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twoidiotwriters1 · 5 years

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Written In The Stars XVIII (Harry Potter xF!Oc)

A/N: I just want to thank all of you for reading this ;u; the story is so so special to me and the fact that you love it really makes me utterly happy.

P.S. Book two starts next week! Hope you’re ready!

Words: 4,636

Warnings: None!

Series’ Masterlist

Previous chapter // Book II

Chapter Eighteen: Fixing Mistakes.

It was a dream, it had to be.

She didn't feel pain, everything was silent.

Unless... unless she wasn't alive.

Mel opened her eyes at once and tried to sit up, she held her head in pain, closing her eyes to control the feeling.

"You're up," Someone said sternly.

Erick was sitting next to her bed. He was on the edge of his seat, scared of her sudden awakening.

"Flint?" She asked in confusion, "What?-How? "

"It's been a day," Erick sat back, "I mean, it's been a day since you visit the third floor. You fractured your skull."

"I'm alive?" She asked bewildered.

"You were lucky," He stated, "Dumbledore found you and Harry just in time"

"Harry," She sat again, trying to leave the bed, "where is he? Did he stop Quirrell? Ouch!"

"Stop!" Erick scowled at her, standing up and forcing her to lay again, "Pomfrey will kick me out if you get all lousy... Potter's fine."

He pulled one end of the curtain surrounding her bed and revealed the one next to hers: Harry was sleeping soundly, fewer scratches on his face.

"Why does my bed have curtains?" She frowned.

"I did it," The boy shrugged, "don't want anyone to see me"

"Oh," Mel mumbled, "if you don't want to talk to me then why are you here?"

"I didn't say that. I'm saying I don't want trouble. I shut the curtains so no one can spy while I'm here."

"Why are you here?"

"You saved the school."

"Harry did," Mel realized she didn't know what had happened after she lost consciousness, "Uhm, could you perhaps, explain to me how he did it?"

"You were there," Erick tilted his head, "but I guess you did fracture your skull, some memories must be fuzzy..."

Erick told her what he knew, most of it sounded like utter nonsense but she recognized some parts as true. The last bit was confusing, she hoped Harry could wake up soon so he could tell her the rest.

"Everyone thinks you're a hero. You and Potter. And let's say I... I felt guilty."

"Okay," She nodded, "well, I'm sorry I treated you badly. I was upset and things weren't going like I wanted to."

"I wasn't apprehensive either when I teased you about losing. I hope you still consider to keep our friendship"

"It would still be a secret, I suppose..."

"My parents wouldn't approve," Erick lowered his head, "my brother would kick my face if he found out, but you're worthy of my trust and I would be happy to have you around, I hope you can-"

"I do," Mel said, "it's nice of you to come and check on me, considering how you're not exactly used to care about others"

"We're good now?" He stretched out his hand, "You won't have to doubt me ever again"

"Alright," Mel shook his hand, "you should get out of here before any of my friends see you, though. They'll try to fight you thinking you're upsetting me."

Erick smirked.

"Have a good night, Miss."

"Goodnight."

Friends visited through the day, Miss Pomfrey allowed her to leave the hospital wing that night but Mel was reluctant to leave, she wanted to stay and wait for Harry to wake up.

McGonagall had to take her outside.

"You can come back tomorrow," McGonagall guided her to the Great Hall, "tonight you must go back to your tower."

When Mel arrived at the Great Hall, she was welcomed by a bunch of students that wanted to shake her hand and ask her about what happened, she was overwhelmed with the attention and couldn't sit down until the twins pushed the kids away and took her to Ron and Hermione.

She was glad to see her friends. Ron was healthy and good as new, he complained a lot when Mel hugged him and kissed his cheek, although he looked quite pleased afterwards.

When Mel arrived that night to the common room, Angelina Johnson was waiting for her.

"Mel! I'm so happy you're alright," The girl smiled, "I wanted to go to the hospital wing to give it to you, but Pomfrey wouldn't let me."

"Give me what?" Mel frowned.

"Harry didn't tell you?" She raised her brows, "Oh, I guess he didn't have time... he came to me one night and told me you were fond of Lucy, my cat."

"Oh, is she yours?" Mel beamed, "She's lovely! How is she?"

"Well, she had her kittens weeks ago, I already gave away most of them but Harry asked me to keep one so he could give it to you as an early birthday present, but the school year is about to end and..."

Angelina didn't say it, but Mel knew what she meant. Harry wasn't there, and they didn't know when he would return.

"Thanks," She said with a hoarse voice, "He... he really asked you?"

"Yes, look..." She grabbed a small box.

A tiny black cat was looking up to her, it had small green eyes and the cutest nose.

Mel teared up, holding the kitten on her arms.

"It's beautiful," She sniffed, "thank you..."

"Don't thank me," Angelina stroke her arm, "he'll get better, you'll see."

Mel couldn't sleep that night.

Next morning she asked Neville to look after her kitten -She named it Grey, thinking it was funny to call a black cat a different color, and as a way of honoring his mummy- and spend her entire morning next to Harry's bed, half-asleep and holding his hand, hoping he would grab it to let her know he was conscious.

When she woke up tense and sore, it took her a few seconds to notice she wasn't alone.

"I see you didn't sleep well last night," Dumbledore spoke up, "pitty, you have gone through plenty of trouble these days"

"Professor Dumbledore," Mel stood up, unsure of how to act around him, "I-Uh-I was worried. Harry, you see... He hasn't woken up since that night"

"I see," Dumbledore got closer, "maybe we can do something about it..." He put a hand on the boy's forehead.

Harry's sleepy eyes opened, he looked around and his stare landed on Dumbledore.

"Good afternoon, Harry," said Dumbledore.

The boy reacted fast.

"Sir! The Stone! It was Quirrell! He's got the Stone! Sir, quick –"

"Calm yourself, dear boy, you are a little behind the times," said Dumbledore, "Quirrell does not have the Stone."

"Then who does? Sir, I –"

"Harry, please relax, or Madam Pomfrey will have me thrown out."

The boy then noticed movement behind Dumbledore and his face mixed with both, confusion and relief at seeing his friend.

"Mel?"

"Glasses!" The girl hugged him, not as tight as she would have liked, she was scared of hurting him, "You've been unconscious for days! I thought... I'm so glad you're awake!"

"Days?" He wondered, when Mel stepped back he saw the table next to him, full of all kinds of gifts.

"Tokens from your friends and admirers," said Dumbledore, beaming. "What happened down in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally, the whole school knows. I believe your friends Misters Fred and George Weasley were responsible for trying to send you a lavatory seat. No doubt they thought it would amuse you. Madam Pomfrey, however, felt it might not be very hygienic, and confiscated it."

"How long have I been in here?"

"Three days. Mr Ronald Weasley and Miss Granger will be most relieved you have come round, they have been extremely worried, just like my niece."

"But sir, the Stone –"

"I see you are not to be distracted. Very well, the Stone. Professor Quirrell did not manage to take it from you. I arrived in time to prevent that, although you were doing very well on your own, I must say."

Mel didn't know that part of the story.

"You got there? You got Hermione's owl?"

"We must have crossed in mid-air. No sooner had I reached London than it became clear to me that the place I should be was the one I had just left. I arrived just in time to pull Quirrell off you –"

"It was you."

"I feared I might be too late."

"You nearly were, I couldn't have kept him off the Stone much longer –"

"Not the Stone, boy, you – the effort involved nearly killed you two. For one terrible moment there, I was afraid it had. As for the Stone, it has been destroyed."

"Destroyed?" said Harry blankly. "But your friend – Nicolas Flamel –"

"Oh, you know about Nicolas?" said Dumbledore, sounding quite delighted. "You did do the thing properly, didn't you? Well, Nicolas and I have had a little chat and agreed it's all for the best."

"But that means he and his wife will die, won't they?"

"They have enough Elixir stored to set their affairs in order and then, yes, they will die."

Dumbledore smiled at the look of amazement on Harry's face.

"To one as young as you, I'm sure it seems incredible, but to Nicolas and Perenelle, it really is like going to bed after a very, very long day. After all, to the well-organised mind, death is but the next great adventure. You know, the Stone was really not such a wonderful thing. As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all – the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things which are worst for them."

"It still is a bit sad," Mel argued, "they weren't hurting anyone and yet they had to sacrifice their lives in order to avoid a bigger problem that didn't have to do with them"

"Some things are harder to quit than others. However, Mel, I recall you almost died trying to protect Harry from Quirrell. I know you understand how we can sacrifice valuable things for the people we love. My friend Nicholas loves the wizarding world as it is, and he does not wish to see more tragedies"

They stayed quiet for a moment, Dumbledore humming an unknown song.

"Sir?" said Harry after a while "I've been thinking ... Sir – even if the Stone's gone, Vol– ... I mean, You-Know-Who –"

"Call him Voldemort, Harry. Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself."

"Yes, sir. Well, Voldemort's going to try other ways of coming back, isn't he? I mean, he hasn't gone, has he?"

"No, Harry, he has not. He is still out there somewhere, perhaps looking for another body to share ... not being truly alive, he can- not be killed. He left Quirrell to die; he shows just as little mercy to his followers as his enemies. Nevertheless, Harry, while you may only have delayed his return to power, it will merely take someone else who is prepared to fight what seems a losing battle next time – and if he is delayed again, and again, why, he may never return to power."

Harry nodded.

"Sir, there are some other things I'd like to know, if you can tell me ... things I want to know the truth about ..."

"The truth," Dumbledore sighed. "It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution. However, I shall answer your questions unless I have a very good reason not to, in which case I beg you'll forgive me. I shall not, of course, lie. I should offer the same to you, Mel. If you also have questions, that is"

"Well ... Voldemort said that he only killed my mother because she tried to stop him from killing me. But why would he want to kill me in the first place?"

