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hellsmouthcove · 2 years

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from cursive’s the ugly organ 2014 reissue lyric booklet

We should've seen The Ugly Organ coming.

When Tim Kasher reunited Cursive in 1999 and produced Domestica a year later, it was a warning sign. Cursive hadn’t exactly whispered on Such Blinding Stars for Starving Eyes and The Storms of Early Summer: Semantics of Song, but Domestica was the kind of album that hurt, that could bruise your faith in relationships. As cathartic as it felt, it portended more storms on the horizon.

When the Burst and Bloom EP arrived in 2001, the winds kicked up. Guitarist Ted Stevens said as much on “Tall Tales, Telltales”: “Four winds converge upon a point where your compass / spirals ‘round in useless motions mocking everything.” The maelstrom: It’s where Cursive thrives. The EP shuddered with the band’s accelerating momentum, from the self-referential “Sink to the Beat” to the almost palpable weariness from meaningless hook-ups in “Fairytales Tell Tales.” Hearing Burst and Bloom, there was no doubt that something big lurked on the horizon for Cursive.

Yet The Ugly Organ still surprised us: that the band could be this ferocious, this ambitious, this unsettling. Kasher had turned his lyrics on himself before – see Domestica – but never with such dismissive disdain. “Cut it out – your self-inflicted pain is getting too routine,” he howls in “Art is Hard.” During the regretful morning-after of “The Recluse,” he sings, “Oh Christ, I’m not that desperate, am I? / Oh no, oh God, I am.” He sings from the perspective of his embittered significant other in “Butcher the Song,” “So rub it in in your dumb lyrics / Yeah, that’s the time and place to wring out your bullshit.” She returns, even angrier, in “Bloody Murderer,” saying, “When I was yours, you fled the scene / Now you can’t wash your hands of me.” When The Ugly Organ closes with “Staying Alive” and its lilting refrain, “The worst is over,” that’s not necessarily hope we hear. It could just as easily be resignation. The worst is over, but this isn’t much better.

As on Domestica, Kasher signs about a character on The Ugly Organ, but just as on Domestica, it never feels far removed from him. “Butcher the Song” even uses his name, while “Art is Hard” name-checks Cursive. Kasher fell under the sway of the concept-album idea on Domestica, using his own life to heavily inform the album’s story of a failing relationship. It’s easy to see the same on The Ugly Organ and its bracingly unsentimental portrait of a touring musician (named “the Ugly Organist”) and the dysfunction that penetrates all aspects of his life. He’s going through the motions artistically (“Some Red Handed Sleight of Hand,” “Art is Hard”), his relationship with his significant other is a destructive cycle of infidelity and bitter recrimination (“The Recluse,” “Butcher the Song,” “A Gentleman Caller,” “Bloody Murderer”), and redemption seems unlikely (“Sierra,” “Staying Alive”). The flights of fancy of “Driftwood: a Fairy Tale” and “Harold Weathervein” recall the stormy, water-logged imagery of Burst and Bloom. “Weatherman, do you feel?” Stevens asks on the latter. “Is it stormy inside of your veins?”

The Ugly Organ made landfall on March 4, 2003, the same day as Evanescence's Fallen and roughly two weeks before the start of the Iraq War. The darkest days of the Bush Era were settling like a dense fog over the entire country, and the outlook was bleak. That made The Ugly Organ especially potent, its gloomy inward focus a natural reflection of the era. The press accolades came quickly, from the mainstream (Rolling Stone called it “a brilliant leap forward,” and Entertainment Weekly said it “raised the Saddle Creek bar”) to the niche (The A.V. Club called it “a potent piece of rock art.” Alternative Press gave it a perfect score).

Plenty of those reviews referenced emo, which had splintered off from punk in the ‘80s but devolved into the flimsiest of marketing gimmicks by the new millennium. By 2003, the third wave of emo was crashing with a deluge of bands all too eager to ride their angsty pop to stardom. This was the year Alex Trebek referenced Cursive’s Saddle Creek labelmates Bright Eyes in a question whose correct response was “What is emo?” Cursive had started in the mid-’90s during emo’s second wave, and the band had little in common with the genre’s millennial torch-bearers, but reviewers had lumped them all together the same. “Cursive might just expand emo’s demographic to include the angsty 22-to-32 grad-student demographic,” went one typically positive-but-condescending review.

Not that The Ugly Organ lacked emo signifiers. Its confessional tone, jaundiced take on relationships, and self-loathing outed it, but the album’s ambition trumped any tidy labels. Calling it “daring,” The A.V. Club’s Noel Murray wrote in his “best music of 2003” list that “The Ugly Organ carries navel-gazing to compellingly bloody, winsomely sad, and even admirably pretentious extremes.”

By the end of 2003, Linkin Park, Avril Lavigne, Evanescence, and Toby Keith had some of the top-selling albums of the year, with OutKast, the White Stripes, and Fountains of Wayne topping that year’s Village Voice Pazz & Jop Critics’ Poll. If anything, the emo breakthrough of that year was Death Cab for Cutie’s Transatlanticism (#34 on Pazz & Jop), the band’s final release before ascending to major-label stardom.

But anyone with even a passing familiarity of music history knows that the charts and polls hardly tell the whole story. With The Ugly Organ, Cursive had made a landmark for itself and Saddle Creek. It was the label’s 51st release and the second in what my colleague Marc Hawthorne called “Saddle Creek’s holy trinity” in his liner notes for The Faint’s Danse Macabre reissue: Danse Macabre, The Ugly Organ, and Bright Eyes’ I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning. (I’d argue more for LIFTED or the Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground on that count, but I’ll save that for the next time I see Marc.)

Just prior to The Ugly Organ, Saddle Creek had released the celebratory compilation Saddle Creek 50, which included Cursive’s gleefully self-referential “Nonsense” (“I really don’t want to write another ‘I’m a dick’ song again”), which is included on this reissue. The label’s 49th release had been another Cursive joint, the “Art is Hard” single, which featured the explosive six-minute B-side “Sinner’s Serenade,” also included here. Rounding it out are four songs from Cursive’s split EP with Eastern Youth, 8 Songs to Eat You – check out the ferocious playing by cellist Gretta Cohn on “Excerpts from Various Notes Strewn Around the Bedroom of April Connolly, Feb 24, 1977” – and two songs from the single for “The Recluse.” It’s an exhaustive – and exhausting – snapshot of a band realizing its power and wielding it for maximum impact.

And then Cursive was gone. Again. Taking another one of its intermittent hiatuses. An unease has accompanied every album after The Ugly Organ that it could be the last one – no, for real this time. Maybe because The Ugly Organ capped an unprecedented productive streak, ending a three-record, three-year run with an album that can’t help but reflect the effort that went into it. The exhaustion, the ambivalence, the doubt, it all bleeds out of those 12 tracks. At the end of “Staying Alive,” the “ghost chorus” referenced in the liner notes sings, “The worst is over, Doo do Doo do Doo do Doo doo.” On second thought, maybe it's neither hope nor resignation, but simple relief. The storm has passed. And it was a motherfucker.

Kyle Ryan

The A.V. Club

#i am posting #music.png #cursive #cursives domestica #the ugly organ #saddle creek #bright eyes #the faint #2003

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simslegacy5083 · 1 year

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NSB (Straud Legacy) Gen 8 Ep. 102: Prank Day Pals

At the cabin the newlyweds had selected, the first morning of their honeymoon started early the day after the Romance Festival.

Jack was too excited to sleep in and roused his hubby bright and early to get started on breakfast. They had a big day of outdoor adventures ahead of them and he couldn’t wait to get going! Since it also happened to be Prank Day Jack also got started bright and early on the fun.

He almost couldn’t believe how easy it was to make Peachy fall for the tall tale of their friend Karwan’s tragic death by dad joke shortly after arriving home. As he laughed uproariously at his own wit his spouse promised to get him back later that day.

Let the prank war begin!

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Peachy was going have a lot of ground to make up as Jack was determined to keep the pranks coming. A sim never had to worry about a broken toilet when their husband could easily Repairo away any damage, and so Jack quickly rigged the bowl to explode as soon as he was finished.

Peachy got quite the unpleasant surprise when he came to relieve himself before getting changed. Now he was also going to need a shower!

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Their first stop of the day was the Crystal Caverns Peachy had read about when researching the area. He was sure Jack would love it in there.

Temporarily losing site of his boy as he scouted for the entrance to the caves, Jack earned another “point” when he jumped out from behind a tall bush, Peachy’s high pitch scream echoing off the surrounding rocks as he jumped straight up in the air!

Heading inside, Peachy finally managed his first prank of the day with some fake bad news of his own. He put on his most serious face as he told Jack about a text from August telling him Paul had been rushed to the clinic after reinjuring his back badly while practicing jumps with Misty, before breaking down in hysterical laughter. Jack couldn’t believe he’d fallen for the trick so easily – today of all days he should have known better!

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The caverns were as mystical and magical as Peachy had hoped. Both men admired the rock formations glistening in the dim light. When they found a communication device Peachy recognized from the attic back home, he dared Jack to attempt contact with his distant alien ancestors.

Maybe, he teased, they’d draw enough attention to get their baby the traditional Sixam way!

Jack wasn’t about to back away from a challenge, and besides, he could think of worse things than a sweet alien child to love and cherish! He brazenly stepped right up to the machine to attempt to connect with the other side.

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In a fantastic mood after the romantic stroll around the wild cave system with his spouse, Jack left pranks behind and focused on shared fun.

He had heard about a section of the nearby deep woods that was supposed to offer fantastic natural views and fishing opportunities. The pair spent the next few hours scouting around, and finally located a promising path hidden in brambles. Along the trail they quickly discovered a pond overflowing with aquatic life and Jack couldn’t resist pulling out his fishing rod to enjoy this slice of nature to the fullest.

That decision turned out to be a big mistake, as the wilderness seemed to want to get into celebrating Prank Day itself, with a large furry surprise.

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A giant bear finishing his own fish nearby suddenly emerged from the bush to express his unhappiness at puny sims “poaching” from his watering hole!

Jack had no time to react, bowled over from behind by the huge beast. Pain tore through his limbs as he was smashed into the rocky riverside by the animal on top of him. Peachy responded rapidly, aiming an Inferniate spell at the bear’s back, as far away from Jack as he could manage. As he’d hoped the giant monster roared in pain, grinding poor Jack into the dirt one last time as it fled into the deep shadows between the trees.

Peachy dashed to his husband’s side. After determining that while everything hurt nothing seemed to be broken, he carefully helped Jack to his feet, supporting him as they made their way back to the rental to rest and recover.

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The rest of their evening was spent resting and recuperating in bed. Jack was disappointed they hadn’t been able to fully explore (and fish) the deep woods, but Peachy promised they’d try again tomorrow, being much more mindful of their surroundings this time!

As he browsed through his social media Peachy was surprised to receive a text from Toni. Denton’s arrival had her and Manny thinking it was finally time to start a family of their own. Peachy showed the message to Jack and he echoed his husband’s excitement. If it worked out right, what better playmate for their respective children than a cousin the same age?

After telling her to go for it Peachy laid down his phone, stole Jack’s book, and rose to hover over him, asking if he felt up to having a little fun before bed. Jack’s answering smile and nod was all the encouragement Peachy needed to end their successful Prank Day on the highest of notes.

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Want To See More? View The Full Story of My Not So Berry Challenge Here

#sims 4 #sims 4 challenge #sims 4 legacy #sims 4 nsb #sims 4 not so berry #sims4nsbstraud #sims 4 let's play #sims4

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tfblovesmusic · 24 days

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Maligayang Pask-OH SHIP! Mixtape 1, Listening Guide 2

Section 7: 24 December 1842

The section whisks the listener back to the days of Charles Dickens’s seasonal novella, A Christmas Carol, with Charles Ward’s organ transcription of the English Country dance, Hole in the Wall. Organist William Neil and the Washington Symphonic Brass further adds highlights to the old-timey scene with their arrangement of the tenor aria from Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, “Nun mögt ihr stolzen Feinde schrecken.”

The listener then finds oneself in a snow-cloaked Central London. The Purcell Quartet, Dame Emma Kirkby, Michael Chance, Charles Daniels, and Peter Harvey – in Victorian Era winter finery – greet the listener in their rendition of Buxtehude's Das neugeborne Kindelein, das herzeliebe Jesulein, BuxWV 13. They all gather inside a house, where Harry Von Tiltzer and the The Parlour Orchestra welcome them with “Down at the Old Bull and Bush.”

