#Secret Shame S/T EP

[thejoyofviolentmovement]

New Audio: JOVM Mainstays Secret Shame Share Gorgeous New Single

New Audio: JOVM Mainstays Secret Shame Share Gorgeous New Single @ShameSecret @transmissionpr_ @dropofsunstudio

Asheville-based post-punk outfit and JOVM mainstays Secret Shame can trace their origins back to summer 2016 when Matthew (bass) and Lena (vocals) met through mutual friends. As a duo, the band released their self-titled debut EP, but they mostly stuck to hometown DIY shows. Nathan, who had released the band’s debut EP, later joined on drums and not long after, Aster joined on guitar. The…

[soundsaboutrighttumblr]

Okay, meta of the scene in ep 5 between Shu Yi’s Dad and Shi De.

Shame on me, because I have to digress at the very beginning even, because that piggy back scene reminded me of something Sam said in an interview, and that is that Yu’s body felt soft to the touch, like a cat’s, and that it is totally a good thing. In the way he molds himself to Shi De’s back, and later slithers off him into the bed, I must say, I totally see it, what he means, and I am loving it. He’s probably very good at winding himself out of your hold when he doesn’t want to be there, and fitting himself to every part of your body when he wants to. Bendy, non-resistant, viscuous, long, warm limbs, I can just imagine the morning stretches. And yeah, I would totally try to pet him, even at the dangers of scratch and bite.

Back to topic:

That scene with Dad. I laughed out loud several times, it is amazing, but also heart wrenching and a psychological roller coaster of course, but I loved how the acting toed the line between serious and comical at times. How Shu Yi’s Dad seems so much like Shu Yi in some moments, when he angrily stalked over towards a wide-eyed Shi De – with Shu Yi on his back-, or later the end of the scene, his impulsive face journey, and how you can see where Shu Yi got his bearings and mannerisms from. Great choice of actor, great acting, I laughed so hard.

On to the psychological ride that is this scene:

So, we’re still digesting the piggy back ride with Big Cat Shu Yi, and there he comes, Dad, dorky and enthusiastic and overbearing, already in Shu Yi’s apartment, with food and presents, but so happy to see his son.

And he comes face to face with a doe eyed, clumsy looking, caught in the act-mannered Gao Shi De, and of course that phallic symbol in Dad’s hand has to be broken for effect (You know, the phallus shaped snack that Shu Yi really likes, that Shi De will take to him later?).

And the music and all plays into the comedic aspect, but also into the role that Shi De takes on here, which is to a point calculated, I believe. It’S the playing weak he will be accused of later. He still tries to win Dad over by playing a more submissive role, not offending his pride, but allowing for his authority, still trying to maybe appease him for Shu Yi’s sake, to make him maybe come around without having to play hard ball.

Dad prowling over menacingly, shushing him, only to take the shoes… yeah. Laughed. His priority is his son, even if he is misguided about what he needs to protect his son from. A thought: The relatives, not the love of his live. But, of course, that is easier said than done, because Dad, too, is entangled in family and corporate webs.

But first things first, Shi De takes his big cat to the bedroom, and this time the statue and rabbit on the window can look on, because nothing scandalous is happening, the snow globe with the Statue of Liberty seems gone, no more freezing American secrets to disturb, it seems.

And is this the look of a man wo just decided that he wants to marry the one sleeping in front of him, again, and over once more? Yes, it is.

It is also the look of a man, who decided to try and win over his fiancé’s dad once more, because even if he knows Shu Yi will stand at his side against him, the happier future he wants for Shu Yi would be with Dad on their side, because despite it all they are close, so close they share mannerisms and face journeys.

So, he showers, in Shu Yi’s space probably owned by Dad, washing off past mistakes, preparing to be his best self when meeting Dad downstairs again. Also? Making Dad wait for him, what a power move, Shi De is capable all right.

When he finally comes down to meet Dad, he takes on the role of a more submissive junior again, polite and respecting authority, because he is the one who asks something that Dad thinks it is his to give, and thus hehas the disadvantage, or at least wants to appease Dad by making him feel that way.

He plays along Dad’s rules, apologizing for breaking a promise that was a set up from the beginning, and he knows.

He presents the documents of his ‘worthiness’, humbly apologizing for them to be lacking in Dad’s eyes. Dad keeps eating, not paying back any of the respect he is shown, still to caught up in his entitlement.

Dad’s remark of it being the betrothal presents is meant to ridicule Shi De’s efforts and love.

Shi De gives him one last out, when he overlooks the tone, and just says yes. You can see it as my dowry, being totally honest and unoffended, as a move of power.

And Dad falls into his trap, out of arrogance, out of underestimating Shi De. Ridiculing something, that is not his to judge, laughing. Entitled: You are never getting into my family.”

Edit: for further intricacies about dowries and betrothal presents in Asian cultures, go here a post by @noona96n​ that gives more sense to it. I’ll leave my take before reading here nonetheless, because the gist is there, lol. But that reading of the beginning of the scene with the documents and the dowry and dad’s entitlement makes more sense. 

And that is when Shi De changes course.

Leaving the submissive pose behind, sitting down at the table, an at least equal partner at the bargaining table.

And what he says, that he can let Shu Yi into his own family, because they are accepting him with open arms? It is a strike that is powerful, proving that equality, if not superiority.

It reminds me of when Shi De said in their first encounter after America, that he will accept the deal, because he knows Shu Yi will never be happy without his father’s approval.  Dad should have seen it then, maybe he did and forgot, and underestimated again.

Shi De is a psychological menace when it comes to bargaining and debating, and don’t you make the mistake to underestimate that. Now they are playing hard ball.

Because he brings Shu Yi’s happiness into it, something he knows is something Dad cares about deep down, even if he is misguided how it should look like. It also plays into parental duties and responsibilities and being a good parent, supporting your child and accepting and loving him for who he is.

He appeals to Dad’s guilt over that, all the while putting him in his place, because he, Shi De has that love that loves Shu Yi unconditionally and wants what makes him happy, he has parents that will love him and may take Dad’s place if he does a job that is lacking.

t’s also a hit to Dad’s fear of losing Shu Yi, that he admitted to in the bar, when saying not only daughters can leave their families. He treatens to take Shu Yi away into a new family.

Shi De builds himself up as Dad’s equal here, with a love that is true for Shu Yi, and also one that chooses Shu YI’s happiness. He’s saying, if they are to be competitors for Shi Yi’s love, Shi De might just come out winning, so Dad should rethink his course.

And Dad realizes then, that he has underestimated Shi De, he has leaned back in his chair while Shi De leans forward. He’s not laughing anymore.

Shi De is very confident in enunciating the syllables, leaning forward, no cowering in his eyes any longer. Everything about his posturing is dominant now. Demanding respect, not asking for it any longer.

So much that Shu Yi’s Dad is backed into a corner, offense his only defense: Are you threating me?

Now it is Shi De who is laughing. What a terrifying opponent in a negotiation. Business man and alpha males through and through… ah, alpha, wasn’t that the project that Shi De… anyway.

Shi De’s reaching out an olive branch, trying to soothe the situation for politeness sakes. All instruments in the psychological engineering of that scene.

And Dad has to give that credit, even if he gives it the tone of an insult.

“You played weak before.”

I am not sure if he means Shi De portrayed himself as weaker than he was, or if he meant play dirty. In any case, he misjudged Shi De. Edit: I think it means playing dirty. Which dad has done, too. Edit’s Edit: Although @noona96n post on the japanese subs ead in me into an iterpretation of playing weaker than he is again... I am torn. both, both is good.

And Shi De again pretends not to hear the tone, just takes it as face value, not letting Dad getting personal. But also, Shi De delivers a lethal blow:

Reminding Dad again, that yes, Shi De played that game for Shu Yi’s happiness, thus having the moral higher ground, but also reminding him that yes, he chose to play the game that way, dirty if he must, with all the capabilities he now proved to have, and that he is not afraid to sacrifice on personal levels, or his pride, to get what he wants, which is ultimately a happy Shu Yi.

Also reminding him of the emails, how dirty he COULD play, leverage that Dad until now maybe thought he still had, but that Shi de now holds over him.

You can see how Shu Yi’s dad doesn’t have anything to set against that. So, he just turns to an insult, trying to put Shi De down again.

But Shi De twists it in his mouth, taking it as confession, just to rile up Dad. Then calling him Dad/Father-in-law, to remind him that with how things are looking now, this is the foreseeable outcome of their future, one where Shi De gets his way and Dad doesn’t.

Edit: @noona96n‘s post on the japanese subs and marriage and family in Asian culture led me to believe that Dad’s scolding of calling Shi De an ungrateful creature/child, as if he was in fatherly position to do so, made Shi De trap him with the question, if he had accepted the marriage/Shi De as his child, and he calls him Dad. I also think that Dad was really impressed by Shi De’s negotiation Skills, and maybe because of that slipped up like that... For those interested, sometimes we have interesting conversations in the comments and notes, lol.

I correct myself; I think that was the lethal blow, lol.

And Dad can only turn to blind rage, lashing out with anything that comes to mind. How the incident in the company still might cost him that future with Shu Yi. Hm. Sus.

You know, the incident, where someone maybe paid a lot of money to destroy/test Shi De’s company and future, by stealing the title alpha, ahem, project alpha from him, only for Shi De to rebuild what alpha means from the ground up, out of his resources, to present it to Dad’s company? Yeah, am I getting this right? Metaphors and all?

Anyway, Shi De has his capabilities and team and support to trust he will resolve that matter, so he is not in the slightest intimidated by that veiled threat.

He concludes by turning back to politeness, thanking Dad for his criticism/warning and paying back some respect to his authority, by bowing and promising to not let him down. Being the bigger man and all.

Then he steals the food Shu Yi likes, that Dad brought, out from under him. Because he CAN.

Yeah, that frustrated face journey by Dad is everything.

But. Maybe someday, when he gets over his pride and anger, he will even be impressed by his future Son-in-law, because yeah, Dad just met his match on a psychological scheming business war-fare level. He got his a... handed back to him.

He HAS to see how that will be good for Shu Yi to have in his corner, eventually.

Edit: After reading @noona96n ‘ post on weddings and family in Asian culture, I believe that interpretation fits the beginning of the scene better, but I do think once Dad rebuffed Shi De’s ask to marry into the family so harshly, Shi De really went into ruthless negotiation mode, to prove to Dad who thinks him unworthy of his world, that he can scheme and negotiate with the best of them, it is not a negotiation of Shu Yi’s future as much as they are pithing their negotiation skills against each other, and I believe Shi De succeeds in impressing Dad, which leads to Dad’s slip up in scolding him like achild, also maybe letting slip he knows of the stolen project, even though everyone has signed confidentiality agreements.

[collegeburnoutsuperstar]

2021 Book Recommendations

Way back in March 2020, at the very start of quarantine I did a little quarantine-read book rec list. We are now in 2021 and we are still in quarantine, so here’s an updated book rec post to help you through a socially distanced winter break and holiday season.

Non-Fiction:

Zami: A New Spelling of My Name | Audre Lorde | Adult | Memoir | LGBTQ | Zami provides a detailed look into Lorde’s life growing up in the 30s, 40s, and 50s as a young, poor, lesbian, black woman. Discussion focuses primarily on racism, poverty, and sexuality. | Trigger/Content Warnings: rape, suicide\suicide attempts, death, racism, abortion, mentions of cancer, mentions of abuse, sex.

Redefining Realness | Janet Mock | Adult | Memoir | LGBTQ | “This powerful memoir follows Mock’s quest for identity, from an early, unwavering conviction about her gender to a turbulent adolescence in Honolulu that saw her transitioning during the tender years of high school, self-medicating with hormones at fifteen, and flying across the world alone for sex reassignment surgery at just eighteen. With unflinching honesty, Mock uses her own experiences to impart vital insight about the unique challenges and vulnerabilities of trans youth and brave girls like herself” (Goodreads). | Trigger/Content Warnings: underage prostitution, transphobia, bullying.

An Autobiography | Angela Y. Davis | Adult | Memoir | A story of racism, discrimination, imprisonment, and Communism; “the author, a political activist, reflects upon the people and incidents that have influenced her life and commitment to global liberation of the oppressed” (Goodreads). | Trigger/Content Warnings: racism, murder, violence, police brutality.

Before Night Falls | Reinaldo Arenas | Adult | Memoir | LGBTQ | “Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas describes his poverty-stricken childhood in rural Cuba, his adolescence as a rebel fighting for Fidel Castro, and his life in revolutionary Cuba as a homosexual. Very quickly, the Castro government suppressed his writing and persecuted him for his homosexuality until he was final imprisoned” (Goodreads). | Trigger/Content Warnings: underage sexual experiences with other minors, statutory rape, bestiality, incest, graphic descriptions of sex, suicide attempts, mentions of suicide, mentions of AIDs, homophobia.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings | Maya Angelou | Adult | “Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local ‘powhitetrash’. At eight years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age-- and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. Year later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for herself, the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned” (Goodreads).

Notes of a Native Son | James Baldwin | Adult | Essay Collection | “Written during the 1940s, when Baldwin was only in his twenties, the essays collected in Notes of a Native Son capture a view of black life and black thought at the dawn of the Civil Rights movement and as the movement slowly gained strength through the words of one of the most captivating essayists and foremost intellectuals of that era. Writing as an artist, activist, and social critic, Baldwin probes the complex condition of being black in America. With a keen eye, he examines everything from the significance of the protest novel to the motives and circumstances of the many black expatriates of the time” (Amazon).