Dumbledore sighed very deeply this time.

"Alas, the first thing you ask me, I cannot tell you. Not today. Not now. You will know, one day ... put it from your mind for now, Harry. When you are older ... I know you hate to hear this ... when you are ready, you will know."

Mel didn't like that, it sounded hard, difficult. Something a child could not possibly understand without breaking apart.

"But why couldn't Quirrell touch me?"

"Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn't realise that love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign... to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever. It is in your very skin. Quirrell, full of hatred, greed and ambition, sharing his soul with Voldemort, could not touch you for this reason. It was agony to touch a person marked by something so good."

Mel noticed that Harry had tears in his eyes. She'd never seen him cry, not in a long time and so out of the blue. It usually had to do with Dudley punching him, not with feelings. She searched for his hand, hoping he wouldn't push it away.

He didn't.

"And the Invisibility Cloak – do you know who sent it to me?"

"Ah – your father happened to leave it in my possession and I thought you might like it." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Useful things ... your father used it mainly for sneaking off to the kitchens to steal food when he was here."

"And there's something else ..."

"Fire away."

"Quirrell said Snape –"

"Professor Snape, Harry."

"Yes, him – Quirrell said he hates me because he hated my father. Is that true?"

'Well, they did rather detest each other. Not unlike yourself and Mr Malfoy. And then, your father did something Snape could never forgive."

"What?"

"He saved his life."

"What?"

"Yes ..." said Dumbledore dreamily. "Funny, the way people's minds work, isn't it? Professor Snape couldn't bear being in your father's debt ... I do believe he worked so hard to protect you this year because he felt that would make him and your father quits. Then he could go back to hating your father's memory in peace ..."

"That doesn't sound polite," She mumbled, "now that I think about it... I do have a question."

"Yes?"

"Before Quirrell attacked me, I did... well, I don't know if I did it"

"You did," Harry looked at her intently, "I felt it. It was... strange"

Mel looked at them before continuing.

"I did something without my wand," She explained, "it felt like the things I would do whenever I was scared or angry before I knew I was a witch, I couldn't control it..."

Dumbledore's eyes shifted for a moment, if she had known him better, she would've recognized that look as one of fear.

"Emotions are a powerful thing," Dumbledore said finally, "you were overwhelmed by the situation, and desperate to find a solution. Your body acted on its own. It has happened before, some cases... do not end well. I suggest to try and learn to control your mind, it should be you the one making decisions, not your emotions, Mel."

She understood most of it, and that only made her more anxious.

"And sir, there's one more thing ..." Harry said.

"Just the one?"

"How did I get the Stone out of the Mirror?"

"Ah, now, I'm glad you asked me that. It was one of my more brilliant ideas, and between you and me, that's saying something. You see, only one who wanted to find the Stone – find it, but not use it – would be able to get it, otherwise they'd just see themselves making gold or drinking Elixir of Life. My brain surprises even me sometimes ... Now, enough questions. I suggest you make a start on these sweets. Ah! Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans! I was unfortunate enough in my youth to come across a vomit-flavoured one, and since then I'm afraid I've rather lost my liking for them – but I think I'll be safe with a nice toffee, don't you?" He smiled and popped the golden-brown bean into his mouth. Then he choked and said, "Alas! Earwax!"

Dumbledore left moments after, leaving them alone to talk in peace.

"Why didn't you tell me Angelina owned the cat I liked?" Mel asked.

Harry smiled guiltily.

"I wanted to give you a birthday present in advance. Owls might be dirty, but Emily can't say the same about cats!"

"It was nice of you," Mel beamed, "I named him Grey, he reminds me of you."

Harry frowned.

"You have it now? I wanted- wait, how can he look like me?"

"He's got messy black fur and green eyes"

"And you called him Grey?"

"I thought it was funny"

"Obviously," Harry rolled his eyes, grinning, "I'm sorry I couldn't give it to you personally"

"I'm just happy you're awake," She added, "I also think you're a hero..."

"You are too," Harry replied.

"Your Bloody Baron is perfect! Maybe you should consider working as a professional imitator," She teased.

"Bug off," He laughed, "you know, now that I remember... you never told me what you saw in the mirror"

Mel nearly choked with her chocolate frog.

"That's private."

"Come on! You know mine!" He insisted.

The girl hesitated, then, after finding a solution she replied:

"I saw myself as Headmaster. I was old and smart like Dumbledore, people looked up to me."

"That sounds like you," He agreed, "why were you so upset when you saw it, though? It isn't a bad thing"

"I thought it was embarrassing," She lied, "I know I'm not smart enough to be like him"

"I don't think that," Harry raised a brow, "I think that you could perfectly be it"

She hated his kindness, it wasn't helping the annoying thumping on her chest at all.

"Well, who knows," Mel shrugged, "maybe one day what I saw will be true, Glasses."

"I hope so, Dumby"

"Stooop," She groaned.

"I'll stop when you stop"

She knew that Harry wouldn't have said all those kind words if he had known the truth.

He would've been horrified to know Mel had seen them kissing.

"So the Stone's gone?" said Ron, "Flamel's just going to die?"

He and Hermione arrived at the last hour of the day, the visiting hours were about to end.

"That's what I said, but Dumbledore thinks that – what was it?" Harry asked her.

"To the well-organised mind, death is but the next great adventure," Mel quoted.

"I always said he was off his rocker-ouch!" Ron looked angrily at Mel, she had punched his arm, "Now what did I do?"

"Dumbledore's my uncle, be careful with what you say," She warned him.

"So what happened to you?" asked Harry to Ron and Hermione.

"Well, I got back all right," said Hermione. "I brought Ron round – that took a while – and we were dashing up to the owlery to contact Dumbledore when we met him in the Entrance Hall. He already knew – he just said, 'Harry's gone after him, hasn't he?' and hurtled off to the third floor."

"D'you think he meant you to do it?' said Ron. "Sending you your father's Cloak and everything?"

"Well," Hermione exploded, "if he did – I mean to say – that's terrible – you could have been killed."

"No, it isn't," said Harry thoughtfully. "He's a funny man, Dumbledore. I think he sort of wanted to give me a chance. I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here, you know. I reckon he had a pretty good idea we were going to try, and instead of stopping us, he just taught us enough to help. I don't think it was an accident he let me find out how the Mirror worked. It's almost like he thought I had the right to face Voldemort if I could ..."

Mel thought differently. Sure, that was kind, but if it was the same with her; how he reacted after knowing what she did... that meant Dumbledore was hoping for the worst on her behalf.

"Yeah, Dumbledore's barking, all right," said Ron proudly, stepping away from Mel, "Listen, you've got to be up for the end-of-year feast tomorrow. The points are all in and Slytherin won, of course – you missed the last Quidditch match, we were steamrollered by Ravenclaw without you – but the food'll be good."

"Ah, need me a good feast," Mel sighed dreamily.

Madam Pomfrey bustled over.

"You've had nearly fifteen minutes, now OUT," she said firmly.

Harry came back just in time for the feast, people whispered and tried to take a good look at him. Mel didn't try to stop them, something told her it was bound to be a constant thing as long as they stayed in the castle. Long six years awaited.

"Another year gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they were ... you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts ... Now, as I understand it, the House Cup here needs awarding and the points stand thus: in fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw have four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, five hundred and twenty-two.'

The Slytherin table erupted in cheers and stamping. Mel caught sight of Erick, when he noticed her eyes fixed on him, he winked in complicity.

"Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin," said Dumbledore. "However, recent events must be taken into account."

The room went very still. The Slytherins' smiles faded a little.

"Ahem," said Dumbledore, "I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes ... First – to Mr Ronald Weasley, for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

The table burst in applause, Mel could faintly hear Percy proudly talking about Ron a few seats behind.

"Second – to Miss Hermione Granger ... for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

Hermione lowered her face and hid it on her arms. Mel was beaming, she was so proud! Her friend Hermione Granger was just the best.

"To Mel Dumbledore, who gave away her own safety in order to keep others well, loyal 'til the last minute... I award Gryffindor with fifty points"

Mel didn't feel like she deserved so many, comparing to the rest of her friends her actions were minimal, barely something to recognize.

Ron ruffled her hair.

"I guess we could also be not-awful together..."

She laughed, putting an arm around his shoulders.

"Fourth – to Mr Harry Potter ..." said Dumbledore. The room went deadly quiet. "... for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house sixty points."

The room was loud, Mel had never heard something like it before.

Dumbledore raised his hand. The room gradually fell silent.

"There are all kinds of courage," said Dumbledore, smiling. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr Neville Longbottom."

The kids cheered and jumped, covering Neville in hugs and kind words. Gryffindor had won the house cup, everything was perfect.

"Which means," Dumbledore called over the storm of applause, for even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were celebrating the downfall of Slytherin, "we need a little change of decoration."

The lion overthrew the snake, scarlet and gold now illuminating the room.

Hermione and Mel were top of the year. It wasn't a surprise, she was well aware of her own efforts, the results were good enough.

The way back home was delightful, louder than the first trip. Harry showed her the gift Hagrid had made for him and she admired the first few photographs.

"Why is it that you always get the coolest presents?"

"Hey, you got a cat that looks like me!"

"That was a very narcissistic thing to say, even for the boy-who-lived." Mel teased, "Grey is cool though, that's true"

"Next time I'll make sure to give you the best gift," He assured her, "in person, too."

"Don't even," She shrugged it off, "that would only make me feel worse. As if I could possibly top Harry Potter and his crazy ideas! You'd probably get me a gold cauldron..."