Jose Mari Chan also appears in an 1840s Philippines barong, with Liza Chan and Jaymie Magtoto dressed in their mini Maria Clara dresses, singing “Christmas Children.” The Accademia Bizantinia plays a rousing rendition of the sinfonia from Cantata BWV 142 as hosts pass drinks and treats. Magtoto muses to the guests and the listener about “This Beautiful Day.”

Mr. Fezziwig and the cast of A Christmas Carol livens up the party, which turns out to be his "Annual Christmas Ball.”

The Canadian Brass, also in their mid-19th century getups, arrives and plays “Good King Wenceslas.” The listener and the attendees “Sing a Christmas Carol.” The listener leaves the festive, historical party with Charles Ward’s organ transcription of the English Country dance, Greensleeves & Epping Lace.

Section 8: Those Fenny Silver Bells

As the listener leaves 1842 London, one turns in the direction the the chiming “Silver Bells,” of which Stevie Wonder aptly sings about. Whitney Houston also hears the bells, asking one, “Do You Hear What I Hear?” The Black Dyke Mills Band echo the chimes in a Cornet Carillon. Lore Lixenberg and Chance also turn in the direction of the chimes, noticing them in Anthony Gilbert’s Those Fenny Bells.

The bells ring even louder, and David Foster duets with them with his epic arrangement of the Ukrainian Bell Carol. Mannheim Steamroller rocks with the bells in their instrumental cover of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.” The chiming enchants Leo Valdez so much, that he breaks out into “Kampana ng Simbahan.” Liza Minnelli takes it upon herself to tell a story that provides a concluding moral: “Ring Them Bells.”

Section 9: A New Year’s Breakup

The listener finds oneself inside a Romanesque Revival church built in the 19th century. Inside, Catherine Bott, Chance, and Andrew King heighten the anxiety of the impending year at the start of the section with the terzetto – “Ach! Wann wird die Zeit erscheinen?” – from Bach’s Christmas Oratorio.

The listener can imagine Dan Fogelberg – or generally a lover who just broke up over the holidays – wander from the church in which Bott, Chance, and King sang their terzetto to a place outside a pub, in which Jaime MacDougall drunkenly commences the new year with Haydn’s arrangement of “Auld Lang Syne” with the Haydn Trio Eisenstadt. Ella Fitzgerald walks out of the pub, asking him, “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?”

Fogelberg walks through the blinding snow and biting gusts, as the Cambridge Singers incant, “Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind.” He finally sings a ballad of his own – the “Same Old Lang Syne” – as the snow transitions to rain. Inside another nearby pub, Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox sings his tale in their cover of “Last Christmas.” Outside, Jose Mari Chan comforts Fogelberg, singing to him, “May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You.”

Then, a nearby car skids to an abrupt stop. The listener, Bott, Chance, King, Fogelberg, and Chan rush over to help. The driver turns out to be Carrie Underwood, who fervently prays, “Jesus, Take the Wheel” as they help her with the car and the baby, sound asleep in the car seat.

Section 10: Maui, the Christmas Island

With most people traveling somewhere for Christmas, Anne Murray tells the tale of the “Snowbird” as the listener awaits the flight to Hawaii. The listener’s plane departs, with Aled Jones, Russell Watson, and The Snowman in flight besides them as the former two sing “Walking in the Air.” Once the plane lands, Sebastian and Ariel – in her The Little Mermaid green tail and purple bikini top – greet the listener on a rock off Maui, the “Christmas Island.”

With Hawaii’s climate too warm for winter garb and biting snow and ice, Bing Crosby and The Andrews Singers wish the listener “Mele Kalikimaka” as they distribute floral leis. On Mākena Beach, “Little St. Nick” – in festive swimming shorts – surfs the waves as The Beach Boys croon.

The first playlist winds down as the listener sips a Yuletide tropical drink. Accompanied by Joshua Rifkin and The Bach Players, Jane Bryden, Drew Minter, Jeffrey Thomas, and Jan Opalach – in swimwear – serenade beachgoers in the final movement of Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147, “Jesus bleibet meine Freude,” concluding Part 1 of the mixtape.

Best listened with Spotify Premium.

#Spotify #maligayang pasko #ber months #filipino christmas #christmas songs

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thebonesofhoudini · 7 years

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Bush Funk - Computers Ain't Funky (1996)

#Bush Funk #Computers Ain't Funky #Tales From The Bush EP #Soma Quality Recordings #1996 #90s #Tech House #electronica #Steve O'Sullivan #Winlord X

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tsukituke · 3 years

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Demon slayer Swap role Au + Reader

{Ep 1}Prologue : A bloody start

The wind was heavy as Nezuko was walked in the snow.Blood streaming down her pink kimono as she carried Y/n{Your name} to town.

"Come on Y/n Stay with me were almost there"

------------------------------------------------------------------

-Few hours/one day earlier

Nezuko was putting the basket of coal of her back as she finished tying her shoes "Nezuko?". Nezuko Turn to face her mother "Your face has dirt on it, Come here let me clean" With that being said Nezuko's mom putted a wet cloth on her face to wash off the dirt " it's very dangerous to walk around with all this snow on the ground, you don't have/need to go you know" "But I want everyone to eat there most on new year's, So I'm going to sell as much coal as I can" as Nezuko said that a sweet smile came to her mother's face "Thank you Nezuko" Her mother stop washing the her face as there was not more dirt on it.

"Big sis!" Nezuko and her mother turn the gaze to Shigeru and Hanako "Are you going to town again today!" Shigeru said with excitement in his voice " I'm going with you this time" Hanako said, Takeo came from the same way Hanako and Shigeru came after hearing the shouting "Oh no you not " Their Mother spoke with a serious hint in her voice " You guys know you can't walk as fast as Nezuko " "Mom!" Shigeru said "You may not, Since she can't use the cart today she won't be able to give you a ride when your tired ". Shigeru pouted while Hanako just gave a worried glance "Big sis!" Shigeru ran and gave Nezuko a hug " Nezuko I wanna go with you" Hanako said " I promise I will help you as much as I can!" " Thank you Hanako.( Hanako Let out a out a big smile). But your staying home from now" Nezuko said was a smile "Aww" Nezuko bend down and touched Shigeru's cheek "You too Shigeru. but when I come back I will bring you a ton of good stuff, okay?" " Really!" "Yep, and hanako when I come back I will read you a fairy tale" "Okay!" "That's a good girl" Nezuko stand up.

"Thank you so much Nezuko" her mother said "No problem, Okay I shall be going now". Nezuko Turned her Gaze to her little brother "Hey! Takeo Can you please chop up as much wood as you can?" "Sure! I can do it but..I wanted to do it with you" Nezuko patted Takeo head "There, There Takeo" " Hey! What with that all of a sudden?" Takeo move so he can pushed Nezuko hand away " Haha, Your blushing Take "Shigeru said. "Hey! you shut up!" Shigeru putted his behind his head while Nezuko patted Takeo head again "There, There" Takeo moved again "I said cut it out!". Everyone start laughing(Except for takeo) A little while later Nezuko started laughing. "Hurry back okay!" Shigeru shouted at Nezuko as she walked away " Be safe out there Nezuko!" Hanako said. Nezuko waved bye to the rest of her family as she walked away.

As Nezuko walked that’s when Y/n and Rokuta pop out of the bushes "Boo!" Rokuta said holding Y/n's hand.

{ Y/n lives with Nezuko and her family. When Y/n was 5 years old her parents died and since Nezuko and her were best friend and before Y/n's parents died her parents and Nezuko's parents was close. Nezuko Mother and Father toke Y/n in[ They did not adopt you though just toke you in ] } [ the outfit below is what your wearing ]

"Oh! How long were you two hiding there?" Nezuko looking at Rokuta "Well at first Y/n was...telling me a story and then.." Rokuta said that as he struggled to remember what he and Y/n was doing "Hey! Y/n how are you doing?" " oh Nezuko I'm doing great but ever since your father died and Tanjiro went missing Rokuta have been have a little hard time so I though bring him outside will cool down his nerves" "Well seems like whatever you doing is working out perfectly" "Ha! Yeah!" Nezuko and Y/n looked down to see Rokuta sleeping on Y/n's leg, Y/n picked Rokuta up and wrapped him with her kimono haori "See you later Nezuko" Y/n said as she waved bye to Nezuko as Nezuko left.

{ When Nezuko's father died well the day after he died tanjiro went missing nezuko and her family and Y/n ask people around town if they seen him or did he visited them but nobody had any helpful info about where could tanjiro be }

Me and my family and Y/n don't really have an easy, Life could change like weather , it could shift and move on so fast it can't stay sunny forever it not like it ever snows endlessly and when ever happiness is destroy there is always a smell of blood - Nezuko thought to herself

- At town

Nezuko was walking around the middle of the road in the snowy town, An old lady turned her gaze towards Nezuko " Well Well isn't it the Nezuko!" the old lady said with a smile on her face "I can't believe you came all the way down from the mountains on a day like this, Your such a hard worker Nezuko, You know you might catch a cold you know" Nezuko stop walking and turn her gaze to the old lady with a sweet smile " It nothing, really, do you have enough coal?" " Oi! Nezuko can I have some coal?" an old man said from the distance "May I have some to?" A young lady said, Nezuko let'd out a a little gasp that's when a house door from behind her opened "N-Nezuko!". Nezuko turned her gaze to man behind her with a bleeding nose " Oh god! Get timing Nezuko!" The man pulled out a cloth and opened it revealing a broken vase " I have been accused for breaking this vase!" he said " Help me out can ya! Sniff it please!" the man shoved the broken vase to Nezuko's nosed as she sniffed it a woman with black hair walked up behind the man with the nosebleed "It smell's like a bird" the man with the nosebleed turned to the woman "See!" "Oh my so it was a bird?" " I told you it was not me!" "Ehh..Nezuko could you give a hand with these bags?" an old man said.

- Few hours later Nezuko finished selling coal and help everyone out....It was now dark

Nezuko was walking in the snow the sky was dark as she walking."Jeez is it this late already, at least I sold all the coal" Nezuko said as she was talking to herself "Hey! Nezuko" Nezuko turn her gaze to the old man " Are you going back to the mountains?, you better not it's too dangerous out there" " I think I be fine after all I always have a sense/feeling when something bad is about happen" " I will put you for the night, come on get in here" "But..." " Don't argue with me woman get in here.....before the demon show up".

Nezuko went inside his house change her clothes and putted her basket down so right now she eating her food "Thank you for the meal" she said as she finshed up drinking her water "Hey, Granddad Suburo, what....what are demons like?" " Man-eating demon have always prowled the land once it's gets dark, that's why you should never walk around at night, if your done eating get to bed you should head off home at dawn" - few mins later - " The demon would not come inside you your house right?" " Yes, Nezuko they can" " Then would everyone met there end?" " that why devil killers protect us by slaying them....light out now go to bed Nezuko" With that being said Nezuko went to sleep.

- Next Morning

"You be careful out there Nezuko" "Okay!" with that being said Nezuko walked off to the mountains happiness is destroy there is always Nezuko had feel something bad happened and she smelled something wrong "The smell of blood" with that being said Nezuko ran home. As Nezuko got home her breath got heavy as the site in front of her was an horror. At the front of the house lay a pool of blood with a dead Y/n and Rokuta Nezuko didn't notice it at first but she was screaming as she ripped off the basket and ran towards them " Y/n! What happened?! What's going on!? How..How did this happen!?" As Nezuko turn her head to see an even more terrifying sight ,she standed up and walked inside the house and saw her mother ,Hanako ,Shigeru ,Takeo dead on the ground.

- The present

Nezuko was run as blood ran down her pink kimono as she carrying a bloody Y/n as she ran to town [ "Y/n's the only one with warm If I run fast enough I can make to town and get an doctor for Y/n and save her, how did this happen!? Why did it happen!? " [Nezuko thought] Nezuko ran as fast as she can, jumping over a log and running "Ack!" [ "My lungs I can't breath it's too cold ,too icy. But I need to keep moving forward for Y/n, Come on Nezuko don't slow down your friend's life at risk, I can feel it we're still a far from town but we can make"] Nezuko forced her legs to move faster ["I won't let you die Y/n"]. As Nezuko was still in thought's she didn't noticed how Y/n's fingers start twitching [ "As your childhood friend I will not give up on you Y/n" ] Y/n raised her head from Nezuko's shoulder That's when Y/n started shaking back and forth on Nezuko's back Making "Grr" noise as she does so. Surprising Nezuko causing Nezuko to trip off the cliff with Y/n.