Contemporary Fiction: 

Alex in Wonderland | Simon James Green | Young Adult | Romance | LGBTQ | “ In the town of Newsands, painfully shy Alex is abandoned by his two best friends for the summer. But he unexpectedly lands a part-time job at Wonderland, a run-down amusement arcade on the seafront, where he gets to know the other teen misfits who work there. Alex starts to come out of his shell, and even starts to develop feelings for co-worker Ben... who, as Alex's bad luck would have it, has a girlfriend. Then as debtors close in on Wonderland and mysterious, threatening notes start to appear, Alex and his new friends take it on themselves to save their declining employer. But, like everything in Wonderland, nothing is quite what it seems” (Goodreads). 

Red, White & Royal Blue | Casey McQuiston | New Adult | Romance | LGBTQ | First Son Alex Claremont-Diaz, son of United States President Ellen Claremont, finds himself back in the public eye after a confrontation with his nemesis, His Royal Highness Prince Henry, at a royal wedding. The only way to save American/British relations from crumbling: Create a fake friendship between Alex and Henry. But what happens when this fake friendship becomes something more? How will these two young men go down in history?

Fifty Shames of Earl Gray | Fanny Merkin | Adult | Parody/Humor | Very Heterosexual | “ Young, arrogant, tycoon Earl Grey seduces the naïve coed Anna Steal with his overpowering good looks and staggering amounts of money, but will she be able to get past his fifty shames, including shopping at Walmart on Saturdays, bondage with handcuffs, and his love of BDSM (Bards, Dragons, Sorcery, and Magick)? Or will his dark secrets and constant smirking drive her over the edge?” (Goodreads). | Trigger/Content Warnings: the is a parody of Fifty Shades of Grey...

Historical Fiction:

Water Music | T. Coraghessan Boyle | Adult | Adventure | “Set in the late eighteenth century, Water Music follows the wild adventures of Ned Rise, thief and whoremaster, and Mungo Park, a Scottish explorer, through London’s seamy gutters and Scotland’s scenic highlands to their grand meeting in the heart of darkest Africa. There they join forces and wend their hilarious way to the source of the Niger” (Goodreads).

The Island of the Day Before | Umberto Eco | Adult | Italian Literature | “After a violent storm in the South Pacific in the year 1643, Roberto della Griva finds himself shipwrecked-on a ship. Swept from the Amaryllis, he has managed to pull himself aboard the Daphne, anchored in the bay of a beautiful island. The ship is fully provisioned, he discovers, but the crew is missing. As Roberto explores the different cabinets in the hold, he remembers chapters from his youth: Ferrante, his imaginary evil brother; the siege of Casale, that meaningless chess move in the Thirty Years' War in which he lost his father and his illusions; and the lessons given him on Reasons of State, fencing, the writing of love letters, and blasphemy. In this fascinating, lyrical tale, Umberto Eco tells of a young dreamer searching for love and meaning; and of a most amazing old Jesuit who, with his clocks and maps, has plumbed the secrets of longitudes, the four moons of Jupiter, and the Flood” (Goodreads).

Brethren [Raised by Wolves series 1] | W. A. Hoffman | Adult | Adventure/Buccaneers | LGBTQ | “John Williams, the Viscount of Marsdale, libertine, duelist, dilettante, haphazard philanthropist and philosopher, is asked by his estranged father to start a plantation in Jamaica in 1667. He doesn’t realize that he is going to the right island for the wrong reasons until he meets buccaneers and learns he has for more in common with the wild Brethren of the Coast than he does with the nobility of Christendom. Still, he questions joining them and leaving his title and the plantation behind until her meets Gaston the Ghoul, a mysterious French buccaneer who is purportedly mad. He quickly decides that the freedom of buccaneer life [...] [is] better than anything he could ever inherit” (Goodreads). Trigger/Content Warnings: violence, mentions of rape, mentions of death, mentions of torture, mentions of abuse, mentions of incest, slavery, discussions of mental illness at a time when it is not really understood, descriptions of sex, alcohol use.

Captive Prince [The Captive Prince Trilogy 1] | C. S. Pacat | Adult | Historical-inspired  Fiction | LGBTQ [more in later books] | Prince Damianos of Akielos finds himself captured and stripped of his true identity when someone close to the Prince makes a move for the throne. Part of the plot: ship the captured Prince to the enemy nation of Vere as a pleasure slave. In Vere, Damianos takes on a new identity, or else he would immediately be put to death by his new master, the Prince of Vere. Damianos quickly discovers that his capture and enslavement is not just an isolated incident, but is in fact part of a much larger plot that will drastically change the futures of both Akielos and Vere. | Trigger/Content Warnings: violence, torture, slavery/pleasure slaves [partially set within a culture that uses slaves], death, pedophilia, mentions of rape, descriptions of sex, suicide [in the second book]. DISCLAIMER: This trilogy has an enemies-to-lovers subplot, but it is in no way romanticizing slavery, rape, or violence. The romance subplot does not start until the characters undergo massive amounts of character growth and development.

11/22/63 | Stephen King | Adult | Time Travel | Thriller | Jake Epping, a thirty-five year old high school teacher English teacher and GED teacher from Maine embarks on a world-changing mission after a trip to the storeroom of his friend Al’s diner. Within the storeroom, Al has been hiding a secret, a secret that is objectively better than anything else that could’ve been hidden in a diner storeroom. Al has a portal to 1958. The mission: try to stop the Kennedy Assassination. Just remember, the current timeline may just be the best one. | Trigger/Content Warnings: death, violence, racism, domestic abuse, political assassination.

Adult Science Fiction & Fantasy:

The Rage of Dragons | Evan Winter | High Fantasy | “The Omehi people have been fighting an unwinnable fight for almost two hundred years. Their society has been billt around war and only war. The lucky ones are born gifted. One in every two thousand women has the power to call down dragons. One in every hundred men is able to magically transform himself into a bigger, stronger, faster killing machine. Everyone else is fodder, destined to fight and die in the endless war. Young, gift-less Tau knows all this, but he has a plan of escape. He is going to get himself injured, get out early, and settle down to marriage, children, and land. Only, he doesn’t get the chance. Those closest to him are brutally murdered and his grief swiftly turns to anger. Fixated on revenge, Tau dedicates himself to an unthinkable path. He’ll become the greatest swordsman to ever live, a man willing to die a hundred thousand times for the chance to kill the three who betrayed him” (Goodreads).

The Binding | Bridget Collins | Historical Fantasy | LGBTQ | While suffering from a mysterious illness, Emmett Farmer is sent away from his family to apprentice at a bookbinder’s workshop. But Emmett has been taught to hate books his whole life, they are dangerous and shameful. But under the instruction of the book binder, Emmett learns the secrets that books hold and uncovers a past that he didn’t even know he had. | Trigger/Content Warnings: homophobia, death, suicide, allusions to rape.

The House in the Cerulean Sea | T.J. Klune | Suitable for all ages | Urban Fantasy | LGBTQ | Don’t you wish you were here? Forty year old Linus Baker lives a lonesome, drear life. For seventeen years, Mr. Baker has worked as a case worker at the Department In Charge Of Magical Youth where he monitors the treatment of magical children in government-sanctioned orphanages. In a break from his usual routine, Mr. Baker is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management and is assigned a highly classified and possibly dangerous case. He is sent to the Marsyas Island Orphanage where he meets the six dangerous children; a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, a green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist, along with their caretaker Arthur Parnassus. At the the end of his stay, Mr. Baker must make a decision: Should he follow the rules, or protect a family? 

Wolfsong [The Green Creak Series 1] | T.J. Klune | Paranormal/Shifter Romance | LGBTQ | “Ox was twelve when his daddy taught him a very valuable lesson. He said that Ox wasn’t worth anything and people would never understand him. Then he left. Ox was sixteen when he met a boy on the road, the boy who talked and talked and talked. Ox found out later the boy hadn’t spoken in almost two years before that day, and that the boy belonged to a family who had moved into the house at the end of the lane. Ox was seventeen when he found out they boy’s secret, and it painted the world around him in colors of red  and orange and violet, of Alpha and Beta and Omega. Ox was twenty-three when murder can to town and tore a hole in his head and heart. The boy chased after the monster with revenge in his bloodred eyes, leaving Ox behind to pick up the pieces. It’s been three years since that fateful day-- and the boy is back. Except now he’s a man, and Ox can no longer ignore the song that howls between them” (Goodreads). | Trigger/Content Warnings: violence, death, age-gap romance.

The City of Dreaming Books | Walter Moers | German Fantasy | Absurd Fantasy | “Optimus Yarnspinner, a young writer, inherits from his beloved godfather an unpublished short story by an unknown author. His search for the author’s identity takes him to Bookholm-- the so-called City of Dreaming Books. On entering its streets, our hero feels as if he opened the door of a gigantic second-hand bookshop. His nostrils are assailed by clouds of book dust, the stimulating sent of ancient leather, and the tang of printer’s ink. Soon, though, Yarnspinner falls into the clutches of the city’s evil genius, Pfistomel Smyke, who treacherously maroons him in the labyrinthine catacombs underneath the city, where reading books can be genuinely dangerous” (Goodreads). | Trigger/Content Warnings: death, largely takes place in underground tunnels, illustrations can be unsettling.

Bored of the Rings: A Parody of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings | The Harvard Lampoon, Henry N. Beard, Douglas C. Kenney | NOT AT ALL FOR CHILDREN | Parody/Humor | Adventure | “A quest, a war, a ring that would be grounds for calling any wedding off, a king without a kingdom, and a little, furry ‘hero’ named Frito, ready-- or maybe just forced by the wizard Goodgulf-- to undertake the one mission which can save Lower Middle Earth from enslavement by the evil Sorhed. Luscious Elfmaidens, a roller-skating dragon, ugly plants that can soul-kiss the unwary to death-- these are just some of the ingredients in the wildest, wackiest, most irreverent excursion into fantasy realms that anyone has ever dared to undertake” (Goodreads). | Trigger/Content Warnings: drug/alcohol use.

Dune | Frank Herbert | Science Fiction/Science Fantasy | “Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, heir to a noble family tasked with ruling an inhospitable world where the only thing of value is the ‘spice’ melange, a drug capable of extending life and enhancing consciousness. Coveted across the known universe, melange is a prize worth killing for. When house Atreides is betrayed, the destruction of Paul’s family will set the boy on a journey toward a destiny greater than he could ever have imagined” (Goodreads). | Trigger/Content Warnings: death, drug use.

The Magicians [The Magicians Trilogy 1] | Lev Grossman | Urban/Portal Fantasy | “Quentin Coldwater is brilliant but miserable. A senior in high school, he’s still secretly preoccupied with a series of fantasy novels he read as a child, set in a magical land called Fillory. Imagine his surprise when he finds himself unexpectedly admitted to a very secret, very exclusive college of magic in upstate New York, where he receives a thorough and rigorous education in the craft of modern sorcery. He also discovers all the other things people learn in college: friendship, love, sex, booze, and boredom. Something is missing, though. Magic doesn’t bring Quentin the happiness and adventure he dreamed it would. After graduation he and his friends make a stunning discovery: Fillory is real. But the land of Quentin’s fantasies turns out to be much darker and more dangerous than he could have imagined. His childhood dream becomes a nightmare with a shocking truth at its heart” (Goodreads). | Trigger/Content Warnings: drug/alcohol abuse, depression, death, rape [in book 2].

Mo Dao Zu Shi | Mo Xiang Tong Xiu | Wuxia/Chinese Fantasy | LGBTQ | “As the grandmaster who founded demonic cultivation, Wei WuXian roamed the world in his wanton ways, hated by millions for the chaos he created. In the end, he was backstabbed by his dearest shidi and killed by powerful clans that combined to overpower him. He incarnates into the body of a lunatic who was abandoned by his clan and is later, unwillingly, taken away by a famous cultivator among the sects-- Lan WanJi, his archenemy. This marks the start of a thrilling yet hilarious journey of attacking monsters, solving mysteries, and raising children[...] Along the way, Wei WuXian slowly realizes that Lan WanJi, a seemingly haughty and indifferent poker-face, holds more feelings for Wei WuXian than he is letting on” (Goodreads). | Trigger/Content Warnings: suicide, death, murder, violence, incest, rape (I think), abuse, abusive families.

The Eye of the World [The Wheel of Time series 1] | Robert Jordan | Epic Fantasy | Adventure | “The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow. Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time. The Wheel of Time Turns and Ages come and go, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth returns again. In the Third Age, an Age of Prophecy, the World and Time themselves hang in the balance. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow. When The Two-Rivers is attacked by Trollocs-- a savage tribe of half-men, half-beasts-- five villagers flee that night into a world they barely imagined, with new dangers waiting in the shadows and in the light” (Goodreads). | Trigger/Content Warnings: death, violence.

The Lies of Locke Lamora [Gentleman Bastard Series 1] | Scott Lynch | Heist Fantasy | “An Orphan’s life is harsh-- and often short-- in the mysterious island city of Camorr. But young Locke Lamora dodges death and slavery, becoming a thief under the tutelage of a gifted con artist. As leader of the band of light-fingered brothers known as the Gentleman Bastards, Locke is soon infamous, fooling even the underworld’s most feared ruler. But in the shadows lurks someone still more ambitious and deadly. Faced with a bloody coup that threatens to destroy everyone and everything that holds meaning in his mercenary life, Locke vows to beat the enemy at his own brutal game-- or die trying” (Goodreads). | Trigger/Content Warnings: death, violence, torture.

