#also the not chorus parts of the song could use a little oomph to them

[fxllingout]

rise and warriors best worlds mvs no contest

[colorguardsweetheartblurrsgirl]

Totally did something I was not expecting.

Work on story: No

Work On Art: No

Had all the resources infront of me ready to get a few ar Peices done. 😏🥴😖😓😒😒😒 YES!!!

What did I do instead you may ask???

Open the Sheet music app and began retooling my song front two years ago that was originally the main theme for the first act. Or at least the first half of the first act. I took advice from friends and family that it just needed a little something more at the start and end. There was a good oomph as start made me think battle scene... but it needed something. I finally thought of the sound I wanted.

Found the Drum Rills I wanted (Though it took hours to find the exact one I litterlaly typed the exact words in the name and toik hours to find some reason and countless searches).

Found a bell sound I was totally like Yeha that could eb a fun opening..

Theb thought, eh I made the document. Might as well plop the opening down.

I have problem currently staying up all night zi guess.😓🤣😂😅😅😅

Yep, spent all night working on the song. I ahve to admit the guitar part so uh nds coll. The opening including open ik gn chorus. Sounds awesome. Maybe a few tweeks here and there. I restyled and also redid the notations and the octaves of tlntoss as well as their notation time signatures to fit with the new speed and design I'm going foe with the comic. And funny enough didnt even get the main theme in there this was all the themes that combine with it

Later parts are a but messy. But blhoenstly first minute sounds pretty cool, totally plants an image. So I hope it works out. Just have to retools thjnklgs Inliked about the old open in ng a but more before ri works. But after alls said and done what leads into the opening a piano followed by a guitar pick iij ng up thebebat a bit. Can say it sounds far better then the old music.

All the same cnat believe how much time I spent on it. But I got started on the new angle I'm going for. And it kinda gives a real atmosphere to it. Hopefully you guys will like it I've studied both college level and under music practically my whole life but I'll say 25 years practically since I was 5. So writtinflg music is soemthing I often do. I just havent really performed my lyrical stuff. I even have a lyrical song or a few I came up with for the comic. Although, I'm not sure they will fit with the comics main theme.

I will say thebprologues theme has been ready and done for 2 years now. And yeah I'm not changing that puppy. Its... well saying anything will give away a plot point. I'll just say it will get you're heart pumping... in a scary kinda way. Showed it to friends and family and they are like "Okay that was freaking creepy. That, you wrote that miss ray of sunshines?" I just knew what I wanted for teh prologue had a certain tone I wanted setting in. And it worked.

Well heres today's update for you. I'll probably post some pic later today. But till then take care. I'll see if I could post a snippet of the song later tod sass y or in the next few days. Probably will have to use one of my actual music programs to do that without saving and unfinished product.

... but till whatever update comes next.

Take care and have a blast.

(Ps. I knwo how to play the harp and paino. However, I dont own a harp anymore where I used to rent closed its doors long ago. And my piano is a keyboard I've had since 7 whose cord keeps absconding from me, so if your wondering I can play instruments I jsut have difficulty keeping track of them thus I use programs instead) I recently fo uh nd recordings I made at my families property two years ago on the old family piano, just me silently at night alone plucking out cords and slowly creating a song, and occassionally messing up... it was when I was first figuring out Lenna's theme. At the time trying to keep it more towards H.S. in theme and sound. This has since changed and I'm leaning more towards the other inspiration that shaped most of the characters since the start. So the sound has since changed. It used to have a country western sound to it.

[plungermusic]

"Americana-Cana-Cana-Cana Chameleon … "

Plunger's first encounter with Julian Taylor was the consummate sunny funk of 2019’s Avalanche; our next, 2020’s The Ridge, saw him in full rustic Country troubadour mode (carried off with equal aplomb) ... and then we discovered the rockier vibes of Desert Star! So we did wonder which version of Julian we’d see at The Water Rats in Kings Cross last week… as it turned out, all of them, and more. 

With a very personable stage presence, Julian introduced pretty much every track with a pertinent anecdote. A philosophical preamble on the nature of ‘family’, both personal and in the wider sense, led into the mellow country of Human Race, written for his sister: a perfect vehicle for his treacly Old School ‘Little Green Apples’ vocal, beautifully resonant at lower registers (and not too far from his normal speaking voice), impressively impassioned in the higher closing peaks. Be With You, inspired by the local kids-with-cancer-summer-camp was followed by the last of this solo acoustic introductory trio, the finger-picked bouncy backporch cakewalk 100 Proof, written with a friend to commemorate their respective grandfathers reaching 101, in the final chorus of which Julian seemed to be overwhelmed by emotion.

Julian was joined by Michele Stodart (whose short expressive solo set had opened proceedings) on bass, Rae Vennan on guitar and Siân Monaghan on drums, for the farmstead-childhood-inspired The Ridge: eerie slide (from Rae's dobro, slung bluegrass-style) and cymbal swells introducing a rattling country beat and killer three-part harmony chorus. The darker underlying themes of Seeds (the murderous exploitation of First Nation Americans and Black Africans) were delivered in a resolutely upbeat and optimistic Jackson Browne Cali-bustle, with sophisticated rhythms and fine harmonies. This also featured the first (of several) enthusiastic crowd participation spots! There was more Eaglesy Americana too in the mid-paced amble of Wide Awake’s journey from country boy rural pride to open-minded awareness.

Soft-mallet drums, piano accents (from Rae doubling on keys) and liquid bass propelled Ballad Of A Young Troubadour Julian’s recounting of teenage hitch-hiking adventures (“I think I wanted to be Jack Kerouac!”), its vocalised hook an ideal situation for more crowd participation. Rooted in the aftermath of a serious car accident (“I was OK really but I wrote off the car my grandfather got me”) Opening The Sky’s 'lessons of life to pass to the next generation' had an appropriately big sky jangle, subtle keys and bass underpinning, tom-rich drums, and levels of love for land and family rarely seen outside the likes of Lynyrd Skynrd!

Julian’s last song on acoustic before switching to a Telecaster for the remainder of the show was the bustling Mariachi-spiced Love Enough, full of mMexicali drama, Julian’s vox rich in Orbisonesque impassioned vibrato.

Back Again, celebrating rebirth/reawakening (in nature and in people) mixed breezy West Coast vibe with finger-snapping 50s bobby sox swing, topped with smooth soulful vocals. Siân switched from mallets to sticks to bring added oomph - aided by Rae’s choppy rhythm guitar - to the gospel-tinged country rock of Desert Star (Who Could Ask For Anything More) which included a nice vocalised ‘lead break’. 

Probably not very right on of us, but Plunger couldn’t help think of Robert Palmer’s Addicted To Love during Sweeter, its fuzzy slinky pulse (ZZ) Topped with Rae’s effective wah-wah Telecaster work; and the heavy, punchy, funk of Just A Little Bit evoked Prince-meets-Hall & Oates (particularly the latter, vocally) with the band vocalising the missing horn charts! A false ending to the latter preceded a driving disco-drum-driven coda, with the crowd this time dragooned into adding the horn phrases while Julian latino-rapped over the top. Introduced as “a little bit country, a little bit rock’n’roll, a little bit soul” Set Me Free’s relentless snare-powered Satisfaction beat allowed Julian to show off a gritty Neil Diamond / Bruce Springsteen rasp.

A chance encounter in a bar (and a chance encounter with a campfire) inspired the loping bass-led lascivious disco soul sleaze of Bobbi Champagne (providing a rare chance to hear a crowd of respectable middle-aged Brits bellowing ‘What’s my name? Bobbi Champagne’!) and an ex-partner’s love of “really ugly sweaters” was the spark for Be Good To Your Woman - a sweet, piano-backed, bluesy 60s soul number. The set closed with the storming Funkadelic-cum-Hendrix swagger of Zero To Eleven, but the crowd wouldn’t let him go without an encore: a highly sophisticated drum intro heralded the syncopated N’awlins beat and cracking harmonies of what Plunger *thinks* was Time from Avalanche (sadly we can’t be certain as our attention was hindered at this point by someone kicking over our pint… fair play though, he bought us another one). 

A thoughtful, often thought-provoking, performance from an artist whose low-key down home honest interactions instantly established a warm rapport with his audience, and whose songwriting skills and vocal dexterity (apparently across whichever genre takes his fancy) are second to none.