Nezuko Screamed as she fell off the cliff with Y/n landing right into the snow ["The snow protected my fall well the snow made me trip anyways] Nezuko sited up " Y/n?" looking around she found Y/n standing looking at the ground with blood on her kimono and forehead " Y/n, are you okay?" Nezuko stand up and ran toward Y/n " You don't have to walk nor run , I will carry you to town" ,"Y/n!" Nezuko was about to put her hand on Y/n's shoulder that's when Y/n jumped on Nezuko trying to bite her but Nezuko Grab Y/n shoulders stopping her from biting her. Y/n did another big jump but Nezuko quickly grab her Ax using the bottom to stop Y/n from biting.

Y/n Pushed Nezuko to the ground still trying to to bite Nezuko as she pushed Y/n back. [ "She..She's a demon, I remember what old man Suburo told me. but...Y/n a man-eating demon? But ever since we know each other she was an human. But right now she's not the Y/n I know and love, but this is not a Y/n thing to do just earlier she was just protecting Rokuta there was no blood on her hand nor her mouth "] Y/n started to get bigger so she can attack Nezuko "S-she got bigger" Nezuko said widening her eyes ["And she getting stronger by the mins .......while I was sleeping careless, They were murdered terribly...I know it hurt"] Nezuko kept on trying to push Y/n back as Tear rolled down Nezuko's face ["Y/n is getting to strong for me to push her back and yet I wasn't there to protect her"] "Y/n! Please Hang in there Y/n! Don't give in!You gotta hang there!"

Footsteps were running as someone was running toward Nezuko and Y/n."Don't turn into a demon Y/n!" The footsteps got stronger as more tears run down Nezuko's face"You Gotta stay strong!Hang in there" Tear fell to Nezuko's face as a Gasp left Nezuko seeing Y/n cry , Y/n continued crying as she stop trying to attack Nezuko. The footstep's were stronger as a sword flew out a women with black hair with purple at the end as The woman ran faster by the minute, The woman jump and came down to attack Y/n. That's when Nezuko swap her and Y/n causing a little bit of Nezuko's hair to get cut off leaving the Woman surprised, A big gush of wind mixed with snow flew as the women landed. Y/n and Nezuko was holding each other as the rolled on the ground and hit a tree as Y/n return back to her original size ["What the"] The woman stand up and turn to Nezuko and Y/n ["W-Who is that?"] Nezuko eye's widen look at the Women's sword {" A Sword?"] "What are you doing protecting that" the women said looking at Nezuko with a blank face "S-She's my best friend..-My Childhood best friend!" Nezuko said with a kinda shaky voice.The woman Only gave Nezuko a blank stare as Y/n woke up and start trying to escape Nezuko arms "Y/n!" Nezuko only struggle trying to keep her close ,the woman only start with a still blank face " You called that thing your best friend?" Nezuko only toke a glance at the woman and continue to struggle to keep Y/n near her. The women continue to look at them for a little while then ran fast a air towards them Nezuko tried to keep Y/n close as her eyes widen and bend down to doge the women as she bend down and shut her eyes. Nezuko open her eyes and saw Y/n not there as a gasp left her mouth and she looked up and looked around and saw the woman with a Demon Y/n as Noises left Y/n.

"Y/n!" " Don't move" The woman told Nezuko with a serious voice , The wind breeze with snow in it the woman spoke "My Job is to slay demon. Long story short I despise your best friend" "W-Wait hold on! Y/n didn't kill anyone!" with that being said Nezuko stand up "At my house there was another smell a smell I never smelled before it has to be the one who killed my family. It was not Y/n! I don't know how she turned to that thing but-but still..." "It's very simple, Because her bruises was exposed to the to the demon blood ,she turned into the demon" the woman said looking Nezuko in the eyes " That's how man-eating demon multiply". Nezuko stomped her foot on the snowy ground "Y/n will never eat a Human!" " You seriously got to be kidding me, Just now you were about to be eaten" Y/n was struggling to get out of the woman's hand while making noises " Your wrong! I'm sure she knows who I am! I wouldn't let her hurt anyone I'm going to turn Y/n into human! I swear I will heal her" Nezuko said with a worried look " She can't be healed , Once you turn into a demon you can never go back into a human" " I will find a way so please don't kill her! I-I hunt down the one who murder my family ,I will make everything all right! " The woman lifted up her sword and point it toward Y/n's neck "Please Don't do it!" Nezuko said like her life depends on it ["Don't take anyone else away from me"] Nezuko got on both of her knees and put her hands on the ground "please..Please don't kill my best friend...Please don't do it" Tear's started coming down Nezuko eyes "I'm begging" The woman grind her teeth together "Don't give other's a chance to murder you!" The woman shouted at Nezuko with an angered face as Nezuko looked up with an Gasp "Stop that pathetic talk! If it was the least bit of effective your family wouldn't been dead! Can a weakling who can't even take initiative in such a situation heal her best friend?! Hunt down the enemy?! Don't you dare make me laugh! The weak have no right or choice! Their only fate is to be relentlessly crushed by the strong! The woman start with more anger in her voice "Maybe the demon might know how to heal you friend! But don't think demon will respect your will or wishes! To be honest with you I have no respect for you either! That's reality!" The woman said as Nezuko eyes widen " Why did you throw your self over your friend earlier? Was that your way of protecting her? Why didn't you swing your hatchet? Why did you show your back to me?" The woman lifted up her sword and point it at Nezuko "All those blunders led to your friend's capture!"

Y/n started kicking the snow and making noises "I could've skewered her along with you! Tear started to drop down her face as she looked at the woman ["Don't cry, Don't despair, Now's not the time for that. I know your devastated, Your family was killed and your childhood friend was turned into a demon. I know it's pain full, I know you want to scream. I get it, If only I got her half-a day sooner you family might not ended up dead. but there is no way to turn back time now. Feel Rage The powerful full on rage of not being able to forgive will be unswerving drive to take action! With such a fragile resolve like yours, You can't protect your friend or heal her"[The woman's thoughts] The woman lifted up her sword and pointed at Y/n "No!" Nezuko shouted The woman stabbed Y/n on her left side of her chest "Stop!" Nezuko Grab a rock and throw it at the woman as the woman dodged it. Nezuko ran and grab her ax and a rock as the the wind blew Nezuko ran faster Toward the woman and went around her as she saw Y/n trying to get out of the woman's hand ,Nezuko throw a another rock at the woman as the woman dodged it again That's when Nezuko ran towards the woman [" A straightforward attack driven by emotion"] "You idiot" The woman hit Nezuko on her back really hard as Nezuko fell to the ground. Y/n stood there speechless looking at unconscious Nezuko as her eyes shake ["Wait where's her hatchet? "] Nezuko's Hatchet came flying in the air heading straightforward at the woman's head as the woman quickly dodged it as her eye's widen [" Just before she hid behind the tree she ran and throw that rocks at me at the same time as she tossed the hatchet in the air she hide her hands as she pretend to attack so I would not realize she was unarmed. She knew she couldn't beat me , she tried to bring me down after I hit her! This kid...."] Y/n shakes herself off of the woman hand as she kicked the woman and ran to Nezuko the woman landed perfectly on the snowy ground ["damn she'll eat her"] Y/n got in front of Nezuko and protect her making noises and dashed towards the woman [" Long time ago someone said the same thing but only to be eaten by the demon , When demons are staving they eat on humans even if its there own family because their nutrient-rich , I seen it happen more then I can count "] Y/n was running towards the Woman ["This girl on has been wounded ( Y/n tried to scratch the woman but the woman dogged her) and she expending energy to heal those injures ,She must've drained vast amounts of her strength as she transformed into a demon ( Y/n kept on trying to it the woman as the pushed her but Y/n landed ) that mean she must have severely starved at this moment without a doubt, she must have wanted to Feast on human right away even if it's her own best friend, yet she protected her instead and she even intimidated me...

(Y/n jump off a tree and went straight to attack to woman as the woman put her sword away) I wonder...These Girls may be.....different from others"] The woman hit Y/n on the neck as Y/n made a grunt sound as she felled closed her eyes ........

["I'm sorry to leave you all by yourself Nezuko please take care of Y/n for us" as Nezuko mom said that"]

Nezuko woke up just to find Y/n with an bamboo in her mouth and sleeping with a haori wrapped around Y/n. As Nezuko grab the haori on Y/n as she looked at Y/n with widen eyes with tears in them."Your Awake" The woman said as she looks at Nezuko, Nezuko quick grab Y/n and brought her close to her "Go see a old man named sakonji urokodaki, who lives at the foot of Mt.Sagiri.. Tell him that shinobu kocho sent you, She seems all right since it's cloudy now ,but never let her touch the sunlight ,okay?" With that being said shinobu disappeared ,Nezuko just sat that with an asleep Y/n.

- A few moments later

A/n: Nezuko change your clothes so your wearing this now:

Nezuko was on her knees and Y/n was standing right in front of the grave of Nezuko's family. Nezuko was praying to her family as Y/n just stand's there, Nezuko got up and turn around "Let's go". Holding hands with Y/n was they walked Nezuko looked back for a few seconds then continued walking with Y/n as they both left...

{Ep1}Prologue: A bloody Start - completed

#Demon slayer blog #demon slayer episode 1 #Demon slayer x Reader #demon slayer nezuko #Nezuko x Reader #kamado family #kimetsu no yaiba #kimetsu no yaiba x reader #demon slayer series #Tanjiro x Reader #Zenitsu x Reader #Inosuke x Reader #Kyojuro Rengoku x Reader #Shinobu Kocho #Shinobu Kocho x Reader

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randomvarious · 3 years

Video

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Audio Science - “Tales of the Unknown (Kraftwelt mix)” The Electronica Trance Zone Song released in 1996. Compilation released in 1998. House

Hypnotic Records is not a great record label. A lot of their catalog isn’t very good, their liner notes are absolute crap, and they let in-house producers use a bunch of different aliases to make it look like they have more artists on their roster than they actually do. But since I’ll listen to almost any compilation with few exceptions, it allows me to dig through a pile of meh to find some pretty good shit. For example, a Danish electronic quartet named Kraftwelt.

From critic John Bush:

...named in admiration of their prime influence, Kraftwelt re-works the original innovations of Kraftwerk with a sound more in debt to '90s electronic music and trip-hop. The group -- also known for their recordings as Audio Science -- signed to the stateside industrial label Cleopatra [parent label of Hypnotic] in 1996, releasing the Deranged in Space EP in July and their album debut, Electric Dimension, later that year. Kraftwelt also appears on the triple-disc Space Box, alongside similar-minded (if not contemporary) artists such as Cluster, Faust, Popol Vuh, and Hawkwind.

A real shame that this group's entire discography as Kraftwelt ended up on such a shitty label, but at least it exists somewhere, right? Anyway, this song I'm posting today, "Tales of the Unknown (Kraftwelt mix)," originally comes from an album of theirs that was released in 1996, before they landed on Hypnotic, called Random World, which the group released under their Audio Science moniker on a small German sublabel called Aural X-Perience. Then in 1998, the song re-appeared on the atrociously titled Hypnotic compilation, The Electronica Trance Zone.

Simply put, this song's a piece of underrated mid-90s house gold. On Discogs, one of the genres that Kraftwelt get constantly labeled as is techno, but the 4/4 kicks on here feel a bit too slow for this one to be accurately considered as such. Either way, you just gotta let this one build to show you what it's really made of. It takes a little bit of time to grow into something really nice, but once Kraftwelt start to ease those string pads in, this song really begins to take off. Then they top off with some snaky TB-303 acid, with some acid stab wubbery, bubble-chiming synths, and a very subtle touch of organ all mixed underneath it. Chunky, gooey, delicious goodness.

Excellent mid-90s house groove from this oft-overlooked Danish foursome 😍.