"That was ONE time-!"

"You must come and stay this summer," said Ron, "all of you – I'll send you an owl."

"Thanks," said Harry. "I'll need something to look forward to."

People jostled them as they moved towards the gateway back to the Muggle world. Some of them called:

"Bye, Harry!"

"See you, Potter!"

"Still famous," said Ron, grinning at him.

"Still a dummy," Mel added.

"Not where I'm going, I promise you," said Harry, "well, maybe the dummy part"

They passed through the gateway together.

"There he is, Mum, there he is, look!" It was Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister, but she wasn't pointing at Ron, "Harry Potter! Look, Mum! I can see –"

"Be quiet, Ginny, and it's rude to point."

Mrs Weasley smiled down at them.

"Busy year?" she said.

"Very," said Harry.

"I should know," A voice said from behind them, "yesterday I got the longest, most terrifying letter of my whole life listing all the things you did this year, Mel Dumbledore."

Mel froze, her mother circle the group of kids and stared at her expectantly, her arms crossed.

"You have a lot of explaining to do"

"Thanks for the fudge and the jumper, Mrs Weasley," Harry moved away from them, afraid of getting the same treatment.

"Oh, it was nothing, dear," Mrs. Weasley nervous too.

"I was worried sick! How could you hide all those things from me?" Her mum asked angrily, "Your uncle had to calm my nerves with a potion, Mel. A Potion!"

"I'm sorry!" Mel pleaded, "I didn't want to worry you!"

"I worry alright! Bloody worried!" She exclaimed, "You won't leave the house in a week- Is that a cat?!"

"I never leave the house!" Mel retorted, hiding the cat's basket behind her back.

"No Harry, then!"

"What?!" Both kids exclaimed.

"Do you want it to be two weeks?" She offered.

They stopped arguing.

"Ready, are you?" It was Mr Dursley, looking as angry and displeased as always.

"You must be Harry's family!" said Mrs Weasley.

"In a manner of speaking," said Mr Dursley, "Hurry up, boy, we haven't got all day." He walked away.

"I'll get the car as well," Emily sighed, controlling her nerves, "it was a pleasure to see you again, Molly. Give me..." Mel handed the trunk and bags to her, keeping Grey in her arms and staying to say goodbye to Ron and Hermione.

"See you over the summer, then."

"Hope you have – er – a good holiday," said Hermione, looking uncertainly after Mr Dursley.

"Oh, I will," said Harry cheerfully, "They don't know we're not allowed to use magic at home. We're going to have a lot of fun with Dudley this summer..."

"At last, you listen to me," Mel smiled, already planning to make Dudley's life a perfect little nightmare.

Next Part—>

Taglist.

@vampiregirl1797 @tiphareth2018 @siriuslysirius1107 @celestialhayi @omiwashere

#twoidiots writing #Harry Potter #harry potter fanfiction #harry potter xoc #harry potter x y/n #harry potter x reader #ron weasley #hermione granger #albus dumbledore #minerva mcgonagall #severus snape #rubeus hagrid #draco malfoy #neville longbottom #WITT fic

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houkagokappa · 5 years

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Sarazanmai episode 9 thoughts and impressions

The episode starts out intense. Enta’s taken to a hospital and Kazuki’s left worrying for him. The cuts are short. Instead of focusing on Enta’s surgery we get to see Sara work on Keppi. Since he's turn into a blob of ice he’s slippery and glides away from her, gets run over by a car and breaks down into smaller pieces. It’s a really bizarre scene, especially when you watch it for the first time on a slightly wonky stream.

There are shots during Keppi’s “idou-chuu/on the move” scene that might be actual photographs, same with the first shot after the opening. It’s so realistic looking I swear it’s actual film. I think it fits well, it adds to the weirdness, but doesn’t stick out too much. This really is a Nobuyuki Takeuchi episode.

Tooi and Chikai have some down time on boat when Tooi finds a gun in Chikai’s possession. However, before he has time to react to it Sara’s show starts playing and Chikai who’s been sleeping is about to wake up and notice him, so Tooi jumps back and starts watching TV instead. Tooi finds out about Enta’s death and that his brother hung out with him for a while. The news claim that Chikai is the perpetrator. Tooi is upset and would contemplate on returning, if not for the fact that he’s all Chikai has, which is why Tooi decided to stay with him. Chikai repeats his line of how “only the bad guys survive in this world” which is chilling to hear.

Kazuki tries to tell some cops the truth of what happened, but since they’re being controlled by the otters they don’t believe him. The candy Chikai gave Enta is what frames him. Otone shows up and speaks in the kindest and softest voice possible. It’s been a while since we’ve heard her and I’m reminded of how much I love her. Kazuki laments the fact that no one believes him and pleades for someone to save him and for Tooi to come back. This is only the beginning of all the heartbreaking scenes episode 9 will throw at us.

Tooi and Chikai reach their destination and meet Masa, Chikai’s friend from before. Masa’s super excited to meet Chikai again and to see Tooi. It’s an odd bit of some comedy between all the pain, but probably needed just for that.

Then we jump over to Kawauso Kouban where Reo’s having a delusion. He tries Mabu’s ningyou-yaki and they taste just like they used to! He eats them eagerly and gives Mabu a passionate naked hug. Then there’s an otter that turns off the lights, takes the stage and starts singing into a microphone. That’s the scene. Oh and someone’s holding on to Mabu’s mechanical heart. It’s a bit worrisome.

Sara has collected all the pieces of Keppi and starts gluing them together. She succeeds in piecing him back together. He doesn’t look exactly the same, but good enough! In Sara’s words; whatever form he takes he’s wonderful!

Tooi buys some lollipops and I suspect that the guy he buys them from is voiced by Ikuhara, but I’ll have to check the credits to be sure (I checked and he’s not listed at all). He talks in a weird voice and ends the interaction with “merci” which is an interesting choice in Japan.

Kazuki and Otone have another discussion where they’re mostly whispering and it’s like music to my ears. This reminds me of some of the scenes Utena and Anthy had together while they were sharing the same bed. It sounds very comforting. Otone also shares some details from her and Enta’s past that the novel mentioned but episode 3 left out, how they were abroad and Enta spent most of his time alone before he met Kazuki. We get another flashback scene to their first meeting and it’s super cool because Kazuki repeats the same lines he used when Enta was having his delusions in episode 3! Only here he got to hear them for real!! The music is also great, it’s another version of Enta’s theme and it’s really beautiful! I love how they turned everything around here, not just for one of Enta’s delusions, but for several of them (not the kiss though).

The animation when Kazuki falls down on his knees is really nice. it’s a bit more sketchy that what Sarazanmai has been so far, but it stands out in a good way.

Anyway, then Enta appears in his kappa form. Keppi showed up and turned him, but he’s not completely back. He only has a limited time left before he’s gone for good. His sara has turned into a timer “Dead or Alive”. Don’t you love all these dualities in Sarazanmai?

The item for this episode is “Tokarev” which is a gun (and also a movie starring Nicolas Cage). It’s a Russian gun from the WWII era and it hasn’t been used in Japan, although a copy of that gun (the type 55 pistol) is apparently popular among the yakuza, so there’s our connection.

Chikai and Masa had some grief, Chikai shoots Masa which shocks Tooi. I think he might be starting to question his brothers actions some more. Immediately after that he runs into more guys from the organization. Chikai shoots one of them, they start shooting back and Tooi gets involved as well, possibly to Chikai’s dismay?

THEN IT’S TIME FOR REO TO ACT OUT WEST SIDE STORY. It starts out fun, Reo’s so happy he’s getting Mabu back he’s bought wine and Mabu’s favourite pancakes. HOWEVER. Mabu’s not home. He’s having maintenance. The funny peeping Reo image isn’t as fun anymore as it’s revealed he’s looking at the otter uhh... taking out Mabu’s hear to ...lick it.

Mabu’s completely nude. This is really lewd. Reo’s shocked the otter maintenancing Mabu looks like him. The otter taunts him and it’s horrible. It’s also a pretty cool scene with lots of important new information that I'll talk about more once we get the subs.

Reo only needs one more plate, which is currently in Kazuki’s possession. He and Haruka have a cute little talk about how Kazuki will save Enta, but also how Kazuki saved Enta and how both Haruka and Enta have been wishing for Kazuki’s happiness, which came true.

Tooi confronts Chikai on what their relationship is about. Chikai points a gun at Tooi’s head and we hear a shot. BAM! Time for the ending!

“I want to connect, but I cannot go along”

In the after credits scene it’s revealed that it wasn’t Chikai who shot his gun, but someone who shot Chikai. Then we get about 3 minutes worth of a painful death scene sprinkled with memories and moments from Tooi’s and Chikai’s childhood. It’s a really powerful scene. I like the effect it gets from being so absurdly long. This is also a clear death scene, you don’t show this and have the character return for the finale.

Wow two episodes in a row that ends in deaths. Will it be Mabu’s or Reo’s next? I can’t believe we only have two episodes left!! They’ve packed so much into these episodes almost anything could happen...

#sarazanmai #dish 9 #sarazanmai spoilers #sarazanmai thoughts and analysis #sarazanmai nonsense #long post

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lesbianrewrites · 8 years

Text

The Blood of Olympus - Chapter 56

*disclaimer* This is a project done for fun, and none of these characters/works belong to me. I do not claim to own any of the material on this page. This is a Lesbian edit of The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan. Chapters will be posted every day at 10am EST. Google doc version can be found here. The chapter can also be found under the cut. Enjoy!

AT DAWN, SHE WAS STILL AWAKE when someone rapped at the door.

She turned, registering a face with blonde hair, and for a split second she thought it was Jill Solace. When Nicola realized it was Jessica, she was disappointed. Then she felt angry with herself for feeling that way.

