#Few Crackles

[goodbysunball]

Laughing with the gods

A couple latecomers in 2023 that ought not to be missed. Happy New Year, in February.

Drifting, Dream Autopsy (Förlag För Fri Musik)

A welcome sign that the Discreet Music-adjacent actors continue to find grey skies and grimy alleys to haunt. Drifting is an overseas collaboration between Form Hunter's Weston Czerkies and Gothenburg's own Julia Bjernelind and Dan Johansson. Both Julia and Dan are in Amateur Hour, and Dream Autopsy ends up around the same neighborhood as the underrated Kr​ö​kta Tankar och Br​ä​nda Vanor double LP, but Weston reorients Drifting with a strong emphasis on tape hiss and mechanical noise. Within this space, Julia's voice acts more as a poltergeist haunting the proceedings; there are probably proper lyrics, but long song titles are colorful enough, and the keening vocals provide instrumental contrast to the rather bleak, often caustic rumblings below. A few brief respites are found across the album: the beginning of "Kill Them All at Once," for example, is a catchy yet eerie vocals-and-keyboard snippet, and the very end of "Narratives In Music Is a Fuck (In Two Parts)" rides distantly groaning tape loops with Julia's sickly-sweet vocals. The push-pull between the gentle vocals and the tape noise is presented as organically as possible, playing out as two sidelong tracks devoid of any clunky transitions or jarring cuts. Dream Autopsy doesn't come as much of a surprise in terms of the sounds within; the label's own "sublime tape music" descriptor fits. But how effectively the sounds are rendered makes it feel more intentional than just a meeting of the minds. Shocking how much this one sticks once it's over, and even more shocking that it's still widely available - scoop now and avoid regret later.

Mount Trout, Petrol Bush (Albert's Basement)

Praise be to Albert's Basement for putting the new Mount Trout album on wax, something I've daydreamed about doing for both Screwy and Shelter Belt but never had the connections, know-how or gumption to do. The warm-sounding, naturally imperfect vinyl format is readymade for Mount Trout's brand of detuned, shambling and spacious music, a tradition the guitar-bass-drums trio continues on Petrol Bush. This one feels like the most approachable of their three albums to date, with tracks like "Dan's Bar," "Aquatic Waltz" and "No Wrong" featuring sparkling guitars and gentle tempos that could slot in next to Devotion-era Beach House on a playlist. True to form, there's some grit and sinew buried in the mix, a couple curveballs lest you get too comfortable in the late day sunshine conjured by certain tracks. I'll let you decipher the lyrics to "Dreams," and "Find a Man" and "Shoveller" simmer with a nearly AmRep level of angst. "Find a Man" is particularly jarring, coming after the daydreaming "Aquatic Waltz,” where the lyrics ("Find a man, find a man/who can be my lover") become drawn out and more menacing as the song goes on. The lyrical efficiency on "Find a Man" is a new refinement for the band across Petrol Bush, and one need look no further than the first track here for proof. The lyrics are made up of little more than "Laughing with the gods/I don't know/if things are really good," slipping a splinter under the fingernail during some Dionysian afternoon. It's the space Mount Trout has always lived in, looking for comfort or peace (possibly found on "No Wrong") but embracing the pain, injustice and shame pervasive in the world. Petrol Bush, like Shelter Belt, puts me in a contemplative, somewhat melancholy headspace, but everything here feels warm, gently baked in the sun; it sits somewhere between Low and Palace Brothers, but with enough needling from the lyrics to sidestep any self-pity. The LP was released late last year, and didn't land here until late January, otherwise it might've taken the top spot in my year-end list for 2023. Highly, highly recommended; put it on and simmer in it while the great thaw beckons.

ssabæ, Le Roi Est L'oiseau (Few Crackles)