#house #house music #dance #dance music #electronic #electronic music #music #90s #90s music #90's #90's music

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somegirlontheinternet135 · 4 years

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Things I wanna see in future helluva boss eps

10. More heaven lore

So far, we don't really know much about heaven. I think when we see ep 3, we kinda piece together a bit lore for heaven

9. Blitzo's backstory

I wanna know how he ended up in loo loo land and or if had any childhood friends and good relationships with his sisters

8. 7 rings of hell

Vivz did tell us that sinners aren't allowed to leave the pride ring while beings born in hell can travel through out the rings and about elevator 666. Now I'm curious wither we'll see all the rings

7. 14 princes

If you're not new to my blog, you would know that I've been do research on the 7 rings and stumbled across the 7 contrary virtues, the opposite of the 7 rings. This puts to my belief that heaven is also separated into 7 rings and there being 14 princes

6. New characters

Once every ep or so, we get a new character and that character would voice acted by a special guest; for example, Alex Brightman voiced Robo Fizz in ep 2. I would like see vivz squeeze in a voice actor like Ben Schwartz

5. Spindle

If you're not familiar with Blitzo's Instagram story. Blitzo goes missing and everyone gets worried, he then relieves that he was kidnapped but then Spindle (Blitzo's horse) saves him. In the end, she wakes him up in the middle of the night to tell she was leaving. So, I'm really curious to if we'll get an ep on how Blitzo meant Spindle and or Spindle saving Blitzo again. Feel like she would spring into action when Blitzo's in serious danger

4. Mystic Creatures

It'd be cool to see the gang interact with mystic creatures such as mermaids or elves. It'd also be cool if vivz brought creatures around the world and see how they'll interact

3. Jingle and Jangle

Even tho I talked about this before, I really wanna those two in a future ep. Since they're are spirits and can travel to any realm they like, the gang would obviously try to convince them on joining imp

2. Stella's contemplate on suicide

Since Stolas has an affair with Blitzo, Stella would probably try to keep their imagine in public and keep the family together. In the end, Stella is made fun of and bullied for Stolas's affair. Because of that, she became depressed and used books and fairy tales as her escape, sadly they don't work. So she contemplates on suicide

1. Stella and the Cherubs

This is a topic I also talked about, but it'd cool to see Stella being loving mother towards the cherubs. Stella is on the balcony, thinking about "ending things". Where all of a sudden, she sees Blitzo wondering in their main yard with an angered expression and he looked liked he was looking for something. She yells at him to leave and he sprints off. Curious on what he was looking for, she checks the yard and finds nothing. Stella is about to go inside, then she hears whispers and whimpers from a nearby bush. She checks the bush to find the cherubs, hundled up together and shaking in fear, covered head to toe in bullet wounds and their wings almost look ripped off. She immediately takes them in and patches them up, agreeing to let them stay with her till they heal. Later in the series, she learns that a family takes more than blood, but with people who love and support you by forming a family with the cherubs

So yeah, that's what got. Please tell you guys think

#helluva boss #helluva boss blitzo #helluva boss moxxie #helluva boss stolas #helluva boss millie #helluva boss stella

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dustedmagazine · 4 years

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Dust Volume 6, Number 13

Trees

It’s four in the afternoon and already getting dark, a foot of snow on the way. One year is nearly over — and yes, we’ve got some essays on that coming up after the holiday break — and another one is taking shape in our inboxes, mail chutes and hard drives. But for right now, let’s take another look at 2020, doubling back on the records that caught our ears without exactly fitting our schedules, the ones that almost got away. Here are the usual free improvisations and long drones, hip hop upstarts and cowpunk also-rans, a harpist, a cellist, a tabletop guitarist and at least one stellar punk record that has us hoping for sweaty live music again in 2021. Contributors this time included Bill Meyer, Bryon Hayes, Andrew Forrell, Patrick Masterson, Jennifer Kelly, Jonathan Shaw, Arthur Krumins, Ian Mathers and Ray Garraty, heck let’s call it a quorum, and see you again in the New Year.

Mac Blackout — Love Profess (Trouble In Mind)

Love Profess by Mac Blackout

Mac Blackout owes his surname to his membership in the Functional Blackouts. That’s a garage combo that was once the subject of an article about how they’d been banned from various venues on account of the destructive chaos of their live performances. But you can’t do that forever, and nowadays Mac’s a painter and solo recording artist. His latest sounds are unlikely to make anyone want to put a chair into the mirror behind the bar, but they might send you flipping through your record collection, looking for the sounds that you and he have in common. Love Profess opens with a burst of piano-pounding, sax-overblowing free jazz, but that lasts for about nine seconds before it gets swallowed by some John Bender-worthy synth throb. Give “Wandering Spheres” a couple more minutes, and Mr. Blackout goes full La Dusseldorf on us. By turns spacy, spooky and seriously compelled to vent nocturnal loneliness, this half-hour long LP is both as familiar and as unknown as a well-shuffled deck of cards.

Bill Meyer

Ross Birdwise — Perfect Failures (Never Anything)

Perfect Failures by Ross Birdwise

Vancouver-based electronic improviser Ross Birdwise rails against spatio-temporal norms. The concepts of tempo and rhythm are malleable in his universe. Architecturally, Birdwise is Antoni Gaudí, working in fluid lines to build incomprehensible structures. With Perfect Failures, he leaps even further away from the orthogonal grid of musical construction, dissolving beats into grains of sound. The warped rhythms found on Frame Drag are divested in favor of an approach that more resembles electroacoustic composition. As a matter of fact, the title track comes on like a digital recreation of a piece of classic musique concrète. Birdwise avoids venturing into purely ambient territory yet borrows some signifiers from the genre: keyboard melodies, elongated tones, washes of sound. He overlays these seemingly innocuous elements with crashes of noise, oblique jump cuts and hyperkinetic sequences, constantly forcing us to shift focus to make sense of his soundscapes. The febrile nature of the music is what intoxicates, but the discordant melodies are what enthrall.

Bryon Hayes

C_G — C_G (edelfaul recordings)

C_G by C_G

Belgium-based French electronic artist Eduardo Ribuyo (C_C) and Israeli drummer Ilia Gorovitz (Stumpf) join forces on C_G, a one-take collaboration of molecular machine noise and improvised percussion. It opens as a slow creep, Gorovitz playing minimal rhythms that sound like someone walking through the pre-dawn streets of an awakening city. Ribuyo accretes whirrs, cracks and electrical pops to evoke the dread of a night not over. On “Normalising Cruelty,” for instance, the discomfort builds, the drums tumble in flight, the noise intensifies. The relative conventionality of the percussion tracks seems intentional and serves to focus attention on the granular details Ribuyo conjures from his machines. Think the experiments of similarly minded Mille Plateaux and Raster Norton artists. When played through headphones at volume, its full queasy Room 101 buzz and grind squirms most effectively into the brain. Easy listening this is not, but if and when home gatherings resume this would be an ideal way to clear the house.

Andrew Forell

Che Noir — After 12 EP (TCF Music Group)

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If you’ve been paying attention to hip-hop in the last few years, Buffalo’s Griselda camp has dominated the “old heads” conversation away from whatever the kids are vibing to on TikTok. But there’s life away from an Eminem partnership, and not just in the form of Benny the Butcher: Witness Che Noir, who has been on fire throughout 2020. After starting off the year with the 38 Spesh-produced Juno and following it up with the Apollo Brown-produced As God Intended, Che’s closing things out with this self-produced seven-song EP that covers a wide range of territory without dipping into tales of street hustling, just the age old struggle to get some respect. “Hunger Games” is an early highlight that shows her chemistry with Ransom and 38 Spesh, while she completely takes over in speaking to the times on “Moment in the Sun,” which is the clear emotional highlight of the EP. Amber Simone’s pleading chorus on closer “Grace” is another stylistic turn and closes things on a high note. The last words you hear are Simone’s as she sings, “Imma go get it”; the lingering effect is that you know Che Noir is already showing you as much. Miss this one at your own risk.

Patrick Masterson

Cong Josie — “Leather Whip” b/w “Maxine” (It Records)

Leather Whip / Maxine (AA single) by Cong Josie

Frankie Teardrop rides again in this smoking synth punk single from Australia’s Cong Josie. “Leather Whip” is about as menacing and minimal as synthesizer music gets, braced by the hard slap of gate-reverbed drums and a claw-picked bass sound (maybe electronic?) and Cong Josie’s whispery insinuations. “Maxine” is just as stripped, with blotchy bass sound and swishing drum machine rhythms framing a haunted rockabilly love song. It’s very Suicide, but isn’t that a good thing?

Jennifer Kelly

Divine Horsemen — Live 1985-1987 (Feeding Tube)

Divine Horsemen “Live”1985-1987 by Divine Horsemen

With Divine Horsemen, Chris D of the Flesh Eaters had a brief but memorable run in vivid, gothic, country-tinged punk. This disc commemorates two red-hot live outings from 1985 and 1987, the first at Safari Sam’s in Huntington Beach, California, the second at Boston’s The Rat. A sharply realized recording shows how this band’s sound fit into the cowpunk parameters set by X, with strident guitar clangor and hard knocking rock rhythms (the ax-heavy line-up featured in this recording included Wayne James, Marshall Rohner and Peter Andrus on guitars, the Flesh Eater’s Robyn Jameson on bass). The secret weapon, though, was the ongoing and volatile vocal duel between the front man and his then-wife Julie Christensen, a classically trained soprano with an unholy vibrato-laced belt. You can hear how she transformed his art by comparing the Flesh Eater’s version of “Poison Arrow” with the one here. It’s as aggressive as ever, musically, and Chris D. is in full florid, echoey, goth-punk mode. Christensen, however, is molten fire, letting loose cascades and flurries of wild vibrating song. There’s a scorching, stomping romp through the vamping “Hell’s Belle,” and a lurid rendering of mad, howling “Frankie Silver,” and, towards the end, a muscular take on the Stones’ “Gimme Shelter.” Christensen later made a mark as one of Leonard Cohen’s favorite backup singers, and Chris D is still knocking around with a reunited, all-star Flesh Eaters, though there’s some talk of getting this band back together as well. I’d go.

Jennifer Kelly

Dezron Douglas & Brandee Younger — Force Majeure (International Anthem)

Force Majeure by Dezron Douglas & Brandee Younger

Harlem harpist Brandee Younger and bassist Dezron Douglas faced down New York’s early months of quarantine with a series of live broadcasts recorded in their apartment on a single microphone. This document of intimate resilience collects highlights of the Friday ritual. Younger and Douglas perform covers of spiritual Jazz, soul and pop songs as well as the delightfully titled original “Toilet Paper Romance.” The music is so close you feel the fingers on the strings and frets. Younger’s harp playing is a revelation, pianistic on John Coltrane’s “Equinox”, pointillist yet robust on his “Wise One” which they dedicate to Ahmaud Arbery. Douglas provides vigorous and sympathetic accompaniment and his solo rendition of Sting’s “Inshallah” is a tender tough exploration of his instrument. Along the way there are lovely versions of pieces by, amongst others, Alice Coltrane, Kate Bush and Clifton Davis. Douglas closes with the words “Black music cannot be recreated it can only be expressed” and Force Majeure demonstrates that the same goes for humanity and creativity.

Andrew Forell

Avalon Emerson — 040 12” (AD 93)

040 by Avalon Emerson

It’s been a big year for Avalon Emerson, who started 2020 prepping a move from Berlin to East Los Angeles and ends it back home stateside with an almost universally acclaimed DJ-Kicks entry to her credit. This three-song 12” for the label fka Whities is a nice way to close out a triumphant year, illustrating her penchant for bright melodies and percussive detail. “One Long Day Till I See You Again” is a welcoming slice of beatless percolation to close; “Winter and Water” leans heavily on rhythmic tricks in the middle. That makes A1 “Rotting Hills” the ideal lead as a balance between them. There may not be so obvious a gimmick as a Magnetic Fields cover, but that makes it no less valuable for showing what Emerson can do. Call it one more fluorescent rush.