She hadn’t talked to Jill since the battle. The Apollo kids had been too busy with the injured. Besides, Jill probably blamed Nicola for what happened to Octavian. Why wouldn’t she? Nicola had basically permitted … whatever that was. Murder by consensus. A gruesome suicide. By now, Jill Solace realized just how creepy and revolting Nicola di Angelo was. Of course, Nicola didn’t care what she thought. But still …

‘You okay?’ Jessica asked. ‘You look –’

‘Fine,’ Nicola snapped. Then she softened her tone. ‘If you’re looking for Hazel, she’s still asleep.’

Jessica mouthed, Oh, and gestured for Nicola to come outside.

Nicola stepped into the sunlight, blinking and disoriented. Ugh … Perhaps the cabin’s designers had been right about the children of Hades being like vampires. She was not a morning person.

Jessica didn’t look as though she’d slept any better. Her hair had a cowlick on one side and her new glasses sat crookedly on her nose. Nicola resisted the urge to reach out and straighten them.

Jessica pointed to the strawberry fields, where the Romans were breaking camp. ‘It was strange to see them here. Now it’ll be strange not seeing them.’

‘Do you regret not going with them?’ Nicola asked.

Jessica’s smile was lopsided. ‘A little. But I’ll be going back and forth between the camps a lot. I have some shrines to build.’

‘I heard. The Senate plans to elect you Pontifex Maximus.’

Jessica shrugged. ‘I don’t care about the title so much. I do care about making sure the gods are remembered. I don’t want them fighting out of jealousy any more, or taking out their frustrations on demigods.’

‘They’re gods,’ Nicola said. ‘That’s their nature.’

‘Maybe, but I can try to make it better. I guess Lorena would say I’m acting like a mechanic, doing preventative maintenance.’

Nicola sensed Jessica’s sorrow like an oncoming storm. ‘You know, you couldn’t have stopped Lorena. There’s nothing you could have done differently. She knew what had to happen.’

‘I – I guess. I don’t suppose you can tell if she’s still –’

‘She’s gone,’ Nicola said. ‘I’m sorry. I wish I could tell you otherwise, but I sensed her death.’

Jessica stared into the distance.

Nicola felt guilty for squashing her hopes. She was almost tempted to mention her own doubts … what a different sensation Lorena’s death had given her, as if Lorena’s soul had invented its own way into the Underworld, something that involved lots of gears, levers and steam-powered pistons.

Nevertheless, Nicola was sure Lorena Valdez had died. And death was death. It wouldn’t be fair to give Jessica false expectations.

In the distance, the Romans were picking up their gear and toting it across the hill. On the other side, so Nicola had heard, a fleet of black SUVs waited to transport the legion cross-country back to California. Nicola guessed that would be an interesting road trip. She imagined the entire Twelfth Legion in the drive-through lane at Burger King. She imagined some hapless monster terrorizing a random demigod in Kansas, only to find itself surrounded by several dozen carloads of heavily armoured Romans.

‘Ella the harpy is going with them, you know,’ Jessica said. ‘She and Tegan. Even Rachel Elizabeth Dare. They’re going to work together to try to reconstruct the Sibylline Books.’

‘That should be interesting.’

‘Could take years,’ Jessica said. ‘But with the voice of Delphi extinguished …’

‘Rachel still can’t see the future?’

Jessica shook her head. ‘I wish I knew what happened to Apollo in Athens. Maybe Artemis will get him out of trouble with Zeus and the power of prophecy will work again. But for now those Sibylline Books might be our only way to get guidance for quests.’

‘Personally,’ Nicola said, ‘I could do without prophecies or quests for a while.’

‘You’ve got a point.’ She straightened her glasses. ‘Look, Nicola, the reason I wanted to talk to you … I know what you said back at Auster’s palace. I know you already turned down a place at Camp Jupiter. I – I probably can’t change your mind about leaving Camp Half-Blood, but I have to –’

‘I’m staying.’

Jessica blinked. ‘What?’

‘At Camp Half-Blood. The Hades cabin needs a head counsellor. Have you seen the decor? It’s disgusting. I’ll have to renovate. And someone needs to do the burial rites properly, since demigods insist on dying heroically.’

‘That’s – that’s fantastic! Dude!’ Jessica opened her arms for a hug, then froze. ‘Right. No touching. Sorry.’

Nicola grunted. ‘I suppose we can make an exception.’

Jessica squeezed her so hard Nicola thought her ribs would crack.

‘Oh, man,’ Jessica said. ‘Wait till I tell Piper. Hey, since I’m all alone in my cabin too, you and I can share a table in the dining hall. We can team up for capture the flag and sing-along contests and –’

‘Are you trying to scare me away?’

‘Sorry. Sorry. Whatever you say, Nicola. I’m just glad.’

The funny thing was Nicola believed her.

Nicola happened to glance towards the cabins and saw someone waving at her. Jill Solace stood in the doorway of the Apollo cabin, a stern look on her face. She pointed to the ground at her feet, like You. Here. Now.

‘Jessica,’ Nicola said, ‘would you excuse me?’

‘So where were you?’ Jill demanded. She was wearing a green surgeon’s shirt with jeans and flip-flops, which was probably not standard hospital protocol.

‘What do you mean?’ Nicola asked.

‘I’ve been stuck in the infirmary for, like, two days. You don’t come by. You don’t offer to help.’

‘I … what? Why would you want a daughter of Hades in the same room with people you’re trying to heal? Why would anyone want that?’

‘You can’t help out a friend? Maybe cut bandages? Bring me a soda or a snack? Or just a simple How’s it going, Jill? You don’t think I could stand to see a friendly face?’

‘What … my face?’

The words simply didn’t make sense together: Friendly face. Nicola di Angelo.

‘You’re so dense,’ Jill noted. ‘I hope you got over that nonsense about leaving Camp Half-Blood.’

‘I – yeah. I did. I mean, I’m staying.’

‘Good. So you may be dense, but you’re not an idiot.’

‘How can you even talk to me like that? Don’t you know I can summon zombies and skeletons and –’

‘Right now you couldn’t summon a wishbone without melting into a puddle of darkness, di Angelo,’ Jill said. ‘I told you, no more Underworldy stuff, doctor’s orders. You owe me at least three days of rest in the infirmary. Starting now.’

Nicola felt like a hundred skeletal butterflies were resurrecting in her stomach. ‘Three days? I – I suppose that would be okay.’

‘Good. Now –’

A loud whoop! cut through the air.

Over by the hearth in the centre of the common, Penny was grinning at something Annabeth had just told her. Annabeth laughed and playfully slapped her arm.

‘I’ll be right back,’ Nicola told Jill. ‘Promise on the Styx and everything.’

She walked over to Penny and Annabeth, who were both still grinning like crazy.

‘Hey, Nicola,’ Penny said. ‘Annabeth just told me some good news. Sorry if I got a little loud.’

‘We’re going to spend our senior year together,’ Annabeth explained, ‘here in New York. And after graduation –’

‘College in New Rome!’ Penny pumped her fist like she was blowing a truck horn. ‘Four years with no monsters to fight, no battles, no stupid prophecies. Just me and Annabeth, getting our degrees, hanging out at cafés, enjoying California –’

‘And after that …’ Annabeth kissed Penny on the cheek. ‘Well, Reyna and Frances said we could live in New Rome as long as we like.’

‘That’s great,’ Nicola said. She was a little surprised to find that she meant it. ‘I’m staying too, here at Camp Half-Blood.’

‘Awesome!’ Penny said.

Nicola studied her face – her sea-green eyes, her grin, her ruffled black hair. Somehow Penny Jackson seemed like a regular girl now, not a mythical figure. Not someone to idolize or crush on.

‘So,’ Nicola said, ‘since we’re going to be spending at least a year seeing each other at camp, I think I should clear the air.’

Penny’s smile wavered. ‘What do you mean?’

‘For a long time,’ Nicola said, ‘I had a crush on you. I just wanted you to know.’

Penny looked at Nicola. Then at Annabeth, as if to check that she’d heard correctly. Then back at Nicola. ‘You –’

‘Yeah,’ Nicola said. ‘You’re a great person. But I’m over that. I’m happy for you guys.’

‘You … so you mean –’

‘Right.’

Annabeth’s grey eyes started to sparkle. She gave Nicola a sideways smile.

‘Wait,’ Penny said. ‘So you mean –’

‘Right,’ Nicola said again. ‘But it’s cool. We’re cool. I mean, I see now … you’re cute, but you’re not my type.’

‘I’m not your type … Wait. So –’

‘See you around, Penny,’ Nicola said. ‘Annabeth.’

Annabeth raised her hand for a high five.

Nicola obliged. Then she walked back across the green, to where Jill Solace was waiting.

#heroes of olympus #hoo #lesbians of olymous #lesbian #lesbiansafe #gay #lgbt #lgbtq #sapphic #wlw #lesbian rewrites #lesbian rewrite project #the blood of olympus

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signalmodulator · 7 years

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The Catch Up, Vol. VIII (unfinished)

by Owen Z.

As Signal Modulator finishes its oft-sporadic run of publishing, we’re clearing out our drafts in order to publicize all the projects we were working on for issue 8. Here’s a partially unfinished edition of The Catch Up, featuring releases from Solange, Bon Iver, and The Weeknd.

Subways (The Remixes) EP

The Avalanches

September 23 / Modular

This three-song EP features three different glittering takes on The Avalanches’ effervescent song “Subways”; strangely enough, however, the most memorable one is the one that stays most faithful to the original. In Flagranti’s extended edit of the song takes whimsical strings and weirdly plucky bass line and stretches it out until it lasts 6 exhilarating minutes; the other two, although both decent, are a bit of an afterthought.