Blink-and-it's-gone release from mid-November 2023, courtesy of France's intriguing and selective Few Crackles label. ssabæ released Azurescens one year before and was favorably reviewed by some shops and writers I respect, and while I managed to grab a copy from Technique Street (fave shop/distro, big ups), at the time it felt a bit too refined and stately for my taste. Still, there was something present in the music that made it past the sparkling reviews and limited edition pressing, and stuck in my craw long enough to make checking out this new album a priority. Glad I did, because Le Roi Est L'oiseau is even better. The loose collective running about 12 members deep, according to all of the names on the sleeve, takes elements of jazz, folk, field recordings and chamber music to make this hushed, spare music that only works with the rapt attention of the listener. On one hand, this is a collection of influences and sounds that pops up a lot these days, either from contemporary outfits or reissues, and it's not really a priority for me to make space for all of it; on the other hand, a track like Le Roi Est L'oiseau's "Le Premier Soir du Monde" comes on, sits you down and makes apparent the potential of this amalgamation of sounds in the right hands. There is an almost alchemical, mystical element to ssabæ, the austere presentation giving the impression that these sounds are sacred and deeply spiritual. The sounds here live in darkness, stillness, away from any light pollution; where notable contemporaries use repetition to transcend this sphere, ssabæ conjure shadows and voices in isolation. The stunning title track could fit on the Twin Peaks soundtrack were it devoid of kitsch, and there've been more than a few late nights where the voices at the end of the track get under my skin. Quintessential late-night soundtrack, near-perfect in presentation and execution, and hopefully an album the label sees fit to make available again.

Stress Positions, Harsh Reality (Three One G)

I caught Stress Positions at a last-minute show booked here in Knoxville last December, knowing only that (a) Iron Lung reissued their demo on vinyl, and (b) the Chicago band was mostly made up of former members of C.H.E.W., who also had an LP and 7" on Iron Lung. The band went on to tear apart my flagrant indifference and put on one of the best sets I saw all year, drawing mostly from their just-released LP on Three One G, a label that I had no idea was still active. It's getting harder for me to differentiate hardcore punk, let alone get excited about analyzing why some bands are more convincingly pissed off than others. Stress Positions make it easy with acrobatic drumming courtesy of Jon Giralt (check "White Leech"), meaty riffs smeared with righteous anger, and the performance of Stephanie Brooks, a vocalist that can easily shift from rapid-fire to menacing. It doesn't hurt that the songs tackle politically-induced pervasive poverty, white privilege and police brutality with pointed lyrics and the appropriate high level of rage and indignation. The band does the fast stuff as effectively as they can do mosh-worthy: "No Sympathy (For the Police)" is the most fun you'll have stage-diving to hating cops, and "Performative Justice" fits an impressive number of movements in its grinding 25 seconds. It's after "Performative Justice" that things begin to depart from the norms of hardcore; "Sunken Place" has the same feel as the rest of the record, but the lyrics are more opaque ("Hell is a sunken place/in awe of its power/a subtle spasm flirts with desire"), and the crawling closer "Ode to Aphrodite" lumbers with a violent Life Time-era Rollins Band level of menace before the raging close. It's a jaw-dropping ending, both musically and lyrically anomalous for hardcore, the lyrics tackling the repression of sexual desire tangled within a hollow morality. Powerful record; here's hoping they stick together to tease out the ideas in the last two tracks into another recording.

[iamlisteningto]

ssabæ’s le roi est l’oiseau

[aktionpak]

Le Roi Est L'oiseau

A monster of a song. I love how much things move around even while there is that constant flat-line. Deathprod, Felicia Atkinson and Arve Henriksen spring to mind. Really gorgeous.

