#aim progs

[moonchild-in-blue]

Exploring Birdsong 🕊️🎶

Alright guys, it's about damn time I did a propaganda for my beloved Bingbongs. So buckle up buttercups, we explorin' some birb tunes 😎

(from left to right: Jonny, Lyns and Matt)

Right then, Exploring Birdsong are a really cool and awesome prog-rock band from the UK, fronted by the absolute queen that is Lyns (some of you know her from Espera), with the absolute unit that is Matt (the really tall dude!) and Mr. musician extraordinaire Jonny (cutie-patootie smile!).

Lyns, my wife, my love, is the angelic voice of the band, responsible for all the vocal arrangements, and also on piano!

Matt is not only the drummer, but also lyricist! A poet! Soft boyo! The band started with him and Lyns in uni, and soon after they brought in-

Jonny, banger of a musician. He's on bass and keys, and does the lion's share of the instrumentation arrangement and what not. Has a really cute dog called Rupert 🥹

Special mention to Espera, as they record the backvocals as well and are often part of the live shows! (in fact, they have a funny little cameo on a few mvs 😉)

They blend a lot of different flavours into their music - from staple 80s funky beats (the Phil Collins influence is VERY apparent), to a more modern and grungier heavy vibe, always accompanied by wonderful piano melodies and hard-hitting lyrics 🥹💙

They have two EPs - The Thing With Feathers (my personal favourite) and Dancing In The Face Of Danger, as well as two studio covers (Don't Fear The Reaper and Diamond Eyes), and five non-album singles released across all of 2024 (The Collapse; Turntail; Weight In Gold; Stich; All I Lack). Their first full-length album is set to be released soon, so now is the perfect time to get familiar with their discography! It's not long!

"Okay but where should I start?" I got you fam 😎👍 Here are a few songs that I think showcase their range quite well. Again, the discography isn't long, but if you're reeeally limited on time, I'd say go hear their latest ep Dancing In The Face Of Danger.

Fun fact: the song Ever The Optimist was written with none other than Paul McCartney! Mr Beatle himself! Isn't that crazy? Wow!

(if you're a YTMusic user, I have a playlist with all of their music in order - ask me about it if you wish 💙)

And that's it! Will you just look at them 🥹 silly friends being silly 🥹 You should definitely give them a spin and if you like what you hear, there's an EB discord where we all get to be VERY silly with the band 😌

(all pictures taken from their ig page)

[darth-maya]

The song of the day is

Sleep Token - Take Aim

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

The Soft Boys - The Hope & Anchor, London, England, January 23, 1981

A few weeks back, we listened to the almost-Soft Boys opening for Yo La Tengo at the tail-end of 2024. Now, since a new 45th anniversary edition of the band's masterpiece Underwater Moonlight has just been announced, let's go back and listen to the 100% Soft Boys, live in London towards the end of their first run together (edit: seems like this is a Kimberley Rew-less affair! Thought he was just mixed low at first). A somewhat lo-fi document, but not bad when you turn up the volume — and anyway, where else are you going to hear a bunch lager-filled punters singing along with "Leppo and the Jooves"???

Underwater Moonlight was the Soft Boys' final LP (until the 2000s reunion), but by early 1981, the band had plenty of new material — much of which would end up on Robyn Hitchcock's debut solo album Black Snake Diamond Röle (often with the Boys providing backing). At the Hope & Anchor, the newies sound awesome, from a fried-and-floating "Acid Bird" to an even-more-manic-than-usual "I Watch The Cars." Most interesting of all is a rare live rendition of "Eaten By Her Own Dinner," a bonkers tune that wouldn't be released for another several years. It's hilariously nasty here.

Robyn Says: What did we sound like live? A kind of folk-metal-prog, if you want to try to categorise us. We were trying to synthesise something out of various ingredients, but we didn’t know what we were aiming for or how to do it. In the absence of a manifesto, we tried not to take ourselves too seriously, but to encompass anything we fancied from barbershop vocal quartets to heavy rock. Fed up with trying to figure us out, the music press dismissed us as clever jokers. Oh well… 

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

do you think Eridan would listen to kpop ? (either the human or Troll variant)

if not...then which troll would be the most likely to :3c

LOL no way, he's a hipster. KPop is mainstream as hell; if anything, he'd have disdain for it (and for pop as a whole). One of the less emotionally perturbed trolls would probably enjoy that stuff, though I don't know that I'd call any of the Alternian crew the kind who'd consider it to be their favorite, since nearly all of them are at least a little alt in some way, and kpop (and idol culture as a whole) is heavily tied up in politics, propaganda, capitalism, and consumption - so the troll version of it would be that times a thousand.

I'd say Feferi, Gamzee, and Kanaya probably quite like it because they're most at ease with their society, but it's not their favorite. Equius probably sees it as being aimed at the lower castes, and therefore crass and beneath him. Everyone else would probably get the propaganda vibes and dislike it on principle, even if some of them might secretly find some songs catchy (cough Karkat cough).

If you want to get into Beforan trolls, haha, oh man. I think more of them would like it than not.

Normally, I'd say that Eridan would at least make a show of liking it, given how much he makes a show of being a Sea Dweller(TM), but his hipster tastes, like his interest in magic, don't appear to be things he can shake. Karkat even calls him a hipster, so you KNOW he's out here dissing Trollor Swift and making disdainful faces when people bring up Troll Marvel.