The Name of the Wind [The Kingkiller Chronicle 1] | Patrick Rothfuss | Epic Fantasy | “My name is Kvothe. I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths my moonlight that others fear to speak of during the day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep. You may have heard of me” (The Name of the Wind). | Trigger/Content Warnings: death, violence, abuse, book three still doesn’t have a release date.

Trick [Foolish Kingdoms 1] | Natalia Jaster | Fantasy Romance | LGBTQ | “There is only one rule amongst his kind: A jester doesn’t lie. In the Kingdom of Spring, Poet is renowned. He’s young and pretty, a lover of men and women, he performs for the court, kisses like a scoundrel, and mocks with a silver tongue. Yet allow him this: It’s only the most cunning, most manipulative soul who can play the fool. For Poet guards a secret. One the Crown would shackle him for. One that he’ll risk everything to protect. Alas, it will take more than clever words to deceive Princess Briar. Convinced that he’s juggling lies as well as verse, this righteous nuisance of a girl is determined to expose him. But not all falsehoods are fiendish. Poet’s secret is delicate, binding the jester to the princess in an unlikely alliance, and kindling a breathless attraction, as alluring as it is forbidden” (Goodreads).

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? | Philip K. Dick | Science Fiction | “It was January 2021, and Rick Deckard had a license to kill. Somewhere among the hordes of humans out there, lurked several rogue androids. Deckard’s assignment-- find them and then ‘retire’ them. Trouble was, the androids all looked exactly like humans, and they didn’t want to be found out” (Goodreads).

Young Adult Science-Fiction & Fantasy:

Cemetery Boys | Aiden Thomas | Urban Fantasy | Romance | LGBTQ | “Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can't get rid of him. When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his true gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free. However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school's resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He's determined to find out what happened and tie off some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave” (Goodreads). | Trigger/Content Warnings: transphobia, dead-naming.

In Other Lands | Sarah Rees Brennan | Urban/Portal Fantasy | LGBTQ | “The Borderlands aren’t like anywhere else. Don’t try to smuggle a phone or any other piece of technology over the wall that marks the Border—unless you enjoy a fireworks display in your backpack. (Ballpoint pens are okay.) There are elves, harpies, and—best of all as far as Elliot is concerned—mermaids. Elliot? Who’s Elliot? Elliot is thirteen years old. He’s smart and just a tiny bit obnoxious. Sometimes more than a tiny bit. When his class goes on a field trip and he can see a wall that no one else can see, he is given the chance to go to school in the Borderlands. It turns out that on the other side of the wall, classes involve a lot more weaponry and fitness training and fewer mermaids than he expected. On the other hand, there’s Serene-Heart-in-the-Chaos-of-Battle, an elven warrior who is more beautiful than anyone Elliot has ever seen, and then there’s her human friend Luke: sunny, blond, and annoyingly likeable. There are lots of interesting books. There’s even the chance Elliot might be able to change the world” (Goodreads).

The Fascinators | Andrew Eliopulos | Urban Fantasy | LGBTQ | “Living in a small town where magic is frowned upon, Sam needs his friends James and Delia—and their time together in their school's magic club—to see him through to graduation. But as soon as senior year starts, little cracks in their group begin to show. Sam may or may not be in love with James. Delia is growing more frustrated with their amateur magic club. And James reveals that he got mixed up with some sketchy magickers over the summer, putting a target on all their backs. With so many fault lines threatening to derail his hopes for the year, Sam is forced to face the fact that the very love of magic that brought his group together is now tearing them apart—and there are some problems that no amount of magic can fix” (Goodreads).

Things Not Seen | Andrew Clements | Science Fiction | Realistic Fiction | “Bobby Philips is an average fifteen-year-old boy. Until the morning he wakes up and can’t see himself in the mirror. Not blind, not dreaming. Bobby is just plain invisible. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to Bobby’s new condition; even his dad the physicist can’t figure it out. For Bobby that means no school, no friends, no life. He’s a missing person. Then he meets Alicia. She’s blind, and Bobby can’t resist talking to her, trusting her. But people are starting to wonder where Bobby is. Bobby knows that his invisibility could have dangerous consequences for his family and that time is running out. He has to find out how to be seen again before it’s too late” (Goodreads). | Trigger/Content Warnings: Car accident.

Howl’s Moving Castle [Howl’s Moving Castle series 1] | Diana Wynne Jones | Fantasy | Portal Fantasy | Adventure | “Sophie has the great misfortune of being the eldest of three daughters, destined to fail miserably should she ever leave home to seek her fate. But when she unwittingly attracts the ire of the Witch of the Waste, Sophie finds herself under a horrid spell that transforms her into an old lady. Her only chance at breaking it lies in the ever-moving castle in the hills: the Wizard Howl’s castle. To untangle the enchantment, Sophie must handle the heartless Howl, strike a bargain with a fire demon, and meet the Witch of the Waste head-on. Along the way, she discovers that there’s far more to Howl --and herself-- than first meets the eye” (Goodreads).

Castle in the Air [Howl’s Moving Castle series 2] | Diana Wynne Jones | Fantasy | Adventure | “In which a humble young carpet merchant wins, then loses, the princess of his dreams. Far to the south of the land of Ingary, in the Sultanates of Rashpuht, there lived in the city of Zanzib a young and not very prosperous carpet dealer named Abdullah who loved to spend his time daydreaming. He was content with his life and his daydreams until, one day, a stranger sold him a magic carpet. That very night, the carpet flew him to an enchanted garden. There, he met and fell in love with the beauteous princess Flower-in-the-Night, only to have her snatched away, right under his very nose, by a wicked djinn. With only his magic carpet and his wits to help him, Abdullah sets off to rescue his princess” (Goodreads).

A Wizard of Earthsea [Earthsea Cycle 1] | Ursula K. Le Guin | Fantasy | “Ged, the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, was called Sparrowhawk in his reckless youth. Hungry for power and knowledge, Sparrowhawk tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the tale of his testing, how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death’s threshold to restore the balance” (Goodreads).

Middle-Grade/Children’s Fiction:

Island of the Aunts | Eva Ibbotson | Middle-Grade | Fantasy | Adventure | “When the kindly old aunts decide that they need help caring for creatures who live on their hidden island, they know that adults can’t be trusted. What they need are a few special children who can keep a secret-- a secret as big as a magical island. And what better way to get children who can keep really big secrets, than to kidnap them! (After all, some children just plain need to be kidnapped.)” (Goodreads).

Ruby Holler | Sharon Creech | Middle-Grade | Realistic Fiction | Adventure | “Brother and sister Dallas and Florida are the ‘trouble twins.’ In their short thirteen years, they’ve passed through countless foster homes, only to return to their dreary orphanage, Boxton Creek Home. Run by the Trepids, a greedy and strict couple, Boxton Creek seems impossible to escape. When Mr. Trepid informs the twins that they’ll be helping old Tiller and Sairy Morey go on separate adventures, Dallas and Florida are suspicious. As the twins adjust to the natural beauty of the outdoors, help the Tillers prepare for their adventures, and foil a robbery, their ultimate search for freedom leads them home to Ruby Holler” (Goodreads).

The Westing Game | Ellen Raskin | Middle-Grade | Realistic Fiction | Mystery | “A bizarre chain of events begins when sixteen unlikely people gather for the reading of Samuel W. Westing’s will. And though no one knows why the eccentric, game-loving millionaire has chosen a virtual stranger --and a possible murderer-- to inherit his vast fortune, one thing’s for sure: Sam Westing may be dead... but that won’t stop him for playing one last game!” (Goodreads).

Midnight for Charlie Bone [The Children of the Red King series 1] | Jenny Nimmo | Middle-Grade | Urban Fantasy | “Charlie Bone has a special gift-- he can hear people in photographs talking! The fabulous powers of the Red King were passed down through his descendants, after turning up quite unexpectedly, in someone who had no idea where they came from. This is what happened to Charlie Bone, and to some of the children he met behind the grim, gray walls of Bloor’s Academy. His scheming aunts decide to send him to Bloor’s Academy, a school for geniuses where he uses his gifts to discover the truth despite all the dangers that lie ahead” (Goodreads). | Trigger/Content Warnings: abusive family situations (mental and emotional), bullying, some parts can be creepy/spooky.

The Maze of Bones [The 39 Clues series 1 ] | Rick Riordan (the series is written by several different authors) | Middle-Grade | Mystery | Adventure | Action | “When their beloved aunt --matriarch of the world’s most powerful family-- dies, orphaned siblings Amy and Dan Cahill compete with less honorable Cahill descendants in a race around the world to find cryptic clues to a mysterious fortune” (Goodreads). Trigger/Content Warnings: Death, house fire, dead parents, abusive family.

The Doll People | Ann M. Martin | Middle-Grade | Fantasy | Adventure | “Annabelle Doll is 8 years old --and has been for over 100 years. Nothing much has changed in the dollhouse during that time, except for the fact that 45 years ago, Annabelle’s Auntie Sarah disappeared from the dollhouse without a trace. After all this time, restless Annabelle is becoming more and more curious about her aunt’s fate. And when she discovers Auntie Sarah’s old diary, she becomes positively driven. Her cautious family tries to discourage her, but Annabelle won’t be stopped, even though she risks Permanent Doll State, in which she could turn into a regular, nonliving doll. And when the ‘Real Pink Plastic’ Funcraft family moves in next door, the Doll family’s world is turned upside down --in more ways than one!” (Goodreads). | Content Waring: It’s living dolls, this is off-putting to many people.

Bud, Not Buddy | Christopher Paul Curtis | Middle-Grade | Historical Fiction | Realistic Fiction | “It’s 1936, in Flint Michigan. Times may be hard, and ten-year-old Bud may be a motherless boy on the run, but Bud’s got a few things going for him: He has his own suitcase full of special things. He’s the author of Bud Caldwell’s Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself. His momma never told him who his father was, but she left a clue: flyers advertising Herman E. Calloway and his famous band, the Dusky Devastators of the Depression!!!!!! Bud’s got an idea that those flyers will lead him to his father. Once he decides to hit the road and find this mystery man, nothing can stop him --not hunger, not fear, not vampires, not even Herman E. Calloway himself” (Goodreads).

The Thief Lord | Cornelia Funke | Middle-Grade | Fantasy | Adventure | Mystery | “Two orphaned children are on the run, hiding among the crumbling canals and misty alleyways of the city of Venice. Befriended by a gang of street children and their mysterious leader, the Thief Lord, they shelter in an old, disused cinema. On their trail is a bungling detective, obsessed with disguises and the health of his pet tortoises. But a greater threat to the boys’ new-found freedom is something from a forgotten past --a beautiful magical treasure with the power to spin time itself” (Goodreads).

Igraine the Brave | Cornelia Funke | Middle-Grade | Fantasy | Adventure | “Igraine dreams of being a famous knight like her great-grandfather, but castle life is boring. Until the nephew of the baroness-next-door plans to capture the castle for their singing spell books. At the moment of the siege, her parents mistakenly turn themselves into pigs. Aided by a Gentle Giant and a sorrowful Knight, Igraine must by brave, and save the day --and the books” (Goodreads).

Valley of the Dinosaurs [Magic Tree House series 1] | Mary Pope Osborne | Children’s Literature | Science Fiction (time travel) | “Eight-year-old Jack and his little sister, Annie, are playing in the woods during their summer holiday, when they find a mysterious tree house full of books. But these are no ordinary books... And this is no ordinary tree house... Jack and Annie get more than they had bargained for when Jack opens a book about dinosaurs and wishes he could see them for real. They end up in prehistoric times with Pteranodons, Triceratops and a huge Tyrannosaurus Rex! How will they get home again? The race is on!” (Goodreads).

Frindle | Andrew Clements | Middle-Grade | Realistic Fiction | “Is Nick Allen a troublemaker? He really just likes to liven things up at school --and he’s always had plenty of great ideas. When Nick learns some interesting information about how words are created, suddenly he’s got the inspiration for his best plan ever...the frindle. Who says a pen has to be called a pen? Why not call it a frindle? Things begin innocently enough as Nick gets his friends to use the new word. Then other people in town start saying frindle. Soon the school is in an uproar, and Nick has become a local hero. His teacher wants Nick to put an end to all this nonsense, but the funny this is frindle doesn’t belong to Nick anymore. The new word is spreading across the country, and there’s nothing Nick can do to stop it” (Goodreads).

Knights of the Kitchen Table [Time Warp Trio series 1] | Jon Scieszka | Children’s Literature | Fantasy | Time Travel | “Magician Uncle Joe’s birthday present entitle ‘The Book’ swirls green mist and grants pal Fred’s wish to ‘see knights and all that stuff for real’, sending Sir Joe the Magnificent, Sir Fred the Awesome, and Sir Same the Unusual to King Arthur’s castle opposing the Black Knight, grossly smelly giant Bleob, and fire-breathing leather-winged iron-clawed green dragon Smaug. Fred plays tag and wields a baseball bat. Sam cleverly politicks. Joseph, Arthur tricks with cards. But Merlin has ‘The Book’ to get home” (Goodreads).

Over Sea, Under Stone [The Dark Is Rising series 1] | Susan Cooper | Middle-Grade | Fantasy | Arthurian Inspired | “On holiday in Cornwall, the three Drew children discover an ancient map in the attic of the house that they are staying in. They know immediately that it is special. It is even more than that --the key to finding a grail, a source of power to fight the forces of evil known as the Dark. And in searching for it themselves, the Drews put their very lives in peril” (Goodreads).

Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery [Bunnicula series 1] | Deborah Howe | Children’s Literature | Fantasy | Mystery | “BEWARE THE HARE! Is he or isn’t he a vampire? Before it’s too late, Harold the dog and Chester the cat must find out the truth about the newest pet in the Monroe household: a suspicious-looking bunny with unusual habits...and fangs!” (Goodreads).