[yesdramas]

FANGS OF FORTUNE 大梦归离 — 2024, dir. Edward Guo, Luo Luo, Wei Nan   

[zukoisneverhappy]

i have a teensy tinsey problem with falling in love with the (usually) non canon, doomed by the narrative, angst ridden, tragic ships…

i don’t plan on solving this problem

[azureblooet]

Separate cotl opinion/headcanon

The fight with Nari was not close. The Lamb kicked his ass.

thats all thanks for coming

[aq2003]

archive dive #2: the comedy of errors (2000)

so this one is. A mess LMAO like god is it so fucking funny and entertaining in some areas but so terrible in some others. i was expecting some outdatedness, bc some of it is kind of inextricable from the source material, but some of it has to do with stuff purely on the adaptation side as well. this was still a very well done production on the technical side: acting, staging, pacing, tone, and costumes/music (with some exceptions). compared to as you like it, i feel like this production is really accessible in that you could show this to someone completely unfamiliar w/ shakespeare and they'd be able to understand everything. however there are some very problematic elements re: the setting and some side characters that really weigh it down looking at it now (which i think is helpful to know for anyone going into this blind!) and i think it's pretty worthwhile to dissect it with a critical eye. also: the audio for the cds gets super crackly esp for the middle of act 2 so if anyone else is visiting stratford maybe try the alternate archive copy

prev / archive dive tag / next

i find it interesting how different the antipholuses feel in terms of personality. the dromios are pretty similar but like. dt's antipholus of syracuse is sort of a funny weird loser that gets weak in the knees for any attractive woman he sees. anthony howell's antipholus of ephesus is like this humorless and kind of scarily violent man. and even though they're twins the former feels younger than the latter to me? also you can see the difference in their personalities in the dynamics w/ their dromios too; the syracusians feel more like brothers/friends while the ephesians feel like master and servant

the comedy of errors really is a whole play shakespeare wrote about your secret evil twin being real and fucking up your life except as the play rolls on it becomes clear to the audience you are the evil twin and your twin is just stupid and horny and cringefail

the biggest problem w this production is its really blatant orientalism that gets basically played for laughs/spectacle. specifically: the portrayals of the first + second merchants and the courtesan all kinda vary from "extremely stereotypical" to "racist caricature" (also i think the actor for the first merchant is white???). the courtesan was already a problematic character but adding that racialized element and how she's portrayed as this magically alluring, very sexualized woman that nearly every man in the play falls for... makes it worse, definitely. and also some bad choices being made re: the music cuz in act 1 the vibe seems to be "smooth jazz" (which i absolutely loved) and then for moments in act 2 when the syracusians are like "oh fuck this is a weird cursed land full of witches trying to tempt us", (and when they're being chased with swords by the second merchant and friends) the music shifts towards a middle-eastern-inspired sound and it's like. ok. free me

luce seems to be split off and made into an original character i think? bc she's a side character that kicks off the play and isn't dressed like a kitchen maid meanwhile dromio of ephesus' fiancé never actually appears. that's one way to try to solve the racism in the text i suppose but it is a shame the production had to cook up its whole separate category of issues outside of this

one thing i will give this production re: optics is how they lean really far into the implication that antipholus of ephesus has been cheating on adriana—this is what i thought when i was originally reading through the play (up until the bit where adriana gets reprimanded by lady abbess for being a hysterical paranoid woman driving her husband into insanity because she's constantly assuming he's being unfaithful). in this production though it's just straight up shown that antipholus of ephesus is cheating on her and her paranoia was completely valid and i think that was a really good choice. adriana even gets to slap him! she still absolutely needs to get a divorce though

dromio of syracuse speaking through an intercom to the ephesians in act 3 scene 1 was super fucking funny, i know in the original they don't see his face either but there's something about the way they did it here that made me lose it

i love the way the syracusians play off of each other, they are probably my favorite thing about the production. dt and ian hughes have a LOT of comedic chemistry together. like the whole "she is spherical" bit is real unfunny in itself but at the start of it where dromio says the line over and over again while david breaks character and says to the audience "got that?" and "calm down there's loads more of this to get through" made me genuinely laugh! (atennantcytoact has an audio clip of it here)

also the moment where antipholus of syracuse leans over on his dromio's shoulder and then dromio makes antipholus bend his knees so he can lean on him back (bc antipholus is so tall by comparison). really really good and i love it. communicates the dynamic between the syracusians v well