I have as a selection of bands for Eridan Have a Nice Life (post-rock/post-punk/shoegaze), Sprain (noise rock/experimental rock), and Tool (alternative metal/art rock/progressive rock). Generally, I find he vibes with stuff on the darker side of post/prog rock, or the more lyrical side of heavy metal - both in terms of themes (lots of darker topics, like death, murder, suicide, child abuse, etc.) and in terms of sound. It also fulfills the requirement of being "hipster" by nature. Eridan is a very troubled, angry, violent guy, and I personally like to call the linked bands "angry man music". Just a smattering of lyrics for those who don't want to listen:

I've been doing a lot of damned things without you And all the damned things I do confound you Yeah, Satan and his devils try to take my hand And the angels on my shoulders try to tell me that they understand Oh well, oh well

Imagine this: I'm the guest on some obscene talk show In a cell of moral compromise The audience is made up of everyone that I have ever met in my entire life Every sin I've ever committed is put up on display by screens hung around the stage And we watch, watch, watch, watch, watch, watch, watch The host says "I now present to you an elaborate choreography of failure!" The audience erupts with seemingly coordinated jets of jargon laughter "Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Shame on you!"

I'm broken, looking up to see the enemy And I have swallowed the poison you feed me But I survive on the poison you feed me, leaving me Guilt-fed, hatred-fed, weakness-fed It makes me feel ugly

I think even when his tastes do venture lighter, they still never really cross the threshold into pure pop. There's always going to be a hipster, indie, punk-y, shoegaze/post-rock bent to his tastes. I also list for him Dirt Poor Robins, Family Crest, Johnny Hollow...

Wisdom unearned is Intrepid and proud Till we’re dragged by the tide and nearly have drowned Entropy thrives In conditions enclosed Innovations arise When humanity chokes

Cast your heart to the floor, love Feel the sting, feel the weight Of a love, of a love not strong enough Your head's on fire Your hands and feet come off the ground Oh, sweet desire, when your mind, when your mind When your mind's not strong enough It's not that your head is gone It's just that your heart is on fire, fire It's not that the beat is off It's just that your heart is on fire, fire

Once when I was all alone I called you, and you weren't at home My heart fell like a stone, to the ground To the ground, to the ground Why, when morn had dawned on me And anger grew like ecstasy And Leda threw the swan on me and I fell to the ground To the ground, to the ground

Hilariously, this alt/hipster taste means that he runs up against stuff that's ridiculously anti-government; I personally like to believe he does actually listen to outright anti-fascist songs, but if you point it out, he's just like. No it isn't. So SWMRS, Silver Mt. Zion, Vansire.

Well, you gotta keep it up But it will never be enough No sonrisa teenage shit pop Well, you gotta keep it up But it will never be enough No sonrisa teenage shit pop Death to the motherfucking fascist insect This shit makes me so sadistic Death to the motherfucking fascist insect This shit makes me so sadistic Death to the motherfucking fascist insect This shit makes me so sadistic Death to the motherfucking fascist insect This shit makes me so sadistic

There's fresh meat in the club tonight God bless our dead marines Someone had an accident Above the burning trees While somewhere distant peacefully Our vulgar princes sleep Dead kids don't get photographed God bless our dead marines

So I convalesced in the middle west And fell for Ohio's roads I'm standing still by the windowsill Where I once watched the world explode So when it's looking dark in your narrative arc I'm here and you can talk with me A hackneyed fool under fascist rule Wasting days singing about his dreams

It's a pretentious-ass taste, but one that fits in with the vocabulary he likes to use:

CA: all of her FRAUDULENT MAGICS cannot come close to posin threat to my mastery ovver the TRUEST SCIENCES CA: an wwith my empiricists wwand i servve as the righteous hope that wwill incinerate delusion and the deluded alike CA: my holy fire is the wwhite fury bled from the wwrath-wweary eyes of fifty thousand nonfictional angels CA: and wwhen theyre finished wweepin they wwill boww before their prince GG: wow what are you talking about

I miss the days when stars were saintly They sang to me in ways innately Before we enslaved the symphony To playing anthems for selling things I used to wonder, wander farther Into awe, but those days were squandered My ghost was lost to the grownup gallows So I find my spirit in the bottle

Those modal masterworks Atonal oeuvres it seems When I ask afterwards All message lost in between The shifting aperture Depicting sun-soaked scenes I guess they resonate That's Universal Consciousness

Fate’s a funny thing It makes a victim of the will and brings a suit of broken bands A snake so full of tail That it can barely breathe to say it “doesn’t understand.” So, what am I to think? What am I to think? I’m doing it now At least I know I am At least I caught myself before I sent this out Into a stupid world that doesn’t give a damn Oh, what kind of fool do you think I am?

Like, I really can't stress enough, but Eridan is abjectly fucking miserable, angry and violent, anxious and unhappy. And his taste in music should reflect that, his feelings of impotence, his angry and anxious energy, his desperation. Have a Nice Life is probably the band I pick for him, because their discography reflects so greatly these emotions of anger, impotence, self-loathing and self-destruction.

The thing about being a hipster is that there's, the way I see it, three main reasons people wind up falling into it - the first is that they want to feel special, feel better than other people (not really Eridan's deal); the second is that they're just generally a music liker and their taste is indiscriminate enough to include indie stuff, too (and this is also not really Eridan's deal); and the last is because there is something in their soul that cries out for validation that they can't receive in the mainstream - for example, emotions, impulses, thoughts, and urges too dark for radio play (such as an obsession with genocide and murder). It's actually really important to me that Eridan IS a hipster, and specifically the type of hipster who's super pretentious and looks down on stuff that's "popular."

He has a massive fixation on being understood - complaining constantly that people don't "get it," that "nobody understands." This would extend to his taste in music. He would seek out genuine-ness, something grungy, something real, and unfortunately, stuff that's made for mass-market consumption must have the edges sanded off by nature. Given he actually gets upset when people don't "get" him, I'd wager that he doesn't treat media that he feels doesn't "get" him pretty poorly, too.