[neo-shitty]

toffee!

ah yeah, i think quarentine has given people some opportunity to actually just sit with the person they are, rather than be rushing around for the person they want to become. its good you got smth good out of isolation! ah thats great! hope you had fun and ur partner in crime speeds back home so you can get out more hehe.

ah yeah ty, good suggestions.

hmm good point, i was sort of putting it separate to the whole not-sexualising thing, but yeah. mmm yeah i totally agree, some of the enhypen fics/imagines *shudder* and even reading innie stuff is just a bit *icky* cos everyone still thinks of him as our agi ppang. yeah def would be good but sadly this just seems to be the world we live in. :(

ah yes the holy masterlist (not sarc) i have actually read in the rain and gladius maximus before, but ill go look for in class! oooh thats good! character development lol. hmmmm yes champagne problems was the angst to end all angst, that shit hurt. it was actually one of the first of your fics i read and i recall almost crying over the whole thing, it was so heartbreaking, i can see how it almost made you want to drop angst. good that youve allowed yourself some lee-way tho :)

hehe thats so cool. okay here we go, ill try not to be mortally offended (/hj)

cheese - yes same, i liked it but that was all there was, it wasnt a super standout track. it was rlly underwhelming for me but some of the hook is super catchy so there is Redemption (tm) in store for cheese maybe

thunderous - mmm, yeah at first i totally agreed, i think they suffer from too much good music syndrome, that all their other tracks are such fucking bops its hard to stay at that level of perfection. the choreo was beautiful tho and tbh, the track has grown on me since ive been watching all the vids abt it. its my brothers favourite track

domino - YES GODAMMIT IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE TITLE TRACK. the raps, the vocals, the vibes, the fucking domino sound in the back? i would have streamed that shit on repeat. but tbh, as good as it is, it doesnt have that sort of grandness/oomph that skz seems to like in their title tracks so i can see why they chose thunderous (tho domino would have been so good) *sigh*

ssick - yeah same, not my fave track by a long mile, the crowd cheering was a ?strange? choice and the chorus was a bit bare/empty, plus like i mentioned earlier, it was kinda funny to me for some reason but ill still play it if im playing thru the whole album

the view - ahh one of those not like other girls (/j) i honestly think its just a good party song, just a bop to play in the background when nobodys rlly paying much attention. its pretty generic pop music but catchy

sorry, i love you - hehe yeah i thought it was going to be sadder as well, but i rlly loved the fact that they all just got to sing, which almost never happens, i dont think ive heard felix sing for a long time, so i enjoyed it. wasnt rlly a standout track but i just casually like it. looking forward to the fic haha

silent cry - this song i swear, some bits are rlly good and then others are just? why?? it does sound like a dance song tho idk. definitely not one of my faves either

secret secret - YES its so good! its such a chill song and i love their vocals in it. the combination of lo-fi/fake strings backup stuff and their heavenly vocals just makes it *chefs kiss* im listening to it rn and just... its so beautiful. it gives me pumped up another day vibes ya know? like my pace is edgy get cool, this one is energetic another day i feel like. overall i love it

STAR LOST - ah thats so cool! i didnt know that! on first listen this song had a similar vibe to secret secret but then the beat came in and ahh its such a good song. i can totally imagine them putting this song to a concert footage vid, this song is so sweet.

red lights - LMAO YES ITS SO AWKWARD WHY DOES IT GO ON FOR SO LONG ah thats good! yeah good point, its quite intense hehe. but that is my fave trope and this is lowkey my favourite track on the album so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ just the combination of hyunjins and chans voices, the backing music, the lyrics ahh red lights my beloved

surfin’ - yes lmao its always a shock, i feel like they should have put gone away in between them, but its such a fun cute song, i cant get rlly mad. yeah, as an aussie i think im contractually obligated to like beaches lol. sand im not such a fan of, but my familys rlly into fishing and my brother loves bodyboarding so we stay at a beach house at least twice a year and we live like 5 mins from 3 different beaches (hehe all aussie cities are on the coast lol) so thats cool. do you like beaches?

gone away - ah gone away my beloved, i love this song sm, its just so pure and showcases their vocals and lyrics so well. yes the pitch change is very out of the blue, i feel liek they went directly from seungmins soft vocals to hans powerful ones which was an interesting choice, but hey, im not complaining

wolfgang - YES IKR ah im so happy he got to be included in that era and song. yeah its such a full on song i cant rlly listen to it if im in a quiet mood but its very motivating :)

hehe mood, i hope they do! ahhh no rest, but at least you wont have to pull a blink and wait a year for any word from the group lol. im not rlly into nct but im excited for them! ah hopefully youll be able to sneak some rest into that chaotic schedule, with enhypen (idk if u stan but yeah) squeezed into it haha

<3 w.a. 🐺

i wheezed at partner in crime, it reminded me of smth. i have a lee know fic in the drafts that i wrote 'in honor' of him (and his departure-ish). i'll tag you when i finish it, if you want. it's a rather hilarious one.

oh my god. based on my experience on the collabs i've joined before, writing explicit shit for '01 & '02 is not accepted (nct's maknaes) but with enha's hyung line '01 & '02 somehow it's okay? i do a double take every time i see fics like those i mean, technically, it's legal but still what the fuck. maybe it's just not for me at the moment. not at us venting our frustration about this. it's just something that's so accepted here that i am (in all honesty) slightly uncomfortable about. but oh well. that's kpop writerblr for you.

man i could've linked all the fics in the ask instead so you wouldn't have to go looking for them! i think i saw you like in class the other day (the fic i renamed into sharp-tongued, god it took me a while to remember the new title). describing champagne problems as an angst to end all angst is one way to put what i was feeling back in december. it just hurt to write and admit?? if that ever happened to me i would prolly cry :d

okay back to the album talk! i love how you answered with more thoughts. i love exchanges like these! i am a victim of the cheese hook and it's now one of my favorite tracks in the album. PLS, TOO MUCH GOOD MUSIC SYNDROME. that's on our self-producing kings 😌💅 also, your brother has taste! as i am typing this, domino's currently playing in my head and i realized that too, that it doesn't have that 'vibe' of a skz title track. honestly, this could be a title track of another group. ssick is starting to grown on me because i found the beats cool kdjsk not the not like other girls 😭 the view is the generic pop that i don't like but i get why a lot of people enjoy it. sorry i love you scratches a certain itch that i find myself singing the first few lines every time i remember it. i too would want to hear felix sing more!

> a mini junction on the album talk bc i got side tracked. on that topic, i want skz to switch positions at some point like i know those allrounders are capable of doing so. specifically, i want to hear seungmin rap!!!! (yk in the recent weekly idol he talked faster than changbin in a challenge and changbin is like the fastest rapper in kpop that's active atm if im not mistaken. my dandy boy has some potential and i want it UNLEASHED.)

back to album talk. silent cry is basically sad music to twerk to. secret secret is definitely one of my favorite tracks :( i loved how you compared the tracks HAJSAH i burst out laughing bc yk what, you're right! i want to make a star lost edit of skz but i simply do not have the time i want to cry. i love the song so much. ok, my dreaded track, red lights. idt i have played the track since we last talked. my friend sent me the lyrics tho and i'm itching to write a twisted au out of it. idk if you're comfortable with yandere but somewhere along those themes. the obsessive type of love that's sweet at first but turns rotten. IMAGINE IF THEY PUT GONE AWAY BETWEEN ASHJA it's like going from 50 shades to the notebook.

i was about to ask if you lived near the coast and you literally mentions it here god im so stupid. yes i LOOOOOOOOOVE beaches so much. living in an archipelago is fun :( i live in a part of the country that's more island than city so every time i want some vitamin sea it's accessible. i heard the waves in australia are great :( anYWHOOO gone away :(( every time it plays im compelled to skip it because it makes me sAD AND NOWADAYS I DONT HAVE THE TIME TO BE SAD. contrary to you, i dislike my quiet moods because i tend to overthink a lot.

i have this little analogy about how there are stays that enjoy songs the generic pop + mellow songs and then there are other stays that enjoy the noisy tracks. in my mind, it's like a perfect balance that makes me feel like all the tracks are loved in the end. just by different people.

PULL A BLINK. bro i fucking hate yg entertainment. they have the biggest kpop girl group LOCKED in their basement when they could be (and i mean this in the most business-like way not morally) milking money of the quad. they're yg's biggest hope at not being bankrupt atm so it's a damn fucking mystery to me as to how they aren't doing anything. (jk i just realized lisa solo album soon, but i still need a ot4 cb hELLO)

i stopped looking forward to the teasers. rest > kpop boys. i don't want to sound like a cult member but have you tried checking out nct? are they just not your thing? (i get it tho, that's one hard group to get into). and yes i do stan enhypen!

wow i love how long these asks are! they're like online penpals. but i also want to ask about you! how have you been lately? are you feeling okay both mentally and physically? how's the weather there? do you have anything that you want to talk about? maybe an interesting book you read? feel free to bring up anything you want to share! i'm getting conscious about talking about myself HAJHSJ

and yet another long answer B) i am sooo sorry T___T should these ask exchanges feel draining to you, feel free to stop sending them in AAAA

[pawsnread]

Untamed Winter Fest Day 13: Family

In which brothers argue over what exactly constitutes a holiday movie while Xiao Xingchen watches.