Patrick Masterson

End Forest — Proroctwo (Self-released)

Proroctwo (The Prophecy) by End Forest

For some of us, the fusion of folk music forms with crust and metal mostly issues in obscenities like Finntroll (yep, a Finnish band that makes folk metal songs about…trolls) or in politically toxic, Völkisch nationalist fantasias. But some bands get it right; see Botanist’s remarkable work, and see also End Forest, an act just emerging from Poland’s punk underground. Singer Paula Pieczonka employs a traditional Slavic vocal technique that roughly translates to “white singing” — but before you get creeped out by any potential fascist vibes, please know that the “whiteness” at stake in the phrase is purely an aesthetic value. And her voice is really great, open and soaring. “Proroctwo (The Prophecy)” has the sweep and drama of a lot of contemporary crust, and all of the genre’s interest in symbolic violence. The lyrics envision a future wrought and wracked by social conflict, a coming conflagration of torn bodies and of piles of dislodged teeth housed in some horrific archive of viciousness (that’s quite an image). It’s harrowing stuff, big guitar chords accented by sitar and flute. The track is available on Bandcamp, along with several inventive remixes by Polish musicians and DJs, like Tomek Jedynak and Dawid Chrapla. End Forest indicates that a full record is forthcoming sometime in spring. Looking forward to it, y’all.

Jonathan Shaw

Lori Goldson — On a Moonlit Hill in Slovenia (Eiderdown Records)

On A Moonlit Hill In Slovenia by Lori Goldston

Goldson creates movement and tension in an arresting way with a rough-hewn approach to the cello. This could be a good entry point to her solo work, which is varied and bridges the gap between DIY attitude and elevated levels of musicianship and considered approach. The flow of her playing here evokes the almost brutal scrape of the strings, which gives a welcome texture to the melodic squiggles.

Arthur Krumins

Hot Chip — LateNightTales (LateNightTales)

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The LateNightTales series of artist-curated mixes has seen a fair bit of variation over the years since Fila Brazilia first took up the torch in 2001, which makes a certain amount of sense; how we spend our late nights can differ wildly, of course. Hot Chip’s instalment in the series hits some of the expected notes (at least one cover, in this case a deeply moving one of the Velvet Underground’s “Candy Says” they’ve been playing since Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard were in high school together; a closing story track, in this case Taylor’s father reading a bit from Finnegan’s Wake) and otherwise depicts the kind of late night Dusted readers might be more familiar with than most; one where a clearly voracious and eclectic listener is keeping their own private party going just for another hour or so, but always keeping things just quiet and subtle enough to not wake up anyone upstairs. The three other, non-cover new Hot Chip tracks all make for standouts here but there’s plenty of room for accolades, whether it’s for the smoothly groovy (Pale Blue, Mike Saita, Beatrice Dillon), the more avant garde (Christina Vantzou, About Group, Nils Frahm) to just plain off-kilter pop (Fever Ray, PlanningToRock, Hot Chip themselves). The result works as both a wonderful playlist and a survey of the band’s sonic world; and it does work best when everyone else is in bed.

Ian Mathers

Annette Krebs Jean-Luc Guionnet — Pointe Sèche (Inexhaustible Editions)

pointe sèche by Jean-Luc Guionnet, Annette Krebs

Annette Krebs and Jean-Luc Guionnet recorded the three long, numbered tracks on Pointe Sèche (translation: Dry Point) over the course of three days at St. Peter’s Parish church in Bistrica ob Sotli, Slovenia. Location matters because this music couldn’t happen just anywhere; Guionnet plays church organ. Krebs was once part of the post-Keith Rowe generation of tabletop guitarists, but since 2014 she has abandoned strings and fretboards in favor of a series of hybrid instruments called konstruktions. Konstruktion #4, which appears on this record, includes suspended pieces of metal, a handful of toy animals, a wooden sounding board, vocal and contact microphones and a couple touch screens that manage computer programs. While both musicians have extensive backgrounds in improvisation, this recording sounds more like an audio transcription of a multi-media collage. Guionnet plays his large instrument quite softly, extracting machine-like hums, brief burps and dopplering tones that flicker around the periphery of Krebs’ fragments of speech, distant clangs and unidentifiable events. The resulting sounds resolutely defy decoding, which is its own reward in a time when so much music can be reduced to easily identifiable antecedents.

Bill Meyer

KMRU — ftpim (The Substation)

ftpim by KMRU

If you happened to catch Peel, Joseph Kamaru’s wonderful release on Editions Mego in late July, but haven’t paid attention before or since, early December’s half-hour two-tracker ftpim done for (and mastered by) Room40 leader Lawrence English is a Janus-faced example of the Nairobi-based ambient artist’s power. As Ian Forsythe put it in his BOGO review of both Peel and Opaquer, “Something that can define an effective ambient record is an ability to disintegrate the perimeter of the record itself and the outside world,” a line I think about every time I listen to KMRU now. “Figures Emerge” feels more immediately accessible to me as a relatable environment where the gentle, pulsing drone is occasionally greeted by sounds outside the studio, while “From the People I Met” is more difficult terrain, a distorted fog of post-shoegaze harmonic decay — no less interesting, but perhaps more metaphorical in its take on the outside world. (Or not, given how 2020 has gone.)

Patrick Masterson

Paul Lovens / Florian Stoffner—Tetratne (Ezz-thetics)

Enough years separate drummer Paul Lovens and guitarist Florian Stoffner that they could be father and son, and Lovens membership in the Schlippenbach Trio, and Lovens role as drummer in the legendarily long-running Schlippenbach Trio establishes him as an august elder of free improvisation. But the partnership they exhibit on this CD is one of equals committed to making music that is of one mind. Whether matching sparse string-tugging to purposefully collapsing batterie or burrowing sprung-spring wobbles to an immense cymbal wash, the duo plays without regard for showing us one guy or the other’s stuff. The point, it seems, is to how they imagine as one, and their combined craniums generate plenty of imagination. They operate in a realm close to that occupied by Derek Bailey and John Stevens, or Roger Smith and Louis Moholo-Moholo, but their patch of turf is entirely their own.

Bill Meyer

Mr. Teenage — Automatic Love (Self-Release)

Automatic Love by Mr. Teenage

Melbourne, Australia’s fertile garage punk scene has squeeze out another good one in Mr. Teenage, a Buzzcockian foursome prone to short, sharp riffs and sing-along choruses. A four-song EP starts with the title track, whose arch talk-sung verse erupts into rabid, rip-sawing guitar, like Devo meeting the Wipers. “Waste of Time” piles palm muted urgency with explosive release, with a good bit of the Clash in the crashing, clangor. “KIDS” struts and swaggers in a rough-edged way that’s close to the violence of early Reigning Sound or Texas’ Bad Sports. “Oh, the kids these days,” to borrow a phrase, they’re pretty good.

Jennifer Kelly

Nekra — Royal Disruptor (La Vida Es Un Mus)

Royal Disruptor by Nekra

Remember punk shows? Remember half-lit, dusty basements and fully lit, dirty kids? Remember your sneaker soles sticking to scuffed, gummy linoleum? Remember greasy denim battle jackets and hand-drawn Sharpie slogans? Remember warm beer (watery domestic suds in cans and cups) and cold stares (angsty bravado and bad attitude for its own sake)? Remember anarchists arguing with nihilists, and riot grrrls arguing with rocker boys? Remember people laughing and people smoking and people shouting and people spitting, all without masks? Remember the anticipation that crisps the air when the amps switch on? Feedback from the cheap-ass mic stabbing your ears? Beefy dudes elbowing through the press of flesh? That volatile, stomachy mix of happiness and truculence? Those warm-up thumps of the bass drum and the initial strums of crackling guitar? Remember all that? For the time being, in the United States of Dysfunction, here’s the closest thing you’ll get: an EP of feral, fast punk songs that sound like they’re happening live, right in front of your face. Thanks, Nekra — I really needed that.

Jonathan Shaw

Neuringer / Dulberger / Masri — Dromedaries II (Relative Pitch)

Dromedaries II by Keir Neuringer, Shayna Dulberger, Julius Masri

Yes, Dromedaries II is a sequel. It follows by three years a debut cassette which was sold in the sort of microquantities that 21st century cassettes are sold. So, it’s more likely that you have heard another of the bands that the trio’s alto saxophonist, Keir Neuringer, plays in — Irreversible Entanglements. While the two combos don’t sound that similar, they share a commitment to improvising propulsive, cohesive music that will put a boot up your butt if you get in the way. While IE focuses on supplying music that frames and exemplifies the stern proclamations of vocalist Camae Ayewa, the trio plays instrumental free jazz that balances individual expression with collective support. Neuringer, double bassist Shayna Dulberger and drummer Julius Masri play like their eyes are on the horizon, but each musician’s ears are tuned into what the other two are doing. The result is music that seems to move in concerted fashion, but usually has someone doing something that pulls against the prevailing thrust in ways that heighten tension, but never force the music off track.

Bill Meyer

Kelly Lee Owens — Inner Song (Smalltown Supersound)

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One of the distinctive things about Kelly Lee Owens’ marvellous debut LP a few years ago, as noted here, is that it felt so confident and distinct that it could have easily been the work of a much more seasoned producer. That impression, of a deftly skilled hand at the controls and a keen artistic sensibility and taste shaping it all, certainly doesn’t recede on Inner Song, whether it finds Owens homaging the grandmother who provided support and inspiration (“Jeanette”), gently but firmly rejecting unhealthy relationships (the utterly gorgeous “L.I.N.E.”) or teaming up with John Cale to make some bilingual, deep Welsh ambient dub (“Corner of My Sky”). And that’s one pretty randomly chosen three-song run! Owens continues to excel at both crafting gorgeous, lived-in productions and maybe especially with her handling of voices (her own and others), and she’s comfortable enough in her own skin that if she wants to open up the album with an instrumental Radiohead version (“Arpeggi”) she will, and she’ll make it feel natural, too.

Ian Mathers

San Kazakgascar — Emotional Crevasse (Lather Records)

Emotional Crevasse by San Kazakgascar

You won’t find San Kazakgascar on any map, but give a listen and you’ll know where this combo is coming from. Geographically, they hail from Sacramento CA, where they share personnel with Swimming In Bengal. But sonically, they are the product of a journey through music libraries that likely started out in a Savage Republic and sweated in the shadow of Sun City Girls. They likely spent time in the teetering stacks of music collections compiled in a time when the problematic aspects of the term world music were outweighed by the lure of sounds you hadn’t heard before. More important than where they’ve been, though, is the impulse to go someplace other than where they’re currently standing. To accomplish this, twangy guitars, rhythms that straighten your spine whilst swiveling your hips, bottom-dredging saxophone and a cameo appearance by a throat singer who understands that part of a shaman’s job is to scare you each take their turn stepping up and pointing your mind elsewhere. Where it goes after that is up to you.

Bill Meyer

John Sharkey III — “I Found Everyone This Way” (12XU)

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Has Sharkey mellowed? This early peek at the upcoming solo album from the Clockcleaner legend and Dark Blue proprietor suggests a pensive mood, with liquid jangle and surprisingly subdued and lyrical delivery (albeit in the man’s inimitable hollowed out and wounded snarl). But give the artist a power ballad if that’s what he wants. The song has a graceful arc to it, a doomed romanticism and not an ounce of cloying sentiment.

Jennifer Kelly

Sky Furrows — Sky Furrows (Tape Drift Records/Skell Records/Philthy Rex Records)

Sky Furrows by Sky Furrows

Sky Furrows don’t take long to match sound and message. As Karen Schoemer drops references to SST Records and Raymond Pettibone, bassist Eric Hardiman and drummer Philip Donnelly whip up a tense groove that could easily have been played by Mike Watt and George Hurley. Mike Griffin’s spidery, treble-rich guitar picking is a little less specifically referential, but does sound like it was fed through a signal chain of gear that would have been affordable back in the first Bush administration. The next track looks back a bit further; Schoemer’s voice aside, it sounds like Joy Division might have done if Tom Herman had turned up, pushed Martin Hannet out of the control room before he could ladle on the effects and instead laid down some space blues licks. Schoemer recites rather than sings in a cadence that recalls Lee Ranaldo’s; pre-internet underground rock is in this band’s DNA. The sounds themselves are persistently cool, but one drawback of having a poet instead of a singer up front is an apparent reluctance to vary the structure; it would not have hurt to break things up with some contrasting passages here or there.

Bill Meyer

Soft on Crime — “You’ve Already Made Up Your Mind” b/w “Rubyanne” (EatsIt)

7'' by Soft on Crime

These Dublin fuzz-punks kick up a guitar-chiming clangor in A-Side, “You’ve Already Made Up Your Mind,” which might have you reaching for your old Sugar records. Sharp but sweet, the cut is an unruly gem buoyed by melody but bristling with attitude. “Rubyanne” is slower, softer and more ingratiating, embellished with baroque pop elements like flute, saxophone and choral counterpoints. “Little 8 Track” fills out this brief disc, with crunching, buzz-hopped bass and a bit of guitar jangle under whisper-y romantic vocals. It’s a bit hard to get a handle on the band, based on such disparate samples, but intriguing enough to make you want to settle the matter whenever more material becomes available.