To be clear, I'm not trying to diss KPop in any way. It's not really my thing, but I get why people like it, and I'm not saying you shouldn't. Just feel like I have to toss that in there. I just really don't think Eridan would like it. And also he would probably be mean about it if you told him you liked it.

[neokandis-hardcore-art]

Arcane Melodies web comic is coming out tomorrow!!!

In the middle of nowhere in Ireland, two wildly different metal bands aim to make it big on the scene.

Díoltasach; a prog death band that just sprung up. They quickly gain a reputation for being highly unprofessional, as Helena, vocalist and washed up scene queen, has to wrangle her band mates. Djent, their mediocre, unemployed, college drop out bassist, is as young and dumb as they come. Thrasher, their drummer, doesn't take anything seriously, and would rather be skating. And Kittie, their guitarist, has a life outside of the band, and is trying to finish a biology course.

On the other hand we have Autogynephile; a queer black metal band that has been on the scene for a while. Despite their great technique and efficient set up skills, their vocalist and back up guitarist Angr embracing the queer pervert stereotype has left them completely unmarketable. The rest of the band is willing to make the sacrifice for artistic integrity. Said band are made up of Anord: the artist and DIY enthusiast on drums, Valentine: the photographer and "ex" emo on bass, and Róisín: the sarcastic, coffee addicted goth on lead guitar, as well as her partner Dusk who tags along.

As well as being rival bands from the same small town, they are rival Wiccan covens. There is only so much magical energy to go around, or so it seems...

The two bands must set aside their rivalry to handle the consequences of Charlotte, a young, wanna-be witch, messing with forces beyond her control... is music the key to restoring the balance upset by the drastic actions of an untrained witch?

⛧⛧⛧

Thanks for reading!

I have been working on this seriously since October, and I now have a decent backlog of chapters. Chapter one will be posted here, and on DeviantArt.

While the comic will be posted for free, it is not free to make, so I would really appreciate some support:

Sticker Shop ⛧ Ko-Fi ⛧ Commission Info

There are also free ways to support me, liking and reblogging my posts is a great one, and following me on other platforms is another:

DeviantArt ⛧Blue Sky

See you tomorrow! \m/_(^_^)_\m/

[quad-weave]

Eden's Choir

Making nice glams makes the pain of progging tiers easier, and the two dye channels make it easy to work around this coat. :) I just like it, even if the collar is a gposing nightmare

Weapon - Edengrace Harp Bow

Body - Edenchoir Gambison of Aiming in Currant Purple Hands - Augmented Lunar Enjoy's Fingerless Gloves of Aiming in Currant Purple Legs - Idealized Fili Bottoms in Jet Black and Lavender Purple Feet - Gambler's Boots in Ash Grey and Currant Purple

Earrings - Black Moth Orchid Earrings

These pictures were taken at Bardam's Mettle with the ipsusu Pastel (Questing Lite) shader!

[johnkatsmc5]

Univeria Zekt "The Unnamables"1972 France Prog Jazz Rock Fusion,Zeuhl (Alien,Christian Vander Quartet, Christian Vander Trio,Cruciferius, Fusion,Zeuhl Magma, Bernard Lubat And His Mad Ducks, Lubat, Louiss, Engel Group,Troc,Gong,Prigal, Rhesus O,Zao, Ergo Sum....members)

full spotify

https://open.spotify.com/album/3xtcDZm5ZG4XhfAVikMBHO

After they had released their second effort, "1001° Centigrades", the french Zeuhl band MAGMA released another album with almost the same line-up, but under a different band name: UNIVERIA ZEKT. The album, entitled "The Unnamables", was intended to be a relatively 'easy' introduction into the world of Zeuhl music, for the band was trying to broaden its audience. Unfortunately, the album is very hard to find nowadays....~ Review by Sean Trane If one is afraid to get involved in the Magma labyrinth fearing to meet the beast (Vander not the Minotaur), this might be the entrance in this world, as this side project was directed to a wider public to entice them into what became known as zheul. Too bad the compositions were weaker here as this certainly missed its target, but it is more accessible. Please not that Univeria Zekt is the name of the group - at the origin this was not a Magma album....~ A mythical MAGMA album recorded in 1971, during the “1000 centigrades” period. The album aims at introducing wider audiences to the Zeuhl feel, with a less hermetic sound, favoring a more groovy jazz-rock approach. Features the vocalist of ERGO SUM on one track as well as Tito Puentes on trumpet, otherwise this is pretty much the same line-up as in their previous album. A few dreamy moments with acoustic guitar and flutes (the track “Clementine”), and other typically dense moments with pulsating bass lines, mad sax and weird Vander screams punctuated by furious drumming with a groovy edge...~

Credits Bass, Organ – Francis Moze (tracks: 4, 7) Drums, Percussion – Christian Vander Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Claude Engel Percussion – Klaus Blasquiz Piano – Francois Cahen* Saxophone [Saxes] – Jeff Seffer Saxophone, Flute, Organ – Teddy Lasry (tracks: 6) Trumpet – Tito Puentes Vocals – Klaus Blasquiz (tracks: 4, 7), Lionel Ledissez (tracks: 4), Zabu (3) (tracks: 2) Voice – Christian Vander (tracks: 6) Tracklist You Speak And Speak And Colegram 2:10 Altcheringa 3:27 Clementine 3:00 Something's Cast A Spell 4:16 Ourania 4:23 Africa Anteria 11:30 Ündïa 4:47

Univeria Zekt "The Unnamables"1972 France Prog Jazz Rock Fusion,Zeuhl (Alien,Christian Vander Quartet, Christian Vander Trio,Cruciferius, Fusion,Zeuhl Magma, Bernard Lubat And His Mad Ducks, Lubat, Louiss, Engel Group,Troc,Gong,Prigal, Rhesus O,Zao, Ergo Sum....members)

https://johnkatsmc5.blogspot.com/2025/03/univeria-zekt-unnamables1972-france.html?view=flipcard

https://johnkatsmc5.tumblr.com/post/779003312391471104/univeria-zekt-the-unnamables1972-france-prog