the sound effects for the golden chain. Lmfao

the "i buy a thousand pound a year i buy a rope!" line being repeated by dromio of ephesus over and over like it's a really funny joke that nobody understands absolutely killed me bc of how the actual folger annotation for that line was "dromio's indignant exit line has not been satisfactorily explained"

antipholus of syracuse is like "i'm not arguing with an attractive woman coming my way, whatever you say beautiful, please step on me" and antipholus of ephesus is like "i'm going to cheat on my wife and then i'm going to plan to domestically abuse her because i think she's cheating on me back"

a personal highlight of mine is antipholus of syracuse at the start of act 4 scene 3 where he's starting to freak the fuck out over everything that is happening. like it's so fucking funny. you poor thing, splashing water on your face. if you had a working braincell you would connect the dots. also makes great use of david tennant's talent for playing a character that is losing their fucking mind

also (shown in the image at the top of the post) dromio of syracuse's entrance in this scene to the funky jazz music wielding an umbrella and wearing the trenchcoat and sunglasses. it's so fucking good. i could watch it one billion times

i wish the audio didn't cut out when the syracusians came in with the swords because it looked like it was one of the best scenes in the play

the part at the end where the gang figures out what went down over the course of the whole story after discovering there are two antipholuses and two dromios was really well done. it was one of the least entertaining parts of the play when i was just reading it but seeing it play out was actually super fun, seeing all the reactions + the production fully leaning into the ridiculousness of the story/characters, was rly good

also the two sets of twins still getting mixed up by everyone even when they're standing right next to each other was such a good bit and it never got old

the audience "awww"ing at the hugs between the twins at the end... honestly, so true! i also felt a bit fuzzy at that! even for antipholus of ephesus! even if he is pretty terrible i'm glad he found his brother. maybe he can grow and change as a person after this, i have hope for him (adriana still needs to leave him though)

[kyeomssant]

we had bury your gays in a time called you and now 'villian is gay' as a plot twist which ( while so fucking unserious, like im laughing my ass off rn ) im taking as a (somewhat) sign off progress bc we had queer main charcters in mainstream shows. So, like this is how it started in the west and then evolved into us getting actual queer main character who had nothing that tragic happen to them. So, its the same thing thats gonna happen here right.... right? *nervous laugh*

[gremlinandacrow]

Crackle Short (Angst)

Yet another Crackle post! This time it's a short story and is nothing but musing! But it's also them going through a gender crisis.

I didn't write this with a specific time in mind, other than sometime after a session my group had in December! And also I'll admit when I initially wrote this earlier this month, it was out of some good old, wonderful, inspiration~ So thank @adrenalineangel for this short story!

Content Warning: Internalized Transphobia, mentions of past injuries, and a slight emotional outburst near the end!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Crackle’s latest form was taken from him, he legitimately has this thought gnawing at the back of his head that keeps going, “This doesn’t feel right.” At first, when he can’t shove that thought away by fighting or spending time with his friends, he reasons that…It was fun “pretending” to be a girl. He was like Emanuel when he does drag. But then his brain tells him, “But you prolonged it. Didn’t you feel happier?”

Hah, no, he wasn’t! It was just…A long joke! A-and if the joke wasn’t him being a girl, it was obviously the fact that he was a human again. Ha! Yeah, last time he was a human, he fell for Merlin’s tricks and paid for it!

“But when Norie reversed it, you weren’t hurt physically. Your skin didn’t feel like it was being torn apart…Right?”

…Not physically. That same, bubbling emotion he felt when he lost his first human form was there: Guilt that had once locked itself into his heart.

Except why was that guilt back? He didn’t destroy anyone’s sons-

…He wasn’t tricked into destroying anyone’s sons this time.

During the long nights, when he was female…He slept easier. Whenever he had the chance to wear something frilly, dresses especially, he laughed louder, brightened more. Tonight, after nursing plenty of drinks at the tavern, he still couldn’t sleep. He faced the cracked ceiling, alone with his dreadful thoughts.

He couldn’t be normal in any sense, could he?

