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declanlikesmusic · 9 months

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Today's Listens: Episode 004

August 8th & 9th, 2023

These past couple of days have been busy as fuck and I've neither had the time to listen to that many albums in each single day, nor write about them in those same days, so I thought I'd compact the two of them into one for a quick double episode! I listened to a variety as usual for as little time as I had and really enjoyed myself as usual, so here's what I heard!

Ski Mask the Slump God – STOKELEY (2018)

I kicked off the first day with simultaneously one of the most underrated yet underutilised rappers of the current day. I've always loved Ski Mask the Slump God's quirky yet menacingly skilled style and there are times where either he's punching under his weight or his label is doing that for him. (Bring back the original BEWARE THE BOOK OF ELI or I will take action.) I'm thankful to return to this particular debut studio album to end up finding a lot to love. Nuketown is the obvious big bomb highlight from the hype alone, but even the lesser appreciated cuts like the melodically sung So High and Save Me Pt 2 are fun jams, plus big hits like Faucet Failure, LA LA and Foot Fungus are great too. The whole thing is very consistently enjoyable, only really weak in a few notable spots. If you're a fan of trap rap, I can't not recommend this one.

7.6 / 10

Highlights: So High, Nuketown, Foot Fungus, LA LA, Save Me Pt 2, Get Geeked, Reborn to Rebel, Faucet Failure

Meteorological Agency – Night Coverage (2019)

Next one took me a long time to get to, I was pulled away to deal with other things after watching Jacksfilms livestream that day, so I had to wait until after my poker game that night to cover this half-hour signalwave album. This one's very sweet, lovely to hear and melodic, but it hardly exceeds more than that for me most times. I hate to kind of dismiss it like that, because it was still a good, solid time, but I was seeing a lot of praise for this out of other broken transmission albums and I hardly can say I walked away with too much compared to those who did. Still, good time, I'm keen on recommending it, just not particularly high priority.

7.0 / 10

Highlights: Indigo, Melancholy, Violet, Dream, Landscape, Rest

my bloody valentine – glider (1990)

I wanted to blaze through shorter listens because I didn't want this first day to be hardly anything, so why not throw an EP into the mix from the legendary my bloody valentine, though I had to listen to this through their EPs compilation. This was a very, very good time. It kicks off with soon from the end of their loveless album, which grew on me upon this EP and the rest from the strange title track to the almost great closer were a very pleasant time. If you want more shoegaze EPs in your life, this is a must-try among others of theirs.

7.4 / 10

Highlights: Soon, Off Your Face

HKE – OMNIA (2016)

Not gonna lie, I was kind of breezing by these albums on the first day, especially this one which closed it out, but at least it made me realise this was a little better than I remembered. HKE is a persistently bitter nutjob, I don't want to publicly endorse his music without telling you to proceed with caution, because this man's history in the vaporwave world is fucking wild. This record was ripe from the rise of the hardvapour subgenre and it's a decent time. I was kinda falling out of love with it and its persistent ambient interludes by the midway point, but once I reached OMNI, I was having a great, great time. Definitely one to enjoy whilst learning about hardvapour's messy, shitty and complicated history and its place in vapor as a whole.

7.1 / 10

Highlights: Omni, Requiem, Restore, Awake

SEA OF DOGS – Prelude (2018)

Now it's the second day of the two and I've spent all of it in the morning and afternoon being way too busy to be at home and sitting down for any of these albums. By the time it was finally evening and dinner time though, I had to kick it off with one of my favourite producers of all time. hyphyskazerbox, known as SEA OF DOGS here, put out a Prelude EP in 2018 that perfectly bridges the gap between her releases at the time. This was delightfully strange, a complete warping of music without being too plunderphonic-heavy, really genre-heavy in that matter. If you're going into this one, don't expect anything and you will receive everything, a little bit. The last two tracks are especially grounded into being more lyrical cuts with the former especially taking dominance with its atmosphere. This is another great time from an incredibly varied discography. I'd say check it out, but also know that there's others from her that don't sound quite like this that are even better.

8.2 / 10

Highlights: Hearing Her Name in Static, Warmed by the Rain and Sunny Thoughts of June, Beekeeper

Pendulum – Hold Your Colour (2005)

Finally, I've been waiting to go over this one for years now, the pioneering and genre-defining drum and bass prodigies known from down under as Pendulum with their mid-2000s debut album. I was worried I wouldn't love this one as much as I wanted to, but to no surprises at the end, this was actually a very great time. What's especially amazing to me is how basically this album compresses what would go down as several different subgenres for DnB into one cohesive record, from dancefloor DnB to liquid DnB and all sorts of others! Highly, highly recommend this one; I'm sure to EDM heads, this one is a stone-cold classic and it deserves that position greatly.