Howliday Inn [Bunnicula series 2] | James Howe | Children’s Literature | Fantasy | Mystery | “Not a great place to visit, and you wouldn’t want to live there. The Monroes have gone on vacation, leaving Harold and Chester at Chateau Bow-Wow --not exactly a four-star hotel. On the animals’ very first night there, the silence is pierced by a peculiar wake-up call --an unearthly howl that makes Chester observe that the place should be called Howliday Inn. But the mysterious cries in the night (Chester is convinced there are werewolves afoot) are just the beginning of the frightening goings-on. Soon animals start disappearing, and there are whispers of murder. Is checkout time at Chateau Bow-Wow going to come earlier than Harold and Chester anticipated?” (Goodreads).

Peter Pan | J.M. Barrie | Children’s Literature | Fantasy | Adventure | “The mischievous boy who refuses to grow up, lands in the Darling’s proper middle-class home to look for his shadow. He befriends Wendy, John and Michael and teaches them to fly (with a little help from fairy dust). He and Tinker Bell whisk them off to Never-land where they encounter the Red Indians [Native Never-landers], the Little Lost Boys, pirates and the dastardly Captain Hook” (Goodreads). | Content Warnings: use of the terms “Red Indians” and “Indians” (and probably other racist terms, I can’t remember though).

Owl Moon | Jane Yolen | Picture Book | Realistic Fiction | “Late one winter night a little girl and her father go owling. The trees stand still as statues and the world is silent as a dream. Whoo-whoo-whoo, the father calls to the mysterious nighttime bird. But there is no answer. Wordlessly the two companions walk along, for when you go owling you don’t need words. You don’t need anything but hope. Sometimes there isn’t an owl, but sometimes there is” (Goodreads).

Kiana’s Iditarod | Shelley Gill | Picture Book | Fiction | Educational | “Kiana is no ordinary dog. Born and bred to race, she leads her team of huskies on a journey unlike any other. The Iditarod --known traditionally as Alaska’s ‘Last Great Race’-- spans 1,049 icy miles from Anchorage to Nome. From the treacherous terrain to the bitter, blowing winds, the trail is full of obstacles Kiana and her team must overcome in order to reach the finish line. Along the way, they encounter pacts of wild wolves, a mighty moose, and other dog-sled teams fighting for first place. Can Kiana summon the strength of her team and lead them to victory? Author Shelley Gill brings her firsthand experience as the fifth woman to complete the Iditarod race to this crackling adventure story” (Amazon).

[papers4me]

Fruits Basket SE02 (ep,2)

starting with teens in domestic lifestyle, then revealing horrible secrets, ending with a wise advice.  GENIUS!. 

-The development of verbal & physical body language between kyo & tohru:

Verbally: Tohru easily expressed happiness in spending time together. teases kyo abt the stain, asks freely abt his hate for water, his future plans. Kyo, in season 1 couldn’t believe tohru likes the cat, now he readily accepting her words. he used to avoid questions abt himself, now answers her comfortably without holding back, teases her softly abt her awful swimming technique.

Physically: Tohru doesn’t frets or gets frustrated, she cooks with him, runs around him in the way to Kazuma, touches his beads & doesn’t mind him touching her hands, she sits close to him comfortably while they talk abt swimming. Kyo, playfully giving her a teasing hit, comfortably tapping her head, holding her ribbons, fascinated with her hair, leaning forward watching while teasing her, he no longer gets frustrated in dealing with her. He completely trusts her with touching his beads, he didn’t even trust kazuma with that.

-The monster’s right to live?

The cage in ep,24 wasn’t exclusive for kazuma’s grandfather, it’s the fate of all cat zodiacs. What a tragic fate, Kyo living his childhood knowing he’ll be locked away, how crippling is that? No wonder he felt unfit for socializing in SE01,Ep2, monsters should be locked. for what crime? being born? Looking back to season 1, now I understand some of kyo’s actions. him getting angry is the culminated frustration of his fate, basically kyo is denied life. (a) dehumanized & called a monster, literally and figuratively, What does monsters do? cause harm, death! exhibit A: his mom’s death. A loving mother chooses death than to be with a monster. further proving that he deserves this fate, (b) sentenced to be imprisoned, with no hope, evidence: the many cat zodiac before him, no one escaped, & he won’t either. Potential (c), kyoko. So, that’s the message he’s given. NO HOPE. But kyo is a fighter, he wants to live, he’s trying, fighting against his own demons, the monster within, the monsters outside & fate. He stumbles here & there, fails & tries again, goes through toxic thoughts & actions, adopts toxic coping mechanism, & is still lost in depression, but he is trying & improving & accepting help, finally kyo accepts Kazuma & tohru’s help & thinks abt the possibility of a future, can I have a future? Am i allowed to? 

-The Real Monster:  Kyo’s dad doesn’t have an ugly form or rotten smell, decent looking, born a human, but he’s a monster within. The show awesomely presented kyo’s dad as sickly person, consumed by hate, unable to move on, cant enjoy the music he stacks, a broken record spewing hate repeatedly, shaking his legs with anxiety, such a sad hateful person contrasted with the calm collected peaceful kazuma. Kyo’s dad is a supporter of the toxic system within the sohmas. kyo’s dad didn’t invent the system, he’s honestly crushed by it! mocked & ashamed to be the cat’s father, the real reason the baby is conceived. In order to cleanse himself from the shame & the mockery of this toxic system, he supports it whole hardheartedly & wants it to be implemented to prove he’s not to be blamed. Ingenious writing choice.

-The writer’s ability to skillfully portray what other writers avoid: 

This ep is a proof of the writer’s skill, The ability to portray normal domestic lifestyle without making it feel boring or redundant. One of the rare cases in literature tbh. Normally writers avoid such things & use dramatic instances to strengthen relationships. But kyo & tohru’s normal calm day in kazuma’s house is a huge foundation in their relationship. between them, tohru’s excessive politeness is gone & kyo’s reluctant awkwardness vanishes. Beautiful scenes weaved skillfully & linked with the scene at shigure’s house. Kyo doesn’t only see beyond tohru masks, he also could predict her emotions before she allows herself to. It also ties with other scenes in season 1. When it is tohru’s/kyo centered ep, the writer skillfully distance other characters & create opportunities for kyo & tohru to be alone (soup scene, true form), now (Kazuma’s visit, somen cooking).The tone: I have worries & you,too.You are not my guide, you are my equal. Simple & genius.

Side notes:

Kyo’s soup scene mirrors somen scene with tons of development. (Soup: kyo cooks, Somen: both cook), (Soup: kyo supports tohru, Somen: they Both support each other), (Soup: kyo reluctantly peeks at tohru withholding his emotions. Somen: Kyo willingly leans forwards & stares fondly at tohru), (Soup: tohru cries before she shares her worries, Somen: tohru cries as kyo saw her worries before she shares them), (Soup: kyo’s closing teasing line is said awkwardly, Somen: the teasing line is said fondly, with ease & a hint of flirting).

Tohru bowing for yuki as he goes to his room is interesting. Although they are becoming closer, she still treats him with a higher level of politeness, as he still calls her Miss Honda/honda-san.

I love seeing teenage girl tohru! in the true form ep, kyo was intentionally drawn to look younger around kazuma, here tohru acted her age with teasing, cutely explaining her swimming, running & falling, sitting cutely, playing with her hairstyle, crying into a kitchen napkin, nose dripping, the questionable “that made a nice sound”lol! There is no “ my mom advised this” no “ wise tohru”. just teenage girl tohru! playing, worrying, eating! Love it!! 

Shigure can be the master of wise advise. He wisely advised kyo in SE01, EP, 2 & now tohru in SE02, EP,2.

That Kazuma’s flashback of crying depressed kyo is haunting.

Kazuma is a KING.

[still-single]

HEATHEN DISCO ep. 230 now streaming

New show, certainly beats last week’s trainwreck. Deviate. Link and tracklist below.

Ep. #230, airdate Oct. 18th 2020 HOUR 1 Muslimgauze – Lalique Gadaffi Handgrenade (Lalique Gadaffi Handgrenade, Staalplaat, 2019) Clemency – Biblical Names (Boofy Remix) (References Remixed, 2 B Real, 2020) Eric Copeland – Vanilla Gorilla (Dumb it Down, PPM, 2020) Midnight Minds – Found Gold (Midnight Minds, Life Like, 2020) Theoreme – Leaders de Serveurs (L’appel du Midi a midi pile, Bruit Direct, 2016) Chris & Cosey – Dancing On Your Grave (Exotica, Nettwerk, 1987) Blues Control – Gypsum (Valley Tangents, Drag City, 2012) Sleeper & Snake – Reach Out (Fresco Shed, Upset the Rhythm, 2020) Blitz – For You (Second Empire Justice, Future, 1983) Mary Lattimore – Chop on the Climbout (Silver Ladders, Ghostly International, 2020) Duma – Lionsblood (Duma, Nyege Nyege Tapes, 2020) HOUR 2 The Dead C – The Sky Above (Unknowns, Ba Da Bing, 2020) M.O.B. – 88 Miles (M.O.B., RIP Society, 2014) Ghentlon – Techno Dream (single, R & S, 1988) Swell Maps – Down with Tractors (Whatever Happens Next…, Rather/Rough Trade, 1981) Sault – The Black & Gold (Untitled – Rise Up, Forever Living Originals, 2020) Zia – Kofriam (Pomegranates, Finders Keepers, 2009) Dzyan – Dragonsong (Deutche Elektronische Musik 4, Soul Jazz, 2020) John Martyn – Outside In (Inside Out, Island, 1973) Crescent – Sun (Now, Planet, 1996) Akira Ishikawa & Count Buffalo & the Jazz Rock Band – The Sidewinder (Wamono A to Z, 180g, 2020) Bailter Space – Splat (Wammo, Matador, 1995) HOUR 3 T-Connection – Do What Ya Wanna Do (Magic, Dash, 1978) Freddie Mas – Detail of a Detail (single, Codek, 2002) Le Mystere – On the Beat (Le Mysterieux EP, Musique Pour La Danse, 2018) Taboo – Into the Sun (single, Subway, 1988) Blue Öyster Cult – Flaming Telepaths (Secret Treaties, Columbia, 1973) HNO3 – Doughnut Dollies (New Beat Take 3, Subway, 1989) Cabaret Voltaire – The Power (of Their Knowledge) (Shadow of Fear, Mute, 2020) Riki – Spirit of Love (Riki, Dais, 2020) Automatic – Champagne (Signal, Stones Throw, 2019) The Chameleons – In Shreds (The Fan and the Bellows, Hybrid, 1986) Straw Man Army – Common Shame (Age of Exile, D4MT Labs, 2020) Thin Lizzy – Cowboy Song (Jailbreak, Mercury, 1976) Jordan Reyes – High Noon (Sand Like Stardust, American Dreams, 2020) Double Exposure – My Love Is Free (Ten Percent, Salsoul, 1976)

[gizkasparadise]

Kdrama review: Vagabond

Master Kdrama rec list.

Series: vagabond Episodes: 16 (14 of 16 aired so far) Genres: Intrigue, action/adventure, SADNESS, drama/tragedy, J U S T I C E, thriller, romance Spoilers in the Review: first episode/basic premise If You Like, You’ll Like: the guardians/lookout!, Taking The Law Into Your Own Hands, four brothers, gu family book, just between lovers/rain or shine, I Lived Bitch, lee seung gi playing yet another wannabe action star that has to run all the time, lee seung gi playing yet another character in love with suzy bae, wholesome high fives, having to run really fast as the bullets go put put ting ting ting behind you, PARKOUR 

Rank: 10/10

“we didn’t die! we didn’t fucking die! high five!!”

-

ok let’s get this out of the way:

do i understand any of the political plot? i do not. is it easy for me to keep track of various Machinations? no i have no idea what’s happening 9 times out of 10. could most of this be solved by singular phone calls? probably. why the hell is a vagabond?  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[puts on aviators]

i don’t give a fuck about all that

premise [SPOILERS for first ep, cw child death]

cha dal gun is a stuntman and martial artist who is raising his nephew after the death of his brother. he has such a signature look in the flashbacks:

a look

he’s not the best in terms of success, but he loves his nephew a lot and does what he can. he teaches his nephew martial arts, and his nephew makes a Super Elite Child Tae Kwon Do Team that pays for him to attend a Diplomatic Tae Kwon Do match in morocco. idk why diplomacy is resting on children’s small fighting shoulders, but okay. 

dal gun’s entire life spirals when his nephew’s plane to morocco unexpectedly crashes, killing everyone on board. Evidence emerges that makes him suspect a cover up, which eventually involves...

go hae ri, a rookie intelligence agent who is not so great at her job. the majority of her coworkers dont expect much from her because they’re awful. hae ri wants to continue her steady government position without obstacles but that doesn’t work when dal gun decides to

P U N C H

his way to 

J U S T I C E

-

main characters

cha dal gun

former stuntman trying to get by turned vigilante roof hopper. he will make you cry. following the death of his nephew, he’ll do Whatever It Takes to uncover the political conspiracy and government cover up surrounding the mysterious plane crash. for justice.

lowkey trying out to be an assassin’s creed player character. does push-ups upside down and shirtless because sbs producers know what they’re about. doesn’t smile much but when he does the lighting on the show increases 17%. he lived, bitch

go hae ri

rookie agent who doesn’t do combat missions. she spends a couple eps Avoiding the Call, but once she gets going she cannot and will not be stopped. brains to dal gun’s brawn. the daughter of a heroic marine who died saving lives, she wants to do the right thing for justice

her hair is so excellent because it’s full of secrets. over sharer. does not know when to recognize that someone has a crush on her. doesn’t think enough of herself. very concerned about people’s dal gun well-being. has the code name elsa? like from frozen?? why???

ki tae woong

a senior at the national intelligence service and you know he’s By the Book because he’s like 1 of 2 people that habitually wears a tie to work. but he also has the Is He A Second Lead? Hair Part so that lets you know he’s actually soft at heart. capable and super cool under pressure, he also, you guessed it, has a sense for justice. 

the blue to dal gun’s red. will do what’s right and if you don’t do what’s right he will scold you for it or be Grimly Disapproving. has the vibe of an intelligence agent who actually submits the paperwork on time in triplicate

some support characters selected by how much they are my favorites

park gwang deok

this man will make you cry. because justice.

gong hwa sook

hae ri’s bff who also works at the national intelligence service. im sure they said what her actual job is at one point, but she’s basically the one who squints at surveillance footage and Finds The Hidden Clue after Enlarging The Image. ride or die, will try to protect you from shame (for justice)

lee jessica / jessica lee

im sure you immediately know who this woman is based on the all-white pantsuit. jessica works for a Company of War that is seeking to get a government contract for providing fighter planes. mmwhatchasay. screams into cellphones a lot while never putting her arms into the sleeves of her designer jackets. has no sense for justice!!

lily

an assassin/mercenary who (gasp) also has a low (low) key sense of justice. is hired by jessica for Reasons. i love her so much. i need more lily in the remaining episodes.

