I thought you were going to train him to become a part of your champion team or something?”

He smirked at ‘or something,’ as if entertained by your complete lack of interest in the most popular Galarian sport.

“That was the plan, but you said you wanted some adventure! Can’t get around many places here without a Pokemon. Being a trainer lets you travel a lot here in Galar. Maybe you’ll get to compete in the upcoming Gym Challenge if you’re up for it!” He grinned some more here. “Who knows, maybe you’ll end up facing me in the end. Wouldn’t that be an adventure?”

You laughed a bit, shaking your head but trying to show an appreciative face. “Me? Be a trainer? And a good enough one to face you?? You’re funny.”

Hop has already regaled the crowd at dinner about how excited he is for camping in the Wild Area, hiking through ruins and snow, getting lost in haunted forests. You’ve never been one for the outdoors, and don’t think moving regions would change that.

“That’s kind of you, and he is cute. But that wasn’t the kind of adventure I was thinking of.” You smile at them both. “I appreciate you though!”

Leon seems a little confused at first, but recovers quickly and nods. Eventually the kids come over still hollering over Pokemon, and Hop quickly begins to monologue about his favorite topic: Leon, his brother. Hop drags you inside once he realizes how little you know about Galar’s Gym Challenge, Gloria and Leon trailing behind, with the former happy to be spared from the lecture about the Champion for once. You all found yourselves in Leon’s room, Hop showing you different magazines and eagerly pointing at different pictures of his brother’s most memorable fights. The trophies throughout the house and the weights in his room really do scream Champion. Is there ever a moment when he's not? Eventually Hop decides that Gloria and himself need to look up more information on their new Pokemon, and pulls her away into his room, leaving you and Leon alone.

The Champion, who really just seems like a man rather than a god to you, sheepishly rubs the back of his head and shrugs.

“Sorry about that, once Hop gets going, it’s hard to make him stop.”

He begins to collect all the magazines his brother pulled out and carefully places them back where they belong. It just hits you now how carefully organized everything is, and how little escapes his attention. You notice all the hats neatly arranged around his room, walking up towards the rows of shelves and scanning all the different kinds he owns.

“I like your collection.” You mean that, you’ve always enjoyed window shopping at boutiques and spotting people who took fashion seriously. “If I didn’t just hear everything your brother told me, I’d think you were the Champion of Streetwear.”

His chuckle comes from right behind you, startling you a bit. Turning around, you meet his intense and mischievous gaze.

“Adventure, huh?”

He steps a foot towards you, and you instinctually press back against the dresser behind you. Leon closes the distance between you and meets your lips with his, only making your heart race faster. What is happening?? You melt into the kiss, I mean, this is the Champion we’re talking about here, and go along with his lead. He doesn’t draw it out or take it too far; it wasn’t a sweet kiss but one of intrigue.

Parting just moments away from your lips, he breathes out a “You’re so different, too bad-”

“KIDS? Are you up there!? It’s getting late and time to go home!”

The moment is broken by a yell from your auntie, and the shuffling of feet all over the house makes Leon swiftly give you some space. You’re still a bit flustered, and confused honestly, but you know to shyly smile in these situations.

“Pity we won’t be seeing much of each other, now that challenge season is on.” He takes your hand and guides you off his dresser and towards the threshold of his room. “But I hope you find that thing you’re looking for.”

He winks as Gloria pops her head in and calls for you, and watches her take your hand to pull you away. You wave to Leon, not really knowing what to say.

Outside it is dark, the faintest hints of dusk dropping further behind the hills. Butterfree flutter from tree to tree, and your aunt’s Budew are nestled in the front yard. All you can hear are Gloria's footfalls up towards her house and the thumping of your heart against your chest. Your cousin is quite tuckered out from all the excitement, and you only stay up a little with your auntie with the family’s Munchlax resting in your lap. She asks the usual ‘how are you adjusting’s and ‘do you think you’ll enjoy it here’s, and you begin to think you made a mistake turning down Leon’s offer. Eventually you take Munchlax over to the guest bedroom and nestle into bed, hoping to understand what you’re supposed to do in this new land.

~*~*~*~

The sounds of yelling and Pokemon cries jolts you from your sleep. It takes you a couple moments to realize an organized battle is going on, rather than some emergency.

“How do people get used to battling happening all the time?”

Yawning, you pawed the blankets of the bed until you found the lump that was Munchlax.

“Rise and shine, if I have to wake up, so do you~” Groans of protest shuffled under the covers, only twisting more into a warm cocoon. “Well, don’t blame me if auntie doesn’t prepare you breakfast.”

You hear frantic scrambling as you leave bed and head towards the kitchen, where your aunt is already drinking tea and checking her phone. You exchange usual pleasantries, making toast for yourself and ducking out to take a shower as soon as you could find a way to excuse yourself.

Eventually you find yourself wandering out of the house and into the late-morning air, smelling greenery and hay as usual. You notice a Wooloo hitting itself into a nearby gate, and shrug it off.

Walking down the main path, you see Hop containing a tantrum within himself as he stands over his fainted Scorbunny. It looks like Leon is giving Gloria and Hop a speech of sorts, something about being rivals, and you’re able to pass by with a wave. Leon nods at you with a cordial smile, not at all seeming like a man who kissed you the night before. It seems like in public, he always needs to be the Champion.

Unsure of how you feel about that, you decide to pick a new resting spot, down closer to Route 1.

#milo x reader #pokemon imagines #pokemon sword and shield imagines #a bundle of yarrow #pokemon milo imagines #pokemon swsh imagines #leon x reader #pokemon milo #fanfiction #fic

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hey-have-you-heard · 5 years

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Hey have you heard these 50 songs from 2019

I really enjoyed this last year so going to give it another go for ‘19. I put quite a lot of thought into what actually a ‘song of the year’ for me when I was first constructing and then heavily editing the playlist that came to be my Top 50 of 2019. I think the most important thing is that above all it’s a track that I’m glad exists, sometimes this is because of the songwriting or composition, sometimes the performance, sometimes the lyrical importance and sometimes just because it sparks joy.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6bFJOjL8b8Zc2s5r1oJbsk?si=UJdqSXOTR3SQ8D3IwcmV2g

Explanations for each tracks inclusion below the fold…

100 gecs - 800db cloud 100 gecs channel a mix of Crystal Castles and Sleigh Bells with a Death Grips level appreciation for noise. It’s an absolute rush and that outro is just absurd.

Natalie Evans - Always Be Natalie Evans soft melody and sing song vocals are sublimely sweet on this heartfelt track of lost love, longing and nostalgia.

Petrol Girls - Big Mouth “If you fight back or disagree you’re the one with the fucking problem” this hits home, hard. Big Mouth is a rallying cry to speak out against oppression and discrimination, to raise you’re voice and be heard, not to be controlled.

Charli XCX ft. Lizzo - Blame it on your Love Charli has a midas touch when it comes to pop, combine that with Lizzo who has just about been the most fun thing in music this year and you’ve got a 10/10 banger.

Poppy - BLOODMONEY Poppy’s music just keeps going further down the rabbit hole. Originally playing with blending elements of nu-metal with bubblegum pop, she now seems to have transcended genre altogether to create whatever BLOODMONEY is, it’s absolutely ridiculous and I love it.

Body Hound - Bloom Get on that GROOVE! So proggy it hurts, this track from Body Hound is a technical wonderland of metamorphosing rhythms, gargantuan riffs, and just the tastiest of chord progressions.

Can the Sub_Bass speak - Algiers Word of warning, this is not an easy listen. A freefall tumble through genre and tone accompanies a stream of consciousness monologue full of racism, prejudice and political and artistic critique.

Elohim - Buckets Buckets is an onslaught of trap influences, emotional outbursts and aggressive distortion. I’m a big fan of this sound.

VUKOVI - C.L.A.U.D.I.A I know very little about VUKOVI as a band, but that riff is absolutely massive and this track has been a constant throughout my year on that basis alone.

Show Me The Body - Camp Orchestra Apparently more hardcore bands should use Banjos, because this is a damn good sound. Slowly building from a single bass line this track builds into a powerful demolishing force.

clipping. - Club Down Having thoroughly proven themselves able to do afro-futurist scifi on the Hugo nominated Splendor and Misery, clipping. now turn their considerable talents to horror core and unsurprisingly nail it. Daveed’s flows are tight as ever as he brings to life a decaying city backed by tortured screams.

Dream Nails - Corporate Realness YOU ARE NOT YOUR JOB. WORK IS NOT YOUR LIFE. YOU ARE NOT WHAT YOU MUST DO IN ORDER TO SURVIVE. Dream Nails are great and exactly what we need right now.

ControlTop - Covert Contracts This track positively bristles with an anxious energy. A fitting sound for the subject of the information overload we find ourselves locked into everyday.

Cherry Glazerr - Daddi There’s an icy coolness to ‘Daddi’, a disconnected sarcasm that falls away to reveal the anger and torment in the chorus, it’s a masterful bit of emotional storytelling through musical tone.

The Physics House Band - Death Sequence I Listening to Physics House latest release, the Death Sequence EP feels like a physical journey. This opener is a perfect example of this, as you’re plunged straight into a heady and disorienting mix of rhythms and counter-melody’s, the Sax guiding you through the turbulence until you land in a placid midsection, before that bass riff drags you forward through rhythmic breakdowns into an absolutely absurd brain melting saxophony and then it just keeps on going from there…

Witching Waves - Disintegration I saw WW back in the early summer, they were a bassist down so it was just a guitar and drums duo. They started with this track and it was one of the most pure punk things I’ve experienced, drummer/vocalist Emma Wigham bashing the absolute shit out of her kit . A great no-nonsense lo-fi banger.

Lingua Ignota - DO YOU DOUBT ME TRAITOR Another, not particularly easy listen here. DO YOU DOUBT ME TRAITOR is a dark and angry brooding track, building in intensity to release the primal rage, fear and horror of the abused. Its deeply chilling and instantly arresting. This track and the entire CALIGULA album stands as an absolute must listen.

Carly Rae Jepsen ft. Electric Guest - Feels Right I love the instrumentation on this one, those chunky piano chords and screaming guitar lift the track out and make it the highlight of an already great album to me.

Orla Gartland - Figure it out Dialing back the intensity slightly, Orla chronicles the frustrations of having to deal with someone in your life who you’re done with. The choruses burst forth in beautifully fuzzy explosions of noise. That vocal flair at the start of the final chorus is chef kiss.

Battles - Fort Greene Park Battles are at their best when they keep things simple. This is evident on 2019′s Juicy B Crypts which features some incredibly cluttered moments, but this just makes Fort Greene Park stand out all the more. A delightfully spacious piece of math rock, from some of the best in the business.