7.8 / 10

Highlights: Slam, Plasticworld, Fasten Your Seatbelt, Out Here, Hold Your Colour, Streamline

VECTOR GRAPHICS – DESTINE (2015)

This one's another EP, but just like with glider and Prelude, this one is not to be underestimated or undermined. Far from it actually, it's my favourite EP that I've heard since starting this series! VECTOR GRAPHICS, now known these days as .CASTING, is a prodigy of a slowly growing subgenre of vaporwave known as VHS Pop. There's a bunch of definitions out there, but the one that seems to be on the rise is classic vaporwave-infused hip-hop instrumentals with loud VHS fuzz. We can absolutely thank this EP for helping to popularise that sound, as its title track is often regarded as one of the best vaporwave songs of all time. I'm completely on the hype train with that, I especially think that the second of the three tracks sampled in this is completely transcendent. It's the longest and best cut on here by far, but every single track from before and after it is also a consistently great time. This EP is excellent and if I'd recommend anything in this post more than any other, it's absolutely this one.

8.7 / 10

Highlights: SURFING, DESTINE, ALBA83

Joy Division – Substance (1988)

I always like to do a slightly special record for every ten ratings that I do, even if milestones like this are as insignificant as 1330. For that, I tackled probably the last Joy Division record I will cover, their '77 to '80 compilation of non-album singles titled Substance. I've never been fully enamoured with their pioneering post-punk sound; I understand that it's for way more people other than me, but at least it was very fascinating to see this band evolve from a slightly amateur punk rock sound to a completely innovative one. The second half is especially good and consistent, but not to the level of great for me that I'd love. Almost every track here I felt that I should love and I very clearly almost do, but there's always something holding me back from that. It could be Ian Curtis's vocal styles, it could be some of the instruments played, it could even be the troubling recording quality of the late '70s as usual. The only track where everything truly clicks for me is the closing Love Will Tear Us Apart, which is very obviously their best here. I still think this compilation is very good and worth a listen if you're especially a fan of post-punk.

6.9 / 10

Highlights: Transmission, She's Lost Control, Atmosphere, Love Will Tear Us Apart

Massive Attack – Mezzanine (1998)

To finally close out this double special, I went to one of my favourite albums of all time for a proper rerating that I felt was undermining, when I last tried it. Massive Attack's Mezzanine is an incredible '90s record and my absolute favourite in the trip hop sound. I think the reason why I used to score it lower than I would've liked to is because what makes this record so excellent is often so understated that you'd have to really pay attention to find it transcendent most times. It's so eerie and urban, it feels dusty at points, but its highs are grimacing and haunting. I struggle to find new words for it, especially its first run of tracks from the incredible opener to the underrated interlude-type cut. Just dive in and absolutely check this one out if you haven't already.

8.8 / 10

Highlights: Angel, Risingson, Teardrop, Inertia Creeps, Exchange, Mezzanine, Group Four

Finally, I've got this two-in-one special right out of the way. This one had to be super delayed, I'm finishing this on the morning of the 10th, but I'm still very glad to be able to push this one out, especially as I'm freed from my job for a little bit. I hope you like what I've mentioned here and I'll see you shortly after for the next one!

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hyrule-in-a-pokeball · 5 years

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A DIFFERENT TIMELINE

The goddess collection, a series of four books consisting of Hyrule Historia, Arts and Artifacts, LoZ encyclopedia, and LoZ: creating a champion, states that the overall timeline of the Legend of Zelda series spans so many years, that in present day Hyrule, it is uncertain which are historical fact, and which are fairy tales. While some are assumed to be fact based on things that still exist in present day Hyrule. The following is a timeline of the events that I believe are the factual events of Hyrule, using Breath of the Wild as “Present day” Hyrule I have bolded and italicized things that are not stated in these books, but are either fan theories or me trying to add context to inconsistencies

Era abbreviation legend PHK: Pre-Hyrule Kingdom HKE: Hyrule Kingdom Era AFH: After the Fall of Hyrule

PHK ??? The events of Skyward Sword take place. The master sword is created, and the demon king Demise lays a curse that will begin an endless cycle of conflict between the hero, one with the blood of the goddess, and an incarnation of the demon’s hate.