Drawbacks.

does it always make sense? to be honest i could not even tell you a yes or no here

there are many interchangeable evil men in suits

people complain about suzy bae (hae ri)’s acting but honestly i enjoy it so w/e

Reasons to Watch.

THE GRIEVING FAMILY MEMBERS OF THE VICTIMS OF THE PLANE CRASH. one thing vagabond does really well is remember that this isn’t just dal gun’s loss. several family members have important roles in the activism for justice and lmao they make me cry. i cry so much at this show. it’s very human and reminds me of how trauma is addressed in just between lovers/rain or shine

action scenes!!!! it’s all off the fucking chain. like. the production value is so high for this show you can almost see SBS execs figuring out how many subway sandwich scenes need to go into the next drama they write

the mains!!! all three are so great and good and excellent. dal gun and hae ri have some awesome character development throughout -- hae ri especially

the romance between dal gun and hae ri is incredibly sweet and fluffy despite the intense situations they’re in

dal gun is Very Aware that hae ri is Attractive and does a lot of awkward throat clearing while hae ri is just like DID YOU EAT TODAY

Final Thoughts.

power moves! things that make me cry! slow motion action sequences for the aesthetic! battle/power couple! and of course

J U S T I C E

[blackkudos]

Raphael Saadiq

Raphael Saadiq (born Charles Ray Wiggins; May 14, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He rose to fame as a member of the multiplatinum group Tony! Toni! Toné! In addition to his solo and group career, he has also produced songs for such artists as Joss Stone, D'Angelo, TLC, En Vogue, Kelis, Mary J. Blige, Ledisi, Whitney Houston, Solange Knowles and John Legend.

He and D'Angelo were occasional members of The Ummah, a music production collective, composed of members Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest, and J Dilla of the Detroit-based group Slum Village. He is a co-founder of independent video game developer IllFonic, which developed Friday the 13th: The Game.

Saadiq's critically acclaimed album The Way I See It, released on September 16, 2008, featuring artists Stevie Wonder, Joss Stone, and Jay-Z, received three Grammy Award nominations. His fourth studio album, Stone Rollin', was released on March 25, 2011. For the album, Saadiq worked with steel guitarist Robert Randolph; former Earth, Wind & Fire keyboardist Larry Dunn; Swedish-Japanese indie rock singer Yukimi Nagano (of Little Dragon fame); funk artist Larry Graham (on the bonus song "Perfect Storm") and Taura 'Aura Jackson' Stinson.

Music critic Robert Christgau has called Saadiq the "preeminent R&B artist of the '90s".

Early life

Saadiq was born in Oakland, California, the second-youngest of 14 siblings. His early life was marked by tragedy; he experienced the deaths of several of his siblings as a young child. When Saadiq was seven years old, one brother was murdered. One of his brothers overdosed on heroin and another committed suicide because he was unable to deal with his addiction to the drug. His sister died as a result of a car crash during a police chase in a residential neighborhood. Saadiq states that he does not want his music to be reflective of the tragedies he experienced, saying that "And through all of that I was makin' records, but it wasn't comin' out in the music. I did it to kinda show people you can have some real tough things happen in your life, but you don't have to wear it on your sleeve."

He has been playing the bass guitar since the age of six, and first began singing at age nine in a local gospel group. At the age of 12, he joined a group called "The Gospel Humminbirds". In 1984, shortly before his 18th birthday, Saadiq heard about tryouts in San Francisco for Sheila E.'s backing band on Prince's Parade Tour. At the audition, he chose the name "Raphael", and had difficulty remembering to respond to the name when he heard that he got the part to play bass in the band. He says of the experience, "Next thing I was in Tokyo, in a stadium, singin' Erotic City. We were in huge venues with the biggest sound systems in the world; all these roadies throwin' me basses, and a bunch of models hangin' round Prince to party. For almost two years. That was my university."

Career

1987–1999: Tony! Toni! Toné! and The Ummah

After returning to Oakland from touring with Prince, Saadiq began his professional career as the lead vocalist and bassist in the rhythm and blues and dance trio Tony! Toni! Toné! He used the name Raphael Wiggins while in Tony! Toni! Toné!, along with his brother Dwayne Wiggins, and his cousin Timothy Christian. In the mid-1990s, he adopted the last name Saadiq, which means "man of his word" in Arabic. His change of surname led many to speculate that he had converted to Islam at that point; in reality, Saadiq is not a Muslim, but rather just liked the way "Saadiq" sounded and changed his last name simply to distinguish himself from and avoid potential confusion with his brother, Dwayne Wiggins. As he confirmed by telling noted R&B writer Pete Lewis of the award-winning 'Blues & Soul' in May 2009, "I just wanted to have my own identity!"

In 1995, Saadiq had his biggest solo hit to date, when "Ask of You", featured on the Higher Learning Soundtrack peaked at #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the R&B chart. In 1995, Saadiq produced and performed on Otis & Shug's debut album, We Can Do Whatever.

Tony! Toni! Toné! would become major R&B superstars throughout the late 1980s and 1990s. However, after the 1996 album entitled House of Music failed to duplicate the group's previous success, Tony! Toni! Toné! went their separate ways in 1997.

1999–2004: Lucy Pearl and first string of solo albums

In 1999, Saadiq's next big project became the R&B supergroup Lucy Pearl. He recorded the self-titled album with Dawn Robinson (En Vogue) and Ali Shaheed Muhammad (A Tribe Called Quest). The group only lasted for one album.

Also in 1999, he collaborated with rapper Q-Tip on the single "Get Involved", from the animated television series The PJs. It samples The Intruders' 1973 song "I'll Always Love My Mama" and charted at number 21 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks.

His 2000 song collaboration "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" won D'Angelo a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance; it was also nominated for Grammy Award for Best R&B Song. The song was ranked #4 on Rolling Stone's "End of Year Critics & Readers Poll" of the top singles of 2000. D'Angelo's album Voodoo won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Album at the 2001 Grammy Awards.

In 2002, Saadiq founded his own record label, Pookie Entertainment. Among the artists on the label are Joi and Truth Hurts. In 2002, he released his first solo album Instant Vintage, which earned him three Grammy Award nominations in addition to another two Grammy nominations for his writing work on “Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop)” the following year. He released a two-disc live album All the Hits at the House of Blues in 2003, and his second studio album Ray Ray in 2004, both on Pookie Entertainment.

2004–2010: Expanded output and second string of albums

In 2004, Saadiq produced a remix of the song "Crooked Nigga Too" by Tupac Shakur which is featured on the album Loyal to the Game. Other artists he has collaborated with include Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige, The Isley Brothers, A Tribe Called Quest, Teedra Moses, The Roots, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Macy Gray, Angie Stone, Snoop Dogg, Mac Dre, Devin the Dude, DJ Quik, Kelis, Q-Tip, Lil' Skeeter, Ludacris, The Bee Gees, Musiq Soulchild, Jaguar Wright, Chanté Moore, Lionel Richie, Marcus Miller, Noel Gourdin, Nappy Roots, Calvin Richardson, T-Boz from TLC, Jody Watley, Floetry, Leela James, Amp Fiddler, John Legend, Joss Stone, Young Bellz, Anthony Hamilton, Babyface, Ledisi, Goapele, Ghostface Killah, —Ginuwine, The Grouch Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind & Fire, Bilal, Chali 2na, Larry Graham, Luniz as well as many others. In 2007, Saadiq produced Introducing Joss Stone, the third album of British soul singer Joss Stone. According to J. Gabriel Boylan of The New York Observer, "he's produced artists including Macy Gray, the Roots, D'Angelo, John Legend, Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige, and more. With all of them he's pushed a classic aesthetic, heavy on organic sounds and light on studio magic, deeply indebted to the past and distrustful of easy formulas."

Saadiq's third solo album, The Way I See It, released on Columbia Records on September 16, 2008, available in a collector's edition box set of 7" 45 rpm singles as well as on traditional CD, was critically well-received, made several critics' 2008 best albums lists, and garnered three Grammy nominations including Best R&B Performance by a Duo Or Group With Vocals (for "Never Give You Up", featuring Stevie Wonder & CJ Hilton); Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance (for "Love That Girl") and Best R&B Album for The Way I See It. Music from The Way I See It was featured in the following motion pictures: Madea Goes To Jail, Bride Wars, Cadillac Records, Secret Life of Bees, In Fighting (Rogue), and It's Complicated.

Touring with a nine piece band, Saadiq hit the 2009 summer music festival circuit with performances at Bonnaroo, Hollywood Bowl, Outside Lands, Pori Jazz, Stockholm Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz, Essence Music Festival, Summer Spirit Festival, and Nice Jazz Festival, Bumbershoot Music Festival and Austin City Limits. Saadiq has been touring Europe extensively, and held a five-night residency at the House of Blues in Tokyo, Japan, in June 2009. In 2008, Saadiq formed a new label called Velma Records, a place where he promises "people can express themselves like I did with The Way I See It... where they can dream something up and just go with it".

He produced songs for LeToya Luckett's forthcoming second album Lady Love, released August 2009. In 2009, Saadiq produced "Please Stay" and "Love Never Changes" for Ledisi's August 2009 release "Turn Me Loose". Saadiq also was the executive producer for an emerging group called Tha Boogie. Tha Boogie's first EP was released on iTunes and is titled Love Tha Boogie, Vol. 1 (Steal This Sh*t).

In 2009, Saadiq announced his video game development company called IllFonic. The first video game in development by IllFonic is titled Ghetto Golf, with an expected release late in 2010. In 2009, Saadiq teamed up Bentley Kyle Evans, Jeff Franklin, Martin Lawrence, and Trenten Gumbs to create a new sitcom called Love That Girl! starring Tatyana Ali. Raphael is an executive producer and composer for Love That Girl!. The show airs on TV One and debuted on January 19, 2010. That same year, Saadiq performed The Spinners hit "It's A Shame" in a legendary Levi's commercial and sang as part of the chorus in the 2010 remake of "We Are the World" for Haiti.

2011–present: Stone Rollin'

In 2011, Saadiq was the guitarist/bandleader for the group backing Mick Jagger for Jagger's tribute performance of the Solomon Burke R&B classic, "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" at the 53rd Grammy Awards in Los Angeles and on CBS. The band that accompanied the performance was Saadiq's touring band called Stone Rollin. In 2011 he and his band performed as the ESPY's house band for the night, where he performed his latest compositions.

Saadiq's 2011 album Stone Rollin' was released to great critical acclaim. "He's always had a boyish enthusiasm for performing, and a flexible, naturally joyous voice that suggests a young Stevie Wonder," wrote Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune, "but with his latest album, Saadiq finds a new gear. The album and his current tour demonstrate that there's a big difference between retro and classic, and the artist consistently finds himself on the right side of that divide." Kot ranked the album number seven in his year-end list, in which he dubbed it Saadiq's "finest achievement" and stated, "He's always written songs steeped in soul and R&B, but now he gives them a progressive edge with roaming bass lines and haunted keyboard textures. He's no longer a retro stylist – he's writing new classics." Critic Jim Derogatis called it "a stone cold gas of a party disc."

In fall 2011, he performed on the fourth results show of Dancing with the Stars season 13. In December 2011, he performed a cover compilation of several Neil Diamond songs at the Kennedy Center Honors award ceremony.

In 2012 he signed a deal with Toyota to do a TV commercial for the Toyota Prius. In 2013 Raphael partnered with Bay Area/ Atlanta Production company EL Seven Entertainment/ Republic Records and new R&B Superstar Adrian Marcel and released his 1st promotional mixtape "Raphael Saadiq Presents Adrian Marcel 7 Days of Weak".

Saadiq is a featured bass guitar player on Elton John's 2013 album, The Diving Board.

In 2016 he executive produced Solange Knowles album, A Seat At The Table which debuted at #1 on music charts in the United States. He also guest starred in Luke Cage, where he performs his songs "Good Man" and "Angel" at Harlem's Paradise.