Dogleg - Fox Boy howdy, do I love me some midwest emo. Catharsis in musical form, it just makes me want to mosh my troubles away like I’m 16 again.

Tørsö - Grab A Shovel Tørsö go hard, I can appreciate that. An absolutely brutal track about the destructive power of depression and self-loathing.

“Pijn & Conjurer playing Curse These Metal Hands” - High Spirits “We were like, are we Pijn and Conjurer, or are we Curse These Metal Hands? I think we’ve settled with ‘we are Pijn and Conjurer playing Curse These Metal Hands’ …whatever that means!“ what it means is one of the most joyously triumphant pieces of metal music I’ve ever heard. Some of the guitar lines in this absolutely soar.

Lizzo - Juice Lizzo has won 2019, her message of self love, acceptance and body positivity has won her both critical and cultural acclaim and permeates her music in a way that makes it impossible to not love.

COLOSSAL SQUID, AK Patterson - Kick Punch Colossal Squid is the name given to Three Trapped Tigers drummer, Adam Betts’ experimental project. After a solo album of percussive wizardry Betts has now teamed with vocalist AK Patterson to give us something else entirely.

Evan Greer - Liberty Is A Statue Evan Greer uses the a folk punk sound to deliver an essay on the damaging influences of cis-normativity and social inequality. Of course I like this one.

Taylor Swift - Lover I wasn’t on board with this song for a fair while, but then I kept listening to it and kept coming back to it because of a roughly 50 second section which ties the track and the whole album together. Yeah, this is on here purely for the bridge, which is just beautiful.

Dodie - Monster Monster is an incredibly well written and delivered study on how perception changes with resentment and it makes me cry.

The Y Axes - Moon Moon is a delightfully dreamy piece of pop that glitters with infectious melodies, it’s lyrics a blissful embracing of cosmic nihilism, need I say more?

Ezra Furman - My Teeth Hurt My teeth hurt is a song about tooth ache, about that pain you carry with you everywhere and can’t get rid of, that ruins your days and and is one hell of a mood. Yeah it’s about gender dysphoria.

Nervus - No Nations Speaking of things being a mood, this track hits the nail squarely on the head.

Cultdreams - Not My Generation "Everyone ignores me Unless I’m on a stage talking Because they put me on a pedestal And pretend I’m just performing“ Lucinda Livingstone calls out the misogyny in our culture with a singular ferocity.

Lil Nas X - Old Town Road If there’s one song that’s dominated 2019 this is it right here. Who ever had the idea of putting that NIN Ghosts sample to a trap beat and cowboying over the top of it is an absolute genius.

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Planet B It’s impossible to predict where King Gizzard’s sonic influences are going to take them next I doubt even they know half the time. Whatever they turn their hand to though they do it as if they mastered the sound decades ago Planet B is an all out thrash track with a strong environmental message.

Kesha - Rich, White, Straight Men Okay, I’m about to compare Kesha to John Lennon here but HEAR ME OUT… As ‘Imagine’ asked us to consider a world without conflict or capitalism, Kesha now posits that we should tear up our conceptions of our society based on its formation by a privileged group and imagine what kind of utopia could be built if we gave the underprivileged and minority groups a say.

Allie X - Rings A Bell The chorus here sounds like it could have been off Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories, and I’m all about that sound. Combined with Allie X’s dreamlike vocals make this a certified bop.

Poly-Math - Sensors in Everything Sensors in Everything is a beast of a track spanning over 14 minutes of absurdly dense prog. Having recently enlisted keyboardist Josh Gesner. Polymath make use of the new sounds and textures available to them, at times imitating a sort of Hammond sound not unlike John Lord to the chaotic maelstrom of noise.

Calva Louise - Sleeper Big hooks on this one. Sleeper has a confident swagger to it’s sound which stands apart for the bands previous work. It’s an absolutely huge track.

Slipknot - Solway Firth Slipknot didn’t disappoint after the tease of 2018′s “All Out Life”, following up with an album which blended old and new aspects of their sound to create one of their best to date. Solway Firth is a perfect example of this matching the punishing heaviness of Iowa with the melody driven sound of All Hope Is Gone.

Clt Drp - Speak To My Seeing Clt Drp perform live was one of my highlights of the year. The filthy guitar tones, powerhouse vocals tight as heck drumming and the _grooves. _Absolutely like nothing else I’ve seen. Just an incredible band that deserve so much more recognition.

Black Country, New Road - Sunglasses Black Country, New Road released two tracks this year and now I just want more. Dense wordy lyricism plays off against ever evolving instrumentation to present a raw cut of emotional storytelling.

Her Name Is Calla - Swan Her Name Is Calla are a band that have always been on the edge of my radar, my Dad is very fond of them and saw them live a couple of years ago, but never went back to relisten to any of their stuff, then they started an album with this. I was sold instantly.

black midi - Talking Heads Talking Heads (the band) are an obvious inspiration on this track. Both David Byrne’s vocal style and the Talking Heads penchant for sharp angular melodies are on show here. But given an extra ounce of chaos through Black Midi’s delivery.

Amanda Palmer - The Ride The ride is ten minutes of bundling up all your fears and anxieties of where we are and where we’re going and just, accepting them as part of the ride. Written off the back of a prompt from Amanda asking her fans what they were afraid of right now.

Kim Petras - There Will Be Blood Okay, let’s have some out of season spookiness. Love the squelchy synths on this, there’s a huge amount of energy on this track and with it’s commitment to the horror conceit it makes for a super fun bop.

Kate Nash - Trash Kate Nash’s sound is like bathing pure nostalgia,here she spins the toxic-relationship narrative central to her work to deliver a bigger story about humanity’s, quite literally toxic relationship to our planet.

American Football & Hayley Williams - Uncomfortably Numb The other side of the “midwest emo” coin. A melancholic song built on a soft bed of arpeggiated chords and clean harmonics, Uncomfortably Numb is a heartbreaking track of losing everything and of cycles persisting thorugh generations. Employing the clever metatextual trick of referencing Pink Floyd’s comfortably Numb to mirror the generational similarities.

Glenn Branca - Velvet and Pearls Disclaimer, Glenn Branca was a musical hero of mine, his approach to music and composition being solely responsible for influence a vast number of my favourite bands. Released posthumously, Velvet and Pearls is taken from a live performance by Branca’s ensemble and perfectly captures the sense of sonic disorientation, conjuring aural illusions through an assault of intricately crafted noise. It’s an exhilarating piece that should be played as loud as humanly possible.

Brutus - War The raw emotional strength of Stefanie Manneart’s vocals instantly made me pay attention when I first heard this track. Then the song exploded into a barrage of riffs and breakneck drumming.

Valiant Vermin - Warm Coke Another slice of throwback pop, Valiant Vermin proved with “Online Lover” how much of an ear she has for pop and has proven it once again with Warm Coke. Is a real good bop.

———

Welp there it is, 50(+1) songs, I had to limit myself to one track per artist in the main 50 because according to Spotify I listened to [checks notes] 1082 new artists this year. There are a small handful of tracks I wanted to highlight from the same artists though as they offer something quite different to the tracks in the playlists, so here they are quickly with 3 word descriptions.

Petrol Girls - Skye (dead dog, sad) Amanda Palmer - Voicemail for Jill (Talk about abortion) Ezra Furman - I Wanna be Your Girlfriend (Trans Torch Song) Battles ft Jon Anderson & Prairie WWWW - Sugar Foot (Batshit Prog Insanity) Poppy - Choke (Dark Minimalist Pop) Show Me The Body - Forks and Knives (Anxious nightmare punk) Lingua Ignota - CALIGULA (the whole album.)

———

Closing Statement

Cultdreams - Statement

There has been a shadow over the entertainment industry the latter half of this decade. Whether film, music, TV or video games, the late 2010′s are filled with stories of people coming forward to bravely tell their stories about being abused and manipulated by men in positions of power. The #metoo movement as it’s come to be known has been a powerful force in giving marginalised people a voice and the ability to call out oppressors and in starting the groundwork to root out the misogyny in the seats of power, but this is a battle far from won.

While there are thousands of stories out there I want to focus on one in particular.

In 2016 a number of women spoke out about various forms of abuse by a well-known musician in the punk scene. It’s now over three years later and this group of women are in the midst of a long fought claim of defamation from this musician. If this case goes through it sets a precedent for silencing marginalised voices in the industry. They have been fighting for so long and with no legal aid available for the case they have had to finance their defense from their own pockets.

This is where Solidarity Not Silence comes in. Solidarity not silence is a crowdfunding effort to help take the case to trial without the women bankrupting themselves entirely so that they don’t have to give in to this mans demands. You can read more about Solidarity not Silence and make a donation (if you feel so inclined) here: https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/solidaritynotsilence/

You can also follow them on twitter here https://twitter.com/solnotsilence

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riverdaleroundup · 7 years

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Riverdale Roundup: 2x04 “ The Town That Dreaded Sundown”

Okay shit is getting real now. I’m fresh off watching this new Riverdale and I would say that i’m shook but I mean honestly it was okay. I mean shit is starting to happen but i’m not yet on the edge of my seat.

So we open up the show and the river vixens are prancing down the street in a little pack like a group of basic bitches on halloween. Honestly the sheer number of people who went as river vixens / or betty and veronica on halloween made my head hurt. Like if your costume is popping than okay cool we get it you like the show so you bought the yellow tube socks and the HBIC shirt and you’re living your best life but if you just put on a button up shirt and put your hair in a sloppy ponytail you’re not betty cooper so like sit the fuck down. That’s not a costume. That’s you pulling out a shirt that doesn’t fit from the back of your closet so you could try to feel relevant.

Alice Cooper is a grade A brutal bitch and I honestly live for her. She sits down in front of her computer, slips on her chic ass glasses and chugs that white wine ready to tear shit up with her cutting edge reporting. She slips into worried guilt tripping mother mode for a hot minute but still looks chic as fuck doing so. I just realized that she’s that cougar that Nate banged season 2 of gossip girl and i’m dying. Literally shook. Who is Alice to judge Grundy robbing the cradle when she and Nathaniel Archibald got it on on numerous occasions when he was a generous 16 years old.HOLY SHIT I JUST LOOKED AT HER IMDB PAGE AND SAW THAT SHE PLAYED SHERRY IN GILMORE GIRLS??!? How did i miss that? I literally just re watched the Sherry episodes. She looks so different. I’m dying. But can we also talk about the inconsistent state of her bangs? Like one minute she’s got that casual middle part and the next she’s rocking a side swoop. I can’t keep up.

Okay so Betty wants Jughead to drive all the way to riverdale high to spend lunch with her. Like how long are their lunch breaks? Like honestly it was a struggle to make it down to mcdonalds and be back in time for english but these kids can skip all the way to the other side of town to enjoy a romantic lunch and still make it back in time for their joke of a literature class?.