Hyrule is founded. Beginning of the Hyrule Kingdom Era HKE ??? Ganondorf is born to an unknown member of the Gerudo tribe. Being the lone male of the Gerudo, he is made their king in accordance with Gerudo tradition. The child is raised by Kotake and Koume, a pair of exceptionally aged Gerudo women adept in the dark arts.

HKE ??? A civil war is fought in Hyrule. It is unknown exactly who the belligerents of this war were, or even what sparked the war, though the Hylians are believed to be major players. A gravely injured woman flees from the war with her baby and enters the deep forest where she encounters the Kokiri and the Deku tree. The mother soon passes away from her injuries and the baby is taken in by the Kokiri and raised as one of them.

HKE ??? The events of Ocarina of time take place. Ganondorf invades Hyrule to claim the Triforce for himself and seize absolute power. He is defeated by the hero, princess, and sages of the era. Historians disagree on the particulars of this event. Some believe the hero failed to defeat Ganondorf. Others say he was successful, while others believe that Ganondorf's plans were thwarted before he was able to find the triforce. Whatever the case, historians are in agreement that the actions of the hero, princess, and sages of the era were instrumental in the events.

HKE ??? Over countless centuries, Ganon revives and is pushed back by the hero and the princess of Hyrule again and again, sealed away, killed, reincarnated only to be sealed or killed again. Ganondorf eventually gives up on reincarnation, likely viewing his mortal body as a weakness that lead to his countless defeats.

HKE: 10,000 years before the fall of Hyrule 1. The guardians and the divine beasts are constructed using advanced Sheikah technology as a preemptive measure against the inevitable return of Ganon. Two of them are named for ancient sages; Ruto and Nabooru, who long ago helped the princess and the hero save Hyrule. The origins of the names of the other two machines, Vah Medoh and Vah Rudania, remains unknown. Lost to time. (Vah Rudania is likely named for Darunia, the Goron sage of fire in OoT who lived in the same era as Ruto and Nabooru. While there was a character named Mido in past games, he was a Kokiri, and more importantly, not a sage. The only known Rito sage was Medly, the sage of Earth in the Wind Waker. Curiously, combining the names of Medly and Mido gets you “Medo” I do have another theory on this though, which I will get into in a different post.)

2. Ganon returns as Calamity ganon, a being of pure malice and hate, but is again defeated by the hero and princess, with the aid of the guardians and the divine beasts.

3. Some time later, the Sheikah, who constructed the divine beasts, are banished from Hyrule, as the hylians grew fearful of them and their advanced technology. The Sheikah wandered as nomads for many years, and eventually abandoned their technology in order to return to Hyrule. A faction of the Sheikah split off and became the Yiga clan at this time, swearing themselves to Ganon to get revenge on the hyrulian royal family who banished their people from Hyrule.

Apparently, for the next several thousand years, Hyrule was peaceful, but legends of the demon, and the hero and princess who fought it again and again persisted.

HKE: 16 years Before the fall Princess Zelda is born Link is presumably born in the same year.

Unlike past eras where the races were largely segregated, Hyrule of this era seems very unified. Urbosa, the leader of the Gerudo and the unnamed Queen of Hyrule, leaders of two races who were long ago bitter enemies, regard one another as sisters, with the queen even travelling into the desert with her newborn daughter to introduce the princess to the Gerudo chief.

HKE: 10 Before the fall The Queen of Hyrule dies of unknown causes.

HKE: Between 10 and 1 year(s) Before the fall The divine beasts and guardians, who had long since become legends, are rediscovered, excavated and studied in preparation for the return of Ganon. Champions are chosen from each of the four races of Hyrule to pilot the machines. Daruk, leader of the Gorons, Revali, the greatest flyer and marksman of the Rito, Urbosa the leader of the Gerudo, and Mipha, the Princess of the Zora. Link, the son of a knight and a knight in training himself, is chosen by the master sword to be the new Hero and Princess Zelda’s personal body guard.

HKE: The Kingdom of Hyrule falls Calamity ganon breaks free of its seal. Anticipating the divine beasts and guardians, it uses its malice to corrupt them and take control. The four champions are killed The King is killed The hero falls Princess Zelda’s powers finally awaken, and Calamity ganon is sealed away inside Hyrule castle, however, she too is sealed with it. Hyrule falls. The Divine beasts and guardians go dormant.

AFH 100 The events of Breath of the wild take place. Calamity Ganon is destroyed and the process of rebuilding Hyrule begins.

AFH 101~ A mummified male Gerudo is discovered by Link and Princess Zelda deep within a cave... He’s not dead.

#The legend of Zelda #Timeline #Timeline theory #Breath of the wild #Breath of the wild 2

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