A Loud Bash Of Teenage Feelings

Beach Slang

September 23 / Polyvinyl

Beach Slang wasted no time in following up last year’s debut album The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us, but maybe they should have worked a little longer on the also-brilliantly-titled A Loud Bash Of Teenage Feelings. There are exactly two songs on this record that are truly special, the dizzyingly triumphant “Spin The Dial” and “Young Hearts”, a mid-tempo roaring guitar song with a dollop of melancholy. Beach Slang are perhaps too occupied with the loud bashing on this one; it’s much better when they bring out the “teenage feelings.”

Ape in Pink Marble

Devendra Banhart

September 23 / Nonesuch

Ape in Pink Marble is exactly what you’d expect from Devendra Banhart, but that doesn’t make it bad by any means. This record is a charming collection of 13 new silken soft indie pop songs; the textures are often so delicate you feel like you’re cupping the entire song in your hand. “Middle Names” and “Celebration” are two exemplary demonstrations of this delicacy; other tracks like “Fancy Man” and "Theme for a Taiwanese Woman in Lime Green” combine this delicacy with goofy high tempos.

Dang

Eola

September 23 / Leaving

Brooklyn artist Edwin White’s fifth full-length album as Eola is a deeper exploration of the themes in his four previous ones: Dang is entirely a capella, an experiment in the vocoder and a genre that he likes to call “choral-bluesy.” Overall, Dang is pretty dang unexceptional; because it’s such a sparse album, it almost completely relies on the beauty of its melodies, and only two - “Future Hymns” and “No Getting” - truly stand out.

From Patterns to Details

FIS

September 23 / Multiverse

New Zealand artist FIS has one of 2016′s best experimental albums; From Patterns to Details is a brutally beautiful album, one that manages to explore terrifyingly abrasive and unpredictable territory without compromising color. There are long tracts of noise, and there are short surprising interruptions of god knows what; all you should expect from From Patterns to Details is the unexpected.

I Had A Dream That You Were Mine

Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam

September 23 / Glassnote

Perhaps I Had A Dream That You Were Mine plays a little too much by the rules; Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam’s first album together is a pretty standard mixture of singer/songwriter, chamber pop, and ‘60s-inspired indie rock. But even within these rules, the group finds some beautiful tunes, thanks to Leithauser’s emotion-laden voice and Rostam’s brilliant production. “A 1000 Times” is the song you wish you had your first kiss to; “In a Black Out” makes you want to huddle around a fire in the desert at night. “1959″ is perhaps the album’s best song; like all of Rostam and Leithauser’s best work, it’s unafraid to tug at your heartstrings in the most dizzyingly direct of fashions. Sometimes you don’t have to break the rules to win.

Care

How To Dress Well

September 23 / Domino

From the moment you turn on Care - scratch that, maybe from the moment you look at the soppy album cover - you’ll know that this album blows romance up for the big screen. Everything on Tom Krell’s new album as How To Dress Well is amplified: the hooks, the instrumentals, and yes, the dumb lyrics. Even so, Care works for the same reason that any dramatic pop song might work: it’s full of beautiful, wistful, and nuanced chord progressions. These tunes are catchy, and thanks to the anthemic production by the likes of Jack Antonoff and CFCF, they are both catchy and unforgettably momentous.

The Healing Component

Mick Jenkins

September 23 / Free Nation

Mick Jenkins’ debut album is (expectedly) a grand statement - The Healing Component is about love, and how its various forms need to be cared for and nourished. Although the album is a bit long and certainly loses its shine on a few tracks (like most of his previous works, some of the songs are a bit heavy on production and short on innovation), the concept is extremely well-executed, and you can’t complain with songs like “Communicate” and “Spread Love”.

Slam Dunk Vol. II EP

Sporting Life

September 23 / Letter Racer

The second of three Slam Dunk EPs, this installment in RATKING producer Sporting Life’s series is a little less impressive than the first. Of the four tracks featured here, only “Skip To My Lou” makes a decent to good impression; the rest are rather forgettable.

Campaign

Ty Dolla $ign

September 23 / Atlantic

Ty Dolla $ign’s new mixtape is all of these things: a hilariously generic political statement, a depressingly generic project, and an occasional indicator of his brilliance. While the politics are silly (for an example, check out “$intro” and the end of “No Justice”) and the beats are often completely boring, Ty’s soulful vocals remain his one brilliant attribute. This is why “Stealing” is the best song on the tape; even with all the ham-fisted Clinton endorsements and shiny 808s, Ty Dolla $ign sounds best when his voice is paired with a guitar and nothing more.

Farewell, Starlite!

Francis and the Lights

September 23 / KTTF

After some pretty high-profile collaborations with Chance The Rapper, Kanye West, and Bon Iver, Francis and the Lights’ new album became a quasi-debut for him, or at least to a whole new audience of pop music fans. This record features an all-star cast of production from the likes of Rostam, Bon Iver, Cashmere Cat, Ariel Rechtshaid, and Benny Blanco, and it shows. Farewell, Starlite! has its issues (cheesy lyrics and occasionally excessively quirky production), but it’s an overall interesting and captivating record, full of innovative and beautiful sounds.

Atrocity Exhibition

Danny Brown

September 27 / Warp

Danny Brown’s masterwork. The Detroit rapper’s new album is a harrowing diary of drugs and sex and mental (un)health, and it features several of Brown’s best songs he may ever make. Atrocity Exhibition flows effortlessly from one classic to another - the shivers-inducing posse track “Really Doe”, the trippy “Lost”, the Mario Kart fever dream that is “Ain’t It Funny”. It’s stunningly cohesive and also a tiny bit eye-opening - I, for one, didn’t know rock bottom could be this deep down below the ground.

The Altar

Banks

September 30 / Harvest

Banks’ new album The Altar sees her continue in the same (lack of) light as her 2013 debut - the music on this record is mostly dark, brooding pop in the light of FKA twigs and Kelela, minus a few degrees of creativity. The Altar is mostly filler; these are basically pop songs dressed up for Halloween, and their melodies and chords fall pitifully short of those of Banks’ contemporaries. The best song on the record is the plainest: “Mother Earth” is stunning, and Banks would do well to explore a similarly natural feel on future releases.

22, A Million

Bon Iver

September 30 / Jagjaguwar

Truly one of the year’s best albums, Bon Iver’s 22, A Million sets itself up for monumental failure. This album is incredibly ambitious, but it all works; every strange, Oneohtrix-indebted sample, every banjo pluck, every croon feels perfectly placed. There are memorable moments (the uplifting final chorus of “33 “GOD””, the mind-melting AutoTune of “715 - CRΣΣKS”) and even more memorable lyrics. Vernon continues to find new ways to express his trademark northern spirituality/melancholy; 22, A Million is nothing less than a jewel.

Muzik (Remixes) EP

Delorean

September 30 / PHLEX

While both Pional and El Guincho’s offerings for this three-song remix EP are decent enough, Pedro Vian’s rework takes the cake. Vian essentially takes the original and stretches it further, making the colorful vocals and instrumentals all the more vivid across six minutes. (Although something has to be said about El Guincho’s intrepid dancehall version!)

Blood Bitch

Jenny Hval

September 30 / Sacred Bones

Like last year’s Apocalypse, girl, Jenny Hval’s newest album Blood Bitch deals with our innermost psychological workings - themes of sex, womanhood, and violence are common. This album is different, however; it’s significantly darker, and a fair bit dreamier. It’s also fantastically imaginative - who else would have thought to make an album about menstrual blood through vampire metaphors? You’ll find yourself fascinated, challenged, and a tiny bit obsessed.

Human Energy

Machinedrum

September 30 / Ninjatune

On new album Human Energy, Machinedrum dives deeply into his new sound, which is evidently just a mixture of all his previous work with DJ Mustard’s production quality and fondness for syncopation. These tracks are incredibly similar, but it’s an interesting experiment; with a lesser artist, it might come off as exhausting, but Machinedrum pours so much energy into it that you never get off the ride, so to speak. Highlights are “Angel Speak”, “Dos Puertas”, and the synesthesia-inducing “Spectrum Sequence”.

Lamentations EP

Moses Sumney

September 30

Nymphs

Nicolas Jaar

September 30 / Other People

Watching Nicolas Jaar’s four Nymphs singles trickle out onto the Internet throughout 2015 just does not compare to this. Nymphs was released as a full album along with Sirens on the last day of September, and while its songs were always incredible, they because Jaar’s magnum opus when assembled together. Nymphs I’s two excellent beats set the stage for a half-hour of fearless experimentation in sound design; the hallucinogenic sounds of “The Three Sides of Audrey and Why She’s All Alone Now” are among the best on the album, while “No One Is Looking at U” and “Swim” make for a thrilling 20 minutes of dance music. Nymphs sounds like the music Aphex Twin would make if he were lost in a jungle somewhere.

Sirens

Nicolas Jaar

September 30 / Other People

Sirens, meanwhile, is Jaar’s grimier political statement; it’s a little less colorful than its counterpart. While it doesn’t have Nymphs’ consistent brilliance, there are still some fascinating moments on this album, and Jaar’s increased vocal presence on this one make for an interesting political message. The slow-burning “Killing Time” is a fantastic opener, while the Radiohead-inspired “The Governor” deals with grand themes of corruption and impending destruction. While Sirens is not as musically adventurous as some of Jaar’s previous work, it stands as his most expressive piece of work ever, and that is in no way a bad thing.