[darkmaga-returns]

It’s actually really simple. As we’ve been maintaining, most of Trump’s EOs are ultimately aimed at defunding the Dems. I’m not saying that these EOs are nakedly political—far from it. They are truly aimed at restoring our constitutional order, which includes the separation of powers and functioning checks and balances among the branches of government—each branch performing the role that was assigned by the Constitution. The trend of Roberts court decisions trimming back the Admin State—ongoing for years—is part of that process, forcing Congress to get back in the business of legislation, rather than delegating to administrative agencies. Most of the serious deformations of our constitutional order were put in place by Progs and were hijacked/designed to fund the Prog agenda, so it’s no coincidence that deconstructing that apparatus also results in defunding the Dem party that is the vehicle for Prog rule.

If you don’t believe me, then believe the NYT:

Tom Bevan @TomBevanRCP The New York Times.

5:51 AM · Mar 21, 2025

“Highly partisan?” That means they don’t like it. The first step toward a full blown hysterical breakdown. The NYT wouldn’t be saying this out loud if they weren’t in panic mode.

Don Wolt @tlowdon In other words, the Left is unable to survive without machinery which includes corrupt fundraising platforms, taxpayer funded non-profits & media groups aligned with Democrats, and a DOJ-Big Law lawfare complex. Jenny R @JR4484 Why is the entire Democrat apparatus paid for by the federal government? It’s a massive slush fund that the tax payers pay for. I don’t want to fucking pay to elect these people!

[honkycat-reviews]

Def Leppard- Pyromania

listened on CD from 1983

summary: picture this. a young punk rock lady has reached the end of her collegiate rope and all she seems to be enjoying is fun prog rock. as if from the cosmos, def leppard descended into her listening habits like a merciful angel. i love def leppard!! they are so so fun and talented?! call me basic but i absolutely adore this album. got hysteria and am on the cd hunt for high n' dry!

background: this album is a slight departure from the more heavy-metal attitude the band had with their earlier releases (high n' dry). this is when they introduced the absolute icon Phil Collen on the guitar!!! i think his noise is integral to the commercial pop-leaning success of this album, simply because his licks are so good that you sing the guitar part (which i've only experienced with eddie van halen, randy rhodes, and george harrison).

read below for tracklist & review!

tracklist

rock! rock! (till you drop): this is the most fun way to open this album. epic thirty second opening with a killer guitar lick and iconic vocals?! i'm a lesbian, so the rock and roll male obsession with "rocking" hot chicks isn't entirely lost on me, so i honestly have just chosen to find it funny. like sure. women are fabulous. mutual understanding. in my opinion a little bit of an underrated banger.

photograph: i feel so basic loving this track so much but there's a reason this song did so well commercially. i think it's because this song emphasizes the vocals the most out of any song on the album; other tracks on the album are aiming to showcase all the instruments on a more equal spectral field. this one is much more sing-along-with-joe which works because the lyrics are easy, memorable, and fun. i need joe's syncopated singing "I! NEED! ONLY! YOUR!" injected straight into my veins.

stagefright: this is my favorite song on the album!? this is so underrated?! if i love a song, i am able to get a pretty clear imaginative movie going whenever i listen to it; and this one is CRYSTAL CLEAR. HELL YEAH!!!!! do i have any clue what he's saying? barely. but i'm rocking right there with him.

too late for love: i can appreciate a good ballad and this one is that. a good. ballad. nothing crazy but i'm not going to hate on a ballad. musical diversity! the lyrics on the verses are unique and interesting.

die hard the hunter: this is the final boss music i didn't ask for, and don't really listen to often, but once i get into the groove of this longer piece i can really enjoy it.

foolin': i saw somewhere on here somebody hating on foolin' and it made me oddly protective over the song for a bit. i think i just really like how it's mixed and the background vocals work really well with the lead vocals. is the chorus the most life-changing thing on the planet? no, but those prechoruses are bangers.

rock of the ages: for a while listening to this album, i kinda wrote this song off since it's one of their more popular ones (my innate need to be quirky and different) but the more and more i listened to it and learned the lyrics, i am officially a convert. this is fun as hell!

comin' under fire: we're back on the power ballad train and i think this is the fastest tempo ballad so i'm more of a fan. when i put this cd in my player i want to be doing a quick little dance and making this most of my curly mullet. i wanna dance. so i usually go "this one is really good" and then skip it... (sorry...) guitar is epic!!

action! not words: yeah sure. they're saying "shock me". suuuuure. i've grown an appreciation for this one.

billy's got a gun: now THIS is the power ballad i've been WAITING FOR!!! never skipping this one. the bgv on "can you feel it in the air?" are reason to listen by themself. they clearly had fun constructing this song and all the different parts working together. major banger.

[zeloinator]

Glamtober Day 10; Pirate or Cowboy

My static has been doin cowboy glams for M1S prog so I had to go cowboy to show off the MCH glam I made (I main WHM/AST so very much wont see this glam in M1S lol)

Main Hand; Neo Kingdom Musketoon

Head; Gyuki Leather Hat

Body; Moonward Vest of Aiming (Dark Blue)

Hands; Woodland Warden's Fingerstalls (Orchard Brown)

Legs; New World Hose (Orchard Brown)

Feet; Falconer's Boots (Midnight Blue, Pastel Blue)

[docnefarious]

@nether-twins

This wasn't just a prank—it was revenge. His masterful response to weeks of glitter bombs, horrifying projections, infuriating letters, and countless other indignities. So, Vendra wanted to make a fool of him, did she?! Well, two could play at that game!