I wasn’t paying enough attention to know what the sperant leader's name is but he looks very familiar to me. He kind of reminds me of like a cheaper version of Nat Wollf in the naked brothers band. Honestly any minute i’m expecting him to pull out a guitar and confess his love for Rosalinda.

Also this is the first time that i’ve heard official riverdale referred to as the north side and it kind of threw me off my game. Like we’ve had this whole south side angle working for a while now but i never once considered that they would call riverdale proper anything other than riverdale.

Okay what is with the remix of Archie's speech when he’s walking down the hallway. Like I’m sorry I didn’t know Archie Andrew’s music career ( which i totally forgot about until he lied about being home all night writing songs) had progressed so much that he was now mixing his own beats and headlining this year's coachella.

Kevin is just so forgiving. Like he was mad for like 10 minutes of one episode and now he and Betty are bff’s again. Also he mentions his mom and I was like what? Kevin has a mom? Does she live out of state and pretend he doesn’t exist ala Jugheads mom?”

Also it’s just too much that Black Hood is like “ Omg Betty your cute speech about loving your friends and making Riverdale a nice place has inspired me to MURDER”. Now starts the shit that I hate. Betty is like i’ll tell the police a half truth and withhold important information. That is just way too pretty little liars for me. Those bitches never went to police with anything. I mean season one of riverdale these kids would find a used tissue and be like “ we have to tell Sheriff Keller about this” and now Betty thinks this is a cross she should bare alone. Kevin is right. Betty is in high school ( aka fifteen years old for fuck sakes) not the newest graduate of Quantico.

So both Toni and Jughead are into true crime and that means what? That they’re going to ride off into the sunset and listen to spooky criminal podcasts together for all of eternity? I already hate where this whole Toni/Jughead/ Betty triangle is going. It’s just so freaking typical and I can’t deal. I had hopes from last episode that they might just co exist for at least a little while but suddenly this episode Toni grows this bitch ass attitude and starts attacking Betty out of nowhere. Betty was trying so hard to avoid being the jealous girlfriend by being like “ I’m so nice you’re new best friend can crack the code with us and we can all be friends” . They’re having their little crime solver party and Toni makes a little comment about Betty's ponytail which would have been fine if she had said it like in a nice joking way but she starts coming for the hairstyle like the ponytail murdered her father right before her eyes and she’s been sworn to seek vengeance ever since. Kevin rips Toni a new one because Bettys pony is “ iconic” and he’s not here for any of her bullshit. Than Betty makes literally the same comment that knock off Nat Wollf the serpent made about black hood targeting north siders but this time Toni feels personally attacked by this and decides that she needs to start poking holes in Jughead and Bettys relationship and being an over all annoying bitch.

Okay so the fake ID that Archie uses at the gun store looks like he made it himself on the back of a monopoly get out of jail free card. He’s getting together all his weapons so that he can what? Have a shoot out in the middle of the street with the masked man? Also why do they call his ski mask a hood? Archie keeps being like “ It’s not a Ski mask” but has the boy ever been to a mountain? That looks a lot like a mask to me. So while Archie is gathering ammunition and literally painting the town red while waving a gun in the face of a couple of serpents, Veronica is making a rush order to vistaprint and somehow convincing Cheryl to help her hand out a lazily designed shirts.

So after Archie is banished from school for being locked and loaded he sends Veronica to go toilet bowl fishing in order to retrieve his gun. So Reggie is so grateful that Archie didn’t sell him out about the ski mask that he’s decided that him and the rest of the football team ( plus one boy scout) are willing to rejoin their not so secret society. But this makes no sense to me because it’s not like Reggie committed some heinous crime in that hood. He just showed up at Archies house in it to scare him.

But whatever i’ll let that go. The football team had to be there because conveniently the teenage branch of the south side serpents have just rolled up and are ready to rumble at midnight. Literally. Rumble. Have we slipped into an alternate universe? Am i watching west side story? The Sharks and the Jets are literally about to fight openly in the streets. Plus the whole way that Veronica was like “ fair fight! No weapons.” Is so west side that it makes me want to murder myself. Like if I couldn’t sit through a whole high school production of that play then I’m not looking to see it here. Is someone literally about to burst out into the chorus of America and bang their fist on a metal fence? But anyway.

The town meeting is called and it’s not a cute one like in gilmore girls. Alice Cooper is running this meeting. She wants to close down south side high but like how will that help? Are all those kids just going to go to riverdale high now or did she figure they would all just stay out on the streets in south side sans education? How would that save money? She’s so against the south side but like is that not her old stomping ground? What’s the beef Alice? What is your MO? Fred is all like Alice this is a time for us to be united and blah blah blah. Hiram and Hermione are muttering about Fred and is he a problem or is he an asset and i’m like enough with the secrets. Tell me the goods.

The boys head out in the pouring rain like they’re about to shoot a dramatic Taylor Swift music video. They start to fight in the streets and Archie is getting his ass handed to him. So Dilton gets stabbed but I got really confused. It kind of looked like he was the one who was pulling the knife? So did he stab himself for the drama or am I just a literal Psycho? Veronica shows up in her dramatic ass cape like in the season one premiere and fires the gun in the air which spooks all the boys like a group of nervous dogs around fireworks.

Jughead and Betty figure out that the code is from her old Nancy Drew workbook and head off to rescue everyone at the town meeting. Now the thing is who is this person that they know enough about Betty that they know that she used to check out that decode book all the time as a kid? That works with the idea that it could be Hal doing all of this but I really just don’t see it. But what do I know? Nothing.

So now the killer is making blocked calls to Betty because why the hell not. Here’s why that doesn’t work for me. In this day and age who the hell answers an unknown number? Not I. I barely answer the phone when people I know are calling.

That's it.

Until next Thursday. Byeeee.

#riverdale #bughead #varchie

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jonathanbogart · 7 years

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Electroshock: Anarchic Mediterranean Pop and New Wave

Part three. Twenty-one songs, 1981-1987, from Italy and Greece. Here's the YouTube playlist. Tracklisting below, “liner notes” below the cut.

Jo Squillo Electrix, “Africa”

Diaframma, “Tre volte lacrime”

Diana Est, “Tenax”

Litis + Trik, “Fáka”

Matia Bazar, “Elettrochoc”

Alberto Camerini, “Bip Bip Rock”

Roberta D’Angelo, “Noce di cocco”

Lena Platanos, “Ti Néa Psipsína?”

Denovo, “Niente insetti su Wilma”

Nada, “Amore disperato”

Tullio De Piscopo, “Stop Bajon”

Dreamer and the Full Moon, “Sandrina”

Marcella Bella, “Nell’aria”

Garbo, “Quanti anni hai?”

Ivan Cattaneo, “Quando tramonta il sol”

Aphrodite Manou, “Nykteriní Ekpompí”

Litfiba, “Elettrica danza”

Skiantos, “Ti spalmo la crema”

Giuni Russo, “Alghero”

Metro Decay, “Mavros Kyknos”

Melodrama, “Kyrie Eleison”

Electroshock: anarchic mediterranean pop and new wave

If I thought mainstream French pop was relatively unaffected by the radical shifts in Anglophone rock and pop fashion, Italian pop is even more so: many of the popular Italian ballads of the 1980s were virtually indistinguishable (save for details of production) from what lyrical Italian composers were turning out a hundred years previously. As (arguably) the birthplace of the post-medieval Western European music culture, Italy generally takes an if-it-ain’t-broke-don’t-fix-it attitude toward its cultural heritage, an attitude wholly at odds with American notions of generational revolt or ripping it up and starting again: operatic singing remains a populist form, and mainstream Italian rockers tend to sing in a theatrical Billy Joel vein rather than with a fuck-yr-conventions sneer.

But this mix isn’t just Italian: there’s a thread of Greek running throughout. Although combining the two Iberian nations makes geographic and linguistic sense, and expanding Francophonie beyond France is obvious, throwing Italy and Greece together is extremely unintuitive, unless you’re a dyed-in-the-wool classicist. Inheritors of the two oldest unbroken (though hardly unchanged) cultures on the European continent, the descendants of the ancient Roman and Hellenic empires had, by the penultimate decade of the twentieth century, been through a lot. Specifically, they had both slid precipitously from their midcentury postwar peaks of economic expansion and cultural export: Italy thanks to the Anni di piombo, or years of lead, in which both far-left and far-right terrorism, assassination, and thuggery cratered popular support for politics of any kind (enabling the rise of Berlusconi’s entertainment-empire kleptocracy), and Greece thanks to a far-right military junta that overthrew a center-right government and gave fascism a home on the otherwise Communist Balkan Peninsula. By the early 80s, both the Anni di piombo and the junta were spent and democracy was returning, but everything was still disorderly, even anarchic, politically and culturally.

Which is where this music comes in. The avant-garde in both Italy and Greece identified deeply with the European project, which means that much of their most modern music was sung in English, both in imitation of UK and US innovations, and because everyone else in Western Europe (save for France and Spain, where ancient conflicts with the British Isles led to a sort of linguistic protectionism) was doing the same. Between the endless fountains of italo-disco aimed at the general Euro dancefloor market and the austere post-punk acts on tiny labels reissued by “minimal wave” enthusiasts today, it can sometimes feel that almost nobody was singing in Italian in the 80s except for sensitive singer-songwriters, leftover prog burnouts, and cracked-voice divas with massive power ballads. The same was true in Greece, except more so: the midcentury art-folk forms éntekhno and laïkó were still so dominant that almost anyone who wanted to engage with modern international sounds did so in an international language.

But beyond the glossy outer wall of Italian pop, as celebrated by such events as the annual Sanremo Song Festival, there were multiple anarchic rock and pop scenes competing for attention, gigs, and recording time. The Italian rock scene was hugely fragmented: although Milan remained the center of the culture industry, as it has been for centuries, each city had its thriving underground scene, with Florence, Naples, Sicily, Bologna, and even Rome represented below. Below a certain level of hitmaking status, the differences between shiny italo-disco and weirdo pop melted away: although some synth experimentalists encountered a hardline anti-synth stance among post-punk scenesters, just as many punks ended up making goofy hairspray records as ever remained true to the imagined spirit of ’77. Italy was perhaps the place where the distinction between disco and punk was collapsed most often: both let unlikely performers queer their image and ignore the mainstream, and both were animated by throwing whatever was at hand against the wall to see what stuck.

Enough generalizing, though. Here are twenty-one songs, fourteen in standard Italian, one in the Neapolitan dialect, one in Church Latin and Greek, four in modern Greek, and, sigh, one in English because the hell with it, my mix my rules.