Jennifer Kelly

Theoxinia — See the Lapith King Burn (Bandcamp)

See the Lapith King Burn by Theoxenia

Students of Greek mythology will grasp it right away, but in the internet age, it doesn’t take anyone long to figure out that when you name your record See the Lapith King Burn, you’re casting your lot for better or worse with the party animals. The Lapiths were one side of a lineage that also involved the considerably less sober-sided Centaurs, and the two sides of the family had a bloody showdown at a wedding that has been taken to symbolize the war between civilization and wildness. Theoxinia is Dave Shuford (No-Neck Blues Band, Rhyton, D. Charles Speer & the Helix) and his small circle of stringed instruments and low-cost repeating devices. If you were to dig through his past discography, it most closely resembles the LP Arghiledes (Thrill Jockey) in its explicitly Hellenic-psychedelic vibe. But, like so many folks in recent times, Shuford has decided to bypass the expanse and aggravation of physical publication in favor of marketing this LP-sized recording on Bandcamp. If that fact really bugs you, I guess you could start a label and make the man an offer. But if fuzz-tone bouzouki, sped-up loops and unerringly traced dance steps that will look most convincing when executed with a knife between your teeth and the sheriff’s wallet poking mockingly out of the top of your breast pocket sounds like your jam, See the Lapith King Burn awaits you in the realm of digital insubstantiality.

Bill Meyer

Trees — 50th Anniversary Edition (Earth Recordings)

Trees (50th Anniversary Edition) by Trees

This boxed set presents the two original Trees albums from the early 1970s, The Garden of Jane Delawney and On the Shore, with the addition of demos and sundry recordings from the era. Here the band took the UK folk rock sound emergent at the time and drew it out into its jammy and somewhat arena rock guitar soloing conclusion. It’s good to have all of this in one place to document the myriad ways that Trees wrapped traditional material into new forms and with a bracing, druggy feel.

Arthur Krumins

Uncivilized — Garden (UNCIV MUSIC)

Garden by Uncivilized

Guitarist Tom Csatari presides over NYC-based large jazz ensemble known as Uncivilized, whose fusion-y discography stretches back a couple of years and prominently incorporates a cover of the Angelo Badalamenti theme from Twin Peaks. This 27-track album was recorded live at Brooklyn’s Pioneer Works space in 2018 with a nine-piece band, who navigate drones and dances and the multi-part Meltedy Candy STOMP, a sinuous exploration of space age keyboards and surging big band instruments. Jaimie Branch, who lives next door to Csatari and was invited on a whim at the last minute, joins in for the second half including a smoldering rendition of the Lynch theme. It’s damn fine (though not coffee). Later on, Stevie Wonder gets the Uncivilized treatment in a pensive cover of “Evil,” led by warm guitar, blowsy sax and a little bit of jazz flute.

Jennifer Kelly

Unwed Sailor — Look Alive (Old Bear Records)

Look Alive by Unwed Sailor

Johnathon Ford, who plays bass for Pedro the Lion, has been at the center of Unwed Sailor for two decades, gathering a changing cohort of players to realize his lucid instrumental compositions. Here, as on last year’s Heavy Age, Eric Swatzell adds guitars and Matthew Putnam drums to Ford’s essential bass and keyboard sounds. Yet while Heavy Age brooded, Look Alive grooves with bright clarity, riding insistent basslines through highly colored landscapes of synths and drums. The title track bounds with optimism, with big swirls of synth sound enveloping a rigorous cadence of bass and drums. “Camino Reel” is more guitar-centric but just as uplifting, opening out into squalling shoe-gaze-y walls of amplified sound. Ford, who usually leans on post-punk influences like New Order and the Cure, indulges an affinity for dance, here, especially audible on the trance-y “Gone Jungle” remix by GJ.

Jennifer Kelly

Your Old Droog — Dump YOD Krutoy Edition (Self-released)

Dump YOD: Krutoy Edition by YOD

American rapper Your Old Droog has been releasing solid music for years. He never had ups for the same reason he never had downs: he never left his comfort zone. Dump YOD Krutoy Edition (where “krutoy” stands for “rude boy” or “badass”) may be his breakthrough album. He always kept his Soviet origins in check, and here for the first time he draws his imagery from three different sources: New York urban present, Ukrainian folk and Soviet and post-Soviet past (even Boris Yeltsin makes an appearance). In this boiling pot, a new Your Old Droog is rising, among balalaikas and mean streets of NYC, matryoshkas and producers with boring beats, babushkas and graffiti writers.

Ray Garraty

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peace-coast-island · 4 years

Text

Diary of a Junebug

Getting lost at the Floating Petal Garden

Who would've thought that getting lost in a tangle of bushes, flowers, and vines would feel so freeing? Being surrounded by a mix of earthy and vibrant colors, organic shapes, and faint floral scents - it feels like I'm transported to another world! There's something about all this greenery that makes me feel calm, like it's okay to shut yourself out from whatever's bothering you and get lost in nature for a little bit. Interestingly enough, that was one of our purposes of visiting the garden.

I'm back in the Golden City with Ginko, who brought along some friends who dropped by to visit. I haven't heard from Storm in a while since Jamie disbanded the entourage. It's a shame that he joined right before things slowed down and everyone was leaving - if he came along a year earlier, then his music career would've definitely taken off by now.

Storm's an aspiring singer-songwriter. He's been singing in choirs and performing in bands for as long as he can remember. At first glance though he comes across as bumbling and well-meaning, not always the brightest bulb of the bunch, but he's a total sweetheart that you can't stay annoyed at him for too long. Not to mention that he's got a hell of a voice, a smooth baritone that contrasts with his fast paced chatter. Like I said, he could easily make it as a singer but he just hasn't had his lucky break yet.

The decision to leave the small and sleepy Midwestern town he spent his whole life in to LA was an impulse one. Basically all his friends have moved on - some have married, many are successful - and he was just getting by, working at a diner and performing occasional gigs there. He was a frequent guest at a best friend's house, even long after his friend moved out, and over time he realized that maybe he should be spending his time doing his own thing rather than barging in on other people's lives.

So he moved to LA, but quickly realized that the fast paced city life wasn't for him. Storm was about to call it quits when Jamie discovered him at a cafe and invited him to the entourage after he gave her a demo tape. They both knew from the start that Storm wasn't "commercial" material, but he had potential and is passionate about what he creates, which was enough for Jamie to give him a chance.

While Storm was able to nail a recording contract with Lawrence Sardar, outside of his EPs selling fairly well, he wasn't getting the reception he hoped he would. Being more of a performer than a recording artist, Storm felt kinda let down. Then the entourage disbanded and Storm lost interest in recording, though Lawrence told him that he's free to come to the studio whenever he feels like it.

Then a few months ago Storm decided to move in with his cousin Buddy in Airy to help him run the gas station/auto shop after the owner retired. I've met Buddy a handful of times through Holly and Sam and he's a big sweetheart like Storm. He tends to run his mouth off a bit and poke into other people's businesses but he means well and just wants to be a part of things.

Plus he's the reason why the shop's been so successful - he's a good mechanic who also provides excellent customer service as well as doesn't overcharge or make people spend more than they have to. Businessmen hate him, but customers love him - and despite what his detractors says, there's no denying that Buddy's a big reason why Airy's still standing strong when other small towns in the area have been declining. The day Buddy Nephele retires from the shop will be a sad day for all in Airy.

Storm's been enjoying living in Airy and working at the shop. He's also quite good with cars too so he's been a great deal of help for Buddy. Aside from singing in the community choir and a few gigs here and there for town events, his singing career has taken a backseat - but not for long. Thanks to Ginko and Benji, Storm will be performing at the Golden City Nightclub twice a month as a replacement for one of their regular performers. If things go well, he might be a regular there, which is exciting! The commute's a bit long - two and a half hours by train - but it's a good start. And if it becomes a regular thing, then he and Benji will work something out to make the commute easier.

So the trip to the Floating Petal Garden serves as a celebration for Storm. He's so excited about it as well as nervous - his first performance being less than two weeks from today. With Ginko living in Golden City and now Storm performing at the nightclub, it looks like we have more excuses to drop by Golden City!

Another reason for the trip was to de-stress and get away for a bit. Storm wanted to invite Buddy along because he's been going through a rough time. Buddy had an older brother who's nothing like him and Storm - a big name engineer who's always busy so he barely had time to visit family. Braden visited a couple weeks ago - Buddy hadn't seen him in over a decade, Storm not since he was a kid - but had to cut his visit short because of work. The work emergency ended up resolving early so Braden went back to Airy, only to die in a car accident on the way there.

According to Sam and Storm, Buddy idolized Braden. He also felt inferior to him and the two noticed right away how withdrawn Buddy was when Braden came to visit. Buddy was pretty bummed out when Braden had to leave, so a few days later Braden called Storm to tell him that he was coming back and wanted to surprise Buddy. But then the accident happened so instead of planning for a fishing trip, Buddy had to plan for a funeral.

Buddy's still his sweet old self but I can tell that he's been trying to keep it together and get through the day. It's odd not seeing him chattering about, keeping us up to date about what's happening in town and making us laugh with funny stories involving his misadventures at the shop. Storm's doing his best to help while giving Buddy space to process everything - that's all we can really do for him right now. It wasn't easy for everyone to convince Buddy to take a couple days off - Sam and some of the others are currently taking shifts at the gas station while the garage is closed - but he relented after some prodding.

I think him being here has helped a little. I mean we didn't expect him to feel better immediately but at least as the day went on he was able to enjoy himself a bit. Sometimes all you can really do is take it one day at a time, hoping that things will turn up for you. Knowing Buddy, I'm sure he'll get back on his feet eventually - I just wish there's more we can do to help him.

Getting lost in the garden is like being transported into a storybook, a whimsical, fairy tale like one where everything looks soft and ethereal. Meadows of soft grass with colorful petals poking out, straight out of a painting. Jungles of wavy vines wrapped around towering trees carrying delicate blossoms. Numerous winding trails surrounded by unusual flowers that can't help but draw your attention with its clashing colors and wavy, organic shapes, all looking like a mismatch that somehow comes together - like an imperfect mosaic.

I think my favorite place is the Great Crimson Way, a lovely trail surrounded by lovely rose blossoms. Like the name says, they're a hybrid of roses and cherry blossoms. There's a beautiful fountain at the center where people go to make wishes. There's something so peaceful about it, just looking at the petals floating in the water makes me feel reassured, like somehow, everything will be all right. There's a lot about the world that makes no sense but seeing these petals hanging around feels grounding - like it's telling me to hang on and soon the hard times will pass.

Buddy seemed to be taken in by the fountain too. I wonder if he's thinking the same regarding the floating petals. He did seem a bit more like himself after that as not too long afterwards he inserted his two cents here and there while Storm talked about town happenings. Sometimes Storm would try to prod him a bit more, only for Buddy to be miles away - he tries, but Ginko and I would remind him not to push too much.

This isn't a knock on Storm and Buddy but they tend to overstep a little bit. I'll admit it can be a nuisance sometimes with them trying to get into everyone's businesses but it's hard to stay too mad at them when they have good intentions, even when they make a mess out of it. While they do need to work on boundaries - which they both are making an effort on - it's good to have friends like them because sometimes you need to be thrown off the deep end.

Another favorite spot is the Stained Glass Grove. The plants over there literally look like stained glass! Translucent, colorful petals with intricate designs - we were lucky to come across this place when the sun was shining just right. The whole place lit up like a light show! We tried taking pics and while they came out good, it just doesn't do it justice. Turns out stained glass flowers are difficult to care for because of the amount of sunlight it needs. The spot where the Stained Glass Grove is perfect because that's where the sun shines the brightest for most of the day as constant sunlight is important for healthy flowers.

After navigating the Sweetie Honey Hills - which was full of fragrant flowers known for their honey-vanilla nectar - we stopped by the cafe. There, we ran into Leif, Kiki, Diva, and Lucky. So we had lunch together and bought some flowers from Leif. On our way out we came across a cute little tea shop so we stocked up on tea. I bought a bunch of new and unfamiliar flavors so I'm looking forward to trying them out!