The robot chuckled with anticipation at the thought of what he'd set up, imagining the chaos Vendra was about to walk into...

While the Prog twins had been out, Nefarious had crept into their junkyard to set up his scheme. And in his incredibly unhumble opinion, he had outdone himself!

The setup was deceptively simple. A full-length mirror pulled from the scrap heap was positioned in a place where it would eventually be noticed. But hidden within its frame was a sensor, programmed to trigger the moment Vendra leaned in to inspect her reflection.

But she wouldn't see herself for long~

Instead, a holographic caricature would be projected on the mirror's surface, complete with exaggerated features, googly eyes, and a clown nose to top it all off. A grating laugh track would blare on loop from a hidden speaker nearby, but the final touch? A concealed device nearby, aimed to release a huge torrent of neon green slime directly at her. The goo was laced with glitter, of course.

Finally, a card would launch toward her, and the message read:

"I figured you'd appreciate this, since you like glitter so much!! HAPPY NEW YEAR, LOSER!!!! MY RESOLUTION IS TO MAKE YOU AS MISERABLE AS POSSIBLE!!!! Worst Wishes, Dr. Nefarious. P.S. TOUCH MY DESK AGAIN AND I SWEAR I'LL TURN YOUR ATOMS INSIDE OUT!!!! I'M NOT PLAYING AROUND HERE!!!!"

Oh yes, this time, vengeance would be his.

[milf--adjacent]

Saying "Those nebulous trans women who do nothing but hate (not just dislike, like *bigotry* hate) men because they have *testosterone* need to STAWP because they hurt EVERYONE" sounds just like "...But what Hamas did was unconscionable, unwarranted, barbaric" to my ears, but in a slightly different key, like a theme within a theme on a 70s prog rock album written by a neoliberal, a lietmotif of dissapointment and genuine harm to the community.

Like what is the point besides 1. Throwing trans women under the bus 2. Positioning oneself as "one of the good ones" to one's tme "transandrophobia is REAL" followers 3. Emboldening tme people to adopt similar rhetoric because their "good tranny" talks like that "and she doesn't mind mind me agreeing with her."? What was the point? It sounds to me like someone's hating on trans dykes again. That's the next to best case scenario honestly. Best case scenario is more TME people will refuse to take any complaint by any trans woman seriously because they're just being "irrational" and "hateful" for no reason, because our lack of a womb makes us *hysterical*.

Y'all see how it's just recycled conservative arguments right? Just recycled misogyny and homophobia slightly retooled and aimed at trans women? See it? Do ya?

[justforbooks]

In 1967 when Radio 1 was founded as a successor to the BBC Light Programme, one of its aims was to reach housewives – and to attract them, the station employed only male DJs (or “husband substitutes”, as they were known behind the scenes) for the first three years. It was only in 1970, bending with the times, that it took on its first female presenter, Anne (later Annie) Nightingale, a former journalist and television presenter with almost no radio experience.

The original male presenters have long since left the station, but Nightingale was still working for Radio 1 at the time of her death, aged 83, and had become its longest-serving broadcaster, most recently on air in December 2023. Known to fans as the Queen of Breaks – breakbeat was her specialist genre – she defied the station’s usual career trajectory (five years as a top-tier presenter, then off to weekends or Radio 2) by staying relevant. She introduced listeners to prog rock, punk, indie and dance music, and was unfeignedly passionate about them all. At 75, she told a dance magazine: “I listen to what 13-year-olds listen to because that’s the future. [I’ve] got to be ahead of the game all the time.”

As a dance music specialist from the late 1980s onward – playing “the biggest bass bangers”, as Radio 1’s website put it – Nightingale spent the second half of her career broadcasting to people too young to have known that she had been friends with the Beatles and Marc Bolan. But her age was immaterial because of her stature in the dance world. In 2001, she received Muzik magazine’s Caner of the Year prize in recognition of her late-night lifestyle – her favourite of all her awards, which also included an MBE in 2002 for services to broadcasting (advanced to CBE in 2020), and an honorary doctorate in journalism.

She was a highly knowledgable musical curator, and an expert at exploiting the intimacy of radio. Though Nightingale prioritised music over DJ patter, she recognised that a human voice was still an essential part of the mix; husky-toned and self-deprecating, she belied the station’s early fear that a female DJ would lack authority. According to the writer Irvine Welsh, who listened to her while growing up, her “cool, funky tones” stood out against “the flatulent sounds of loud, boring, thick and egotistical men strafing the airwaves”.

An only child, Nightingale was born in Osterley, west London, to Basil, who ran a wallpaper company, and Celia (nee Winter), a chiropodist. Educated at the independent Lady Eleanor Holles school in Hampton, she left before her A-levels. Overriding her parents’ request that she have “something to fall back on”, she enrolled on a journalism course at the Regent Street Polytechnic (now the University of Westminster). Moving to Brighton after graduation, she married a Fleet Street journalist, Gordon Thomas, and had two children. After a short stint at the Brighton and Hove Gazette, she became the only woman in the newsroom at the Brighton Argus.

Along with reporting local news at the parish-council level, she was given a music column called Spin With Me, which gave her access to the biggest pop stars of the 60s. Her friendship with the Beatles later helped open doors at Radio 1 – the band’s publicist, Derek Taylor, persuaded the station controller to let her audition after her own requests were repeatedly refused.

At a Dusty Springfield gig in 1964, she met Vicki Wickham, producer of Ready Steady Go!, who hired her as co-presenter of a new pop show called That’s For Me. It lasted only a few months, but the exposure led to writing work at the Daily Express and Cosmopolitan, and radio appearances on Today and Woman’s Hour. It was the era of pirate stations such as Radio Caroline; she considered applying to Caroline but was put off by the idea of “living out at sea with a bunch of blokes”.