1. Jo Squillo Eletrix Africa 20th Secret | Milan, 1982

One of the few female voices to emerge from the original punk boom in late-70s Italy, Giovanna Coletti had fronted the all-girl band Kandeggina Gang before recording an essential post-punk record, Girl Senza Paura, in 1981 as the leader of a band named after her punk moniker Jo Squillo. “Africa” was the follow-up single: identifying and foregrounding the latent colonialism in acts like Bow Wow Wow and the Slits, it was apparently dedicated to Nelson Mandela, but Squillo’s cartoonish yelps and the “tribal” rhythms are still patently offensive as representations of Africanness. The lyric, however, is as righteous a left-wing post-colonial solidarity message as anything Europe produced in the 80s, which made it even weirder when Squillo went solo, dove into synthpop, and the “Africa” single was repurposed as a B-side called “Voo-Doo.” Colonialism always wins.

2. Diaframma Tre volte lacrime IRA | Florence, 1986

This song, with its brightly strummed guitars, is about as upbeat as the long-running Diaframma, who brought Joy Division levels of somber bleakness to the Florentine post-punk scene, ever got: and its title translates as “Three Times the Tears.” Singer Miro Sassolini’s stentorian croon defined this gothic era of the band; when guitarist Federico Fiumani, the band’s songwriter, took over in 1989, they became a more traditionally punk act, and are still active today.

3. Diana Est Tenax Ricordi | Milan, 1982

Although she sometimes turns up in italo-disco compilations these days, Diana Est was neither an anonymous vocalist nor a dance-pop starlet. Her small, rather unsteady voice, her androgynous, semiclassical fashion, and punk-turned-balladeer Enrico Ruggeri’s overtly intellectual lyrics — the chorus to “Tenax” is in Latin, a paraphrase of Terence — made her slender discography (three singles in as many years before she quit the music business in disgust) a cult favorite among Italian pop fans. She is now a professional antiquarian, and by all accounts much happier.

4. Litis & Trik Listeía Columbia | Athens, 1982

The mononymic Litis had been kicking around the Greek rock underground since the late 60s, hopping from folky ballads to vaguely progressive bands and back again. When he hooked up with muso combo Trik in the early 80s, the result was a loopy, weird art-punk record that is both compulsively listenable and one of the high points of the Athens new wave. “Ληστεία” (Robbery), a bop-along jam about petty crime and the hypocrisy of the petite bourgeoisie who demand it be prosecuted, was their biggest hit, if the handful of local television appearances that have been uploaded YouTube qualify.

5. Matia Bazar Elettrochoc Ariston | Milan, 1983

Both the most forward-thinking band in Italy in the early 80s and one of the all-time European pop acts, Matia Bazar started in the mid-70s as a Eurovision-friendly soft-rock group in the ABBA mold, with Antonella Ruggiero there to look pretty and sing sweet choruses. But after keyboardist Mauro Sabbione joined in 1980, they gave themselves a new-wave makeover, experimenting with rhythm and texture, and Ruggiero’s elastic, four-octave voice commanded center stage. There were a solid half-dozen Matia Bazar songs recorded between 1981 and 1985 that I considered for this mix: “Elettrochoc,” with rhythmic patterning not a million miles from what drum ’n’ bass would be doing with the “Amen” break a decade later, and Ruggiero using her whistle register as casually as Mariah Carey, is only the most futuristic of their songs by a small margin. After Sabbione left in 1985 to pursue more experimental work, they dumbed it down slightly and had the biggest hit of their career. Ruggiero would quit the band in 1989, going on to explore classical and world music forms, but Matia Bazar has continued their pop chancery, not unsuccessfully, with a revolving door of singers; the drummer is the only original member left.

6. Alberto Camerini Bip Bip Rock CBS | Milan, 1981

Born in Brazil to Italian parents, Camerini’s first musical efforts were pop-Brazilian melodies for the Italian market. But during the new-wave craze of the early 80s, when anything with a broad enough hook seemed like it might have a chance, he had his biggest success with novelty singles like “Rock & Roll Robot” and “Tanz Bambolina.” Very much in that vein, the unabashedly silly “Bip Bip Rock” is a love song between a harlequin and a computer set to a Buddy Holly shuffle: its gender-playing parent album, Rudy e Rita, is a minor masterpiece of bubblegum pop kitsch.

7. Roberta D’Angelo Noce di cocco Suono | Rome, 1983

When she burst onto the scene in the mid-70s with caustic, unconventionally melodic story-songs about prostitution and feminism, the 20-year-old conservatory-trained D’Angelo seemed poised to be an Italian Joni Mitchell, or maybe even Kate Bush. But label shenanigans, her restless, exploratory bent, and lack of commercial success meant that this, in 1983, would be her last single: a B-52s-y song about a coconut co-written and performed with skittery Roman art-funk collective Bu Bu Sex. When she performed it on television, she also proudly plugged the serialist piece for piano and clarinet she had composed for the B-side: perhaps it’s no wonder that for the last thirty years her nerdy enthusiasm and musical rigor has been expressed in music teaching, where she is beloved (and active in YouTube comments).

8. Lena Platonos Ti Néa Psipsína? Lyra | Athens, 1985

Kate Bush is also a predictable comparison for Greek composer Lena Platonos, the daughter of a concert pianist who studied composition, then started to make her own art music, got sidetracked by synthesizers, and ended up closer to Laurie Anderson (only more popular), murmuring her fractured, elusive poetry over her own experimental synth programming. “Τι νέα ψιψίνα,” from her 1985 album Galop, is about as close to pop as she ever got: the title literally translates “What’s New, Pussycat?” but it’s no Tom Jones cover: abstract, political, metaphysical, and Greek to the bones, it’s a gorgeous highbrow punctuation to the sillier elements of this mix.

9. Denovo Niente insette su Wilma Suono | Catania, 1984

Speaking of which: Sicilian band Denovo, with their XTC-inspired hydraulic sock-hop rhythms, sliding pitches, and “way-hey”s, have one of the goofiest sounds in this mix. The title song from their debut EP, this song is a comic piece of macabre: the title translates to “No Flies on Wilma,” and it turns out to be, of course, about Wilma’s funeral. However, the saxophone-led middle eight adds a McCartneyesque lyricism to the herky-jerk, foreshadowing the more varied melodic career Denovo would go on to have.

10. Nada Amore disperato EMI | Milan, 1983

The capacious mainstream Italian music industry loves few things more than a comeback, and when singer Nada Malanima, who had had her first success as a teenager in 1969 but had not been in the public eye for years, had a smash hit with the subtly pulsating “Amore disperato” (Desperate Love) in 1983, it was a song the whole country could get behind, even new-wave sourpusses. Nada’s low, assured voice, with its calm ah-has and careful reaches for high notes, is an undemonstrative rarity in Italian pop, and her portrait of kids falling for each other in a nightclub then losing each other is all the more effective for never sounding desperate itself.

11. Tullio De Piscopo Stop Bajon Bagaria | Naples, 1984

A jazz drummer and session man who had played with everyone from Perez Prado and Astor Piazzolla to Gerry Mulligan and Richie Havens, Tullio de Piscopo was perhaps the only middle-aged Italian hip enough to pull off a rap-inflected single in 1984. That the groove is such a monster doesn’t hurt — acid jazz as a concept more or less starts with this record, and it was massively influential in the Chicago house scene as well — and the half-rapped, half-scatted lyrics in his native Neapolitan celebrating the arrival of spring gave it a timeless, otherworldly quality that a more dominant literary language like Italian might have missed entirely. I would be surprised if I was introducing this record to many people for the first time, but it startled me with its beauty, all seven minutes of it, and I knew I had to include it.

12. Dreamer and the Full Moon Sandrina EMI | Athens, 1984

My general rule with these European mixes has been not to include music in English, partly because the sensual qualities of the different languages are much of the point for me, and partly because I’m intentionally stepping off the familiar Anglophone paths: I began these mixes cross about Spanish and Portuguese pop being neglected, and I’ve continued it cross about all local languages being neglected. That said, the minute I heard “Sandrina” I was charmed to within an inch of my life: Dreamer and the Full Moon were probably the most successful new-wave band in Greece, and their entire catalog was conducted in English: this, their biggest hit, takes traditional Greek rhythms and instrumentation and makes a lovely lovelorn rock song out of them.

13. Marcella Bella Nell’aria CBS | Milan, 1983

Like Nada, Marcella Bella had been a regular performer on summer festival stages since the 1960s: unlike her, she had never really spent time in the wilderness. The product of a musical Sicilian family (her older brother Gianni was also a pop singer and producer, and co-wrote “Nell’aria”), she had been a solidly popular singer for a decade when the billowing, helium-light “Nell’aria” (In the Air) became not just one of the big hits of the year, but perhaps the Italian hit of the 1980s. It had legs: I remember hearing it in Guatemala in the early 90s, where it sounded perfectly contemporary alongside blissed-out records from Madonna, Cathy Dennis, and P.M. Dawn. Bella’s featherweight voice, replicated endlessly, and the throbbing heartbeat rhythm make it eternal.

14. Garbo Quanti anni hai? EMI | Milan, 1983

Easily the most successful “new wave” artist in Italy, in the sense of being frankly imitative of British sources, the singer born Renato Abate took the same approach to the Bowie of the Berlin Trilogy as Gary Numan did (i.e. making it the foundation of an entire career in music), but where Numan absorbed Bowie’s cold remove and sci-fi premises, Garbo absorbed the political concerns and cabaret longueurs. His first single, “A Berlino… va bene” (In Berlin… It’s Okay), was a sensation, but my fondness for this later hit (tr. How Old Are You?) cannot just be attributed to the fact that Antonella Ruggiero sings unmistakable backup: it’s a small masterpiece of mood, as Garbo’s prematurely mature voice (he was twenty-five!) wrings every drop of reserved pathos out of a lyric about aging out of sexual desire.

15. Ivan Cattaneo Quando tramonta il sol CGD | Milan, 1984

I’m not sure any one- or two-sentence biographical sketch can do justice to Ivan Cattaneo, one of the most essential Italian musical performers of the late 70s and early 80s. He embraced the schlockier elements of both disco and punk early on, creating a flamboyant, polymorphous persona who sang about Batman, homosexual love, and zebras with outrageous zeal. Starting in 1982 he embraced ’50s and ’60s pop, recording cover albums of classic hits with modern pop sheen, but when the market didn’t respond, he quit pop music to explore painting, multimedia projects, and digital art. This (tr. When the Sun Sets) was his last single for a long time, a hiccuping electro-Beach Boys gem that still makes time for carnality.