In 2017 he appeared in the award-winning documentary film The American Epic Sessions, directed by Bernard MacMahon, where he recorded the Memphis Jug Band’s 1928 song “Stealin’ Stealin’” live on the restored first electrical sound recording system from the 1920s. Of recording on the system he said, “it’s amazing to just look at how it’s built, you know just look at the machine itself. It just has this like magical sound the way that it’s built. It’s true. It’s just the truest sound you could ever get.”

In 2017, Saadiq collaborated with Mary J. Blige as a songwriter for the movie Mudbound (2017), for which they both received Academy Award nominations for Best Original Song.

In 2018, he produced the John Legend holiday themed album, A Legendary Christmas.

During the 2020 coronavirus pandemic he released a song on his website called Rony! Roni! Roné!”

Discography

Studio albums

Instant Vintage (2002)

Ray Ray (2004)

The Way I See It (2008)

Stone Rollin' (2011)

Jimmy Lee (2019)

with Tony! Toni! Toné!

Who? (1988)

The Revival (1990)

Sons of Soul (1993)

House of Music (1996)

with Lucy Pearl

Lucy Pearl (2000)

[daggerzine]

MY FAVORITE RECORDS OF 2018 (***all lists in no particular order)

TOP 20 RECORDS

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever- Hope Downs (Sub Pop)

The Chills- Snowbound (Fire Records)

Ethers- S/T  (Trouble in Mind)

Papercuts- Parallel Universe Blues (Slumberland)

The Goon Sax-  We’re Not Talking (Wichita)

Anna Burch- Quit the Curse (Polyvinyl)

Ruby Boots- Don’t Talk About it (Bloodshot)

Jermey Messersmith- Late Stage Capitalism (Glass Note)

School Damage- A to X (Chapter Music)

Charnel Ground- ST (12XU)

Dot Dash- Proto Retro (The Beautiful Music)

Thalia Zedek- Fighting Season (Thrill Jockey)

The Beths- Future Me Hates Me (Carpark)

Lucy Dacus- Historian- (Matador)

Soft Science- Maps (Test Pattern)

The Treasures of Mexico- Everything Sparks Joy (Shelflife)

Smokescreens- Used to Yesterday (Slumberland)

Perry Serpa- Wherefore Art Thou?  Songs Inspired by Nick Hornby’s ‘Juliet, Naked’ (Schoolkids)

The Orange Peels- Trespassing- (Minty Fresh/Mystery Lawn Music)

The Innocence Mission- Sun on the Square (Badman)

 WAIT…….HERE’S 20 MORE

La Luz – Floating Features (Hardly Art)

Salad Boys- This is Glue (Trouble in Mind)

Tony Molina- Kill the Lights (Slumberland)

The Essex Green- Hardly Electronic (Merge)

Bad Sports – Constant Stimulation (Dirtnap)

The Last Detail- S/T (Elefant)

Great Lakes – Dreaming Too Close to the Edge (Loose Trucks)

The Well Wishers- A View From Above  (self released)

Mudhoney- Digital Garbage (Sub Pop)

Blues Lawyer- Guess Work (Emotional Response)

Peach Kelli Pop- Gentle Leader (Mint)

Dentist- Night Swimming (Cleopatra)

The Moles- Code Word (Super Secret)

The Persian Leaps- Pop That Goes Crunch (Land Ski)

Dumptruck- Wrecked- Rae Dell/ School Kids)

Beach House- 7 (Sub Pop)

Borzoi – A Prayer for War (12XU)

Bird Streets- S/T (Omnivore Recordings)

Lovebirds- In the Lover’s Corner (Trouble in Mind)

The Spook School- Could It Be Different? (Slumberland)

  I also really liked records by …..Superchunk, Traceyanne & Danny, Fred Thomas, Tracey Thorn, Rays, Snail Mail, Shopping, Kevin Hairs, The Persian Leaps, The Dirty Sidewalks, The Wolfhounds, Swearin’, Peel Dream Magazine. The Ar-Kaics, Papernut Calbridge,  Ryan Auffenberg, Front Person, Hater, Tommy and the Commies, Alpaca Sports, Cullen Omori, Willie Nile, J. Mascis, Spider Bags,  Golden Teardrops, Peter Holsapple, Negative Scanner, Bart & the Bedazzled,  Special Pillow, Simon Love, Hamish Kilgour, Ryan Martin, Connections, Orange Peels, Nik Freitas, Keep Left Signs, Chris Richards and the Subtractions , Hinds , Archie and the Bunkers, DA Stern, Mike Uva,  A Hawk and a Hacksaw,  Wreckless Eric, Elk City, Hot Snakes, Sarah Shook and the Disarmers, The Hangabouts,  The Cavemen, Monochrome Set, Buffalo Tom, Amy Rigby, Super 8, Jm White, Pete Astor, Math and Physics Club, Tres Oui,  Club 8, Shame,  Proud Parents,  Frankie Cosmos, etc. etc. 

 MY 15 FAVORITE REISSUES/COLLECTIONS

Yung Wu- Shore Leave (Bar-None)

Yum Yum- Dan Loves Patti (Omnivore)

God’s Children- Music is the Answer: The Complete Collection (Minky Records)

Permanent Green Light – Hallucinations (Omnivore Recordings)

The Quick- Mondo Deco (Real Gone )

The Action - Shadows and Reflections: The Complete Recordings 1964-1968 (Grapefruit/Cherry Red)

Even as We Speak- Feral Pop Frenzy (Emotional Response)

Action Painting- Trial Cuts- 1989-’95 (Emotional Response)

Liz Phair- From Girlysound to Guyville- the 25th Anniversary Box (Matador)

The Bobby Fuller Four – Magic Touch: The Complete Mustang Singles (Omnivore)

NRBQ- All Hopped Up (Omnivore)

The Posies- Frosting on the Beater  (Omnivore)

Gene Clark - Gene Clark Sings for You (Omnivore)

Down/Downmf - Critically Acclaimed (Loch Alpine Records)

Marked Men - On the Other Side (Dirtnap)

I haven't heard the Bobbie Gentry, Wire or Bob Dylan ones yet but I’m sure they’d be on here if I did.

 My Favorite EPs/ singles

Missing Pages- Long Way Down (12XU)

Tears Ring Rings- Somewhere (Deep Space/Shelflife)

Dead Soft- New Emotion  (Arts & Crafts)

Rocket 808- Billboard (12XU)

Hot Nun- Born to Blaze (self released)

Red Sleeping Beauty- Always On Your Side (Sunday Records)

Nah…- Summer’s Failing (Fadeawayradiate Records)

Dark Blue- “Fight to Love” (12XU)

Boygenius- S/T Matador)

Gary Olson- The Old Twin (Kleine Untergrund Schallplatten)

  MY 15 FAVORITE LIVE BANDS I SAW IN 2018

Belle & Sebastian

The Goon Sax

Protomartyr

Ruby Boots

Killing Joke

Hot Snakes

Spook School

Girl Ray

Escondido

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever

Priests

Anna Burch

Smokescreens

Kolars

All of the bands I saw at Cropped Out and Kalamashoegazer

[brokenfoolishdreams]

Ley´s Release Corner Jun´22 - Girls Edition (1/2)

DISCLAIMER: This is all my personal opinion and most of the impressions are after first listening. So please keep in mind that my opinion can change and that I respect other opinions too. My rating is just based on how I like the song and has nothing to do with hate or anything else against an Artist. When I don't like a song it doesn't mean I don't appreciate the work and effort that are put into it.

Masterlist

Feel free to let me know what you think of the releases and now let's dive into Kpop:

Title: Trouble? TRAVEL!

Album: Trouble? TRAVEL! (Single)

Artist: ADORA

Release: 2022.06.01

Okaaaay this is a nice start into the month. I really didn´t expect to love this this much but she has a really nice voice, the song makes really fun and she is so pretty I fell in love. The MV is so cute, but not the annoying forced cute if you know what I mean. I love how they had also animated scenes in it and I´m excited about what will come next since this is named as the 3rd Pre-release Digital Single.

Rating: 8/10 for Trouble? TRAVEL! (Instrumental: 7/10; Vocals: 7,5/10; Choreography: 7,5/10; MV: 8/10; Overall Vibes: 8/10)

Title: Illusion

Album: Illusion (Single)

Artist: aespa

Release: 2022.06.01

I was really surprised by this release and when a friend of mine didn´t send it to me I wouldn´t have known about this. For aespa it´s pretty good not gonna lie. I hope the next album that will be released at the end of this month will be like this.

Rating: 7,5/10 for Illusion (Instrumental: 7/10; Vocals: 7/10; Rap: /10; Overall Vibes: 7,5/10)

Title: Love Shhh!

Album: Op.22 Y-Waltz : in Major (EP)

Artist: JO YURI

Release: 2022.06.02

This is such a fun song that feels so much like summer I´m kinda obsessed. This is really a good month for the girl releases I can feel it. She has a nice voice, is extremely beautiful and the MV makes so much fun as well.

"Round and Around" is a nice intro to the EP. "Rolla Skates" is fun as well and just makes me really happy. "This Time" is way slower but showcases her voice very well while "Opening" lastly shows why the EP is called Waltz and I really like it.

Rating: 8/10 for Love Shhh! (Instrumental: 7,5/10; Vocals: 7/10; Choreography: 7/10; MV: 7/10; Overall Vibes: 8/10)

Rating: 7,5/10 for Op.22 Y-Waltz : in Major because I could vibe with her songs very well

Title: CLASSY

Album: LIVES ACROSS (EP)

Artist: CLASS:y

Release: 2022.06.02

I think I like this one even more than "SHUT DOWN" actually. Also, I really like the editing of the MV. I gonna keep an eye on their future releases.

"SURPRISE" is actually a nice song I think that will grow on me very well. "SAME SAME DIFFERENT" makes fun to listen to and lastly "DIVIN´ INTO YOU" is also not a miss at all.

Rating: 7,5/10 for CLASSY (Instrumental: 7,5/10; Vocals: 7,5/10; Choreography: 7,5/10; MV: 6,5/10; Overall Vibes: 8/10)

Rating: 7,5/10 for LIVES ACROSS because the bsides this time make the things, that annoyed me in CLASS IS OVER, right

Title: DOOMCHITA

Album: DOOMCHITA (Single)

Artist: SECRET NUMBER

Release: 2022.06.08

Again a very 4th gen like girl crush concept and we all know I can't get enough of this. So let me say that I love this song and the MV and the outfits and the vibe. It´s a shame I didn´t had them in focus yet. I´m really excited about their next releases.

"HOLA" is also very enjoyable.

Rating: 8/10 for DOOMCHITA (Instrumental: 7,5/10; Vocals: 7,5/10; Rap: 7/10; Choreography: 7/10; MV: 7/10; Overall Vibes: 8/10)

Rating: 8/10 for the Single because the kinda slay this concept

Title: Danger

Album: JOY (EP)

Artist: woo!ah!

Release: 2022.06.09

Okay, I didn´t expect this at all. Like my cute innocent girls from "Catch the Stars" suddenly go in this direction. I mean they can pull it off but the other concept suits them way better I guess. They are still cute though but this is a little bit too much for me. But not gonna lie I think this song is kinda catchy and might be a grower. And to be honest the rap isn´t that great and I don´t see why they had to include it.

"Joyride" is very bright and youthful while "Go Away" is on the Girl Crush side again and it gives me lowkey strange Blackpink vibes I don't know why. "Switch Up" again is a mood change and I like the rocking sound of it. "Straight Up" is kinda promising and just feels good. "Catch the Stars" was released back in January (Review here) but it's still my favorite on this EP.

Rating: 7/10 for Danger (Instrumental: 7/10; Vocals: 7/10; Rap: 5/10; Lyrics: 5,5/10; Choreography: 6/10; MV: 6/10; Overall Vibes: 7/10)

Rating: 7/10 for JOY because I don't mind the songs

Title: POP

Album: POP (Single)

Artist: bugAboo

Release: 2022.06.13

Another Girl Crush Concept this month and to be honest I´m still digging it. It´s really my kind of music. I love the MV by the way and the choreography is also very fun. I really didn´t expect to like it so much.

"Easy Move" is a nice pop song I don´t really have to say much about.

Rating: 8/10 for POP (Instrumental: 7,5/10; Vocals: 7,5/10; Rap: 7/10; Lyrics: 6,5/10; Choreography: 8/10; MV: 7,5/10; Overall Vibes: 8/10)

Rating: 7/10 for the Single because it´s okay

Title: KILLER

Album: KILLER (Single)

Artist: FAINIT

Release: 2022.06.13

I don´t know what´s up with the girl groups this month but they all slay. I´ve gone into this with no expectations because I never heard about them but I fell in love with them in an instant. This is very good, especially if you consider this is apparently their debut and they´re from a small company. I love their outfits and the choreography as well.

Rating: 8/10 for KILLER (Instrumental: 8/10; Vocals: 7/10; Rap: 7/10; Choreography: 7,5/10; MV: 6,5/10; Overall Vibes: 8/10)

Title: Villain

Album: REBORN (EP)

Artist: PIXY

Release: 2022.06.15

PIXY, my love, my favorite girl group. I really like this one and I like their storyline so much and this is no miss as well. I would lie when I would say this is my favorite song from them but it´s not bad, it's actually pretty good. Maybe I´m just missing Ella a little bit. I hope that the next comeback will be more of my taste again. Anyways I loved the MV and their outfits and the choreography so I´m not mad at all.

"Breath" is a solid song but gets unfortunately a little bit boring towards the end. "Natural" is very comforting lyricwise while "Deja vu" is a really nice song I kinda got addicted to. "Greetings" is very beautiful and also comforting and lastly "Swan Song" is my favorite of the album.