Finally installed at Radio 1 in 1970, she was hampered at first by a lack of technical knowhow – her first day was marked by eight seconds of dead airtime when she accidentally pressed the “off” switch in the middle of a record. Yet she quickly established herself, choosing her own playlist almost from the start. Her skill at persuading listeners that what she wanted to hear was what they wanted to hear led in 1978 to the job of presenting BBC Two’s “serious” rock programme, The Old Grey Whistle Test. It had failed to keep up with musical fashion, a problem she tackled by booking the most challenging artists she could get away with and braving the consequences. She was delighted to bag Public Image Ltd for a live appearance, though frontman John Lydon repaid her enthusiasm by admonishing her for being “so fucking patronising”.

Four years at Whistle Test were followed by a return to Radio 1’s highly popular Sunday afternoon request show for 12 years. When acid house gained traction in the late 80s, she credited it with changing her life; from that point, she played solely dance music on Radio 1, first in the influential Chill Out Zone slot, then on a longstanding programme that went out at 1am on Wednesdays. Her free time, she said, was consumed by listening to the thousands of demo tapes she received every week.

Despite her achievements, Nightingale claimed she lacked confidence until she was robbed in Havana, Cuba in 1996. The attack left her unable to walk for months, but made her “a stronger person”, she said.

Though she hated nostalgia, she did reflect that ageing had been isolating. The death of John Peel, her friend from the early days of Radio 1, provoked the unusually downbeat comment: “Now John’s gone there’s nobody I know in my age group who remotely likes this kind of thing. I don’t understand why. I’m driven by it.”

She published two volumes of autobiography, Chase the Fade (1982) and Wicked Speed (2000), and a 50th-anniversary volume, Hey Hi Hello: Five Decades of Pop Culture from Britain’s First Female DJ, in 2020.

She is survived by her children, Alex and Lucy, from her first marriage, which ended in divorce. Her second marriage, to the actor Binky Baker in 1978, also ended in divorce.

🔔 Anne Avril Nightingale, broadcaster, born 1 April 1940; died 11 January 2024

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[dustedmagazine]

FOUDRE! — Voltæ (Chthulucene) (Nahal/ZamZec)

Photo by Marie Mauve

FOUDRE! (French for lightning and, by association, its elemental force electricity) are multi-instrumentalist improvisers Frédéric Oberland, Roman Barbot and Paul Régimbaud. They work electronic and traditional instruments into a mélange of prog-infused dark ambience, world and industrial music. Their use of the lute-like saz, the double reeded woodwind zurna, chalumeau (a precursor to the clarinet) and acoustic percussion ties their analog and modular synths to pre-industrial times as they delve into subterranean chambers in search of connections between innocence and intrusion. A fusion of thrumming electronics and sparks of acoustic light, Voltæ Chthulucene recalls the middle eastern flavored ambient dub of Muslimgauze and the dystopic imaginary soundtracks of Shinjuku Thief.

At the center of Voltæ are drone and heartbeat. They provide the foundation which connects the ancient and modern, the tectonic and the human. On Visions of Zürütetsu”, Oberland plays long, keening notes on the zurna over shuffling acoustic and synthetic percussion punctuated with squalling electronics. It feels as timeless in its ritual concentration, a summoning as well as a message. “Acid Karma” buries the drone beneath layers of taiko influenced drums then brings it to the fore in ululating vocals and woodwinds. There’s a touch of Clock DVA’s White Souls in Black Suits in both the intensity and the sense that it’s ever on the edge of collapsing into itself. “Badlands” is a haunted ballad, that twinkles along as a solo keyboard piece counterpointed by the cries of underground spirits and a rumbling bass tone. “Cybernetic Reset” combines a thumping bass drum with insectoid buzz to create a robotic scourge of sound. “Transmutação’ is less successful as the trio seem to aim for mordant atmospherics but succumb to a drift absent from the preceding tracks. They close with “A Moment of Eternity: Replicate” on which they sink into a primordial soup of drones and ectoplasmic bleeps. A metronomic ticking marks time, or the absence thereof, as tones struggle to form rudimentary patterns. It feels simultaneously like the beginning of life and a countdown to its end. The metronome plays out alone, then silence. Ancient and modern, light and dark, organic and industrial. FOUDRE! lose their momentum on occasion but Voltæ Chthulucene is an impressively cohesive combination of contrasts.

Andrew Forell

[randomvarious]

1970s Power Pop Playlist

In its broadest and most briefly defined sense, power pop is a specific type of rock music that falls somewhere on the spectrum between pop-rock and punk. And like punk, it emerged as a backlash to the growing amount of stuffiness that'd been present in rock music in the 70s, with things like prog rock being in large demand, particularly. Power pop sought to bring rock music back to its less envelope-pushing, catchy, and mass-appealing roots, by drawing mixes of inspiration from the likes of early Beatles and Beach Boys records, The Who, and The Byrds. It was energetic, youthful, bright, idyllically nostalgic, and because it was against a certain notion of progress, also pretty polarizing.

And even though, on its face, it might seem like something that would've been sure to generate loads of wealth and fame for a whole bunch of musicians, power pop, for the most part, actually stayed underground. A handful of artists like Cheap Trick sustained whole careers off of it, but a lot of other bands, if they were lucky enough, would only end up spawning a hit or two, and the rest of them would either develop cult followings instead or just languish in total obscurity. Plenty of people love and respect the inherently fun and light sound of power pop now, but back when it was humming at a frequency that was loud enough for critics to hear, it was chided as being artlessly reductive, highly formulaic, and largely pointless music that'd been more or less deliberately aimed at a know-nothing and tasteless teenybopper set. And after a song like the objectively dumb "My Sharona" by The Knack had topped the charts for far too long in 1979, radio programmers decided that they had had enough, and whatever commercial appeal that this music had once possessed then waned precipitously with the dawning of the 80s.