An expansion of the Second Intentions story.

Xiao Xingchen was the youngest of twelve, but he mostly grew up alone. His four closest siblings in age still outstripped him by ten years; when he was old enough to begin kindergarten, Jun, Lian, Qiang, and Xue were starting to think about college and future careers. His other siblings lived in various parts of China, which meant Xingchen had spent little of his formative years with them. He loved his family and, despite the distance and difference in age, they were quite close. 

Their closeness didn’t quite compare to the tight knit bond Song Lan shared with his brothers. From the moment he met them, Xingchen knew that even brothers who shared blood sometimes didn’t have the connection Song Lan had with Sam, David, and Joaquin. They knew each other’s buttons and soft points, the best way to aggravate each other, but also the best way to comfort one another.

“We are not watching the Sound of Music again!”

“But it’s a holiday classic!”

“Not for the fifteenth time it isn’t!”

Xingchen pulled the blanket over his nose in an attempt to keep warm and hide his amused smile. Song Lan was on his feet in the middle of the living room, arguing with Sam and Joaquin over the television and what they were going to watch that evening. David had given up a few minutes before and left for the kitchen to help their uncle prepare snacks. 

“Xingchen,” Joaquin called, hope alighting in his eyes as he turned to him, “what do you think?”

“No!” Song Lan put himself between them and squarely in Joaquin’s line of sight. He pointed between himself and his brothers. “This is between us. I know you like this movie…”

“I love this movie,” Joaquin corrected.

“…but please don’t make us watch it again. I don’t think I could take another chorus of ‘do a deer, a female deer’ again.” Out of the corner of his eye, Song Lan caught Sam nodding in agreement. “Can we please watch something else tonight?”

Joaquin sighed in resignation as he started rifling through the DVDs. “Fine. Since I have uncultured jocks for brothers…”

“I resent that statement!” David yelled from the kitchen.

“…how about Die Hard?”

“Die Hard isn’t a holiday movie,” Xingchen said quietly. He shrank back as three pairs of eyes stared at him in disbelief. “Is it?”

“It takes place on Christmas Eve,” Sam replied, falling into a recliner with an ‘oomph’.

“During a Christmas party,” David said as he returned with a tray of popcorn - buttered and caramel covered - and three different varieties of Doritos.

“And it plays every Christmas holiday,” Joaquin concluded as he popped in the disc.

“But…”

“Don’t you start,” Song Lan muttered as he settled onto the long side of the sectional couch. Wrapping an arm around Xingchen’s waist, he pulled him cross the seat and onto his lap before patting his head affectionately. “Now hush and just watch the movie.”

“And no making out just because the lights are off!”

David deserved the decorative pillow chucked at his head.

Hiding another smile, Xingchen curled against Song Lan’s side and listened to the running commentary the brothers had going throughout the movie - which occasionally included a waywardly flung chip.

With him now in college, Aunt Baoshan had been spending more time away from home, visiting relatives and Xingchen’s other siblings. Despite him now being twenty and more than capable of looking after himself, she didn’t fancy the notion of Xingchen being in the house alone while she was away. The previous year she had arranged for Song Lan to stay in Boston during the winter holidays; this year, Xingchen had headed to Beacon.

Xingchen suspected it was less worry for his safety and more of her way to get him to spend more time with Song Lan. Which was something he was never going to complain about having too much of. 

“It is not possible to be able to land a body precisely on the hood of a car from that height,” David complained. “The physics doesn’t add up.”

“Shut up, Mr. The-Science-Doesn’t-Make-Sense.” Sam flicked half a Dorito chip in his brother’s direction. “Who cares about physics?” This earned him a fistful of popcorn thrown at him, most of which ended up on Song Lan and Xingchen. The former flicked a kernel out of Xingchen’s hair, hitting Sam squarely on the nose and earning himself a glare.

“Hey!” Joaquin shouted. “Who finished all the caramel popcorn?”

“Boys!” Li Baixue roared over all of them, his voice booming and deep despite his diminutive stature. “Act like adults instead of filthy pigs!” There was a mumbled chorus of ‘sorry, Uncle’ before all four boys slunk down in their seats. Xingchen bit down on his lip to try and hold in his amused laughter, schooling his expression into one of innocence when Song Lan gave him the side eye.

He wouldn’t trade his own family for the world, but Xingchen was also happy to be a part of this one.

[makeste]

a BnHA playlist/fanmix thing

@psqqa so I finally put together a list of some of my BnHA playlist tracks! this is by no means comprehensive because I have literally half a dozen different playlists with different themes (e.g. “instrumentals”, “BakuDeku”, “songs that either remind me of Kacchan or that he would work out to”, “angsty apocalyptic final battle”, and so forth) and omg it’s a lot. but this is my most inclusive playlist, which consists of general character theme songs for most of class 1-A, the League of Villains, and a few others. my taste in music generally leans towards alternative/indie/rock/grunge, but it can kind of go all over the place. so the genres may vary here and there, especially since I opted to go with whichever song I felt fit the character best regardless of how well the tracks all blended together musically.

also I have a bakudeku bias but THAT’S NOT EXACTLY BREAKING NEWS what can I say. and this is actually me holding back lol but oh well.

Deku - Rise (Katy Perry) - “makeste did you really just kick off your BnHA playlist with a Katy Perry song” yeah I did! because!! I won’t just survive/oh you will see me thrive/can’t write my story/I’m beyond the archetype. like, this song was made for anime protagonists. oh ye of little faith/don’t doubt it, don’t doubt it/victory is in my veins/I know it, I know it. this kid just doesn’t give up. this is no mistake, no accident/when you think the final nail is in, think again/don’t be surprised/I will still rise.

bonus: Blood (Archis) - this song is fucking gorgeous both musically and lyrically. don’t let them win/don’t let them get/under your skin, into your head/they’re full of it/you’re full of life/you’ll prove them right if you’re giving up/so let’s go for blood. it really is fucked up how dismissive BnHA society is of anyone who’s quirkless. it’s so stupid too, because the majority of quirks aren’t even all that great. “look at me I can make DSLR lenses pop out of my body!” lol fucking great. so obviously superior to normal people who have to take pictures with actual cameras like fucking scrubs. anyway, so Deku was written off from a young age as helpless, defective, and deficient, all because he lacked a quirk. so it’s been so fucking great to watch him finally prove them all wrong. (...by getting a quirk. lol. but STILL.) well it sure took a while to turn it around/but I never gave up on me.

Bakugou - We Will Rock You (VonLichten mix) (Queen) - I like this version of the song because it adds a bit of an extra oomph and it’s a little bit fiercer. anyways, this has been my Bakugou theme song since day one, and what I love about it is that each verse works for a different stage of his ~journey~. buddy you’re a boy/make a big noise/playing in the street/gonna be a big man someday -- this is Katsuki as a fearless young child, with hints at the growing chip on his shoulder (kicking your can all over the place). and then the second verse is him a little older, starting out at UA -- buddy you’re a young man/hard man/shouting in the street/gonna take on the world someday -- and proclaiming to the world that he’ll be number one. and lastly we have the final verse, with its line gonna make you some peace someday, which I know is meant in a make-peace-with-things-before-the-end kind of way, but in a BnHA context you can totally tweak it to be a reference to the man he’s aspiring to be. gonna make you some peace, because he’s gonna be greater than the Symbol of Peace himself someday.

bonus: Defy You (The Offspring) - the wind blows/I’ll lean into the wind/my anger grows/I’ll use it to win/the more you say/the more I defy you/so get out of my way. perfect song for a boy who cannot and will not be stopped. you cannot stop us/you cannot bring us down/never give up/we’ll go on and on. or, in his words: “I will win... that’s what heroes do.”

All Might - Legends Never Die (League of Legends OST) - listen I have never played League of Legends lol, but ever since I heard this song in a Marvel edit, this has been the All Might song for me. you could probably just watch the Kamino battle on mute with this song in the background and everything would fit. legends never die/when the world is calling you/can you hear them screaming out your name?/legends never die/they become a part of you/every time you bleed for reaching greatness/relentless, you survive. the lyrics basically speak for themselves. we stan a champion.