When Love Hurts EP

Pional

September 30 / Counter

When Love Hurts is a short, sunny collection of four Balearic house tracks; this release is the epitome of "mildly interesting, nothing more.” Opener “Casualty” sets the groove nicely, and the following three tracks match it easily; however, the closer “The Way That You Like” is the standout, mainly due to Empress Of’s excellent vocals.

A Seat at the Table

Solange

September 30 / Columbia

Solange’s newest album has received extensive comparisons to Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly - like that record, this one is a passionate and thoughtful exploration of the black experience in modern America. However, A Seat at the Table goes about things entirely differently - instead of To Pimp A Butterfly’s grand and cathartic arrival at a conclusion, A Seat at the Table starts with a core theme (”Wake up and rise”) before building up into the sky from that. It’s an incredible album, largely thanks to Solange’s blurring of genres and inclusion of collaborators from Dave Longstreth to Lil Wayne.

Epoch

Tycho

September 30 / Ghostly International

You know what you’re getting from a new Tycho album, and Epoch does not disappoint. Tycho makes atmospheric beats that lie somewhere between “full band jams” and “bedroom Boards Of Canada”; his music is richly mastered and tastefully produced. Epoch is the latest installment, and its eleven songs are just as good as anything Tycho has ever done. Call it easy listening, but it’s some of the best easy listening you’ll ever hear.

NANIMONO EP

Yasutaka Nakata

October 5 / Warner Japan

Longtime Kyary Pamyu Pamyu producer Yasutaka Nakata’s song for the Japanese film Nanimono gets the full remix treatment here on this EP, but all the reworks pale in comparison with the original. Danny L Harle and TeddyLoid both have interesting takes, but neither of those remixes is really an improvement upon the original track. Overall, you won’t find yourself returning to the NANIMONO EP.

Mare

Christian Löffler

October 7 / Ki

Mare is more of the same for German producer Christian Löffler, who specializes in textural, melancholy techno music. This release features more sparse, atmospheric beats, and while it does get a little exhausting across 18 tracks, the sparse, atmospheric core is always there.

Somewhere in the Nowhere EP

Chrysta Bell & David Lynch

October 7 / Meta Hari

Chysta Bell & David Lynch’s sleepy, Twin Peaks-esque collaborative EP is mostly unremarkable, but it does yield two beautiful songs: “All the Things” is a deathly prom slow dance, and “Back Seat” is what happens after. Somewhere in the Nowhere may not be remembered in a year’s time, but hopefully these two songs are; they’re nothing short of gorgeous.

Heart Like a Levee

Hiss Golden Messenger

October 7 / Merge

Heart Like a Levee is the newest record from M.C. Taylor’s Hiss Golden Messenger project, and it’s a consistently pleasant mix of Americana-tinged folk rock throughout. The highlights, however, are opener “Biloxi” with its infectious chorus and the title track, which unfolds its wistful chord progression with grace and panache.

Cody

Joyce Manor

October 7 / Epitaph

2016 was a fantastic year for DIY music, and Joyce Manor’s Cody might just be the best DIY album of the year; it’s a raucously fun record from front to back, and you can tell as soon as you hear Barry Johnson belt out “Fake I.D.”’s chorus: “What do you think about Kanye West / I think that he’s great, I think he’s the best!” That song, “Eighteen”, and everything else is fantastic; Joyce Manor pull no punches on Cody. It’s punchy pop punk - one of the most solid releases of 2016.

Remixes From An Island EP

Mark Barrott

October 7 / International Feel

Mark Barrott’s Sketches From An Island 2 was a welcome addition to his discography; it, along with his other records, has such a distinctive sound that it makes complete sense that a remix EP would follow. Remixes From An Island features four remixes of Barrott’s new album, but one is far ahead of the others: it’s Domenique Dumont’s masterful rework of Sketches highlight “Der Stern, Der Nie Vergeht”. The song, originally a serene sunrise warmup, turns into a nocturnal groove in her hands; she takes Barrott’s web of synths and effects and adds an intoxicating rhythm.

Building a Beginning

Jamie Lidell

October 14

The best part about Jamie Lidell’s new album Building a Beginning is the first five seconds, where the title track begins in absurdly sexy fashion. Lidell spends his time trying to set a good groove on this new LP, but fails most of the time; the instrumentals are simply too bland, as are his lyrics, vocals, and basically everything else. There are more moments like “Building a Beginning” - “In Love and Alone” starts off in a similarly enticing manner - but Lidell can’t seem to work out how to build anything other than a beginning on this new record. (Zing!)

Reflections

Kastle

October 14 / Symbols

Kastle’s new album Reflections is music for the post-digital age; it’s full of imposing bass hits and jagged samples, and it fearlessly moves from Shlohmo to Burial to Machinedrum (basically, it’ll go anywhere that you would call ‘dark electronic music’). While it should be commended for its playfulness with the boundaries of genre, these transitions aren’t always well-executed, and the majority of Reflections comes off as a little too overbearing. Strangely, the best song is the most unabashedly experimental: closer “Masks” is scarily unpredictable. Kastle has basic mastery of all of the musical styles featured on Reflections; however, you’ll find yourself wishing he made one of them his own.

Color

Katie Gately

October 14 / Tri-Angle

The lead single off of Katie Gately’s debut album Color is fascinating; “Tuck” is nightmarishly strange, with Gately singing lost nursery rhymes over perverse beats. However, the rest of Color isn’t as fascinating. This is a very crowded album; each track is bursting with noise, and not always in the best way. There’s plenty going on with this record, but the moments are when one specific thing takes center stage in front of everything else. Regrettably, that doesn’t happen often.

Simple Forms

The Naked And Famous

October 14 / Somewhat Damaged

The Naked And Famous’ third album is an attempted bounce back after a sophomore slump (but then again, what band wouldn’t slump after a debut like 2010′s Passive Me, Aggressive You?), but it doesn’t really pan out. Lead single and album opener “Higher” is the group at their peak; towering choruses with abrasive, buzz-saw synths are where it’s at. However, not many of these tracks have a memorable bite; it’s back to the drawing board for the New Zealand group.

There Is No Right Time

Youandewan

October 14 / Aus

Youandewan’s style of house music is quiet, but distinctive; it’s bleary-eyed but clear at the same time, as if it’s been designed for when you’ve almost finished clearing out the cobwebs in an early morning. There Is No Right Time is the Yorkshire producer’s debut album, and it’s a remarkable mix of music, from crisply refined jams (”Be Good To Me Poly”, “4D Anxiety”) to sprawlingly sentimental ambient house (”Have The Guts”, “Our Odyssey”) to goofy club tracks (”Earnest Kelly”, “Left On Lucy”). It’s a very, very well-designed album; it’s the perfect length, with just enough variation in musical styles without sacrificing individuality.

Introverted Intuition

Lance Skiiiwalker

October 18 / Top Dawg

Top Dawg’s most esoteric signee makes a splash with this debut album, a cryptic and sludgy mixture of neo-soul and nocturnal hip hop. Lance Skiiiwalker is not a household name, and these songs won’t make him one - the music on Introverted Intuition is fragmented and fractured, with songs suddenly taking flight or falling apart. However, what he has done with this album is show off his skills as a beatmaker, along with his knack for pulling the rug out from under you. Dive into the introverted world of Introverted Intuition, and don’t expect anything to last too long.

American Football

October 21 / Polyvinyl

Surprise, surprise - the second American Football LP does not live up to the expectations set by the fantastic first album, released 17 years ago. Even still, American Football the second holds up quite well as a standalone emo record. The band’s twinkly guitars are, as they always have been, strangely comforting, and Mike Kinsella’s vocals on songs like “My Instincts Are the Enemy” fit the music perfectly. American Football may not be a new American Football, but it’s a perfectly fine record. American Football may not be exceptional anymore, but they’re reliable.

Big Baby D.R.A.M.

D.R.A.M.

October 21 / Empire

Big Baby D.R.A.M. is D.R.A.M.’s arrival, his first grand statement on a large scale after the runaway success of lead single “Broccoli”. The statements on this album are all eccentric; they remain true to D.R.A.M.’s larger-than-life personality, from the steamy Erykah Badu duet “WiFi” to the analog-meets-AutoTune “Misunderstood” (props to Young Thug for his fantastic feature on that one). However, they don’t all stick - it’s kind of a mixed bag, and while D.R.A.M. is a fun guy to hang around for an hour, there isn’t necessarily anything you’d be hard-pressed to return to. Besides “Broccoli”, that is. You’ll always want to return to “Broccoli”.

Heaven Is for Quitters

FaltyDL

October 21 / Blueberry

New York producer FaltyDL’s fifth LP is exciting at times, but mostly flies under the radar. Heaven Is for Quitters is nocturnal and kind of dreamy; ambient interludes abound, and the album centerpieces are all full of woozy synths and reverb. The highlights are the cosmopolitan sax jam “Bridge Spot” and the magnetizing Rosie Lowe collab “Drugs” - the rest are good, but nothing special.

a new family EP

Felicita

October 21 / PC Music

a new family is the new release from Felicita, one of PC Music’s peripheral producers. Instead of the experimental pop music that the likes of A. G. Cook and SOPHIE work with, Felicita prefers more straightforwardly experimental stuff, as is evident on a new family - the title track is the most straightforwardly clubby, but still eschews pop’s common verse-chorus form. Instead, a new family explores sounds both abrasive and sweet on an unstructured canvas, and the results are exciting at times. However, the EP drags during the middle - the best song is outlier “Track 6″, an arrestingly bare solo piano piece.