But one of power pop's biggest champions was a guy by the name of Greg Shaw, who had his own zine, Bomp!, and then later founded his own label by the same name too, which is credited as being one of the first ever labels to truly represent indie music as we often think of it today. A bunch of the songs that appear on this playlist here are from Bomp! itself, with a pair from overlooked New York power pop band The Poppees, whose 1978 tune, "Jealousy,"—27.8K plays—really sounds like a Beatles tune from around 1964, and another pair from the late, great Stiv Bators of the Dead Boys, a punk rocker whose band had just broken up and wanted to go in a bit more of a poppier direction as a soloist. His silly and sardonic "Last Year" has 79.3K plays, but one of his biggest solo tunes on Spotify, "Make Up Your Mind," has over 667K.

And across the pond, another highly insular scene had been developing at the same time too; one that was also nostalgic for the sound and look of the 60s called mod revival. The biggest mod revival band, The Jam, managed to cross over into the States in some capacity, but the vast majority of the rest of this scene stayed mostly confined to the UK. And it really exploded over there once The Who's Quadrophenia film came out in 1979, leading kids and young adults to strive to emulate the Vespa-riding lifestyle that the flick itself had depicted. And funnily enough, although the solidification of power pop into a definable sound is something that is largely viewed as an American phenomenon, it was actually Pete Townshend of The Who himself who coined the term as a way of describing his own band's music back in 1967.

So in addition to the American-made Bomp! tunes, there are also a bunch of much less known tracks from that mod revival scene on this playlist too. Mod revival songs may have *sometimes* been a bit more topically diverse than their American power pop counterparts, but sonically, mod revival was really a location-specific subset that fell under the power pop umbrella. And I don't really have a favorite among these selections here, but you really can't go wrong with pure anthems like "Circles" by The Circles—just 1.6K plays—and "The Kids Just Wanna Dance" by Fast Cars—100.8K plays.

This playlist is ordered as chronologically as possible.

Poppees - "Love of the Loved" Poppees - "Jealousy" Breakaways - "Walking Out on Love" Sema 4 - "Sema 4 Messages" Stiv Bators - "The Last Year" The Crooks - "Modern Boys" Stiv Bators - "Make Up Your Mind" The Accidents - "Blood Splattered With Guitars" The Circles - "Circles" The Clerks - "When the Lights Go Out" Fast Cars - "The Kids Just Wanna Dance" The Killermeters - "Why Should It Happen to Me"

Now, if you've read this far into this post, congratulations, because now you're about to really hit a total 1970s power pop goldmine with the YouTube version of this playlist, which comes with a whole lot more rare and underheard goodies that can't be found on Spotify. One thing that Bomp! is kind of known for with its power pop stuff is that they'd release singles by bands, and then those bands would have their music picked up by bigger labels, and those songs would end up on studio albums as newer versions with more polish on them. But the rawer, less produced, and less accessible Bomp! versions of those songs have often tended to be the better ones in my opinion, and I've got a bunch of examples here that I think prove it. We've got a pair of tunes from Detroit's Romantics—who are, of course, best known for "What I Like About You"—in "First in Line" and "Tell It to Carrie," which have 8.4K and 67K plays, respectively; and another pair of tunes from a band called Shoes, whose "Tomorrow Night" was actually one of the first ever music videos to air on MTV—but, obviously, that MTV version was not the Bomp! version—and its b-side, "Okay." Respectively, these two songs have 21.8K and 11.3K plays, and if you look up either of these tunes by Shoes or The Romantics on Spotify, you'll find them by name, but they won't be the superior Bomp! versions that are currently only on YouTube.

And in addition to that, The Flamin' Groovies may be one of America's most beloved underground and pioneering power pop bands too, but their 1974 song, "Him or Me," which originated from the b-side of their "You Tore Me Down" 7-inch—which also happened to be the Bomp! label's first ever release—is a song that somehow was missing from YouTube at a certain point, until yours truly was forced to come along and change that 👀.

And I also can't leave here without mentioning the fantastic "I'm Tired" by Los Angeles' M&Ms, who, according to RateYourMusic, led their ironically-titled debut single with this hybridized piece of peppy power pop-punk perfection in 1979. In a genre that is largely dominated by men and boys, this song was fronted by Marcy Marcs, ex-girlfriend of famed rocker Paul Collins, whose band, The Breakaways, also happens to appear on this playlist with "Walking Out on Love" too. Marcy sings on this beaut' with a very deliberately sweet, girly, and nubile voice [believe me, I fucking hate the creepiness of that word too] that'll have you thinking that she's actually some live and in-the-flesh punky version of a Barbie doll. Quite possibly my favorite song on this playlist altogether, and currently only sitting at 14.6K plays.

And this post is already long enough as is, but if you want some more of that UK mod revival stuff, there's a lot more of it on YouTube that's not on Spotify too, and as such, I've got a handful more of it in this playlist as well 👍.

Flamin' Groovies - "Him or Me" Shoes - "Okay" Jook - "Aggravation Place" Shoes - "Tomorrow Night" The Exits - "The Fashion Plague" 20/20 - "Giving It All" Rodney & The Brunettes - "Little GTO" The Romantics - "First in Line" The Romantics - "Tell It to Carrie" 20/20 - "Under the Freeway" Straight Up - "One Out All Out" M&Ms - "I'm Tired" The Directions - "Three Bands Tonite" Split Screens - "Know What I Want" Squire - "Livin' in the City"

And this playlist is also on YouTube Music.