No, he couldn’t have been born alongside a clan of dragonborns. He couldn’t go off on an average adventure, where all he’d do is eat, drink, and electrocute anyone who stood in his party’s way. Most of all, he…He couldn’t even look, or act like a true dragonborn.

Deep within the concaves of his chest, he felt more guilt crawling and eating away at him.

So what if he was happy? He didn’t deserve comfort, especially not after what he’s done. A monster never learns, it destroys, and that is all it will do until it is slain.

Ugh. That battle he had a while ago…That was his best work. Things went to plan…Except when he was stabbed. He gripped his midsection like the wounds were still there. That fire that burned as he felt his guts spill and be arranged back, thanks to Quinn, was still a potent memory.

…Quinn. They weren’t like most people. They…They didn’t seem to care about who they were. In fact, any anguish they faced was because someone, or something, stopped them. They’d figure out some loophole in no time after that. They were one of the smartest people Crackle ever knew.

And…He wondered how they knew who they were. Was it instant, like his breath? Or…Did they too stay up at night, wondering if…If something was wrong with them? Though, Crackle never saw an imperfection in their best friend (aside from that one time they won against him in a race, but he was definitely over that, trust him). Honestly, they reminded him of…Snaps.

What did they say, when Crackle first became a girl? He...Looked nice as a girl.

He should tell them. Maybe they’d clear it up, say it was a joke! Or that it didn’t count, or-

Crackle shut his maw closed. He felt a slight build-up of sparks prickle his throat, wanting to escape. It had been…So long, since he spewed his electricity over a “tantrum” (or what Pops deemed as one). Why was he so upset over this?

He glanced at the doorway that would’ve led to the other rooms. The tavern was big, larger than most other places the party crashed at. Everyone had their own room. It was…Interesting for Crackle. Even in the deepest recesses of his mind, he couldn’t recall a time where he had his own space. Maybe that was the real reason why he couldn’t sleep-

Before he realized it, he faced Quinn’s door. It was the dead of night. If they weren’t sleeping, they were either still down at the bar drinking, or studying alchemy, or…Or…

He felt stupid standing here. He…He knew Quinn. They’d be pissed he knocked on their door in the middle of the night, sure, but…They wouldn’t dismiss him. They wouldn’t treat his words like a baseless mutter or some insult that they’d think was directed at them.

He hoped that wouldn’t be the case. But he’s been wrong before.

Raising his knuckles, he was about to knock on their door. He wasn’t sure what he’d say, but…He’d rather bite the bolt, if his thoughts were nothing then at least he’d let the metaphorical sharp point stab his throat. That would be the consequence of unloading his burdens. As he knocked, the hollow sound seemed to boom across the hallway. He hoped, no, he prayed that no one else would wake up.

This was something he trusted Quinn, and them alone, with.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hope you liked reading this! ...More Crackle posting soon, I promise they've had their happier moments! And sorry to those who don't exactly understand all the references I just love Crackle and the campaign and aoghksjhajkhfjkgajlk

[born-to-lose]

I HATE YOU SONY EARPHONES

[inorganicorgan]

Uhhhhhhhhh mandbela catalgoue correee

I spent a hot minute blending the ghost frequency into the music lol

[justatumblinweed]

Goddammit.

Look. I love modern medicine. It's great.

But can Albuterol please fucking not with the shakes. I am trying to figure out whether the whole mystery breathing issue is getting worse thank you and the anxiety-adjacent side effects are not helping knock it off.

[timefadesaway]

:) got for a fiver off eBay and they’d graded it at a g+ but their description and the pictures made me feel like taking a risk and it was soooo worth it dudeee i gave it a clean it plays lovely barely any surface noise/wear for that grading lol

[always-a-slut-4-ghouls]

When you might have popped your arm out of its socket a few months ago but you didn’t realize that a partial dislocation was a thing so, since you could move your arm and popped it right back into place, you just thought it was nothing, but now when you lift stuff a certain way or lay on that side in bed or move it a certain way while swimming it does that thing again and you’re like “would seeing a doctor about that make any difference if you probably already healed wrong? Can they even do anything at this point?”