The Sweetie Honey Hills is nice to look at, though the scent was starting to get a little overpowering so we didn't stay too long. We did harvest some nectar - a small jar costs about 5000 bells - so we each got one jar for ourselves. I like the flavor of honey-vanilla, though I've never cooked or baked with it before. I heard that the nectar's expensive, plus it's better to buy fresh so it's a super good deal!

Orange Blossom River is a lovely place full of bright, vibrant colors and fresh, citrus fragrances. We traveled by boat with Storm taking the sail while Ginko helped with navigation. The water's so crystal clear that you can see everything, from the colorful koi swimming around to the rocks and seaweed scattered about. It looks so unreal that I half expected to be transported to another world when we stepped into the boat.

From there, we traveled to Marigold Meadows, where we watched the sunset. It's a fitting stop as it's a popular place to watch the sun rise and set. Paired with the various yellows and oranges of the marigolds, it's absolutely perfect! The moment the sky turned a lovely red orange, the meadow seemed like it came to life. It was a magical moment when a rainbow popped up and all at once I felt at peace - we all did. It was a funny feeling, like a friendly and familiar presence snuck up on us, whispering to us that all is well.

Ginko was the one who brought it up first, saying that she felt like Manaka was right there beside her. Buddy then said that he could've sworn his brother was standing nearby for a moment. Storm said the same about his dad and I for mine. I haven't thought about him in years since he's been gone for a long time so I'll admit I'm still a bit shaken up. I still don't know how I feel about it, yet I feel like that's how I'm supposed to feel about it?

If you're feeling lost, uncertain, stuck, or in need of something new and different, I'd highly recommend exploring the Floating Petal Garden.

#animal crossing #animal crossing pocket camp #Diary of a Junebug #headcanon ramble

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lighthouseinabelljar · 4 years

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Eurus

It goes like this.

There are two girls wandering through the countryside. We are as different as night and day, yet we are inseparable. We are like sun and moon; one cannot make sense without the other. Where she goes, I am sure to follow.

She leads me, giggling, through a gap in the bramble bush – the nip of thorns and the stain of berries going unnoticed. She has something to show me – something I cannot miss. She’s found a little nook by the river, shaded from the heat of the day by the emerald canopy of willow trees. There are stones of every shape at our feet, worn smooth by the endless running of the water. She picks one up and skips it across the mirror-calm surface. It bounces once, twice, three times before sinking down into the depths. I cheer as she curtsies, proud of her well-practised skill. I have a go, but only succeed at sending my champion straight to the riverbed. She laughs at my failure, but resolves to show me how. Standing by the river, and she poises me perfectly. I fight back a blush as her hands brush against my arms. I succeed with one skip, which pleases the two of us well enough.

With this activity spent, we climb the hill – collapsing in a heap once we reach the summit. From here, we have an unrivalled view of the sky. We lie in the grass, side-by-side, not caring for the stains on our clothes. Our fingers tangle together. She weaves stories for me out of the shape of the clouds – of warriors, of fierce beasts, of far-off lands. I swear that I could sit for hours and listen to her tales until the sun is set and the celestial hieroglyphs are our only witnesses.

We return home in time for the garden party, a village affair. A string of fairy lights swing above our heads and the taste of pink lemonade is sweet on my tongue. She is the life and soul of the party, chattering to anyone and everyone. I hang back like a wallflower, unable to compete with the streams of pretty people that hurry her way. But she comes and sits next to me anyway, and coaxes laughter from my lips until the fear is forgotten. She finishes her cake and takes a bite of mine.

The two of us stay in the garden long after the guests are gone, content in the task of making flower-crowns for one another; pink hawthorn for her and red campion for me. We coronate one another and agree that we are as beautiful as queens – and decide that elderflower is the only drink fit for royalty of our stature. The sun sinks low over the horizon as we sip our drinks and trade our favourite Sappho quotes.

She surprises me with a question.

“Have you ever found love?”

“I think I have,” I confess, “but where it wasn’t supposed to be.”

She turns away.

I move a little closer and ask, “What about you? Have you found love?”

“Yes.”

“Where was it?”

She turns to me and smiles, leans in. My eyes flutter shut. Her lips are soft against mine, and taste of elderflower. We break apart, both breathless for a moment. Her hand is on my face – brushing icing sugar off my cheek.

“I found it,” she whispers, “under the red campions.”

Prompt from my writer’s group: I found it in the red campions. Inspired by the Oh Hellos EP, Eurus - some of the imagery comes from there.

#writing #my writing #eurus #story #short story

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psychodollyuniverse · 4 years

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STRANGELOVE albums: Time For The Rest Of Your Life / Love And Other Demons /Strangelove

Strangelove were an English alternative rock band, formed in Bristol in 1991 comprising singer Patrick Duff, guitarists Alex Lee & Julian Poole, bassist Joe Allen and John Langley on drums. They released three albums before they disbanded in 1998

Strangelove formed in Bristol, in 1991, after David Francolini (drums, of Levitation) spotted singer Patrick Duff, who at the time was a street busker. According to Duff, Francolini's words were "Get in the car, you're going to be a pop star." Francolini then got together various musicians he knew throughout the area; Alex Lee (guitar, formerly of The Blue Aeroplanes), Julian Pransky Poole (guitar, formerly part of The Jazz Butcher's band), and Joe Allen (bass guitar). With Francolini on drums, the quintet played their first gig at Bath Moles Club on 9 October 1991. Francolini took on the role of drummer for only two gigs, before being replaced by John Langley. The first song Duff wrote for Strangelove was titled "Zoo'd Out", in 1991, and released two years later as seven-inch Rough Trade single. Duff's tales of despair and sorrow struck a chord, and his impressive, emotionally charged vocals were described by Tom Doyle in Q Magazine's World of Noise compilation as "evoking thoughts of Morrissey as vocally-tutored by Scott Walker"

Following an early morning set on the NME Stage at Glastonbury 1992, the band were approached by John Peel to record a BBC Radio 1 session at Maida Vale, on 30 June. The band then released their first EP Visionary in October 1992 on Sermon Records, from which the title track was made 'single of the week' by Cathi Unsworth in Melody Maker. Another Peel session followed on 5 January 1993.

A second EP, Hysteria Unknown, in February 1993 earned them a support slot on Radiohead's Pop Is Dead tour. "Radiohead are definitely post-Strangelove," remarked Ed O'Brien. "We toured with them for 'Pop Is Dead' and we changed quite a lot after that. They were inspirational. Apart from their trousers."

Critical acclaim for the early singles led to major-label interest and they were signed to EMI label Food Records in 1993. Strangelove released their first album, Time for the Rest of Your Life on 1 August 1994, produced by Paul Corkett, who would go on to work on Strangelove's later albums. Time for the Rest of Your Life made numerous top albums of 1994 polls, and brought them to the attention of Suede who invited them to support on their Dog Man Star European tour in 1995. Manic Street Preachers' Richey Edwards was also a fan, inviting them to support at the London Astoria on the penultimate gig before his disappearance in 1995. Edwards' bandmate Nicky Wire commented that Time for the Rest of Your Life "fits staring out of the window and watching the rain in a small valley town". Suede and Strangelove bonded, and covered each other's songs at Sala Multiusos Zaragoza on 16 May 1995. Strangelove played Suede's "Killing of a Flashboy", while Suede played "She's Everywhere" (then under the working title "Spacey Vibe Thing"). Brett Anderson and Richard Oakes would later guest on this song in the studio, providing backing vocals. Love and Other Demons was released on 17 June 1996. The second single from the album, "Beautiful Alone", went to number 35 in the UK Singles Chart.

For singer Patrick Duff, internalised struggles and a heavy addiction to drugs and alcohol threatened to take his life. His battle with depression and excess were highlighted in one vaguely suicidal Melody Maker interview in 1994, and an aborted NME interview, during which he kept falling asleep due to drugs and alcohol in his system. After the second album's recording, Duff was booked into a rehabilitation clinic to finally kick his habit, and confront the demons within. He wrote about this difficult journey to getting clean for The Guardian in 1996: "I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. My personal life was now in tatters – and I decided my last chance was to throw what was left of me into our album. Something was left in me that wanted to do something positive. Thank God."[8]

By this time, Nick Powell had joined the band to play keyboards, expanding their sound. A third, eponymously titled album was released 6 October 1997. Written in Bethlehem, South Wales, and recorded at Abbey Road Studio Two, this album was seen as significantly more uptempo than previous albums with Duff choosing to write less directly introspective. Songs like “Superstar” and “Freak”, which were recorded live in the studio with minimal overdubs, set the tone.

The album yielded another UK Top 40 single, "The Greatest Show on Earth", and sell-out shows at the London Astoria and Shepherds Bush Empire. However, seemingly on the point of a major breakthrough, Strangelove split up on 20 April 1998. In later interviews, Duff acknowledged how "unfocused"[9] he was on music while in Strangelove, that he could sense the band had run its course, and he needed to get away from the fast-paced life of touring to truly recover, and discover his calling as an artist. When asked about the possibility of a Strangelove reunion, Duff explains that while everyone in the band are still friends, and is not completely opposed to the idea, the chances of it are very slim. As a solo artist, Duff has played stripped down, acoustic versions of Strangelove songs, sporadically.

from Wikipedia

Strangelove were and remain one of my favourite bands of the nineties. Unfortunately, despite realising three beautiful albums, they remain incredibly underrated. I invite you to rediscover their albums and singles and be conquered by their music.

#strangelove #time for the rest of your life #love and other demons

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gleefail · 4 years

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Glee Memories: 1x10 Ballad

A long, long time ago, as Glee was approaching graduation in Season 3, I found myself nostalgic with some rare free time on my hands. So I decided to rewatch the series from the beginning and jot down some memories, discrepancies that have arisen since, fave quotes, tally solos - all that good stuff, strictly for shits and giggles.

8 years later (eek!) and once more I find myself with an unexpected abundance of free time. With so many revisiting or being newly introduced to the show between binge watching during Quarantine and all the tragedy that has surrounded the show since it went off the air, I figured I’d finish what I started. And by finish, I mean go through the end of S3. Cause I truly cannot acknowledge what happened after that. Except for 5B.

Kicking this off by reposting the first 15 episodes I already went through. Enjoy!

1x10 Ballad “Ok, who can tell me what a ballad is?” “It’s a male duck”

ok, I disagree with Schue’s definition of a ballad. “Stories set to music” – um…isn’t that every song? Or is it just in musicals that it’s supposed to be, lol?

“Looks like my weekly letter to the Ohio showchoir committee FINALLY paid off” and the look she gives Puck. Haha. This Rachel Berry is funny. Cause they’re letting us laugh at her right along with her. Not asking us to put her on a pedestal and/or take her seriously all the damn time. I’m not even gonna get started. I’m watching this post Props/Nationals, and though I didn’t think it could, my hate has grown. In abundance. Trying to keep it in check. Moving on…

“I bet that duck’s in the hat”

“Matt’s out sick today. He had to go to the hospital cause they found a spider in his ear” Um, ew. Also terrifying. However, humorous nonetheless. And an effort to explain a random absence of a Glee club member. Remember how they used to do that?

Aw, Artie drew Quinn’s name out of the hat. :) 2 seasons later and they’ll get 2 duets (both of which I loooove). Shame they didn’t do it this ep. Romantic or just friends, I ADORE the chemistry with Diana and Kevin. I really wanted to see more of that. :(

omg. Kurt’s face when Finn pulls his name. Adorable. Also, I love that Finn is not cool with it but a year later Sam is totes fine. Maybe that’s just cause I love dudes that are comfortable enough in their sexuality to do things that d-bags in high school might tease them about being gay for. Or maybe that’s just cause I love Sam Evans. Couldn’t tell ya. Except yeah, I totes could. It’s cause I wants a Trouty Mouth to call my very own. *lesigh*

“other asian” Ha!

Brittana!

“The fates talked, Mr. Schue” #BlessFinnsHeart

I love the voice-overs during Endless Love: “Screw him if he thinks he’s taking the Diana Ross part from me” “I love the days when I wear no underwear” “I never noticed how nice Rachel’s butt is…oh crap! I think Quinn knows I’m staring at it!”

I also love the facial expressions of Rachel and Mr. Schue here. Hilarious.

Haha – Brad’s like “wtf is happening?”