So this 1970s power pop playlist has 12 songs that run for 34 minutes on Spotify, but over on YouTube we've got more than double that amount, with 27 songs that run for a total of 77 minutes. As a largely independent movement, it makes sense that a lot of this music wouldn't get captured by Spotify, so if you want this stuff in more of an authentic representation, I'd suggest you check out the YouTube version instead 🤘.

And for something a little shorter, I've got a playlist that keys in on power pop from 1979, specifically, too:

1979 Power Pop: Spotify / YouTube / YouTube Music

Compilations that were used for putting this playlist together:

The Roots of Powerpop! (1996, Bomp! Records) Destination Bomp! (1995, Bomp! Records) 100% British Mod (1998, Captain Mod)

Should have more power pop to post about in a couple weeks, but next playlist post is gonna be a punk rock update.

Enjoy!

More to come, eventually. Stay tuned!

Like what you hear? Follow me on Spotify and YouTube for more cool playlists and uploads!

[designers-downunder]

Australian Music Vault

[1] [2] Australian Music Vault (2019) [Exhibition] Arts Centre Melbourne, Melbourne. 2017-Present.

The Australian Music Vault – an institution dedicated to the conservation and display of archival materials culturally significant to the music scene in Australia. Located within the Arts Centre in Melbourne, The Australian Music Vault aims to be “a celebration of the Australian contemporary music story – past, present and future” (Australian Music Vault, N.D) and contains several exhibitions which include:

The Real Thing, which focuses on the development of the ‘Australian sound’ from the inclusion of indigenous language and rhythm to well-known genres originating from Australia such as pub rock and aussie hip-hop (Australian Music Vault, 2020). This exhibition focuses on the way music has been influenced by Australian culture, giving “voice to experiences that are both distinctly Australian while somehow universal” (Australian Music Vault, 2020) and how “Australian music has reached across cultural and geographical boundaries to explore new ways of storytelling and reflect an increasingly diverse population” (Australian Music Vault)

The Wild Ones, an exhibition focusing on musicians known for overcoming “social barriers” (Australian Music Vault, 2020) and features artists such as Jimmy Little, Australia’s first indigenous popstar who rose to fame during the 1960s when First Nations people were still yet to be recognised as Australian citizens, and Wendy Saddington who was popular during the 70s for her resilience in a music scene that was male-dominated with the genres of ‘prog rock’ and pub bands (Australian Music Vault, 2020) as well as many other artists. The exhibition also focuses on how artists have improvised and innovated to change or address issues within the industry (Australian Music Vault, 2020)

Agents of Change, which centres around the political side of Australian music where “Australian musicians have long been at the forefront of public debate, addressing concerns and issues that impact society” (Australian Music Vault, 2020). This part of the music vault outlines the numerous times Australian music has been an integral part of a movement such as Helen Reddy’s I Am Woman becoming associated with the Womens Liberation Movement in addition to artists using their career to advocate for indigenous rights like Yothu Yindi and Archie Roach in which their music aims to highlight the suffering and resilience of First Nations people (Australian Music Vault, 2020). However, this exhibition not only focuses on the power of musicians to bring around social change but also the Australian music community, stating how it has come together in times of need like raising money for disaster relief (such as the 1985 East African Tragedy Concert and later Live Aid as well as Wave Aid for the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami and Sound Relief in 2009 after the Black Saturday bushfires) (Australian Music Vault, 2020). The exhibition also brings lights to recent activism within Australia’s music scene with the mention of movements such as Save Live Australia’s Music (SLAM) and Mushroom Group’s Voice for Change in response to “the disenfranchisement if minority and migrant groups” (Australian Music Vault, 2020)

Two Way Traffic is an exhibition that centres around musicians “who have come to call Australia home and those who have made their reputations on the international stage” (Australian Music Vault, 2020). Similar to The Real Thing, this exhibition focuses on the international impact of genres originating from Australia albeit more in depth in addition to how international influence has helped to shape the Australian music scene we see today. It also has an emphasis on ‘Ten Pound Poms’ who were musicians that immigrated to Australia through a government-sponsored programme and includes many big names such as Olivia Newton-John, AC/DC and the Bee Gees (Australian Music Vault).

Overall, The Australian Music Vault proves to be a valuable institution in regard to showcasing the story of the Australian music scene from describing its origins to how Australian music is still internationally loved and represented today. The wide collection of memorabilia, instruments, musician notebooks and posters throughout each exhibition helps visitors gain insight into how many well-loved songs and albums came to be in addition to the importance of music and the power it holds to act on bringing about change within Australia. Fashion also plays a big part in the institution’s collection as many costumes and clothing worn by some of Australia’s most famous musicians can be found throughout every exhibition. These costumes range from outfits worn for music events and award shows, including Chinese-Australian singer Mindy Meng Wang’s costume for the 2021 Music Victoria Awards and the outfit worn by Dami Im when she represented Australia in the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm (Australian Music Vault, 2020), to outfits instantly recognisable worldwide such as a costume worn by Kylie Minogue for the music video Come Into My World (2001) and a dress worn by Olivia Newton-John during her ABC TV Special titled Olivia in 1978 (Australian Music Vault, 2020). There are also outfits on display that were worn by artists to provide commentary on social issues such as an outfit worn by Ecca Vandal during her set at the Laneway Music Festival in 2017 (Australian Music Vault, 2020). The collection of the music vault is a prime example of a ‘history’ fashion exhibition in the sense that the fashion holds significance and cultural value in relation to the development of Australian music and music scene over the years – of course, these costumes can be admired for their aesthetical values but their primary function in this exhibition is to showcase what musicians from the country have achieved over the years in addition to contributing to the story being told throughout this series of exhibitions.