Rating: 8/10 for (Instrumental: /10; Vocals: /10; Rap: /10; Lyrics: /10; Choreography: /10; MV: /10; Overall Vibes: /10)

Rating: 7,5/10 for REBORN because I wished I liked the songs a little bit more

Title: Up!

Album: DOUBLAST (EP)

Artist: Kep1er

Release: 2022.06.20

Okay I like it more than I liked "WADADA" at the first listen but this is still nothing I would listen to much because it's getting boring especially at the end. And since "WADADA" grew on me a bit this would be ranked under it yet if that makes any sense. The MV is very cute, maybe a little bit too cute for me.

"LE VOYA9G" is a nice track that isn´t too overloaded but also gets a little bit boring towards the end. "Attention" is really enjoyable and I like it. "Good Night" is also slower but I like the dreamy vibe it has. Lastly "Rewind" has also a little bit of these dreamy vibes and is a solid track.

Rating: 6,5/10 for Up! (Instrumental: 6/10; Vocals: 7/10; Rap: 7/10; Lyrics: 6/10; Choreography: 7,5/10; MV: 6,5/10; Overall Vibes: 6,5/10)

Rating: 7/10 for DOUBLAST because they´re okay this time

[thejoyofviolentmovement]

New Video: JOVM Mainstays Secret Shame Releases a "120 Minutes" MTV-Inspired Visual for Anthemic and Shimmering New Single

New Video: JOVM Mainstays Secret Shame Releases a "120 Minutes" MTV-Inspired Visual for Anthemic and Shimmering New Single @ShameSecret @transmissionpr_

the

Over the past 15-18 months or so, I’ve spilled quite a bit of virtual ink covering Asheville, NC-based goth/post-punk act and JOVM mainstays Secret Shame. Founded in 2016, the act — currently, Lena (vocals), Nathan (drums), Matthew (bass) and Billie (guitar) has been centered around its members desperate need to create, “If I…

[kestimac]

Bandcamp Donates Today's Profits to the ACLU

Today, for any purchase you make on Bandcamp, Bandcamp will donate 100% of it's share of the proceeds to the ACLU. Buy music and do some good! To help you with your shopping, here are all 230 items in my Bandcamp Wishlist: Tornado Wallace - Lonely Planet Moor Mother - Fetish Bones Kelly Lee Owens - Kelly Lee Owens Bleached - Can You Deal? Jim O’Rourke - Steamroom32 Ty Segall - Ty Segall Cherushii - Memory of Water 100% Silk - Sensate Silk Chaos in the CBD - Accidental Meetings EP Allergy Season - Physically Sick Container - LP Kelly Lee Owens - Arthur Weyes Blood - Front Row Seat Julie Byrne - Not Even Happiness Bee Mask - When We Were Eating Unripe Pears Ian William Craig / Olivier Alary - Remixes Noveller - A Pink Sunset For No One Bee Mask - Elegy For Beach Friday Steve Hauschildt - Strands Jenny Hval - Blood Bitch House of Dad - House of Dad Anna Meredith - Varmints Sarah Davachi - Vergers the body - No One Deserves Happiness Peder Mannerfelt - Controlling Body Foodman - Ez Minzoku Sarah Davachi - Barons Court Var - No One Dances Quite Like My Brothers Burial - YOUNG DEATH / NIGHTMARKET Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - IN SUMMER Xiu Xiu - Tempesta Atsepmet Katie Gately - Color Youth Code - A Place to Stand Pod Blotz - The Voltaic Eye Suzanne Kraft - What You Get For Being Young Avalon Emerson - Narcissus In Retrograde serpentwithfeet - blisters DJ Seinfeld - Season 1 EP Xiu Xiu - Fag Patrol Mannequin Pussy - Romantic Route 8 - A Walk In The City / Summer Groove Faka (Non) - Bottoms Revenge SMURPHY - R OV JERICHO ‘EBONY’ vs ‘R’ - Real Truth The Cinematic Orchestra - To Believe feat. Moses Sumney NxWorries - Yes Lawd! Crying - Beyond the Fleeting Gales Telefon Tel Aviv - Fahrenheit Fair Enough Yko - Tao remixes The Caretaker - Everywhere at the end of time VA - Jeremy Underground presents Beauty Via App - Secret Rotation Acronym - Entangled in Vines. SEMANTICA 77 Preoccupations - Preoccupations CockTail d’Amore Music - Sfire: Sfire3 John Talabot Remixes LA-4A - I Feel Lit Igor Tipura - Dwams (Lauer Remix) Chaos In The CBD - Invisible Spectrum Mall Grab - Menace II Society EP The World is a Beautiful Place & I am No Longer Afraid to Die - Formlessness Noname - Telefone Aos - 90 East Beach Slang - A Loud Bash of Teenage Feelings M.E.S.H. - Omb Extrusus / Glassel Extrusus Randomer - Residents VA - Mambos Levis D’Outro Mundo Krill - Krill Ian William Craig - Centres nonkeen - oddments of the gamble Brand New - Mene Four Tet - Randoms Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith & Suzanne Ciani - Sunergy Beatrice Dillon / Karen Gwyer - Alien Jams Allergy Season - Allergy Edits, Vol. 1 Geneva Jacuzzi - Technophelia (MR-053) Massimiliano Pagliara - Connection Lost Pt. 2 Xenia Rubinos - Black Terry Cat Angel Olsen - MY WOMAN Pearson Sound - XLB LOCK - 3 Song Promo Mall Grab - Feel U EP Nothing - Tired of Tomorrow (Standard Version) The Hotelier - Goodness The Egyptian Lover - 1983-1988 Pinkcourtesyphone + Gwyneth Wentink - Elision Wes Period - Photosynthesis Mitski - Puberty 2 Project Pablo - Beaubien Dream Porches - Pool Diet Cig - Over Easy Frankie Cosmos - Next Thing DJ Marfox - Chapa Quente Julianna Barwick - Will Ondo Fudd - Blue Dot Dip In The Pool - On Retinae Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - EARS Girl Pusher - Dont Die Derek Plaislaiko - Exile on Sesame Strasse EP Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - Euclid Marry Lattimore - At The Dam Bleached - Welcome The Worms female:pressure - Music, Awareness & Solidarity w/ Rojava Revolution Car Seay Headrest - Teens of Denial LOCK - The Cycle 7” Robert Crouch - A Gradual Accumulation of Ideas Becomes Truth John Tejada + Tin Man - Acid Test 10 Sam Prekop - The Republic White Visitation - Blank Slate 010 Russell Haswell - Tongue Dancer ’85 Dasha Rush - Unspoken ep Leif - Traraxacum The Hotelier - Goodness Pt. I Burial - Untrue Gunnar Haslam - Lebesgue Measures Sheer Mag - III 7” White Lung - Paradise ANOHNI - HOPELESSNESS LAKES - Arms In Twilight Pinegrove - Cardinal William Basinski + Richard Cartier - Divertissement Skee Mask - Shred Helena Hauff-The Exaltics-Perseus-Traxx-Drvg Culture-Ekman - Signs of Decay Courtney Barnett - Live at Electric Lady Studios Lust for Youth - Compassion The World is a Beautiful Place & I am No Longer Afraid to Die - Whenever, If Ever Beatrice Dillon - Face A/B Shanti Celeste - Being Mono Junk - State of Funk EP Jock Club - Controlled Area Decimus - Decimus 7 Lycus - Chasms gut nose - Escape The Matrix Mikael Seifu - Zelalem Domenique Dumont - Comme Ca Leon Vynehall - Midnight on Rainbow Road Adrian Younge - Winter Is Here Circuit des Yeux - In Plain Speech Miya Folick - Strange Darling Hierophants - Parallax Error Julian Lage - World’s Fair Owiny Sigoma Band - I Made You VA - Fac. Dance 02 METZ - Can’t Understand Downtown Boys - Downtown Boys Rionegro - Rionegro (Matias Aguayo, Sano, Gladkazuka) Kode9 - Nothing Aurora Halal - Shapeshifter Chaos In The CBD - Midnight In Peckham Petal - Shame Cadaver En Transe - Cadaver En Transe 7” Westkust - Last Forever VA - Cocktail D’Amore Sampler 001 Hop Along - Painted Shut Slug Christ - The Crucifixion of Rapper Extraordinaire, Slug Christ Lil Ugly Mane - Third Side Of Tape Little Simz - A Curious Tale Of Trials + Persons Daniel T - Tetrachromat Blanck Mass - Dumb Flesh Helena Hauff - Lex Tertia Knxwledge - Hud Dreams VA - Future Times Catalog + Compilation Project Pablo - I Want To Believe Tropic of Cancer - Stop Suffering Four Tet - Morning/Evening Le1f - Riot Boi Empress Of - Me Moses Sumney - Seeds / Please METZ - Eraser Lakker - Mountain Divide Lakker - Containing A Thousand Randomer - Kids Play Donato Dozzy - The Loud Silence Total Control - 7”s Floating Points Nuits Sonores & Nectarines Voices From The Lake - Live at MAXXI Ava Luna - Takamatsu Station KING - We Are KING Grimes - Darkbloom Physical Therapy - Kirk the Flirt & Peter Pressure Busdriver - Thumbs Nicolas Jaar - Fight Courtney Barnett - Third Man Records (Blue Series) Pinkwash - Cancer Money 7” Diat - Everyday/Hing & Bracket 7” Perc - Gob Project Pablo - I Want To Believe 12” Joan Shelley - Over and Even Deradoorian - The Expanding Flower Planet Courtney Barnett - How To Carve A Carrot Into A Rose EP2 Holly Herndon - Platform Blondes - Persuasion Kenny Dixon Jr. - Moodymann | KDJ-44 Andres - Andres Moodymann feat. Charlotte OC - Hangover (Moodymann Mix) Beach House - Depression Cherry Lee Bannon - Pattern of Excel Terekke - BLK-07 T.Power - The Self Evident Truth Of An Intuitive Mind Slim Twig - Thank You For Stickin’ With Twig John Tejada - End Of It All 2015 Media Jeweler - $99 R/T Hawaii Slim Twig - Cannabis b/w Fadeout Killer (Instrumental) Mac Demarco - Another One Protomartyr - The Age Intellect Deaf Wish - Pain Father - Young Hot Ebony Gabriel Garzon-Montano - Bishoune: Alma del Hulia John Tejada - Dramamine VA - Off The Beaten Tracks EP Code Orange - I Am King Patricia - Body Issues Braille - Mute Swan Allergy Season - Side Effects May Include: Archie Pelago - Off-Peak OST Matrixxman - StruxNt Little Simz - E.D.G.E. Machinedrum - Movin’ Forward (A Tribute To DJ Rashad) Bosse-de-Nage - All Fours DJ Nigga Fox - Noite E Dia Sufjan Stevens - All Delighted People EP Makthaverskan - Makthaverskan II Total Control - Typical System METZ - II Courtney Barnett - A Sea of Split Peas Deafheaven, Bosse-de-Nage - split 12” Jack Ladder and the Dreamlanders - Playmates Palmbomen II - Palmbomen II

[errorrecords]

Exclusive stream of "Father Take" from the debut SECRET SHAME s/t EP is up at @svbterranean right now! Link in bio 🖤

[geekade]

Turn It Up: New Music Releases for April 2017

It’s officially Spring, and new life is breathing into the world! Flowers will bloom soon, the sun is shining, temps are finally rising, and new music is coming to our speakers! …gosh that’s a peppy little opening – I must really, really love music to get that positive. Let’s get to it then!

Karen Elson - Double Roses

Release date: 4/7 I discovered Karen Elson on the advice of my cousin when I was looking for albums to review on my own site, Ears Like A Hawke. I remember being entranced by her music. I don’t think that, at that time, I would have ever sought this performer or these tunes out myself, and maybe I did less than I should have to follow up.

A few songs remained on my catch-all playlist, and I enjoyed them in the background of my life over the following few years. Karen became a name I knew without dwelling, but always enjoying.

“Distant Shore” came up on my Release Radar recently, and I found myself completely stopped and listening. This was no longer background music – this was taking center stage to my ears. I listened a few times over, eventually catching the attention of my cube-mate, sparking an entire conversation and tracking down more.

Needless to say, Karen is winning everything back in my book here. She is surpassing her last release, and April 7th is already looking to be an on-repeat kind of day for this new album.

Other 4/7 releases:

Father John Misty - Pure Comedy

Michelle Branch - Hopeless Romantic

John Mayer - The Search For Everything

Release date: 4/14

Want to feel old? This is John Mayer’s seventh studio album. Seventh.

And while he remains our same old John Mayer, there’s no denying that he has done exactly whatever he’s wanted to with music. This seems to be no exception.

The release was done in a really different way – actually consisting of three EPs released in the first three months of the year (or, so says Wiki – I don’t actually see Wave Three up on Spotify yet), and this April album is the full compilation. We started off with “Love On The Weekend,” and I don’t think I ever realized how happy I’d be to hear new John Mayer music.

So you’re given half to two-thirds of an album early on. I have to admit, it’s a little tough to get excited when you’ve heard that much, but for as quickly as folks consume music and desire for more, maybe this approach isn’t all that weird. Then again, as we said at the start – seven albums in, Mayer gets to do whatever the heck Mayer wants.

Other 4/14 releases:

Little Dragon - Season High

Splashh - Waiting A Lifetime

Brad Paisley - Love and War

Release date: 4/21

I spoke too soon with the John Mayer/seventh album comment – this is Brad Paisley’s eleventh album. Talk about traction.