16. Aphrodite Manou Nykteriní Ekpompí Lyra | Athens, 1984

One of the most popular exponents of éntekhno, or Greek poetry set to traditional music, Aphrodite Manou (born Aglaia Dimitriadis; her sister Maria was even more popular) had been singing others’ compositions for over a decade when she released a 1984 album of her own songwriting. “Νυχτερινή εκπομπή,” the title track, which Google wants to translate “nocturnal emission” but means “Nighttime Broadcast,” is a lovely fusion of modern soft-rock reverie and classic Greek music, as the violin swirls around her modern lyric about driving around in a Volkswagen listening to rock music, and falling in love with someone in the next car over who drives away forever. Perhaps the Greek equivalent of a country singer using contemporary production techniques, her melodies are timeless but stick in the head.

17. Litfiba Elettrica danza Contempo | Florence, 1984

The other great Florentine rock band of the era (along with Diaframma), Litfiba has gone from strict post-punk dourness in the early 80s to stadium-filling political anthems (rather like U2; and indeed charismatic frontman Piero Pelù is rather reminiscent of Bono). “Elettrica danza,” a retelling of Bertolucci’s Last Tango in Paris in violin-scraping funk-rock form (replacing the tango with the cha-cha), originally appeared on an EP named for their cover of David Bowie’s “Yassassin,” in case their art-rock cred was in any doubt.

18. Skiantos Ti spalmo la crema CGD | Bologna, 1984

One of the most controversial Italian acts of the late 70s, Skiantos were as much anarchic comedy troupe as ska-punk band, with singer “Freak” Antoni’s unnecessarily aggressive vocals, dadaist lyrics, and live performances that sometimes included no music at all. By the mid-80s they had mellowed considerably, and “Ti spalmo la crema” (I Rub the Cream on You, a double entendre about applying sunscreen at the beach) is almost a Madness song — except hornier, as befits Italian stereotypes.

19. Giuni Russo Alghero Bubble | Milan, 1986

Sicilian singer Giuni Russo was never an entirely comfortable fit with the summery, beachy songs she kept having hits with throughout the 80s: her untrained but powerful voice sometimes overwhelmed lightweight pop songs like “Un’estate al mare” or “Mediterranea,” and it wasn’t until she changed labels in 1986 and took more control over the sound of her music that she found the perfect combination with “Alghero.” Still a summery, beachy song — it’s about a vacation romance on the Sardinian coast, don’t tell mama — the inventive throwback production finally catches up with her voice. She would get artier and more experimental in the late 80s and 90s, but I love her summertime blues.

20. Metro Decay Mavros Kýknos Creep | Athens, 1984

Probably the most high-profile Athenian new wave band to stick to Greek in their lyrics, Metro Decay was still very much a cult act: one single and one LP in an austere early-Cure mold, and that was it. But they’ve had a long afterlife, as every generation of Greek rock fans rediscovers them. The opener from their LP, “Μαύρος κύκνος” (Black Swan) is a typically melodic dirge, as Antonis Maniatis croons about trauma, entropy, and poetry.

21. Melodrama Kyrie Eleison D.E.A. | Florence, 1987

After leaving Matia Bazar, synth wizard Mauro Sabbione formed the more industrial Melodrama with avant-garde contralto and choreographer Cinzia Bauci, with whom he has worked on and off under various names for the last thirty years. Melodrama only produced a handful of records as a coherent act in the late 80s, as Sabbione found himself in demand as a session musician and Bauci’s theater career took precedence, but this forgotten twelve-inch ZTT-ish setting of traditional liturgical prayers. punctuated ominously by assorted ecclesiastical vocabulary, precedes similar experiments by the likes of Enigma by years.

I swear I have not been trying to make these mixes happen once a week; it’s just that they really have been coming together that quickly. (And sure, I’ve been spending a lot of my free time since April swimming around in the raw materials for them.) Anyway, the next one, whenever it happens, will be heading in a more northerly direction, and finally leave the Romance languages (and my linguistic comfort zone) behind for good.

#my mixology career

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idolizerp · 6 years

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LOADING INFORMATION ON JINX’S MAIN VOCAL KIM RIAN...

IDOL DETAILS

STAGENAME: Eden CURRENT AGE: 24 DEBUT AGE: 17 TRAINEE SINCE AGE: COMPANY: Midas SECONDARY SKILL: Acting

IDOL PROFILE

NICKNAME(S): Apple because of her stage name and her fresh features, and Annie INSPIRATION: Living abroad and finding herself bullied for the many ways in which she found herself being distinctly different, she vehemently embraced the pop culture of her home country as a way to feel connected and out of defiance, forcing herself to stand out more rather than fitting back in. Officially she cites Diamant and Su.Grr as her greatest inspirations, but it was actually Jubilee and Nixie, alongside Gemini. SPECIAL TALENTS:

taking impeccable selcas

matching notes on command

NOTABLE FACTS:

She has perfect pitch, which (almost…) makes up for her slow adaptation to choreography.

She failed multiple auditions, sending in tapes from abroad while living in New Zealand, or attending and failing at countless global auditions.

She was an apprentice to a vocal coach learning to be a vocal trainer, having given up on being scouted, when she was discovered by Midas Media.

IDOL GOALS

SHORT-TERM GOALS:

Over the next six years, Ryan’s ultimate goal is simple- ride out her contract. She loves the music her group is putting out lately but she’s not above the desire to negotiate for a better deal. She’s interested in establishing her acting career further, as it’s finally having a chance to take off in a significant way as she builds her way up. Ryan’s interest for the moment is primarily focused on proving herself invaluable to Midas, so that she can push back during negotiations.

LONG-TERM GOALS:

In the long term, Ryan isn’t sure what she wants. She likes to have a hand in the lyric writing of her solo music, but after her first single didn’t meet Midas expectations, she’s not all that sure she’ll ever get another anytime soon, particularly given how they pushed her immediately into acting and have stuck with that since she began to gain some traction. She does enjoy acting quite a bit and would like to expand past the typecasting she’s generally fallen prey too, as part of her youthful look and branding, and be taken more seriously and thus given the chance to take on more dynamic roles.

IDOL IMAGE

eden is approachable but tempting. the ripened fruit in the garden, offering itself up to you, daring you to bite. she is the sugary honey sweetness of an overripe peach that bursts on your tongue. she is flushed cheeks, still rounded as if her youth may be endless, as if she will never outrun the image of the fresh faced girl who debuted so long ago, as if she will never be more than the dumpling princess peach of jinx. but she is. eden’s image has matured over the years, or at least, she has matured. she has been allowed to do this safely, perhaps because of the offset of her features, because her voice outshines the movements they give to her. eden can writhe on stage, can wear the sharpest cat eye liner and the slickest red lips and forever and a day her fans will say “what a surprise, to see our little mandu so sexy, ” and it’s double edged maybe. maybe she’d like to be looked at as a woman. but she’s used to this. to the infantilization that is in itself sexualization, a commentary on an industry that thinks a concept can’t possibly be deemed “sexy” if they girls are in pastel tennis skirts, no matter how many times pelvises rock or legs spread or hands glide effortless over bodies. despite her vocal power, she doesn’t run the route of a solo artist, not yet. maybe not ever. she has the image for it, the draw to stand on stage. on stage she captivates, performance capabilities and energy overriding dance skills that at the start are truly lackluster. they improve over the years but it’s never something she’s known for, and she’s comfortable with that. “she’s got the gestures down, she’s not the best but i can’t take my eyes off her,” they say - when they’re kind, but then, with an ego like eden’s, you only see the kind comments anyway. so with her youth as her shield, with her skill and a few years of aegyo trends under her belt, eden’s future begins on instagram. aesthetic photos begin softly but traipse towards risque, blending the virgin whore dichotomy with an effortlessness that seems impossible. there’s backlash, always is, in what can be perceived as attention seeking or affected, but eden is a master of push and pull, of sweet and sultry, and balances upon it as if on the edge of a razor. she builds a more serious image through her acting, embarks on various projects that truly don’t always do well (or even often), and the notable criticisms are there from the start. but she’s compelling, and she’s expressive, and more than that she’s hardworking. she puts in the hours. just stick to singing, that’s what you’re good at, they say. but she is stubborn and greedy and selectively deaf and continues forward stubbornly forging her path. and ryan? who is ryan anymore? is she kim rian born in seoul and transplanted at twelve, just in time for a young brain to be overloaded by unfamiliar syllables, because what english she had learned prior had been a standard northern american accent from after school tutors, not the fast paced natural speech of auckland new zealand. is she the girl adapting too, navigating a foreign country as ryan? is she the bright young thing with laughter like bells in all the choral classes, in vocal lessons after school, dutifully taking piano to appease her mother? is she ryan who moves back to seoul at eighteen with no idea of this place she is supposed to call home, this place her mother is so thrilled to return too? is she the ryan who is somewhat accidentally enfolded into the lineup for jinx, who learns in crash course fury how to smile and simper and sweeten that sharp tongue of hers? maybe she doesn’t know. maybe she never knew, really.