Aizawa - I’ll Make a Man Out of You (Mulan OST) - y’all I went through so many songs looking for something that summarized Aizawa’s tiredness/doneness-with-life while also alluding to his mentor side, and then suddenly BAM, it hit me. anyways so yeah. you’re the saddest bunch I ever met/but you can bet before we’re through/mister I’ll make a man out of you. also just try to listen to the “say goodbye to those who knew me/boy was I a fool in school for cutting gym/THIS GUY’S GOT ‘EM SCARED TO DEATH” part without picturing 1-A bitching about their scruffy teacher overlord whom they secretly love.

bonus: I’m So Tired (Fugazi) - if you’re looking for something more musically cohesive with the rest of this playlist in general, as opposed to SUDDEN DISNEY SONG OUT OF NOWHERE, this may be a bit more up your alley lol. I’m so tired sheep are counting me/no more struggle, no more energy/no more patience/and you can write that down/it’s all too crazy and I’m not sticking round. anyways Aizawa needs a nap.

Todoroki - Alive (Sia) - I grew up overnight/I played alone, I played on my own/I survived/I wanted everything I never had/like the love that comes with life/I wore envy and I hated it/but I survived. guys this little candy cane boy has been through some shit. but he hung in there and now he is thriving. I’m still breathing/I’m alive.

Ochako - You Gotta Be (Des’ree) - because she’s a badass. you gotta be bad, you gotta be bold, you gotta be wiser/you gotta be hard, you gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger/you gotta be cool, you gotta be calm, you gotta stay together. anyways I sure would like Ochako to get the spotlight in an arc again one of these days. she’s the best.

Iida - Never Die (FNDTY) - it was actually pretty hard to find a song that fit Iida’s unique forty-year-old man personality since my musical tastes usually run towards moody shit and he’s pretty much the opposite of that lol. but I think the tempo of this song fits his quirk, at least, and it makes me smile, which he does also. you can run/you can fly/you can never die.

Kirishima - Guts Over Fear ft. Sia (Eminem)  - so this is a song all about overcoming your insecurities and finding the courage within yourself. I freaking love how the pre-chorus I was afraid to make a single sound/afraid I would never find a way out builds up and transitions into so here I am and I will not run/guts over fear. I’m so proud of Kiri you guys.

Momo - You Are Young (Keane) - another song about getting the better of your personal doubts and demons! hey now, don’t be scared, baby, don’t be scared at all/of all the things you don’t know/you’ve got time to realize. Momo has so much potential and she’s going to be such an incredible hero one day. now that she’s gaining more confidence the sky is pretty much the limit for her. you’ve got time/you’ve got to try/to bring some good into this world/cause you are young.

Mina - Safe and Sound (Capital Cities) - oh hey it’s the most upbeat song in the world, for the world’s most cheerful and optimistic and endlessly delightful person. I could fill your cup/you know my river won’t evaporate/this world we still appreciate/you could be my luck/even in a hurricane of frowns/I know that we’ll be safe and sound.

Kaminari - Thunderstruck (AC/DC) - okay yeah maybe I didn’t try too hard on this one lol. BUT IF THE SHOE FITS and honestly, it does. title aside, I think this song fits Kaminari musically too. it’s badass and it puts a smile on your face. went through to Texas/yeah Texas/and we had some fun/we met some girls/some dancers who gave a good time/broke all the rules/played all the fools. and then, of course, the chorus. you’ve been thunderstruck.

Jirou - Dream On (Aerosmith) - you know I had to go with a rock song for Jirou, so might as well go with a classic that’s all about (a) loving music (sing with me, sing for the year/sing for the laughter, sing for the tear) and (b) shooting for your dreams. dream on, dream on/dream until your dreams come true.

Tokoyami - Dark Necessities (Red Hot Chili Peppers) - I could have possibly gone with something a bit more goth for Toko as opposed to the Chilis, but the lyrics just fit so well though. you don’t know my mind/you don’t know my kind/dark necessities are part of my design/tell the world that I’m falling from the sky/dark necessities are part of my design/do you want this love of mine?/darkness helps us all to shine. Tokoyami doesn’t get enough respect for being a teenage edgelord without being a cringey mess. he’s setting such a good example for others.

so that’s pretty much it for my 1-A songs, but here are some bonus BakuDeku songs because I am obsessed

Muddy Waters (LP) - this is my theme for Deku VS Kacchan 2. goddamn Katsuki is such a hot fucking mess during this fight. and he’s hurting so much, and he’s reaching out to the only person he knows to reach out to in the only way he knows how. I will ask you for mercy/I will come to you blind/what you’ll see is the worst me/I’m not the last of my kind/in the muddy water we’re falling/in the muddy water we’re crawling. this song brings that good angst you guys. this is a relationship that has been through the wringer, and two boys who have basically no idea what they are doing, just kind of stumbling along. it is not clear why we choose the fire pathway/where we end is not the way that we had planned/all the spirits gathered round like it’s our last day/to get across you know we’ll have to raise the sand. anyways these kids chose the highest possible difficulty level for their path forward, but they’re doing it though. together, y’all.

Admiration (Incubus) - because Izuku is frankly infatuated and doesn’t even try to hide it. you’re an unfenced fire/over walls we’ve trampled/it’s you I admire/my living example. “an amazing person who was even closer to me than All Might.” he’s so open in his respect and awe for practically everything Kacchan does. just staring at him in starry-eyed wonder. and this part of their dynamic has always been so compelling to me -- how unconditional it is on Izuku’s part. that is some fiercely strong love there on his part that it can survive all the bullshit Kacchan heaps onto it, and all his best attempts to snuff it out. he just latched on and wouldn’t let go. anyways it resulted in something extremely unhealthy for quite a while, but it’s turning around now and being reciprocated, even if Kacchan’s version is prickly and tentative. don’t get ahead of me/could we just this once see eye to eye?

Ordinary Love (U2) - I can’t fight you anymore/it’s you I’m fighting for/the sea throws rocks together/but time leaves us polished stones. I fucking love that metaphor, though. yeah, just give them time. they’re gonna figure this all out one day.

and have a bonus theme song for class 1-A in general before we move on

Charlie Brown (Coldplay) - something about this song just embodies that restive, fidgety energy of youth to me. all the boys, all the girls/all that matters in the world/all the boys, all the girls/all the madness that occurs/all the highs, all the lows/as the room a-spinning goes/we’ll run riot/we’ll be glowing in the dark. there’s like a disorderly, disheveled beauty to this. say what you will about Coldplay, but some of their songs are like the musical equivalent of a rainbow.

anyways so now I’m gonna segue into some songs for a few of the season 4 characters. starting with...

Nighteye - While I’m Still Here (Nine Inch Nails) - ticking time is running out/yesterday I found out the world was ending. I still can’t get over how psychologically devastating Nighteye’s quirk is. it’s basically just Major Bummer: The Quirk. this season is really going to fuck me up emotionally isn’t it. a little more/every day/falls apart and/slips away/I don’t mind/I’m okay/wish it didn’t have to end this way. fucking hell. guess I better brace myself for some solid gut punches to the soul.

Eri - Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) (Florence + the Machine) - nothing to see here, just a little girl being treated as nothing more than a human bloodbank, and told that her quirk is nothing but a curse even as her abuser hoards it and uses it to wage a war. this is a gift, it comes with a price/who is the lamb and who is the knife?/Midas is king and he holds me so tight/and turns me to gold in the sunlight. but I also picked this song for Eri because of the way the POV slowly gathers up their courage and tries to fight back. I wish that I could just be brave/I must become a lion-hearted girl/ready for a fight/before I make the final sacrifice. excuse me I need to go hug Eri.

Mirio - Carry On (fun.) - okay so it was kind of hard to pick a song for Mirio, I think maybe I was overthinking it. anyways I ended up going with something hopeful to try and embody his endless, determined optimism. this song has kind of a quiet courage that builds up as it goes on. my favorite part is the second bridge: cause we are/we are shining stars/we are invincible/we are who we are/on our darkest day/when we’re miles away/so we’ll come/we will find our way home.

bonus: Mirio and Tamaki - Kids (Acoustic) (OneRepublic) - back when we were kids/swore we would never die/you and me were kids/swear that we’ll never die. lol at least we have one healthy childhood friendship to stan in this series.

and now on to THE VILLAINS, yay. this is probably the most musically cohesive section of this playlist, since VILLAINS!! means I can go with an overall darker ambiance.

All for One - Sympathy for the Devil (Neptunes Remix) (Rolling Stones) - didn’t even have to think about this one. please allow me to introduce myself/I’m a man of wealth and taste/I’ve been around for a long, long year/stole many a man’s soul and faith. this is the gentleman villain song and a perfect fit IMO.