Bonito Generation

Kero Kero Bonito

October 21

Children’s music has the potential to be some of the best music out there - Kero Kero Bonito’s Bonito Generation isn’t exactly children’s music per se, but it’s surprisingly sophisticated as well. “Fish Bowl” features an out-of-nowhere shoegaze hook, “Lipslap” is an exhilarating hip house romp, and “Picture This” is a simplistic but brilliantly composed pop song. This extends beyond just the music - the lyrics are brilliantly layered so that they can appeal to people in various stages of their life. “Picture This” could be about the simple joys of technology, or it could be about the dangers of showing “everybody you’ve ever known.” “Trampoline” has a brilliant double meaning - jumping on a trampoline could also mean finding “your rhythm” to break out of depression. Bonito Generation is one of the most exhilaratingly original albums of the year.

Joanne

Lady Gaga

October 21 / Interscope

Lady Gaga renounces weirdness for this new LP - Joanne is a fairly straightforward pop rock album, albeit with country influences. This means that occasionally, Gaga is, well, boring, something she’s never been before. The music on Joanne can be a little too straightforward at times; some of these songs lack “centerpiece” melodies or features to capture the ears. But there are also some of Gaga’s best songs to date: the title track is captivatingly gorgeous, and the Kevin Parker-produced “Perfect Illusion” is a brilliant pop portrayal of despair and betrayal, perfect for the always-dramatic Gaga. Joanne is an interesting development in Lady Gaga’s career; while not entirely successful, it certainly has its moments.

You Want It Darker

Leonard Cohen

October 21 / Sony

Even as a fascinating final glimpse at the life of the late Leonard Cohen, You Want It Darker rarely feels essential - it is never an album you will struggle to stop listening to. However, it’s just about as good as an album can get without giving you that feeling; the opening track features elegant vocal arrangements, both realizations of “Treaty” are beautifully bare, and Cohen’s grey, ashy voice is a joy to listen to throughout. You Want It Darker is not another ★, but it’s a very solid album from one of the 20th century’s greatest artists.

Yes Lawd!

NxWorries

October 21 / Stones Throw

Anderson .Paak and Knxwledge on Stones Throw - no, you’re not dreaming. The Oxnard soul man and the skittery, lo-fi hip hop producer team up on Yes Lawd!, a smoky 50-minute affair sure to get your stoner friends buzzing. Yes Lawd! suffers from what a lot of beat albums suffer from - several of the tracks on here are stoner jokes of the worst variety (”H.A.N.” comes to mind). But there are also fantastic beats that .Paak augments brilliantly: “What More Can I Say”, “Link Up”, and the album-highlight woozy slow dance that is “Another Time”. .Paak and Knxwledge work together - let’s hope they perfect their product soon for another album as NxWorries.

Front Row Seat To Earth

Weyes Blood

October 21 / Kemado

Weyes Blood’s newest is perfectly summarized by its cover: laconic, dramatic, glittery, and utterly beautiful. Natalie Mering’s heavenly voice drifts across these songs like sunbeams an hour before sunset - the songs themselves are rich with golden guitar and other warm tones. Most of these tracks work up to cathartic crescendos: “Do You Need My Love” and “Used to Be” are this way, and they both brilliantly hit their mark, the former with towering choirs and the latter with trumpets. The standout, however, is “Generation Why”, a disillusioned ballad masked in a wistful, otherworldly chord progression. A little iPhone notification sound breaks through the mix about a minute in - it only contributes to Weyes Blood’s majesty.

Dog Food EP

GFOTY & Spinee

October 24 / PC Music

GFOTY and Spinee are two of PC Music’s most off-putting characters, and that’s saying something - therefore, a release like Dog Food is sure to test the boundaries of your tastes. This EP is exhilarating - eight tracks, most under two minutes, each exploring garish pop trends both present and past. “CASH COWS” is a happy hardcore stomper with a disorienting vaporwave outro; “MONEY ME” is a gooey capitalist anthem with some very SOPHIE-sounding climbing basslines. Of course, there are plenty of moments where Dog Food is hard to stomach, but it’s certainly never boring. My favorite moment? The line “walking down the street in my brand new car” - it perfectly summarizes the gleeful rebellion of this jarring EP.

Call Him A Doctor EP

GFOTY

October 25 / PC Music

A day after the release of Dog Food, another GFOTY project comes, and this one is much, much different. Call Him A Doctor explores some of the same sonic territory, of course, but it’s strangely beautiful in the way it unfolds - it might be one of the best PC Music releases yet. From the unexpected rock-influenced opening track onwards, things are packed with surprisingly touching musical flourishes. “Snakes + Ladders” is abrasive at the beginning, but suddenly evens out into an Art Angels-esque industrial pop jam; “You Don’t” features messy guitar solos on top of a full, wistful arrangement for strings. The best of them all is “The Argument”, where an amorphous instrumental track and an absurd rhyme scheme from GFOTY (no spoilers) slowly combine to win you over. Try and not just marvel in the weirdness of it all.

Bucket List Project

Saba

October 26

After hitting it big with his chorus on Chance The Rapper’s “Angels”, Chicago rapper Saba’s debut album is full of the same exuberant personality - just listen to opening track “In Loving Memory” and that jazzy, warm sound is apparent. However, Bucket List Project just doesn’t have the same killer instinct as a Chance mixtape; too many of these tracks glide by without making much of an impression. The one piece of true brilliance is “Westside Bound 3″, where Saba’s ridiculous flow - “And I’m from the part of the city that they don’t be talkin’ about” - latches onto a beat that is both warmly accessible and unmistakably ambitious. It’s in moments like those where you can hear the potential in Saba’s music - unfortunately, he’s unable to sustain this through all of Bucket List Project.

Joy

Brandt Brauer Frick & Beaver Sheppard

October 28 / K7!

The German trio of producers known as Brandt Brauer Frick added a fourth to their ranks for Joy, their new album - vocalist Beaver Sheppard sings over all ten of these tracks. Maybe he isn’t to blame directly, but Joy is a little bit more poppy as a result of his presence; it’s clear that these songs are structured to accommodate Sheppard’s verses. This change does not work well for Brandt Brauer Frick; most of these songs are utterly uninteresting, with no exciting progression á la “Bop”. Joy is rather joyless.

January Tape

Cut Copy

October 28 / Cutters

Cut Copy’s last two albums were really, really good - the Australian indie dance band continues to have a knack for crafting blissfully weird dance pop. They’ve clearly taken a break - January Tape is far from a proper follow up to 2013′s Free Your Mind, but it’s an okay enough interlude between full albums. This tape is not for light listening - the five tracks are connected to form a continuous, 40-plus-minute progression. While things never really converge into masterful ambient music, you always get a feeling of momentum, and that’s worthwhile - January Tape isn’t magical, but it’s a lovely way to wake up in the morning. I’d check it out if I were you.

Labyrinths

Daedelus

October 28 / Magical Properties

Beatmaker Daedelus’ first solo album in two years is a collage of various sounds and experiments, and this diversity both helps and hinders the album. Some - like the wonderfully sunny opener “Aries” or the jazzy groove of album highlight “Special Re: Quest” - are fantastic. Others uselessly hang in the balance as they indecisively make several cluttered statements at once. Overall, Labyrinths is one of those albums you cherry-pick your favorites from; you may not want to spend too much time in this maze.

DC4

Meek Mill

October 28 / Maybach

“Back To Back” or no “Back To Back”, you know what you’re getting from Meek Mill - his new album DC4 is just as direct as any of his previous releases. His act is admittedly getting a little old (or, was it ever exciting across an entire album?) but, as always, there are highlights. On DC4, it’s when Meek mixes his one-dimensional style with that of a featured artist; when this goes right, both artists’ contributions benefit. Tory Lanez kills it with his AutoTuned chorus in “Litty”, and Young Thug and 21 Savage do a great job in bookending “Offended”. You probably shouldn’t expect front-to-back consistency from DC4, but then again, you probably weren’t before you read this. Just know that, as always, Meek Mill has his moments.

Talk To You Soon

Ricky Eat Acid

October 28 / Terrible

Ricky Eat Acid’s new album is supposedly something of a comment on communication in our digital world; Talk To You Soon features plenty of digitized voices and glossy, welcoming synth pads, and you only need to listen to the eerie “Never Alone in a Dark Room” to tell. While this concept doesn’t necessarily fly across the album’s full 40 minutes, Ricky strikes gold several times with his simpler ambient experiments. Little interlude “Know” is a slice of precious, electric optimism; meanwhile, “Fucking to Songs on Radios” takes a potentially embarrassing refrain and spins it into a surprisingly touching lo-fi electronic pop song. Talk To You Soon might be slightly top-heavy (the back end of this album is a bit of a flop) but you’ll find a silver lining at the beginning of this cloud. Pun intended.

Cozy Tapes: Vol. 1 Friends-

A$AP Mob

October 31 / RCA

After a tour with Tyler, the Creator, A$AP Rocky - and his Mob by extension - seems like he’s having more fun than ever before, and A$AP Mob’s new mixtape mirrors this; at the end of the day, this is just a bunch of irreverent bangers thrown together, the result of a few months’ worth of casual studio sessions. This means that there’s plenty of unnecessary stuff here - for one, the skits (all of them long, none of them funny) could have been axed, and some of the features are a little lazy. But other moments make Cozy Tapes: Vol. 1 Friends- very redeemable: “Yamborghini High”’s beat is ridiculously cool, A$AP Nast sounds utterly at home on top of the old-school “Nasty’s World”, and Tyler, the Creator stops by for a ruthless verse in the middle of the headache-inducing “Telephone Calls”. Cozy Tapes: Vol. 1 Friends- is nothing more than a goofy promo tape for A$AP Mob and their various pals, but it floats off of the sheer fun factor of some of these tracks.