[karvivore]

I’m finding that holding grudges is not something i care for anymore. I never did it in extremity but id like it if i could like mend what was ruined a while back by mutual negativity and misconstrued actions.

Don’t pay this much mind, im just jabbering on about things that kinda sting still. The yearning to mend the broken bridges augh

Maybe one day.

[grahamcarmen]

Little rant but I saw a semi recent post about how RedCrackle is weird cause Carmen mentioned how she sees Graham as a big brother and that shipping them is weird cause if the brother/sister dynamic and I’m like……. Why are people still arguing if it’s okay to ship TWO NON RELATED ADULTS 😭 almost been three years since the show ended and peope still think redcrackle is like Reylo or like pro ships😭😭😭 I could literally write a page on why RedCrackle is the ship that makes the most sense out of the show but I digress

Ok

A) if you ever mind *-* I would like to hear why you like red crackle ! I like hearing why other people like them :3

B)...yeah ok I'm ...always beyond frustrated that this still is a thing.

And I try not to touch on it too much because other people have already mentioned why that its not SooOoo weird to consider them romantically :/. and I like them kissing endgame so that usually all I have to say about it most of the time.

Most people don't. I really do.

And I've Reblogged from people who already said 🤨? For me . [Including nodding my head at a couple people who waaay back in s1 !who didn't even ship RC! react like "oh ok siblingless behavior" to comments like that+ arguments that usually *he's like a brother* can be used as a "we are close" statement for the moment when those feeling actually might change ex: see pam from the office]

But like if you don't like even a wiff of that type of connection implication happening with your ships? It squicks ya out that happening in ANY point of the dynamic ? Toeachandallthat

However repeating the 2 cents today. ITS A CANON THING THAT CARMEN WAS PUT IN A SITUATION WHERE GRAY LOOKS HER UP AND DOWN AND THINKS SHES ATTRACTIVE AND ASKS HER OUT ON A DATE AND SHE ALMOST GOES. ITS NOT A FANON THING. ITS LITERALLY AN EPISODE.

They are not related!! Hence. "Like" a brother. Not brother. And him acting friendly to her for a year doesn't make them related. [💀dude...a single year?]

And both of those times are an acknowledgment of what their Past dynamic was before

A) he was revealed to have completely different values than her [but she still has hope for him even tho looking up to him is over]

B) the possibility of reconciliation was presented as a possibly romantic one.

" before he was crackle he was gray and gray was like a big brother to me, I thought I lost him for good but this could be...i don't know... some sort of do over., a second chance?"

Everything about that do over is slightly romantic tinged and carmen KNOWS. And her eyes still light up ala 🥺

AAAAAAAANd for good measure she slips up and apologizes to GRAY for standing him up on the date with soft smile which im inclined to think is as genuine as the grimace when he reminds her that GRAY didn't ask her out. Graham did.

I'm not gonna pretend she fell right then and there but the possibility does not disgust her. She even flirts a bit back.

Thats not what hinders her.

vile having him does.

💀like idk why its so hard to accept the fact of some people liking that it might change because the original dynamic already HAS changed and if they even want to be friends later they need to parse out a lot of stuff. Its like not as simple as this is what they were and always should be. Even after literally everything that has happened.

And even the show makes carmen acknowledge that in the Himalayas when she doesn't get her [ skip ahead ]. Its more complicated than that. The people and emotions involved are more complicated than that.

And Hey ! HI! Gray does end the series with romantic feelings for her just not really the confidence that she would want to see him again.

So like...don't ship them idc but like the idea of romance in the carmen/gray dynamic was a show thing, they're both adults , not related , KNOW what they were to each other and have peeked at what they MIGHT be while bringing it up TWICE [ at the himalayas/ and a flashback when she's regaining her memories] so 🤷‍♀️ like idk why the surprise that some people hope it does go in that direction