Tomura - Pet (A Perfect Circle) - or really, this is more “AFO and Tenko”, I guess. manipulating a traumatized child into hating the world and raising him to become a killer. pay no mind to what other voices say/they don’t care about you like I do/safe from pain and truth and choice and other poison devils/see, they don’t give a fuck about you like I do/just stay with me/safe and ignorant. this is one of those songs where literally the entire song fits both lyrically and musically. just perfect. I’ll be the one to protect you from your enemies and your choices, son/they’re one and the same/I must isolate you/isolate and save you from yourself. like it’s a struggle here not to quote the entire song. ...eh, one more. swinging to the rhythm of the new world order and/counting bodies like sheep to the rhythm of the war drums.

bonus: Flesh and Bone (Black Math) - Tenko angst. god that last arc was so fucking good. I walk alone, beside myself/nowhere to go/this bleeding heart that’s in my hands/I fell apart. stupid manga with its darkly compelling villain character arcs.

Dabi - Shadow on the Sun (Audioslave) - aaaangst lol. and I can tell you why/people go insane/I can show you how/you could do the same. p.s. Dabi you still owe me a flashback! also “shadow on the sun” is a pretty good metaphor for his relationship with Endeavor. fire quirks make for such great metaphor potential.

Toga - Bones (MS MR) - you know I really have no idea why this song pings me so hard for Toga lol. but whatever, it is what it is. marinate in misery/like a girl of only 17/man-made madness/and the romance of sadness.

Twice - Misfits (Third Eye Blind) - my people are the misfits/the ones that don’t fit in. this is another song that clicked pretty naturally without requiring much thought on my part. well those are the ones for me/yeah those are the ones for me/the misfits, the freaks, the enemy/you and me.

Spinner - Normal Person (Arcade Fire) - is anything as strange as a normal person?/is anyone as cruel as a normal person/waiting after school for you/they want to know if you/if you’re normal too/well are you? this song is such a burn on quirk society and all of its issues. I can’t tell if I’m a normal person, it’s true/I think I’m cool enough/but am I cruel enough? I especially love the ending -- if that’s what’s normal now/I don’t want to know.

and a bonus League of Villains song:

Everybody Wants to Rule the World (Tears for Fears cover) (Lorde) - just change “rule” to “destroy” I guess lol. help me make the most of freedom/and of pleasure/nothing ever lasts forever/everybody wants to rule the world. god I love this cover. this is one of those songs I’ll play over and over again anyway so it’s nice to have a good excuse what with the direction this new arc appears to be headed in.

and lastly, a couple of Hawks and Endeavor songs because they don’t really fit in any other section and I didn’t really plan out this post!

Hawks - Weapon (Matthew Good) - just a really nice, angsty theme for the man who goes too fast, off on his spy mission of doom. careful, you be careful/this is where the world drops off. plus some bonus angst about how he’s trapped in this role that he never wanted to be in. and you give in/and you give out for it/ain’t it so weird/how it makes you a weapon.

Endeavor - Find My Way (Nine Inch Nails) - lord my path has gone astray/I’m just trying to find my way/wandered here from far away/I’m just trying to find my way/you were never meant to see/all those things inside of me/now that you have gone away/I’m just trying to find my way. I don’t really need to comment more on this, do I? also, the part where Trent Reznor’s voice drops to a whisper and says please/I never meant for this, though. omg. Endeavor you’re such a bitch and you had all of this coming, but even so. oof.

and that’s pretty much it! she said, like this post wasn’t long af as it is lol. anyway so there are... 34 songs here, lol. I should probably try and put it all into a youtube playlist or something for convenience. I’ll edit once I’ve done that.

edit: playlist!

[hemogobbler]

Date Night

Catra and Adora go on a romantic date in Bright Moon’s commercial district. Swift Wind is also there. G - 1.4k // Read on Ao3 or after the break!

===

Cobblestone lines the streets of Bright Moon’s commercial district, lanterns tempting passers-by into their warm glow, pulling them from the night into the many restaurants and bars that promised good food and good times. 

Exotic cuisine she’s never heard of, chalkboards noting “happy hours” that would be more appealing if Adora wasn’t in charge of all their collective money, and a leaderboard of times outside a particularly lively bar for something called a ‘rodeo bull’?

Catra studied each and every shop-front like she was scoping out targets for an artillery strike. The walls would never hold up under concentrated fire. She tries to relax but people keep staring at her. Adora’s jacket suddenly settles around her shoulders. 

It helps. It smells nice. 

“What’re you doing?” Catra asks her; Adora looks flustered.

“You looked… cold?” Adora says and then squints like she’s realized how bad she is at this.

“I wasn’t.” 

“Oh.” 

“Now I’m too warm.” 

“I’ll just take it b - ”

“No, no it’s--it’s fine. Thanks.”

Adora takes a breath and squeezes her hand. “You okay?” 

Catra looks down at their hands and smiles. She squeezes back. 

“...Yeah. Never better, actually. But, people are watching us.” 

“People are looking at the saviors of Etheria? No way?” Adora is grinning.

Catra punches her.

“Probably thinkin’ they can’t trust me. Here I am, the evil Lord Catra, seducing ol’ legendary She-Ra, Etheria’s last, best hope for peace, about to give her a hangover that’ll knock all the glory right outta her.”

“I promise you they’re not thinking that. And She-Ra doesn’t get hangovers.”

Catra groans. “Of course. Princess of Power. Lucky you.” 

“Lucky you.”

Adora takes both her hands, now, and they stop in the middle of the street. Adora faces her, tenderness gracing her pretty blue eyes. She gives Catra a careful kiss, touching her face softly while keeping a hand pressed at her back. People watch Catra go beet-red as they part, smiling.

“Lucky me.” Catra catches her breath and savors the feeling of joy making her heart dance.

“If you don’t wanna walk, we don’t have to.” Adora offers.

“Ooh, moneybags over here gonna spring for a carriage? How romantic.” 

“At those prices? Hell no. I’ve got something better.” 

Adora clears her throat and looks up to the sky. Catra watches her in confusion. The princess puts her hands around her mouth and shouts:

“EQUINE RIGHTS!” 

In the distance, trumpets can be heard, sounding a glorious chorus of revolution that reaches every star in the sky. A silhouette of a winged angel appears before the moon, which descends from heaven slowly, gracefully, but perhaps with one too many loop-de-loops, and then Catra realizes it’s just Swift Wind.

His hooves clip-clop along the cobblestone in a way that is immensely satisfying as he reaches the duo with a wide horsey smile. He shakes his orange mane out and Catra has to admit it is pretty majestic. 

“ADORA! Is it finally time to unite our be-saddled brothers and sisters and cast off the reins of servitude? Horde Prime may be defeated, but I’m afraid the evil of late-stage capitalism is as pervasive as ever here in Bright Moon! Have you seen those poor carriage horses?! Hours spent slaving away for naught but hay!” 

He looks at Adora expectedly, with great excitement in his voice. She pokes her fingers together awkwardly and rubs the back of her neck, sucking in air through her teeth.

“Uhh… yeah, about that… we kinda... just need a lift…” 

A nervous laugh trails away into silence. Swift Wind looks from Adora to Catra and back again. He puts on a smile but the oomph in his voice is clearly diminished as the fires of revolt die back down.

“OF COURSE! I would be thrilled to use our sacred bond to be your taxi for the night.”

“Thanks, Swifty. I owe you.” 

Adora pats his neck and they climb up on him. Catra’s nails dig into him and she mutters her apologies before retracting them. 

“Yes, you do!” 

---

“Stop singing.” 

Catra deadpans, high in the sky, locking her arms around Adora’s waist for… stability. 

“As long as you rate me five stars! Haha! A joke, but the state of wage-slavery in Etheria is no laughing matter! Horses will not eat if they don’t meet the stringent requirements of their so-called ‘masters.’ It is an outrage!” 

The rest of their flight is spent in relative quiet. Catra actually finds it charming. Beautiful, even. 

Below, tiny homes and tinier lights twinkle like the stars above. Galaxies shine throughout the cosmos, faint clouds cut through by dazzling moonlight. Adora’s light hair flows into the night, blowing back into Catra’s face. She doesn’t mind. 

Catra notices her shivering and realizes… her jacket! They were so high up and it was already cold out and Adora wanted her to have it! There are goosebumps along her gorgeous arms, the sweet baby. She decides to keep her toasty in its place. 