IDOL HISTORY

mangwon is a nice district. up and coming, they’ll tell you. trendy, a bit artsy. the next hongdae, but aimed at a bit older set. it was in a little rooftop apartment here that kim rian was born on a warm summer day - no hospital necessary. this was perhaps a foolish decision, but the kim family was home to two decidedly atypical parents. her mother an artist and. her father a gallery owner. kim kyujin worked tirelessly and without complaint to support the whims and whimsy of his wife, bae minji. at the time of her birth their home was modest at best and it would remain so, their district not yet the up and coming location it is today. kim rian was born into a home of pastels, paints, flowers, and hardwork. tireless effort and patience were the tools of her parent’s trade and they applied this to rian as well. they were gentle but firm and poured their expectations into the young girl relentlessly. they did not mean to fill her to the point of bursting, but this is what happened, regardless. kim rian was given every opportunity to succeed, and her father worked to the bone to make it happen. after school classes in english, in math, in art and in singing. she had a class for musicals, one for painting, one for korean literature, one for western literature. by the time she was in middle school she was out until ten each night and when she arrived home there was homework to do, piano pieces to practice, vocal scales to run. when they discovered she had the voice of an angel, they traded some of the math lessons for vocal training, the arts for musicals, and so on. of course she enjoyed this - she enjoyed being talented, being told she was talented. she liked that she was making her parents proud, making them happy. when they had been endlessly sacrificing for her for so long, it felt as though it was her sworn duty to provide them that bliss. the thing is, of course, that kim rian was never consulted about any of this. she never requested these sacrifices. more than anything. even as a child, the pressure was insurmountable. her voice continued to improve, her range growing, her appearance matching the soft and soulful nature of her music. “she sings like she’s lived a thousand years,” her trainer told her parents one day. “like she’s lived a thousand heartbreaks.” maybe she had, in a sense. she’d always felt too much, too intensely, in a way that seemed just a bit More than other people did, perhaps a bit too much entirely. and in this way her parents did not mean to break her, but they did. hours of lessons. the pressure of performance. auditions for endless programs and schools, camps and opportunities. so they relocate with her to new zealand of all places. it’s there that she learns the world is wide and vast and beyond her comprehension. the whole thing is isolating at first. it’s an arts school, for talented people, and she’s not the top of the barrel anymore. she learns, though, she progresses. she throws herself into after school english lessons to try and keep up with the curriculum, gets by on phonetically memorized ballads for awhile. unlike the more rigid korean idol system, they help her develop a tone of her own, something shaped to suit her voice first, her strengths. she learns from there to widen it, to expand her range to the airy falsettos of her home country. finds herself now, in a distant country, fiercely proud of korea. of the hallyu wave as it spreads. she finds a new goal, in returning to the idol scene back home, which riddles her parents with dismay. where was this misplaced pride back home, when her gaze was turned to distant shores? why had they sent her to this expensive and thoroughly classical school only for her to awaken a love of pop music? she picks up dancing - she’s not great, but her performance ability is strong. she’s got the lung capacity of a damn whale, apparently. she returns to korea at sixteen to live with her aunt, vocational training landing her a spot as am apprentice vocal tutor alongside her regular schooling. she’s apprenticed to a big name in the business, following her around to her lessons, in awe of the music that pours so freely from the lips of others, jealous of their opportunities. after having failed to catch eyes at global auditions or through submitted tapes, she thinks it’s enough just to be near the magic. the woman she’s been shadowing brings her along one day to midas media, and the melancholic fury in her bones is insurmountable. the desire to have been a part of this gleaming pinnacle, the knowledge she couldn’t have it. she’s given the chance to help with the lesson. and just as soon as she opens her mouth to coach them, she found herself drawing their attention. there was a flurry in the corner as he pulled out his phone, trained it on her. she remembers now blinking away her confusion in favor of returning to the lesson. when she came back at the end of the week for her next scheduled lesson, alongside her trainer, their students are gone. in their place were company representatives, and a contract. and thus started her crash course in idol activities, in dance, in presence and poise and passion. once more a maelstrom of expectations and desires that were not her own had overcome her, caught her up, taken her into a new and bizarre world. debut came swiftly as she upset the lineup- a vocally geared group needed someone with her wide range and endless years of training. and besides, they had time. midas was a well honed system. she had the vocals down, they just had to get her up to speed with the dance, and her modest background was enough that gruelling hours of training, working her double time compared to the others, was enough to push her towards debut. by the time she was finished, they’d taken a round cheeked girl with a honeyed voice and made her something formidable, had taught her to use the presence of gaze and motion to overcome for faults in dancing, to make the world long for her the way she’d longed for this, for the stage. a journey starts with one step, and that was hers.

there’s a faltering, a bauble when a relationship goes public, when her image takes a hit, when she’s expected to prove herself all over again. there’s a bubble in her chest that pops when her cherished debut as a soloist is met with distracted interest at best, when plans of a follow up are summarily dismissed, when she’s pushed into more and more school uniforms to act out the nation’s sweetest first love on screen over and over and over again, forever swooning and huffing and aegyoing at all the right times.

she doesn’t know who she is anymore, or what she wants to be. she’d wanted to be a singer, and she is. but what next? what now? when her debut feels like the peak everything else has seemed like a downhill slide, her group’s current climb upwards a desperate and feeble last breath. there’s a desperate urgency to prove herself, her worth, but she’s never thought much farther than a few months ahead and she doesn’t know how to do it. endless years in the industry later she’s known for her soft image, her clean character, her outspoken nature and the fact that she appears to be the portrait of dorian gray in lithe, fairylike form, ageless and undying. this is the image she crafts - like the softness of impeccably carved marble, of soft spun linen and thick drawn liner, the dichotomy of what it means to be innocent and alluring at once, begging to be tarnished.

in reality, ryan isn’t sure who she is, besides an aching maw of yearning, a void that won’t fill, a desperation she can’t shake, a melancholy that she’s never quite able to unseat. there’s sensitivity, sensibility, honey sticky sweet and the bloom of flowers, dense with hidden thorns, a nostalgia for a life she hasn’t lived, will never have.

#id.bio #id.midas #id.jinx #id.reign #id.lee jieun

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investmart007 · 6 years

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CLEVELAND | The Latest: Past due, Moody Blues inducted into Rock Hall

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CLEVELAND | The Latest: Past due, Moody Blues inducted into Rock Hall

CLEVELAND | April 14, 2018 (AP)(STL.News) — The Latest on the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony (all times local):

11:40 p.m.

After a long wait, the Moody Blues have moved into rock’s rarest room.

The influential progressive rock group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, ushered in by Heart’s Ann Wilson, who said the band “took me from childhood to adulthood as a disciple.”

The Moody Blues were ahead of their time, cutting edge. Their concept album “Days of Future Passed” is considered a classic and includes the hit “Nights In White Satin.”

Grounded in blues, they blended orchestral sounds into standard songs without missing a beat. Wilson reminded the sellout crowd at the Public Auditorium that the band never strayed far from its roots, saying, “the Moody Blues have always been a kick-ass rock band.”

Their die-hard fans pushed for years for them to be nominated, citing their influence on bands like Yes, Genesis and Rush — all Hall of Famers.

Justin Hayward, the band’s lead vocalist, guitarist and composer, said the band is honored to be “in the home of our heroes.”

___

11:05 p.m.

Soul singer Nina Simone, who raised awareness with a dazzling voice during the civil rights movement, is rock and roll royalty.

Simone was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday night by R&B superstar Mary J. Blige, who described her as “bold, strong, feisty and fearless and so vulnerable and transparent at the same time.”

A classically-trained pianist, Simone is often referred to as “The High Priestess of Soul.” She influenced countless musicians, including hip-hop artists Jay-Z, Kanye West and others who first discovered her from a 2015 Oscar-nominated documentary.

Blige feels a deep connection to Simone and said the women share an ability to ease people’s pain and “help people heal. We help people get through.”

Simone died in 2003. Her brother, Jon Wayman, accepted the enshrinement trophy on her behalf.

___

10:25 p.m.

The Cars have pulled into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

The pioneering new wave band, which crafted catchy pop songs into Top 40 hits, was inducted Saturday by Brandon Flowers, lead singer of The Killers. Flowers recalled the first time he heard The Cars while growing up in a tiny, “no stoplight” town in Utah, saying “40 years later they still sound like a new band to me.”

Founded in Boston, The Cars had a strong connection to Cleveland, the hometown of late bassist Benjamin Orr, who sang lead vocals on some the band’s biggest hits like “Just What I Needed,” ”Bye Bye Love” and “Drive.”

Orr died in 2000, but each of the band members acknowledged his impact, with lead singer Ric Ocasek saying “it feels strange being up here without him.”

___

9:45 p.m.

Overlooked but never unappreciated, Sister Rosetta Tharpe is finally a Rock & Roll Hall of Famer.

An inspiration to musicians from Elvis Presley to Johnny Cash, Tharpe was called “the godmother of rock and roll” Saturday night by Alabama Shakes lead singer Brittany Howard, who inducted one her biggest influences.

Playing electric guitar and singing gospel songs, Tharpe became a major star in the 1940s. She was the one who put a 14-year-old Little Richard Penniman on stage for the first time, and Little Richard’s life was never the same.

Tharpe died in 1973 at the age of 58, but her music lives on and is being appreciated by a new generation just learning of her legacy.

___

9:20 p.m.

Dire Straits went into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame without its leader.

Lead singer and guitarist Mark Knopfler skipped Saturday’s ceremony and his absence was a major disappointment to fans of the band, which was influenced by blues, country, Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan.

Founded in London while punk music was exploding, Dire Straits created a unique sound and had a string of radio hits in the 1970s and 1980s, including “Sultans Of Swing” and “Money For Nothing,” a song that captured how MTV re-shaped the music industry.

Bassist John Illsley acknowledged the awkwardness of Knopfler not being present and then took a subtle swipe at his bandmate and close friend by saying, “it’s more than one person, a collective.”

Illsley did compliment Knopfler for writing music that made the band “stand out from the crowd.”

___

8:45 p.m.

Bon Jovi, one of New Jersey’s finest musical exports since Bruce Springsteen, is now a Hall of Fame act.

Emerging as one of the top groups from the “hair band” era of the 1980s, the group led by singer Jon Bon Jovi, was enshrined Saturday before a sellout crowd familiar with all of its iconic anthems.

Radio superstar Howard Stern inducted the band with an irreverent, profanity-laced speech and also led the crowd in singing “Wanted Dead Or Alive,” one of Bon Jovi’s biggest hits that helped them sell 130 million albums.

During a 20-minute speech, Jon Bon Jovi recounted the band’s rise to superstardom from basements to sold-out arenas.

Then, with former guitarist Richie Sambora reuniting for the event, the band ripped into “You Give Love A Bad Name.”

___

7:45 p.m.

The late Tom Petty was honored with a rousing musical tribute by The Killers to open the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cleveland.

Petty, who was enshrined with his band The Heartbreakers in 2002, died in October of an accidental drug overdose shortly after wrapping up a highly successful North American tour.

As giant photos of Petty were displayed behind the stage, The Killers kicked off Saturday evening’s tribute with “American Girl” one of Petty’s best-known hits. The band then transitioned into a segment of “Free Fallin’ as lead singer Brandon Flowers urged the crowd of 10,000 to “get on your feet for the eternal Tom Petty.”

Flowers will deliver the induction speech to welcome The Cars into the Hall.

___

6:50 p.m.

The party hasn’t started at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony but the atmosphere already is rocking.

Guests are hitting the red carpet Saturday evening for the ceremony, which is back in Cleveland.

New Jersey rockers Bon Jovi, new wave pioneers the Cars and four first-time nominees, including singer Nina Simone, are in this year’s eclectic class. Dire Straits, The Moody Blues and Sister Rosetta Tharpe also are being enshrined.

Jon Bon Jovi is expected to be joined on stage by former members Richie Sambora and Alec John Such to perform some of their arena-friendly anthems like “Livin’ On A Prayer.”

Desmond Child, who co-wrote some of the band’s biggest hits, says he’d “love to see them back together.”

Dire Straits lead singer Mark Knopfler isn’t attending the event.

___

10:36 a.m.

Bon Jovi, the Cars and four first-time nominees, including Nina Simone, will be inducted as the 2018 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame class.

Dire Straits, The Moody Blues and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who died in 1973, will earn the prestigious honor Saturday night at Public Auditorium in Cleveland, where the Rock Hall is based.

Jon Bon Jovi will be inducted alongside current bandmates David Bryan and Tico Torres, as well as former members Richie Sambora and Alec John Such. The band will be inducted by Howard Stern.