“Crap – she looks crazy right now!” hahahahahaha

Because of Rachel’s realization through this song, it means Lea Michele can’t squint nearly as much. Wow. It’s like a whole new Rachel with her eyes open while she’s singing.

Artie’s face after the duet. It’s like someone stepped in dog poop.

Ok, Charlotte Ross was in a show in the 90’s I used to watch that, if I recall, failed miserably but nonetheless had a brief stint as my guilty pleasure show. And I can’t remember what it is for the life of me and keep forgetting to look when I have access to google it. Anyone?

“I don’t want you to lift a finger for me. I’m your wife!” Oh wow. So unhealthy. So republican. Soooooo some parts of Ohio. These are the folks that voted for Bush. :/ Yep, I’m still ashamed to be from Ohio when I think of that election.

Suzy. Pepper. Yes. I love this actress. Bright and Hannah were my OTP on Everwood. I miss them.

“You knew it was me just by the sound of my breath. That’s so romantic.”

“Listen, you little psycho, this is Will’s wife, and if I don’t get enough sleep my anti-depressants won’t work, and then I’ll go crazy and I’ll kill you.” Oh Terri. So maternal and loving.

Suzy Pepper is sobbing to More Than Words. That was my jam back in the day!

“Your lashing out at me is fantastically compelling…and….inappropriate.”

“Thank God I never missed a piano lesson” – really Kurt? Is this the first and only time we’re to believe Kurt can play piano well enough to accompany someone from memory?

Finn singing I’ll Stand By You to a sonogram dvd on his laptop. I have no words. I don’t think I thought it was this weird the first time I watched it.

So Finn’s mom busts him singing to said laptop sonogram dvd…and he doesn’t close the laptop…or stop the dvd…or try to hide the screen. He sits up next to it as she approaches him, almost begging her to see it. I felt the same way then as I do now – it was an opportunity for him to not tell her necessarily but for her to find out anyways and I think he really wanted her to know so he could go to her for help and comfort and to relieve everything he couldn’t deal with about the situation. I’m just sayin’.

Oh old school Carol with her denim and that hair…she’s still such a great mom though. And this actress. My God. She’s amazing.

“You’re wrong, I’m right. I’m smart, you’re dumb.”

“Dude. Impulse control!” haha

“I dunno why I find his stupidity charming. I mean, he’s cheating off a girl who thinks the square root of 4 is rainbows.” #BlessFinnsHeart

Oh Young Girl/Don’t Stand So Close to Me mash-up. I fell in lust with you from the first moment I laid eyes on you.

Seriously. Matthew Morrison is so hot in this mash-up. Yowzah.

“So, Rachel, do you think you understood the message I was trying to get across with that ballad?” “Yes! It means I’m very young and it’s hard for you to stand close to me.”

“You’re a very good performer. He’s very good.”

Finn and Kurt bonding over their lost parents. This is a sweet scene.

“You think I should bring a gun?” #BlessFinnsHeart

“Casserole’s almost ready. Hope you like venison!” Ok. TERRIFYING to come home and find Rachel Berry in an apron, cooking you dinner, in your home.

Hey, remember that time that Rachel literally sang 3 lines of Crush and they released it in its entirety as a single from this episode? Ridonk.

“I found out today that my hamster was pregnant in biology class and I just started weeping!”

Aw, Mercedes and Puck are paired up for duet ballads.

haha. Babygate.

“Finn’s not the father! I am.” People be spilling out their truths to Mercedes y’all.

“Alright, look, you need to get something through your Mohawk real quick: you’re the baby’s daddy. It takes a hell of a lot more to be a father and that role’s already been cast because Quinn chose Finn. You need to accept that and move on cause you have no business messin’ up that girl’s life more than you already have. You need to back off. You owe her at least that much. ”Aw, Mercedes. Laying down tough love. And looking out for Quinn before they were even friends. Man. I love Mercedes.

Oh that’s right – Quinn has an older sister! Why did we never meet her?

“He wears a helmet when he plays, right?” – THAT’S WHAT I’M SAYIN’! #BlessFinnsHeart

“I have to go, they’ll think I’m pooping.” Hehehehe.

omg. So I love this still. Finn is doing karate moves in the bathroom mirror to pump himself up to sing to the Fabrays that Quinn’s pregnant. That is so effing funny. What happened to this Finn?

You’re Having My Baby. Haha. This song is so cheesy. This scene is so uncomfortable.

So Quinn’s parents, unlike Finn, are NOT simple-minded and have figured it out. And it’s terrifying.

“We didn’t even have sex” #BlessFinnsHeart

Quinn’s parents are kicking her out. Well, her dad is and her mom isn’t standing up to him. This is rough. Especially when you realize they’re supposed to be 15. So wrong. Poor Quinn. And her dad just screamed at her that she was a disappointment. Yeah…she’s had to deal with some shit. And in the end, they don’t acknowledge that she did and try to make her out to be the bad guy, and selfish… Way to go, RIB.

Oh good ole Carol, without a moment of hesitationlets Quinn stay with them.

“Honey, you can stay here as long as you want.” Carol’s the best. So glad she found Burt.

“We’re not so different, you and me. We’re both mildly attractive and extremely grating. Love is hard for us. We look for boys we know we can never have. Mr. Schue is a perfect target for our self-esteem issues. He can never reciprocate our feelings which only reinforces the conviction that we’re not worthy of being loved. Trust me. I’m a cautionary tale. You need to find some self-respect, Rachel. Get that mildly attractive groove back.” Suzy Pepper, ladies and gentlemen. Dropping truth bombs.

“There’s some boy out there who’s gonna like you for everything you are, including those parts of you that even you don’t like. Those are gonna be the things about you that he likes the most.” Hmm…might be true. Never thought about this, but I’d say that describes Jesse. But not Finn so much. Maybe recently. But…he has made several comments about her being annoying or controlling as they were dating. And not in a ‘those are my favorite things about her’ kinda way. Just sayin’.

Aw. Kurt seems like he feels really bad about Quinn getting kicked out.

“Open your eyes! I didn’t tell you to close your eyes.” “Is there a cake?” No, there’s no cake!” #BlessFinnsHeart

Lean On Me. Watching this now, with one ep left and it’s graduation…yeah, I’m crying. Dammit, Glee.

haha, Mercedes just kinda pushed past Rachel who was front and center to sing her solo. Probably not intentional but still funny.

Damn, Kevin McHale.

Damn, Amber Riley.

SOLOS: Rachel (1), Will (2), Finn (2), Artie (1), Mercedes (1)

#Glee Memories #Glee #lol Glee #Glee Ballad

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aurora-daily · 5 years

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Remembering death with Aurora, among moths and children's books #BandsYouNeedToKnow

Interview by Oscar Adame for Warp Magazine (June 4th, 2019), translated by fromthespaceamundo. Photo: David Barajas.

Birthplace: Stavanger, Norway Debut year: 2012 Members: Aurora Aksnes

«The image that illustrates my first studio album is a moth. They are the sisters of the butterflies, they are brown, they do not have any hair and nobody likes them; that is why I love them and I collect them when I find them dead. I am fascinated by them because they fly at night, always looking for a place near the light. It is weird because they could do it during the day and not look for anything.

I am the moth of my cover, my wings say that I am close to death, but in reality I am finishing a process of change. I manage to open them and instead of looking for light, like any other moth, I go out in search of silence, a quiet place, a place away from noise and people. I realize that I could go anywhere and I would love it.

I end up searching in nature, in a freshwater lake. It's been a long time since I saw any lake. There I pretend that I am walking on the water, dancing on it, it seems that I am doing it, but actually I am flying. That's when a fish catches me, I become their food and I become a part of it.

Now I see the world with its eyes and the lake is the opposite of what it looked like when I was a moth. At that moment I saw it, I knew that I would die if I entered it. Now that I am a fish, I see outside of the lake and I know that I will die if I go out. I love being able to breathe underwater. I love the sea. I love the ocean. It's like flying. I love swimming. I love being a fish. I am a fish with one eye.»

Nordic tales

This is a story we wrote together with Aurora, a young singer-songwriter born in the cold, but lovely area of Scandinavia. A place that is famous for its dreamy landscapes full of nature, also known for the importance of its stories with violent mythologies and several of the most influential children's stories in history.

The culture from which she comes is well known and influential across the world. Both its books and its music have the particularity of connecting with the world in the deepest of ways, resembling the fantastic elements that marked the childhood of each one of us, when we learned the most important truth in the world: one day we are all going to die. This is why Aurora has been acknowledged during recent years as the most important pop singer from the region.

It’s very clear when she holds my edition of Northern Lights by Phillip Pulman, dancing with it because of how much she enjoyed reading it. She told me that «children's books are the best, they always tell the most uncomfortable truths and make them look very innocent.»

Seeing her carefully reveals the reasons why her followers call themselves warriors and take all her actions as if they were great life teachings, made by such a curious being, but cultured as an elf. Comparisons like that in the deep worlds of the Internet do not stop, let alone when she is present. She is an educated girl who shows a deep interest in nature and talks a lot about the truth behind being a human.

«I think we are always in a middle point of our lives, just as if we were wrapped inside a cocoon. We are ready to escape from it and do new things in our life, but I think life has many steps», she declares. «[Life] is a journey about which we know nothing. We do not know what will happen when we die, I think what seems like the last step, may not be the final stage», just like when she was eaten by a fish in the lake.

The perfect song

With two studio EPs and a full-length album, being only 22 years old, she has risen herself as one of the most followed artists on social media and one of the most listened on Spotify. Her songs reached one hundred million streams and last week she made a sold-out concert at El Plaza Condesa in Mexico City, a show full of people who seek within her music the intimacy that comes with remembering one’s mortality, a teaching that is always touched by the best books for children.

«My music is always about death, because I find it an extremely liberating and interesting subject to write. The album speaks about it from different points of view, from life and from death», she said in regards to All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend (2016), her first studio album on which she combines elements of art pop and electro pop that deliver stories full of that fragility and innocence that comes from being in contact with our own childhood.

She became famous in mid-2015, when her first EP Running with the Wolves (2015) was taken over the Internet and went viral a few months later, drawing comparisons with artists like Björk and Kate Bush. However, she started making music much earlier, when she was only «6 years old and for very arrogant reasons, because I did not think there was a perfect song yet and I thought maybe I should make it myself.»

Aurora took inspiration from the music she heard as a child: «I loved classical music like Beethoven and a Norwegian composer named Edvard Grieg, I loved many composers, instrumental music used to calm me down, but they had a lot of complexity despite having a small heart», the singer-songwriter described. «I did not think they were emotional enough», she added.

«I started writing music on the piano; when I was six I started to make my own melodies, some were quite emotional. At the age of nine I started adding lyrics to them and that's when I realized that I loved making music», she said with her arms crossed holding an Adventure Time bag. «It felt like something very natural, like sleeping. Like being in a dream, when I was actually awake.»

Musical appropriation

According to what was told to us, her hit «Runaway» was the first song she composed when was 12 years old. «I think I did not know what it was about when I made it, but something happened when I turned 15 that made me realize what it was about. It's very strange, something very beautiful, it's like I knew something before it happened», she said about the song.

«Sometimes I write very different songs. Each song is different. They always have a different reason, I do them when I feel creative and I want to walk in the dark, looking for words and sounds», she said regarding her composition process. «Sometimes I feel that I know what my system wants to write and sometimes I have to write about feelings for which humans suffer, in order to understand them.»

In her catalog there are many songs that can bring tears to their listeners that feel understood through her music. There are many reasons why this happens, but they all start with her pencil and they all happen for different reasons. This does not mean that she does not have her own songs that inspire her and accompany her in moments of solitude, one of the reasons why she achieved international fame is that she makes very good covers, among which we find her cover of «Half the World Away» by Oasis and «Life On Mars» by David Bowie, both British pieces that radiate a sense of claustrophobia from the loss of a love because of the distance and the destruction of an entire planet.

The answer to how she treated these songs and made them seem completely of hers is «much simpler than you think», she told me. «Each song becomes something of mine when I sing it with my own voice. I do not do anything special, but when I think of the lyrics I feel I can sing them and represent them for what they are.»

This couple of songs describe why she keeps making music, because, according to Aurora, «music can save the world and I want to be part of that.» «I think it is something that keeps me excited, one day I make perfect music that is imperfect, but tough, and that is why it is perfect.»

#aurora #aurora aksnes #interviews #ciudad de méxico #amdgmaaf #step 2 #north america

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