She wraps the jacket around them both, draping her arms over Adora’s shoulders and snuggling into her neck. Adora leans into the touch and is rewarded with a long, loving purr. Fur meets skin, creating genuine warmth and laughter that resounds through the air. 

Catra adds her lips to the equation, tickling Adora’s neck with little wet kisses. Adora holds Catra’s head to her, running fingers through wild hair and stroking her freckled cheek on the way back down. Catra thinks they’ve left the atmosphere and stumbled upon heaven, and that no fancy dinner could ever be as sweet as this moment.

Adora turns her neck and tenderly touches her forehead to Catra’s. Over the wind, Catra hears her say ‘I love you’, and now, she’s sure, they’ve found paradise. She repeats the words and holds her tight, promising to never let her go.

On their descent, they allow Swifty his song, and he makes it count, belting out a love ballad just for them. 

“When the moons hit your eye like a sweet oatcake, why, that's amore~!” 

---

When they reach the fancy restaurant, the waitress isn’t thrilled by Catra’s lack of shoes, peering at her bare feet for an uncomfortably long amount of time before allowing them in. 

They’re seated by a fish-tank, and when she’s informed that they can eat whatever one they want, she goes ballistic. The servers fail to stop her from reaching in herself, selecting a red fish with a lot of fight and sending water everywhere. 

They are now seated by two wet floor signs, but Catra gets to keep her fish because She-Ra. Her fish is served with eel sauce (which is way better than it sounds) and delectable greens, while Adora opts for a chunky t-bone. 

Throughout it all, while people might occasionally glance over at the couple devouring their meals in a way that would disgust even Huntara, Catra finds she doesn’t mind it as much. They go back to their dinners, their own laughter, and conversations, and she finds, through mouthfuls of fish, she can go back to hers. 

Adora’s even more beautiful when her cheeks are filled with steak… somehow. In the glow of the restaurant’s lighting, Catra finds Adora’s hair poof disheveled from the flight and tucks in a loose strand for her with gentle fingers.

They eat better than they ever have in their lives, and it shows on the bill.

“I’ll pay,” Catra says, determined.

“You don’t have any money,” Adora counters. 

“And whose fault is that? Scorpia told me I should offer to pay.” 

“Aw, sweet. It’s okay, pretty sure I get a She-Ra discount.” 

The server comes over and Adora asks, flashing the remnants of her sword-bracelet, “She-Ra discount?”

The server looks at her long and hard but says nothing. Adora sighs and transforms upon which her head immediately collides with the ceiling, leaving a hole bigger than the one in their wallets. Catra laughs at the big doof rubbing her head and, now, all eyes are on them. 

She-Ra sits back down, embarrassed, and the chair snaps under her. This is Catra’s best day ever. She helps her up off her ass and flicks the after-dinner mint square in her mouth. Catra winks at the server, who sighs a long, long, painfully long sigh.

“We’ll pay for all this… tomorrow--ADORA, RUN!” 

Catra grabs her by the hand and yanks the giant woman out of the half-destroyed restaurant, who screams, over and over through peals of laughter:

“EQUINE RIGHTS, EQUINE RIGHTS!”

[pathogenic]

Y’all are getting tunes whether you ask for them or not

1. A song that reminds you of your childhood

Orinoco Flow - Enya

One of my favorite songs as a kid. I still listen to it because I love the otherworldly feel it has to it. Plus now I associate it with Myst because the instrumentals are a lot like the Myst classic soundtrack. That matters because the Myst series is the only video game my mom plays and I have fond memories watching her play.

2. A song to sleep to

Bad Wings - The Glitch Mob

The Glitch Mob has a lot of tracks I find to be rather soothing. This one especially because it is slower than most of their other tracks. I actually found this one when I was playing my bed time Pandora radio like back in ohhhh 2014 I believe? So it works.

3. A song that your best friend loves

We’ll roll with Isa over @ aiiizawa 

Pay No Mind (Feat. Passion Pit) - Madeon

Feeling is pretty mutual on how much this song rocks. It is nice, bouncy, and the song just makes you feel warm all over.

4. A song that hypes you the fuck up

Never Gonna Stop (The Red, Red Kroovy) - Rob Zombie

I will not be surprised when I get a speeding ticket due to this song. It’s just that good and I will never not go apeshit to it. I also love the bass in the intro, it sounds fucking killer in almost every car/truck I’ve been in.

5. A song you like to daydream to

Here Comes the Rain Again - Eurythmics

It’s soothing, it has a sweet vibe to it, it also has a longing feel to it. It works for almost every ship of mine, it instantly puts me in a mood. What else could I want from it?

6. A song that’s on at least 3 of your playlists

Bite Me! (Chrom Remix) - Hocico

This one was recommended to me by a very dear friend and I just love it. It’s on my personal playlist, a playlist for a friend’s character, and my general VtM playlist. It’s just a really cool song.

7. A song that you love from a genre you don’t usually like

Train, Train - Blackfoot

Rockabilly is something I want to get more into, but I really am so choosy. This was one given to me by my Dad and he was absolutely right to. The song fucking slaps.

8. A song that you liked when you where 10 that still slaps

Imaginary - Evanescence

I’ve loved Evanescence since I was a little one and I’m still right on that. Amy Lee’s voice is amazing and I still listen to her very often. This one was my favorite as a kid because on the Fallen album, you go from Tourniquet with it’s full orchestra ending and then it drops to this single violin in the intro and that rocked. I was always so excited to hear it as a kid. I also loved shouting “FLOWERS”. Didn’t really know any of the other lyrics until much later.

9. A song that makes you want to go on an adventure

Uncharted Worlds - Sam Hulick

Is it cheating to pull from a game OST? Either way, this song always makes me want to explore the galaxy. Lucky bastards in ME.

10. A song you’d want to dance with your partner to ( or future partner )

Ragtime Cat (Ft. Lilja Bloom) - Parov Stelar

I’ll take my L on this one, but I do genuinely love electro swing, I love swing dancing, and this one feels like the perfect one to dance with. It has a fun tempo and I also love the jump between new and old in this song.

11. A song to stomp around and pout to

Happy? - Mudvayne

I mean really, what else do you need beyond a passive-aggressive nu metal song to be angry to?

12. A song to listen to whilst you lie in a meadow

Wheel in the Sky - Journey

Sounds like the perfect place to contemplate, and Wheel in the Sky is the perfect song to do that with. Think about the future and fate while enjoying a good tune by Journey.

13. A song that reflects your views on love

Sparks - Faith and the Muse

Kind of my go to love song? There is a reverence and a hesitance in this song that really speaks to me. Love is scary, but it’s alive and well.

14. A song to sing to the sun

I could have been cheeky and picked The Sun by Gothminister, but I won’t

Honestly, I’m not sure how to read this, so take something that is definitely a daytime tune with Song 2 - Blur

Not a “sun” song, but I always associate it with the kind of sports I like and that as close as I can get.

15. A song you like that sounds like its on the soundtrack to an indie coming of age film

Volcanic Jig - Natalie MacMaster

Feels like the kind of light, bouncy stuff they would play in an opening scene to me.

16. A song that you like that romanticises being a teenager

Electricity - Red City Radio

At least part of it. It has a growing up with someone you like kind of feel to it and part of that would have to be being a teen. Beyond that, evidently nothing I listen to matches this either.

17. A song that makes you want to grab your friends jump up and down dancing and screaming the lyrics

Devil’s Dance Floor - Flogging Molly

Mostly because it’s just the song stuck in my head really bad, but that chorus, it sounds so fun to sing!!

18. A song that you like that the lyrics are just so beautiful they’re practically poetry

Oh I regret using Sparks already

Love You To Life - Grace Jones

Might as well be a poem really! Just take a listen and enjoy.

19. A song that you can imagine listening to in an abandoned church ( if it isn’t hozier im judging you, but whatever )

Listen to more artists

Sunday Morning - The Bolshoi

I would pick this one for a number of reasons - first off, it has a good sort of distant feeling to me that matches an abandoned place, second it has to deal with negative feelings with Christianity, which would match my mood best while standing in a church, abandoned or not.

20. A song from the soundtrack of a film that you like so much after the film finished you immediately looked for it

Warrior Falls -  Ludwig Göransson

Yes, it is a Marvel movie soundtrack, but consider - The drums in the Black Panther Soundtrack rock. Now to be honest, this is like one of the only movie soundtracks I have saved. If we went video game, then god it might have to be

Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag Main Theme - Brian Tyler

AC soundtracks in general tend to fucking rock, but this theme is so powerful every time I hear it, I’m fuckin ready to be a pirate.

21. A song for when the sun has gone down and you are feeling absolutely buck-wild with exhilaration!

Augen Auf - Oomph!