Tharpe will be inducted by Brittany Howard, of Alabama Shakes. Mary J. Blige will induct Simone, who died in 2003.

Brothers Mark and David Knopfler, of English rockers Dire Straits, won’t attend the event, according to bassist John Illsley.

___

By Associated Press – published on STL.News by St. Louis Media, LLC (A.S)

___

#Cleveland #Days of Future Passed #Moody Blues inducted #Past due #Rock Hall

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sfjazz · 7 years

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Burt Bacharach Photos & Review - The Bay Bridged

http://thebaybridged.com/2017/06/13/photos-review-burt-bacharach-quips-wonder-still/

Photos + Review: Burt Bacharach quips, “You wonder why I am still doing this.”

By Carla Bova|June 13, 2017

With the first piano key he struck, legendary composer Burt Bacharach brought his San Francisco audience to a sweeter time through his musical message – what the world needs now is love.

He played a resounding retrospective showcasing his boundless catalog of classics from a golden era of music that he revolutionized.

Right up to the last chord, Bacharach had the crowd swaying, singing, and smiling as attendees recognized hit after hit from his parade of songs that never went out of style. He made sure everyone left smiling by inviting all to join an irresistible singalong to his beloved “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head.”

“Let’s sing one song together,” Bacharach said. “The audience and me and the band.”

Considered one of the most renowned and accomplished living composers, Bacharach’s career spans six decades that are marked by 66 US Top 40 hits, six No. 1 songs, eight Grammy awards, and three Academy Awards.

Bacharach’s impact on music history is undeniable. A pioneer of creative standards, his compositions are credited as helping define popular music dating back to the late 1950’s. He claims hits in a breadth of styles, from rock and soul to Broadway shows and Hollywood films. He has influenced artists across genres, with his works recorded by hundreds of singers from Perry Como and Gene Pitney to Barbra Streisand and Diana Krall. Over the years, he maintained global appeal to generations of fans.

The 89-year-old songwriter, conductor, arranger, producer frequently broke from playing the piano during his June 7 show at Davies Symphony Hall, and stood center stage in front of his grand instrument. He leaned casually against it while chatting with the audience.

“I love this hall,” he said. “It is one of the greatest halls I’ve ever played in so I am glad to be back.”

Between songs, he spoke of memories including his mother’s influence, getting a divorce in Las Vegas, appearing on the Tonight Show with James Brown, and touring with actress/singer Marlene Dietrich. He was her music director from 1958 to 1961. Prior to that he worked as piano accompanist for many singers includingPaula Stewart. They were married from 1953 to 1958.

“I guess you guys wonder why I am still doing this,” Bacharach said. “I don’t play golf. ...What grounds me is to make music, to continue to write music, to continue to play music, and to continue to perform for people like you. If I could make you feel a bit better, lift a bit of the heaviness off you, then I feel very happy.”

Bacharach performed with a seven-member band and three singers. Still, he played piano the entire show, sang some of his own hits, and through sharp conducting displayed how he earned his reputation as a perfectionist.

At the end of every piece, he stood from his piano bench. He spoke or sang the last few words of each song, guiding the singers to end on the note he wanted, at the tempo he wanted. With a flick of his hand, he likewise guided the musicians to end on point.

Bacharach is considered a visionary whose music is often described as having unconventional time signatures, unusual chord progressions, atypical instruments, catchy melodies, and combinations of jazz, pop, Brazilian.

He told the crowd he loved jazz and sited his major influences as bebop legendsCharlie Parker and Thelonious Monk. “Dizzy Gillespie was my hero,” he said.

By some accounts, Bacharach wrote about 500 compositions. His charting songs are too many to name and too many to play in a two-hour show. He tried though, by including two jam-packed medleys. “We are going to do a lot of music for you,” he said. “Some old, some not so old.”

The first medley was a group of hit songs and a nod to two of Bacharach’s longtime collaborators.

“Many of these songs have lyrics written by the brilliant Hal David,” he said. Bacharach and David met when both worked at New York’s famed Brill Building, known as the site where some of the greatest American songs were crafted. The two men first collaborated in 1957, writing "The Story of My Life" which was recorded by Marty Robbins.

“This is the very first record we did with Dionne Warwick,” he said, to start off the medley. The band then played “Don’t Make Me Over.” The song reached No. 21 in 1962. It was the first of 20 Top 40 hits that Bacharach and David would write and produce for Warwick over the next 10 years.

The medley continued with “Walk On By,” “This Guy’s In Love With You,” “I Say A Little Prayer,” “Trains and Boats and Planes,” “Do You Know the Way To San Jose,” “Wishin’ and Hopin’,” and “(There’s) Always Something There To Remind Me.”

The latter was sung masterfully by John Pagano and accompanied by big horns. This Bacharach/David song was recorded by three different artists in the ‘60s alone and was made popular again in 1983 by the British synth pop band Naked Eyes with a cover version that reached No. 8.

The second medley featured a slew of hits and award-winning songs that Bacharach wrote for movies. He reportedly began scoring films after meeting his second wife, actress Angie Dickinson. They were married from 1965 to 1980.

“Motion pictures, film, cinema has been good fortune for me. Here’s some of the music I’ve done for them,” he said.

He returned to his piano and sang “The Look of Love” which he wrote for the soundtrack of the 1967 film Casino Royale. It was originally performed by Dusty Springfield.

The medley continued with snippets of “The April Fools,” “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,” “Making Love” (a hit for Roberta Flack in 1982), “Wives and Lovers” (a hit for Jack Jones in 1963), and “Alfie” which won a Grammy award for Best Instrumental Arrangement in 1967.

There was only time for a verse or two, but people jumped to their feet for “What’s New Pussycat?,” the No. 3 title track hit for Tom Jones in 1965. Then came a small taste of “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head,” written for the 1969 filmButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The No. 1 hit and film score earned Bacharach two Oscars and a Grammy award.

The audience grew sentimental as Bacharach played “Arthur’s Theme (The Best That You Can Do)” from the 1981 film Arthur, which he also scored. Sung byChristopher Cross, the song was yet another No. 1 hit and won an Oscar for Best Song.

“Arthur’s Theme” is also notable as the start of Bacharach’s relationship with lyricist Carole Bayer Sager, who became his third wife from 1982 to 1991. The pair collaborated on many hits played that evening including “That’s What Friends Are For,” the 1985 No.1 Grammy-winning hit sung by Dionne Warwick and Friends, and the 1986 No. 1 R&B duet “On My Own” sung by Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald.

“Some I like better. Some I like less, but they are mine,” Bacharach said of his songs.

Other highlights of the show included singer Josie James’ rendition of “Anyone Who Had a Heart” (originally sung by Warwick in 1963) which Bacharach called spectacular. And singer Donna Taylor’s striking version of “(They Long To Be) Close To You” with sparse accompaniment by Bacharach on the piano. The Carpenters’ version of this track hit No. 1 in 1970. Also notable, Pagano’s “I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself,” which earned a hug from the composer.

“This is a very, very old song I wrote years ago with Bob Hilliard, ‘Mexican Divorce,’” Bacharach said, when introducing the 1961 track. “It was recorded bythe Drifters.”

“There were three ways to get a divorce that I knew of. The standard way was to go to court with expensive lawyers. Another way was to go to Las Vegas and establish residency for six weeks. That’s how I got my first divorce. Then there was a Mexican divorce. It was long before anyone had an idea to build a … wall.”

He continued, “We thought it was going to be a hit but we lost the South. They didn’t want to play anything that had divorce in it.”

Oliver Bacharach came out to play keyboard on a few songs including “Make It Easy On Yourself.” Bacharach praised his son as a gifted keyboardist who took to the instrument naturally.

“I got a push from my mother and look where it got me,” Bacharach said. He recalled that his mother forced him to take piano lessons. Though he fiercely hated the lessons, he continued playing. “I did not want to disappoint my mother.”

Bacharach married his fourth wife Jane Hansen in 1993. He has seen countless tributes, accolades, and compilations, as well as a resurgence throughout the '90s and beyond. Some noteworthy examples include a 1996 appearance with Noel Gallagher of Oasis; cameo appearances in three Austin Powers movies; several appearances on American Idol; and a 1998 collaboration with Elvis Costello on the Grammy-winning single “I Still Have That Other Girl.” In 2005 he released the Grammy-winning album At This Time, which had contributions by Dr. Dre, Chris Botti, Rufus Wainwright, and Costello and was the first record to feature lyrics written by Bacharach.

The San Francisco show started to wrap up with “Any Day Now,” then the encore “That’s What Friends Are For.” Bacharach asked the audience to join him in singing “Rain Drops Keep Fallin' On My Head.” As the song played, he blew a kiss, signed a fan’s album, fist bumped his three singers, hugged his son, and waved goodnight. He walked off as the memorable melody concluded. Another precise ending, conducted Bacharach style.

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chpatdoorsl3z0a1 · 7 years

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Afraid of a Bubble? Buy Without Fear in These Top 10 Stable, Growing Markets

marekuliasz/iStock; omersukrugoksu/iStock; drmakkoy/Getty Images

Today’s rapidly skyrocketing home prices are making more than a few people nervous.

After all, it was only about a decade ago that the U.S. real estate market bubble burst, and millions of Americans lost their homes (and for many, life savings). And, as most of us recall all too well, plenty of others found themselves underwater on their mortgages, owing more than the homes were worth. But then came … the recovery. God bless the recovery! The housing market and economy have come roaring back. Some markets, in fact, are booming to historic levels.

But many folks still have some serious housing PTSD when it comes to the prospect of buying. And isn’t a home supposed to make you feel safe and secure?

So let us put you at ease: What goes up doesn’t have to come crashing down. As we’ve said before, record-high prices alone do not make a bubble. Still, if playing it safe is your top priority, we’ve got you covered. Our data team at realtor.com® set out to find the real estate markets that are least likely to pop if the country heads toward another recession—metros where home prices are still rising at a healthy (versus dizzying) pace.

We also only included markets where the supply of homes for sale is still large enough that buyers are unlikely to be pulled into costly bidding wars.

“These are the Goldilocks of today’s housing market,” says Javier Vivas, manager of economic research for realtor.com. “Not too hot, and not too cold, these markets present the right balance of housing and economic conditions for buying and selling activity to evolve naturally.”

Of course, no market is completely bulletproof against another financial crisis. But these cities, with their strong and diversified industries, come pretty darn close. Plus, steadily rising price appreciation means that they’re likely to be solid investments for the long haul. And slow and steady wins the race, right?

“They have rising demand, and the corresponding supply to quench it,” Vivas says. “And they’re all relatively smaller metros, often with large nearby siblings eating up any potential irrational growth, which keeps them from overheating.”