HERE

Alicia Keys

November 4 / RCA

After releasing the excellent single “In Common” and releasing raw and exciting new album art, everything pointed towards HERE being a surprising comeback for Alicia Keys. However, this record winds up being a bloated disappointment, one which deals too much in clichés and too little in actually exciting artistic statements. HERE’s songs are vintage 2000s with their use of acoustic guitars and clean, crispy drum programming; unfortunately, Keys takes the bare vulnerability in the production and fails to do anything other than overplay it. The only song worth listening to is “Where Do We Begin Now”, which sports a wonderful descending piano riff and some excellent drums. Overall, however, HERE is a decisive letdown.

Collage EP

The Chainsmokers

November 4 / Disruptor

The Chainsmokers have made headlines in the last year as one of the most formulaic pop machines out there; it’s more than clear by now that the duo has a successful blueprint for a song, and they won’t be changing anytime soon. Collage sees them riding on the back of “Closer”, their most successful song yet, and while it’s far from a perfect pop release, it’s got its moments. “Don’t Let Me Down” is completely forgettable, but all the other tracks feature some exciting moments; the buildup and release of “All We Know” is electric, the drop in “Setting Fires” is explosive, and “Inside Out” features some tried-and-true chords which are only blown up to larger proportions during the chorus. “Closer” is the best song on the EP, though - even if you’ve heard it too much and the drop gets a little old, the verses and buildup is better than any Chainsmokers song. Collage isn’t that strong of a project, but it’s fascinating as documentation of The Chainsmokers’ ruthless formula for pop gold.

A Fistful of Peril

CZARFACE

November 4 / Silver Age

CZARFACE continue doing what they do best on A Fistful of Peril, the comic book-obsessed hip hop group’s third album and follow up to the only-a-year-old Every Hero Needs a Villain. Just like that record, this one gets better as you get deeper into it - while the first few tracks struggle to find a rhythm, CZARFACE hit their stride by “Revenge on Lizard City” and kill it thereafter. Credit is due to Inspectah Deck for serving another batch of excellent beats; 7L and Esoteric both do a fine job in tandem on the mic as well. A Fistful of Peril proves for a second time that CZARFACE are here to stay.

Say It (Remixes) EP

Flume & Tove Lo

November 4 / Mom+Pop

Flume’s slowly unfolding colossus “Say It” was a highlight off of his album Skin - he gives it the remix treatment on this EP, with contributions from Clean Bandit, Anna Lunoe, SG Lewis, and Stwo. Most are decent but nowhere near the quality of the original; the only one that comes close is Lunoe’s glittery house remix, which restructures the original’s chord progression into silver synth stabs. As for the rest... not much to say.

Slam Dunk Vol. III EP

Sporting Life

November 4 / Letter Racer

The third and final installment of RATKING producer Sporting Life’s Slam Dunk EP series is the least impressive of the three, even though it’s positively stacked with exciting collaborations (Blood Orange’s Dev Hynes, Wiki, and Babyfather all stop by). Hynes sounds a bit out of place on opener “Nothing To Hide”, but Wiki’s verse brings things nicely into place; “Jumpball” and “Espy” are both rather uneventful, and Babyfather’s mix of “Nothing To Hide” is a good-but-not-great rework of the song. Slam Dunk Vol. III is a little too sleepy; the material would do well as part of a larger project, but it’s nothing to write home about as things stand.

On The Green Again

Tiger & Woods

November 4 / T & W

Tiger & Woods are here to comfort you while Todd Terje is away. The Italian production duo make dance music that is quite similar to Terje’s stuff in its unrestrained joy; these guys will get you moving in a way that is goofy, golf-y, and entirely unpretentious. On The Green Again, their second LP, is another great journey through ‘80s instrumentation and upbeat grooves. It’s a little long and a little too ‘club-ready’ (not much variation in these songs) but it’s still solidly consistent, and the tracks that do have tricks hidden away are more than worth checking out.

Nightride

Tinashe

November 4 / RCA

Nightride

comes during Tinashe’s struggle to get her career off of the ground after 2014′s lovely

Aquarius

; she says that it’s the first part of a two-part series that

Joyride

will hopefully complete. This album definitely deserves its title: it’s dreamy and dark, with lots of deep 808 hits, midtempo jams, and slurred production.

Nightride

has the vibe down, but it’s missing some

momentum.

While plenty of these tracks (”Lucid Dreaming” and “Sunburn”, for example) have a nicely gloomy atmosphere, too many of them lack any kind of kinetic energy.

Beautiful Things You Left Us for Memories

Pedro Vian

November 9 / Modern Abstract

Barcelona producer Pedro Vian makes classic Balearic dance music; light, airy and summery, with just enough psychedelia to still be able to fit into a dark night in the club. However, this album, his debut, isn't exactly firing on all cylinders; Beautiful Things You Left Us for Memories is somewhat bloated with midtempo cuts and ambient periods that don't contribute anything to the mix. The darkly propulsive "Maia" is the highlight; other than that, Beautiful Things You Left Us for Memories rather disappoints.

Are We Not Burning: The Devolution Of Capsized EP

Andrew Bird

November 11 / Wagawam

Listening to Andrew Bird's latest album Are You Serious only serves to further drive home the idea that Mr. Bird might be one of the most listenable musicians on the planet. He could play the same song over and over and, thanks to his improvisational skills and quickness of mind on the violin, it would never get old. That's exactly what he does with Are We Not Burning: The Devolution Of Capsized - Bird takes "Capsized", an excellent cut off of Are You Serious, and transforms it four different times into four different 'songs' across various live performances. All four versions are excellent - a final version recorded at Sound City Studios takes the cake - and Bird proves a point: his music sounds good no matter what he does with it.

DedSec - Watch Dogs 2

Hudson Mohawke

November 11 / Warp

Hudson Mohawke's Watch Dogs 2 score is his first full-fledged piece of work since 2015's disappointing Lantern - unfortunately, DedSec falls victim to the same issues, although maybe for different reasons considering the music on this project was designed to fit a different medium. Even still, most this music is simply unpleasant to listen to, from the pointless video game stabs of "Burning Desire" to the decent but ultimately forgettable efforts of the off-kilter "Amethyst". Mohawke is still at his best when he makes grand pop statements - on Lantern, it was "Scud Books" and "Ryderz", and here, it's the glittery opener "Shanghaied". The rest of DedSec, however, is an exercise in futility.

Love Songs: Part Two

Romare

November 11 / Ninja Tune

It makes sense that Romare's album covers are entirely made up of monochrome cartoons; his music has the same sophisticated, sly sense of humor. Love Songs: Part Two is his new collection of sample-based and love-obsessed dance music, and there are some fantastically weird tracks on here. Take opener "Who To Love?", where a woman's vocals are digitally prolonged on top of some jazzy chords. Everything is slightly, gloriously off key. "Honey" is another track that builds to a satisfyingly golden climax out of a few bare instruments; this one features saloon piano and a flat-sounding flute thing. "Je T'aime" is the best, however; a kooky stomper of a song that builds into a mind-melting chorus. Love Songs: Part Two doesn't land every punchline, but for the most part, Romare is clinically on target.

We got it from Here... Thank You 4 Your service

A Tribe Called Quest

November 11 / Epic

A Tribe Called Quest's return could not have been handled more brilliantly - We got it from Here... Thank You 4 Your service is a near-flawless finale to the rap group's illustrious career. Q-Tip, Jarobi, the late Phife Dawg, and guests (Busta Rhymes, André 3000, Anderson .Paak, Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, and others) combine to craft an intimidatingly smooth double album, one which coasts so coolly and comfortably that it's easy to lose track of time. "The Space Program" is a wonderful opener, "Dis Generation" is utter bliss, "Black Spasmodic" is addictively jerky, and "The Donald" is a brilliant finale; Tribe make their exit in unforgettable fashion.

Sixth Stitch

Via App

November 11 / Break World

Sixth Stitch is a grower, that's for sure. Dylan Scheer's second album as Via App is packed with unexpected sounds; one minute, you're listening to the broken-record techno of eight-minute opener "Far She", the next, you're hearing weird one-minute synth experiments quickly pass through your headphones. Sixth Stitch is an exploration in atonality to the extreme; none of these tracks have central keys or melodies. Instead, they jump around aimlessly - sometimes, like on the bouncy "Visabel" or the thrumming "Airborne Shuffle", this is really interesting, and sometimes it's a dead end.

24K Magic

Bruno Mars

November 18 / Atlantic

Bruno Mars returns with a new kind of feeling on 24K Magic, the follow-up to 2012′s Unorthodox Jukebox and his first major release since Mark Ronson’s addictive “Uptown Funk” hit the radio. 24K Magic follows in that hit’s footsteps; Mars is full of élan and personality on this nine-track, 30-minute stomper. This album draws heavily from the music of the 1980s - Michael Jackson, Parliament-Funkadelic, and Warren G especially - but it manages to stay exciting and fresh. “24K Magic” is the thrilling opener, “Versace On The Floor” and “Straight Up & Down” are the ballads, and “Calling All My Lovelies” is the psychedelic poolside jam. 24K Magic is a pleasant surprise; out of nowhere, Bruno Mars has come through with a consistently good pop record.

Redemption

Dawn Richard

November 18 / Local Action

Dawn Richard’s new record Redemption features a heavy production influence from Machinedrum - the producer has co-production credits on nine of the album’s fifteen songs, and these songs’ fizzy energy mirror that of the songs on Machinedrum’s album Human Energy. It’s a good overall fit, if unspectacular; Richard does well on top of bouncy club tracks like “Renegades” and “Voices”. The rest of the album sits uncomfortably close to “in one ear and out the other” territory, however - Richard still struggles to put out a front-to-back impressive project.

#feature #Owen Z #the catch up

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