Some folks may have heard the single “Without A Fight,” a really good crossover diet with Demi Lovato. This was slated to be the first single off this album, but isn’t even included. Instead, the first single is a very predictable Paisley tune, “Today.” I suppose you go with what has always worked for you.

Interesting to note though is that there are other incredibly cool collaborations here too. The likes of Mick Jagger, John Fogerty, and Timbaland join Brad for this in one way or another. It’s not very surprising, as Brad Paisley is seen to be one of the guitar gods of country music, and has certainly proven his staying power.

It will be really interesting to see, however, if these collaborations spark new life and sound to Brad’s music, and to see just how experimental he can get without losing his very familiar 90’s country boy sound.

Other 4/21 releases:

Incubus – 8

Ray Davies – Americana

Feist – Pleasure

Release date: 4/28

I’ve just come to realize that April music seems to be on the mellow side. It’s like the melodies know we all need to be eased out of a hard winter and into a softer spring.

Self-described: “Thematically, the album is said to explore emotional limits ... loneliness, private ritual, secrets, shame, mounting pressures, disconnect, tenderness, rejection, care and the lack thereof.”

In other words, this is a ride, and maybe not so soft as I thought. Instead, this may be the album that you need to hunker down with and take a good look into your soul. I suppose six years between albums could result in such a hefty compilation. And maybe, just maybe, that escape she’s diving into in the cover art is what we’ll all be looking for throughout the experience.

Other 4/28 releases:

New Found Glory - Makes Me Sick

Gorillaz - Humanz

[thejoyofviolentmovement]

New Audio: Introducing the Shimmering and Urgent 4AD Records-like Sound of Asheville NC's Secret Shame

New Audio: Introducing the Shimmering and Urgent 4AD Records-like Sound of Asheville NC's Secret Shame @TransmissionPR_

Formed back in 2016, the Asheville, NC-based goth/post-punk act Secret Shame— Lena (vocals), Nathan (drums), Nikki (guitar), Matthew (bass) and Billie (guitar) — can…

[blackkudos]

Raphael Saadiq

Raphael Saadiq /səˈdiːk/ (born Charles Ray Wiggins; May 14, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, guitarist, and record producer. Saadiq has been a standard bearer for "old school" R&B since his early days as a member of the multiplatinum group Tony! Toni! Toné! He has also produced songs for such artists as Joss Stone, D'Angelo, TLC, Kelis, Mary J. Blige, Whitney Houston, Solange Knowles and John Legend.

He and D'Angelo were occasional members of The Ummah, a music production collective, composed of members Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest, and J Dilla of the Detroit-based group Slum Village. He is also a co-founder of independent video game developer IllFonic.

Saadiq's critically acclaimed album, The Way I See It, released on September 16, 2008, featuring artists Stevie Wonder, Joss Stone, and Jay-Z, received three Grammy Award nominations and was voted Best Album on iTunes of 2008. His fourth studio album, Stone Rollin', was released on March 25, 2011. For the album, Saadiq worked with steel guitarist Robert Randolph; former Earth, Wind & Fire keyboardist Larry Dunn; Swedish-Japanese indie rock singer Yukimi Nagano (of Little Dragon fame); funk artist Larry Graham (on the bonus cut "Perfect Storm") and soul newcomer Taura 'Aura Jackson' Stinson.

Music critic Robert Christgau has called Saadiq the "preeminent R&B artist of the '90s".

Early life

Saadiq was born in Oakland, California, the second-youngest of 14 siblings and half-siblings. His early life was marked by tragedy; he experienced the deaths of several of his siblings as a young child. When Saadiq was seven years old, his brother was murdered. One of his brothers overdosed on heroin and another committed suicide because he was unable to deal with his addiction to the drug. His sister died as a result of a car crash during a police chase in a residential neighborhood. Saadiq states that he does not want his music to be reflective of the tragedies he experienced, saying that "And through all of that I was makin' records, but it wasn't comin' out in the music. I did it to kinda show people you can have some real tough things happen in your life, but you don't have to wear it on your sleeve."

He has been playing the bass guitar since the age of six, and first began singing at age nine in a local gospel group. At the age of 12, he joined a group called "The Gospel Humminbirds". In 1984, shortly before his 18th birthday, Saadiq heard about tryouts in San Francisco for Sheila E.'s backing band on Prince's Parade Tour. At the audition, he chose the name "Raphael", and had difficulty remembering to respond to the name when he heard that he got the part to play bass in the band. He says of the experience, "Next thing I was in Tokyo, in a stadium, singin' Erotic City. We were in huge venues with the biggest sound systems in the world; all these roadies throwin' me basses, and a bunch of models hangin' round Prince to party. For almost two years. That was my university."

Career

1987–1999: Tony! Toni! Toné! and The Ummah

After returning to Oakland from touring with Prince, Saadiq began his professional career as the lead vocalist and bassist in the rhythm and blues and dance trio Tony! Toni! Toné! He used the name Raphael Wiggins while in Tony! Toni! Toné!, along with his brother Dwayne Wiggins, and his cousin Timothy Christian. In the mid-1990s, he adopted the last name Saadiq, which means "man of his word" in Arabic. His change of surname led many to speculate that he had converted to Islam at that point; in reality, Saadiq is not a Muslim, but rather just liked the way "Saadiq" sounded and changed his last name simply to distinguish himself from and avoid potential confusion with his brother, Dwayne Wiggins. As he confirmed by telling noted R&B writer Pete Lewis of the award-winning 'Blues & Soul' in May 2009, "I just wanted to have my own identity!"

In 1995, Saadiq had his biggest solo hit to date, when "Ask of You", featured on the Higher Learning Soundtrack peaked at #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the R&B chart. In 1995, Saadiq produced and performed on Otis & Shug's debut album, We Can Do Whatever.

Tony! Toni! Toné! would become major R&B superstars throughout the late-1980s and 1990s. However, after the 1996 album entitled House of Music failed to duplicate the group's previous success, Tony! Toni! Toné! went their separate ways in 1997.

1999–2004: Lucy Pearl and first string of solo albums

In 1999, Saadiq's next big project became the R&B supergroup Lucy Pearl. He recorded the self-titled album with Dawn Robinson (En Vogue) and Ali Shaheed Muhammad (A Tribe Called Quest). The group only lasted for one album.

Also in 1999, he collaborated with rapper Q-Tip on the single "Get Involved", from the animated television series The PJs. It samples The Intruders' 1973 song "I'll Always Love My Mama" and charted at number 21 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks.

His 2000 song collaboration "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" won D'Angelo a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance; it was also nominated for Grammy Award for Best R&B Song. The song was ranked #4 on Rolling Stone's "End of Year Critics & Readers Poll" of the top singles of 2000. D'Angelo's album Voodoo won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Album at the 2001 Grammy Awards.

In 2002, Saadiq founded his own record label, Pookie Entertainment. Among the artists on the label are Joi and Truth Hurts. In 2002, he released his first solo album Instant Vintage, which earned him five Grammy Award nominations. He released a two-disc live album All the Hits at the House of Blues in 2003, and his second studio album Ray Ray in 2004, both on Pookie Entertainment.

2004–2010: Expanded output and second string of albums

In 2004, Saadiq produced a remix of the song "Crooked Nigga Too" by Tupac Shakur which is featured on the album Loyal to the Game. Other artists he has collaborated with include Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige, The Isley Brothers, A Tribe Called Quest, Teedra Moses, The Roots, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Macy Gray, Angie Stone, Snoop Dogg, Mac Dre, Devin the Dude, DJ Quik, Kelis, Q-Tip, Lil' Skeeter, Ludacris, The Bee Gees, Musiq Soulchild, Jaguar Wright, Chanté Moore, Lionel Richie, Marcus Miller, Noel Gourdin, Nappy Roots, Calvin Richardson, T-Boz from TLC, Jody Watley, Floetry, Leela James, Amp Fiddler, John Legend, Joss Stone, Young Bellz, Anthony Hamilton, Babyface, Ledisi, Goapele, Ghostface Killah, —Ginuwine, The Grouch Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind & Fire, Bilal, Chali 2na, Larry Graham, Luniz as well as many others. In 2007, Saadiq produced Introducing Joss Stone, the third album of British soul singer Joss Stone. According to J. Gabriel Boylan of The New York Observer, "he's produced artists including Macy Gray, the Roots, D'Angelo, John Legend, Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige, and more. With all of them he's pushed a classic aesthetic, heavy on organic sounds and light on studio magic, deeply indebted to the past and distrustful of easy formulas."

Saadiq's third solo album, The Way I See It, released on Columbia Records on September 16, 2008, available in a collector's edition box set of 7" 45 rpm singles as well as on traditional CD, was critically well-received, made several critics' 2008 best albums lists, and garnered three Grammy nominations including Best R&B Performance by a Duo Or Group With Vocals (for "Never Give You Up", featuring Stevie Wonder & CJ Hilton); Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance (for "Love That Girl") and Best R&B Album for The Way I See It. Music from The Way I See It was featured in the following motion pictures: Madea Goes To Jail, Bride Wars, Cadillac Records, Secret Life of Bees, In Fighting (Rogue), and It's Complicated.

Touring with a nine piece band, Saadiq hit the 2009 summer music festival circuit with performances at Bonnaroo, Hollywood Bowl, Outside Lands, Pori Jazz, Stockholm Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz, Essence Music Festival, Summer Spirit Festival, and Nice Jazz Festival, Bumbershoot Music Festival and Austin City Limits. Saadiq has been touring Europe extensively, and held a five-night residency at the House of Blues in Tokyo, Japan, in June 2009. In 2008, Saadiq formed a new label called Velma Records, a place where he promises "people can express themselves like I did with The Way I See It... where they can dream something up and just go with it".

He produced songs for LeToya Luckett's forthcoming second album Lady Love, released August 2009. In 2009, Saadiq produced "Please Stay" and "Love Never Changes" for Ledisi's August 2009 release "Turn Me Loose". Saadiq also was the executive producer for an emerging group called Tha Boogie. Tha Boogie's first EP was released on iTunes and is titled Love Tha Boogie, Vol. 1 (Steal This Sh*t).

In 2009, Saadiq announced his video game development company called IllFonic. The first video game in development by IllFonic is titled Ghetto Golf, with an expected release late in 2010. In 2009, Saadiq teamed up Bentley Kyle Evans, Jeff Franklin, Martin Lawrence, and Trenten Gumbs to create a new sitcom called Love That Girl! starring Tatyana Ali. Raphael is an executive producer and composer for Love That Girl!. The show airs on TV One and debuted on January 19, 2010. That same year, Saadiq performed The Spinners hit "It's A Shame" in a legendary Levi's commercial and sang as part of the chorus in the 2010 remake of "We Are the World" for Haiti.

2011–present: Stone Rollin'

In 2011, Saadiq was the guitarist/bandleader for the group backing Mick Jagger for Jagger's tribute performance of the Solomon Burke R&B classic, "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" at the 53rd Grammy Awards in Los Angeles and on CBS. The band that accompanied the performance was Saadiq's touring band called Stone Rollin. In 2011 he and his band performed as the ESPY's house band for the night, where he performed his latest compositions.

Saadiq's 2011 album Stone Rollin' was released to great critical acclaim. "He's always had a boyish enthusiasm for performing, and a flexible, naturally joyous voice that suggests a young Stevie Wonder," wrote Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune, "but with his latest album, Saadiq finds a new gear. The album and his current tour demonstrate that there's a big difference between retro and classic, and the artist consistently finds himself on the right side of that divide." Kot ranked the album number seven in his year-end list, in which he dubbed it Saadiq's "finest achievement" and stated, "He's always written songs steeped in soul and R&B, but now he gives them a progressive edge with roaming bass lines and haunted keyboard textures. He's no longer a retro stylist – he's writing new classics." Critic Jim Derogatis called it "a stone cold gas of a party disc."

In fall 2011, he performed on the fourth results show of Dancing with the Stars season 13. In December 2011, he performed a cover compilation of several Neil Diamond songs at the Kennedy Center Honors award ceremony.

In 2012 he signed a deal with Toyota to do a TV commercial for the Toyota Prius. In 2013 Raphael partnered with Bay Area/ Atlanta Production company EL Seven Entertainment/ Republic Records and new R&B Superstar Adrian Marcel and released his 1st promotional mixtape "Raphael Saadiq Presents Adrian Marcel 7 Days of Weak".

Saadiq is a featured bass guitar player on Elton John's 2013 album, The Diving Board.

In 2016 he executive produced Solange Knowles Project, A Seat At The Table which debuted at #1 on music charts in the United States. He also guest starred in Luke Cage, where he performs his songs "Good Man" and "Angel" at Harlem's Paradise.

Wikipedia

[errorrecords]

SECRET SHAME - S/T EP (ER031) It's with pleasure to announce the self-titled debut EP from North Carolina's SECRET SHAME. The post-punk goths have been making waves in the local Asheville scene for just under a year with their spellbinding live shows in venues both big and small. They're now ready to unveil six tracks of dark and brooding instrumentation, paired with elegantly chilling vocals that set a perfect gloomy atmosphere for the listener to sink deep into. Track listing: 1) Who Died In Our Backyard 2) Revolution 3) Lights Out 4) Crystal Kind 5) Machine 6) Father Take Out July 14th, 2017 on @errorrecords Pre-order TAPE / CD (link in bio) Pre-order DIGITAL (coming soon) FFO: #ArcticFlowers #SiouxsieAndTheBanshees #XmalDeutschland #RuleofThirds #postpunk #errorrecords #secretshame