To identify the 10 metros where you can buy a home and rest easy about it, we compared the 150 largest U.S. housing markets, using nine key metrics:

Positive (but not out-of-control) price appreciation of between 4% and 12% in 2016

An ample supply of homes for sale (between three and seven months available)

Affordability, measured by the percentage of income needed to buy a home

New home construction recovered from the recession

Median number of days homes are on the market (the lower the better)

Foreclosure rate

Percentage of homes underwater

Percentage of homes with price reduction (yep: Lower is better)

Low unemployment rate

Got it? So stay calm, get comfortable, and take a tour through our list of America’s most rock-steady markets.

1. Fort Collins, CO

Median home price: $376,000

Annual price growth: 7%

If you’re looking for sure footing in the housing market, Fort Collins may be for ewe.

Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post via Getty Images

Colorado State University and a robust high-tech scene, which includes Hewlett-Packard and Intel, contribute to an enviable unemployment rate of 2.9% in this city of 160,000, the state’s fourth biggest. Fort Collins also has a third line of defense against economic downturns: the beer industry. It is home to a major Anheuser-Busch facility and 22 craft breweries—and as the Prohibitionists found, the alcohol industry is awfully tough to kill.

“Largely due to its diverse economy, the Fort Collins market has been extremely stable,” says Realtor Larry Kendall of the Group. “During the recession, our home prices didn’t fall nearly as much as the rest of the country.”

Fort Collins is also very affordable—at least by Colorado standards. The median home price is about 25% less than in Denver and 40% less than in Boulder, CO, both of which are about an hour away.

Housing highlight: The city is home to River Rock Commons, a progressive cohousing development of nearly three dozen single-family homes set up around a common house, where residents can prepare communal meals they can enjoy with one another. Togetherness rules.

2. Madison, WI

Median home price: $272,500

Annual price growth: 10%

The University of Wisconsin infuses Madison with a young, hip, and relentlessly energetic vibe. That feeds directly into the ultra-walkable downtown lined with cafés and restaurants. But if that’s not your scene, residents can take advantage of the miles of hiking and biking trails along idyllic lake shores.

Homeowners here also have a low risk of foreclosure. Only 28 homes were shuttered in the last quarter of 2016, representing less than 2% of all home sales.

“That’s because we have a solid economy, with very few layoffs,” says realtor Alex Saloutos of First Weber Realtors. “Coming off the last recession, buyers are also much more cautious. They don’t max out their [debt-to-income] ratio.”

The University of Wisconsin is the area’s largest employer, but there are also jobs to be had with companies like health care software maker Epic Systems and insurance provider Wisconsin Physicians Service.

Housing highlight: Wisconsin state Rep. Melissa Sargent, who hails from Madison, recently proposed a law that would increase the number of “sober housing” developments in the state, intended for drug addicts and alcoholics in recovery.

3. Durham, NC

Median home price: $320,000

Annual price growth: 10%

Durham, NC

ZinCat/iStock

Top schools like Duke and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill supply a steady stream of talent to Durham’s thriving health care and research industries.

Research Triangle Park, aka “Smartsville, USA,” is one of the world’s largest research centers. More than 200 high-tech companies, including IBM and Cisco, operate there. Throw a rock, and you might hit a Nobel Prize-winning scientist or inventor of the next life-altering tech startup. (But don’t throw rocks, please.)

“People are starting to notice Durham,” says Courtney James, owner of Urban Durham Realty. “It’s a relatively affordable market for young people graduating from universities and creating their own startups. This is a young city, full of creative energy.”

Housing highlight: When living in traditional homes gets boring, Durham residents can move into tobacco mills converted into awesome lofts with 22-foot ceilings at the Apartments at American Tobacco.

4. Honolulu, HI

Median home price: $649,500

Annual price growth: 9%

How the heck did gorgeous, universally desired Honolulu wind up on this list? Affordability clearly isn’t the Hawaiian capital’s greatest asset, but high rankings across all of our other metrics make it a surprisingly stable market. The Polynesian paradise has an extremely low foreclosure rate (2%), very few underwater homes (4%), and a jealousy-inducing unemployment rate (2.8%).

And, hey, who doesn’t love crashing waves, lush palm trees, and sun-drenched beaches? Those lures, which draw legions of tourists from all over the world, helped to insulate the city—for the most part—from the last recession.

“We have a well-balanced combination of mainland and international buyers, which cushioned us through the last mortgage meltdown,” says Khai Tran, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties.

Housing highlight: There’s a push to bring back the traditional Polynesian hale homes in Hawaii, as a way to create more affordable housing for the state’s low-income and homeless residents. The thatched homes are typically made of local trees and plants.

5. Greenville, SC

Median home price: $234,000

Annual price growth: 10%

Greenville, SC

SeanPavonePhoto/iStock

Greenville strikes a remarkable balance between economic diversity (aka a variety of jobs) and a high quality of life. The city has no shortage of large companies with local operations, like the multinational conglomerate 3M, General Electric, and Michelin, which is drawing younger and older workers alike. Yet, it still serves up an affordable cost of living, with a revitalized downtown filled with cool restaurants and bars, art galleries, and boutiques lining the popular Falls Park, and yep, even a craft distillery.

Realtor Lindsay Saunders, of Greenville Home Girls, says the majority of her clients are younger professionals relocating to Greenville thanks to corporate job opportunities and the city’s affordability.

“They sold their homes in big cities like Charlotte and Atlanta, come here, buy a home, and live comfortably with the rest of their savings,” Saunders says.

Bucking the national trend, Greenville does not suffer from the problem of having too few homes for sale. That’s due to a building boom that’s reshaping the city.

Housing highlight: Completed in 2004, the beautiful 345-foot Liberty Bridge in Falls Park holds 1,300 people at a time, supported by a single suspension cable. The stunning downtown view is just a bonus.

6. Ann Arbor, MI

Median home price: $286,000

Annual price growth: 10%

The University of Michigan is a huge economic and cultural force here. Benefiting from a highly skilled workforce, Ann Arbor has thriving technology and health care communities, including Trinity Health and University of Michigan Medical Center.

Deb Odom Stern, an associate broker at Charles Reinhart Realtors, says she has never worked with any sellers who are “moving away from Ann Arbor because they lost their jobs.” The majority of her clients are out-of-towners relocating to Ann Arbor for work.

In the off-hours, there are plenty of things to do. Michigan Stadium, the country’s largest stadium, is packed with Wolverine fans during University of Michigan games. In addition to museums and performing art centers, Ann Arbor—which some people consider the city with the most educated population in the United States—has a reservoir of independent bookstores.

Housing highlight: Ann Arbor is dotted with “fairy doors,” unique and exquisitely detailed tiny entrances set into walls around town. Many of them open onto miniature rooms. Cute, huh?

7. Manchester, NH

Median home price: $293,500

Annual price growth: 9%

Manchester, NH

SeanPavonePhoto/iStock

With colorful foliage, Colonial-style homes, and the occasional moose, Manchester conjures up a bucolic Northeastern mise en scène that’s becoming increasingly rare. Just an hour’s drive north of Boston, Manchester is a commutable destination for home buyers fleeing the ridiculously competitive big-city market. Its median home price is only two-thirds of what they would pay in Boston.

A longtime manufacturing center, New Hampshire’s largest city has made big strides in exploring new industries. The downtown has an emerging high-tech hub, including a revitalized mill building serving as a startup incubator with a catchy name: Silicon Millyard. And Manchester’s unemployment rate of 3% is among the country’s lowest.

“A lot of millennials [have been] moving into the downtown area in the past several years,” says local real estate agent Moe Archambault, owner of Moe Marketing Realty Group. Obviously, he says, the draw is “job availability—the Silicon Valley type of employment.”

Housing highlight: Comedian Adam Sandler grew up in Manchester, and never lets his fans forget it. “Grown-Ups 2” prominently featured Manchester’s iconic diner Red Arrow—recreated on location in nearby Marblehead, MA.

8. Salem, OR

Median home price: $283,000

Annual price growth: 11%

As the state capital of Oregon, Salem brims with state and federal employees. Surrounded by picturesque countryside, Salem is a regional hub for agribusinesses—including Kettle Foods, maker of dangerously addictive potato chips—and a booming renewable energy sector.

And home prices are only two-thirds of what they are in pricey hipster Portland, just an hour away.

Education is a big plus for Salem, too. The Salem-Keizer School District is the second-largest school district in Oregon, with 65 schools and about 41,000 students.

A solid economy helps to buoy Salem’s housing market. Just 13% of homes in Salem had price reductions in 2016, among the lowest in our study.

Housing highlight: Salem is smack-dab in the middle of Oregon’s wine country, and you can even live in a winery—Ankeny Vineyard is currently on the market at only $895,000.

9. Oklahoma City, OK

Median home price: $219,000

Annual price growth: 7%

Oklahoma City, OK

Joel Sorrell/iStock

The capital of Oklahoma has more going on than tornadoes. The city is home to the most rabidly loyal fan base in the NBA, and more rodeo festivals than you’ll ever have time to attend. Most importantly, with such an affordable median home price, buyers can realize their dream of a spacious home with a backyard for the kids.

Oklahoma City is also A-OK when it comes to dealing with recessions. It was the big city the least affected by economic downturns between 1990 and 2015. according to a study in the Journal of Urban Economics.

The recent oil slump did have some impact here. But so far, home prices have been holding up. Prices went up 7% last year, down from 11% in the previous year, but much more than in other oil-dependent cities, such as Midland, TX (-7%), and Bismarck, ND (-7%).

That’s partly due to a diverse economy of oil and gas, state government, and the Tinker Air Force Base, which help to safeguard it against economic volatility.

Housing highlight: Oklahoma City’s most expensive home on the market comes with a private pond and an awesome grotto. A steal at $4.75 million.

10. San Antonio, TX

Median home price: $276,000

Annual price growth: 5%

Dubbed “Military City, USA,” San Antonio is home to four major military bases, which supply more than 80,000 jobs. The city is blessed with strong bioscience and health care industries, which employ 1 out of every 6 San Antonians.

The city also has attractions like the bustling River Walk, the tourist fave Alamo, and lots of picturesque Greek Revival historic homes downtown.The city’s old-world charm attracts not just tourists, but residents who bond over tacos.

To meet the housing demand, new condos have been popping up all over the metro.The good news: San Antonio still has room to grow! At a whopping 461 square miles, it ranks as the ninth-largest city by area in the contiguous United States.

Housing highlight: King William Historic District, a historical neighborhood with beautiful Victorian-style homes, dates to the 1790s and is San Antonio’s first suburb.

Data source: Realtor.com, Moody’s analysis, ATTOM Data Solutions, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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realestateagent532 · 7 years