I have so many songs that work for this. This is normally when I listen to music so I have many Manic Energy Songs. 

22. A song that makes you feel like you’re strolling through Ancient Greece living your best life

Very specific indeed, but perhaps Antvmnos - Eluveite ?

Tell me it wouldn’t be perfect to stroll a Greek shoreline with.

23. A song that when you listen to it you’re transported to a liminal space, time is pointless and you must sit and wallow in the void that remains

Black Car - Beach House

I listen to this song and my mind is instantly somewhere indescribable and unknowable and all I can do is listen, relax, and go through it. It’s very pleasant to me.

24. A song to listen to on a long drive when you have the really strong urge to keep driving until you find somewhere to start a new life (preferably a europian city whose language you don’t speak)

Perhaps not that exactly, but a song that makes me want to be a weary traveler seeing sights most can only dream of is Far Horizons - Jeremy Soule

[queenarticlearchive]

September 11, 1976

Phil McNeill

New Musical Express

If punters queue when they’ve already got tickets…

…You’re witnessing A Phenomen. And such was the situation when Queen played the Edinburgh Festival - with supporters of The Young Pretender paying their man and his men the ultimate tribute… But what of the music? What of the future? Is our combination-clad Hero prancing up a blind alley?

It’s a freezing Edinburgh wind that whips up the bare slope by the Playhouse Theatre to torment the massed masochists who queue, strung out a full quarter of a mile, for Queen’s first British gig of 1976.

Masochists? Am I revealing my prejudice against the four wonderboys already? Actually, no: masochists because they’ve all got tickets already, and, while the pub the other side of the theatre stands almost empty, these kids are catching pneumonia for nothing in their impatience to reach their already allotted seats.

Baffled, photographer Chalkie Davies and I forsake the Scotch queue for the one inside the pub…

Later, in the Playhouse, Supercharge do their obscene thing to the delight of the packed audience. They’ve lost keyboardist Iain Bradshow, at least for tonight, and the consequent weakening in the band’s already clanky rhythmic mesh is disturbing. But that famed Scots audience does its nut.

Whether it’s the Bay City Rollers spot, the new punk rock leapabout or a completely serious, lopsided semi-funk song, the response is probably as strong as Superchange have ever had anywhere - and this is distinctly an off night!

The Liverpool layabouts troop off and the “We want Queen” chants strike up as scurrying roadies prepare a spartan stage: no clever backdrops and stuff, just Roger Taylor’s mounds of cymbals in front of that ever-present gong and Brian May’s mountain of AC30s.

Darkness...gaspo… a clashing gong… squeals of delight from the youth next to me...yer usual symphonic electronic atmospheric fanfare sort of thing… fading up into the Gilbert and Sullivan middle section of “Bohemian Rhapsody”...a welling up of dry ice...clamorous welcome from the audience..the youth next to me digs his elbows in my ribs and bounces on his seat in delirium…

And they’re on, racing straight out of the recorded “Bohemian Rhapsody” into a live rendition of the heavy riff section that follows. Lights flash madly, there’s smoke all over the place, the youth next to me is screaming with joy, as are 3,000 other lunatic Scotspeople. If explosions aren’t going off it feels like it, and I jot down what Freddie Mercury is wearing in an attempt to keep a grip on my reeling brain.

A white boiler suit, it says here. What professionalism. That’s like a war correspondent noting the time as the wall he’s leaning on gets demolished by a tank.

The relentless sensory bombardment continues as Queen bomb out of “BoRhap” - “just gotta get right outta here”, and how can I disagree? - into a harsh melange of heavy metal riffs plastered with flash harmonies, which in turn gives way to a fast intrumental.

Basically it’s rubbish, a theatrical synthesis of the grossest lumps of regimented noise the sometime power trio can contrive. As they thunder away Mercury emerges from the wings once more, looking like a frog in a balletic white skintight catsuit, and magisterially conjures up giant flashes that erupt deafeningly out of the stage.

The audience do likewise from their serried seats.

Queen have arrived, in more ways than one. Britain’s most successful group of the decade poutingly confront their loyal subjects.

The drift of the piece is obvious, maybe. The crowd loves ‘em and the critic hates them. Well, as it happens I quite like them, but generally that’s a fair picture of rock press attitudes to Queen: at the end of the gig, when the only possible view of the band involved standing on the shoulders of the person jumping up and down on the seat in front of you, I picked out two isolated, sour faces. Critics.

It wasn’t always like that: briefly, at the beginning of ‘75, Queen had a mass audience and critical respect. Dave Downing, whose newly published book, Future Rock, ranges incisively across the whole spectrum of heavyweight rock - Dylan, Reed, Bowie, Floyd, et al - reviewed “Sheer Heart Attack” alongside Sparks’ “Propaganda” in Let It Rock, January 1975:

“I find Ron Mael’s lyrics offensively lacking any conviction but pride in their own cleverness…. The arrangements conquer all in their streamlined assurance…. I have visions of a Gilbert O’Sullivan gone progressive….”

Change that to Gilbert and Sullivan and it could easily be directed at “A Night At The Opera”. However, Downing had this to say of “Sheer Heart Attack”:

“In stark contrast we have Queen’s third album….this is the best new band I’ve heard for a long, long time….Queen have convinced me that the division of rock into heavy soft has been largely a way of covering up the lack of energy in either. Whether rocking, ballading, whatever….they’ve got energy to spare. They have the old Beatles-style oomph.

“....Brian May’s guitar stalks Freddie Mercury’s vocals with as much power, and probably more ingenuity, than Ronno achieved in the heady days of ‘Panic In Detroit’....

“....Freddie Mercury’s voice is equally amazing, hampered only by the lack of lyrics to do it and the music justice. Some rock bands get hampered by depth-lyrics; I think Queen would just grow.

“But that’s a hope rather than a criticism. The superb gloss on this record covers the real gold, rather than, as I fear in Sparks’ case, just substitutes for it….”

Right, Queen at the time of “Sheer Heart Attack” were poised, ready to choose pretty much whichever direction and status they fancied. They had fought through the original drawbacks of being camp followers churning out rather grotesque Led Zeppelin rip-offs, to become a tough, stylish unit coasting on the back of a devastating single, “Killer Queen”.

Although they lacked Bowie’s way with words, the initial implications of the name still clung to them, and it seemed, listening to “Sheer Heart Attack”, that all they needed were some hot lyrics and a little discipline to instate them as not only the most popular Britrockers since Bowie, but also the best.

The first thing that hits you on that album, after a snatch of fairground FX is vibrant power as May leads the ensemble through the whirlwind of “Brighton Rock”. It explodes with a kind of seaside energy to match his mundane holiday romance lyrics, and stakes out May’s own preferred patch on the words map: storytelling.

That type of power is almost entirely absent from “Opera”, and even in “Brighton Rock” it gets horribly dissipated by a ridiculous guitar solo, May following himself up and down the scale in a meaningless exercise quite divorced from the rest of the number.

Another type of power also missing from  “Opera”, is found in “Now I’m Here”, a Who-ish (“I Can See for Miles”) feel leading into brilliant beefy harmonies - very much in the mould of Roy Thomas Baker, Queen producer throughout their career, and now used to good use on Sunfighter’s “Drag Race Queen” - which wouldn’t get a look-in among all the breathy harmonies of “Opera”.

It’s great rock, strong and goodtime, apparently about Queen’s US tour with Mott the Hoople.

Elsewhere on “Sheer Heart Attack”, however, lay the seeds of Queen’s decline.

“Bring Back That Leroy Brown” was the first indication of their capabilities completely outside rock. As such it was immaculately performed, a camp minstrel pastiche, but unwelcome.

“Lap Of The Gods (Part One)” featured and unnecessarily ostentatious intro; “Flick Of The Wrist”, a murkily heavy song with a uplifting Baker buzz of a chorus, May’s guitar splattered all over the place in another facet of aggression that would soon disappear, was unfortunately a prototype for the appalling “Death On Two Legs”.

“Death”, the opening track of “ANATO”, is seemingly aimed at their previous manager to John Reid. Astounding dense musically, its lyrics are horribly strident and self-righteous, a blinkered, vindictive tirade that says more about the writer than his subject.

This sort of unflinching immaturity epitomises the Queen scene to some extent: infants on the loose with the weapon of technology, everything sublimated to technique.

“Flick Of The Wrist”, its predecessor, was similarly nasty - and apparently dealt with the same topic - but it succeeds where “Death” does not because the singing is sublimated to the music and, particularly, because the words are secondary to the melody.

In Edinburgh “Flick Of The Wrist” comes fourth, and it’s not as good as the record, possibly because they’re struggling somewhat on the faster songs.

They’ve already done “Sweet Lady” from ANATO”, Mercury singing well and the band thundering confidently. But suddenly Brian May’s guitar goes out of tune from all the crashing it’s received, and he drags the tempo. The final crescendo almost catches fire, but could do better.

Freddie toasts Edinburgh with champagne before he and May, moodily posed under blue spots, venture timorously into the medievally romantic “White Queen” from “Queen II”. Freddie goes to the piano for May’s curling, echoed solo, and we catch up with ourselves on “Flick”.

Here May’s problem is highlighted, he can’t get a decent uptempo solo together. The song is pounding along, but it’s like a cover-up, charging through seemingly pointless changes with throwaway solos, as if they’re attempting to dazzle you with workrate, a treasure trove of superficialities.

John Deacon plays a strong bass, holding up the song if necessary, and Roger Taylor, while seeming rather detached from proceedings up on his high riser, plays solid, varied drums. Mercury’s singing is superb, and on this might it’s mainly May whose playing isn’t quite up to scratch.

The medley comes next, and it brings a little warmth to the garish, posturing event. John Deacon’s “You’re My Best Friend” comprises the first part. Like “Misfire”, his semi-Caribbean pop-rocker on “Sheer Heart Attack”, it’s the friendliest track on “Opera”, and, while May and Mercury mess with every musical genre known to man, the only straight rock song apart from Taylor’s exhilarating “I’m In Love With My Car”.

Onstage, Mercury’s lead vocal floats beautifully on the band’s okay harmonies, and the audience clap along with the lazy rhythm. May’s guitar solo isn’t loud enough, and he hits a horrible chord at the end of it, but it’s a good break.

The two-note chime at the end of “You’re My Best Friend”, a similar device to the end of “Killer Queen”, leads into “Bohemian Rhapsody”.

On record, “Bo Rhap” epitomises the heavy-handed idiocy that bugs their last album. There are actually a few great touches in the rambling epic, notably the guitar break that follows the operatic bit, with its sudden halved phrases towards the end and the subtle way May’s fade out figure is continued by Mercury’s solo piano. But the rest is cumbersome and, where not plainly stupid, pompous and unimaginative.

For some reason Brian May seemed to have lost all feeling for rock on “Opera”, and the first guitar break on “Rhapsody” was the album’s sole unscrambled solo bar the period piece, “Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon”. And as for Beelzebub…

But the words of “Bohemian Rhapsody” are even worse than the music. The basic scenario would seem to be the romanticised alienation of a “poor boy” who indulges Mercury’s gun fetish by killing a man, leading to some kind of tug-of-war between, er, two forces. Life and death? Heaven and hell? Does Freddie know?

There’s that brief stab of “just gotta get out of here” defiance, but we finish on the fatalism of “anyway the wind blows…” A vague tale of idealised emotions that quite possibly means nothing at all.

Mercury’s songs do have a tendency to be vague to the point of meaninglessness - where they’re not utterly trivial anyway. Triviality I can take- “Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon”, for instance, where Queen’s technical skill turns a brief, twee ditty into a tour-de-force, with a great guitar break in what I think of as Brian May’s Mrs. Dale’s Diary style and one particularly wonderful harmony line on “there he goes again” - but the depths of pretension are plumbed on Mercury’s more “serious” songs.

These are actually fairly rare, but Mercury’s deepest opus outside of “Rhapsody” is probably “In The Lap Of The Gods” on “Sheer Heart Attack”, a portentous, monolithic singalong which I like a lot musically, but whose only discernible meaning is, like the conclusion of “Rhapsody”, that old vague predestination schtick.

The rest of Mercury’s oeuvre consists of live ballads (the melodically poignant, lyrically incomprehensible “Lily Of The Valley” from “Attack” and the more narcissistic, less focussed, meandering “Love Of My Life”, least memorable on “Opera”); bitchiness (that horrible duo, “Flick Of The Wrist” and “Death On Two Legs”); and weird period pieces (“Leroy Brown”, “Lazing”, and “Seaside Rendezvous” from “Opera”).

“Seaside Rendezvous” is pretty interesting stuff, illustrating the bizarre purism that prompts Queen to boast “No Synthesisers” on their album sleeves. A long, ‘20s-style piece, it’s fully orchestrated with instrumental passages by both brass and woodwind sections - performed entirely on vocals!

It’s astounding. Queen are perfectionists, as we all know; perfect confectionists. Even Mercury’s lead vocal is done, as on a lot of the album, line by line to get that bursting out of the speaker effect.

And therein lies their undoing, for they seem to have spent so long working on “A Night At The Opera” that they completely lost sight of the record they were making, coming out with shallow perfection without the least hint of the fire of “Sheer Heart Attack”.

However, returning to Freddie’s oeuvre: the next song in the Edinburgh medley, following on from “Bohemian Rhapsody” - and missing the operatics, thank god - is “Killer Queen”.

What a song. Although they take it slower than on record it still sounds slightly rushed, the ideas fall so thick and fast.

It has so many virtues that “Opera” lacks: interesting music (that got neglected on “ANATO” in favour of performance); brevity; flash (“Opera” is positively pedestrian compared to the swagger of this mid-tempo marvel); and it’s unpretentious in its triviality, something that none of the work - at - it - for - six - months - to - get - the - vocals - sounding - like - George - Formby’s ukelele trivia on “Opera” could claim.

Back live, it transforms into the noisy “March Of The Black Queen” from “Queen II” and thence to the end of “Rhapsody”. Kimono Taylor’s gong jerks us into a snazzy rendition of “Leroy Brown”, purely instrumental, and end medley.

“Brighton Rock” follows, red hot and awful tight, Taylor’s falsetto screaming over the top, until…

Oh no, it’s this guitar virtuoso bit, where the others go off and leave May to fiddle about with his patented delayed action devices. The man has little idea of stage craft standing awkwardly on Freddie’s promontory and dashing back to his amp every now and then to twiddle another knob. The performance is clever, but he’s hardly playing great music - enough’s quite enough.

At points during this intermediate solo May hits something good - a glassy, Japanesey section, a mellow, symphonic bit - but his individual slot is plagued by the fault that haunts Queen and devalues what good stuff they do play: they’ve got no taste. Don’t know good from bad.

They can perform, and they’re very bright boys (according to Larry Pryce’s unwonderfully written and uninformative Official Biography Of Queen, Brian may or may not have a PhD in Astronomy, Mercury a degree in graphics and illustration, Deacon an honours degree in electronics, and Taylor a degree in biology) but as for taste…

As if to emphasise that point, Taylor returns to do his dumb trick with lager on his tomtoms and they lumber into a bunch of monotonous, archetypal heavy metal riffs.

Next song, “‘39”, has the four down front - May on acoustic and Taylor on tambourine and bass drum.

My, they look well-coifed. Mercury demonstrates his fine voice again.

A newie, “You Take My Breath Away”, from the album currently known as “A Day At The Races” - half-finished - shows Freddie still pludding the fragile ballad vein, a hesitant, precious ditty accompanied by lone piano, old fashioned and unexceptional.

But then it’s Brian’s big moment, composition-wise: “The Prophet’s Song.” In Pryce’s book May explains that the plot came to him in a dream: “...a dream concerning revenge, only in the dream I wasn’t able to work out what it was revenge for.”

So out of the astronomer’s subconscious comes this Noah’s Ark parable seemingly set in the present, with a ship full of humans apparently heading off into space.

Musically it’s “Old English”, according to Roger Taylor, the rock equivalent of a Prussian military division marching to the Crusades, marred by the most fatuously self-indulgent acapella nonsense imaginable in the middle.

If Queen were chameleons to begin with (Zep meets Bowie), they’re even more that way inclined now, changing personality completely from one song to the next (George Formby meets Cecil B. DeMille meets…) It’s a treatment to which May’s songs lend themselves.

“Good Company” is a very English tale, another vague moral story, done Formby style, with an extraordinary guitar ensemble imitating a complete trad jazz band, another labour of months for a trivial piece of flash.

“‘39”, the acoustic song, seems to be another slice of science fiction, an obscure folk tale which disguises its meaning frustratingly well. Nice feel, though.

Onstage “The Prophet’s Song” is launched amid billows of dry ice and taped wind. As they muscle their way through the heavy chorus I keep expecting them to bump into one another in the confusion, but they manage not to. Anyway, the others clear off when Mercury goes into his ridiculous echoed vocals workout, a one-man Swingle Singers, appalling narcissism.

The audience, to their shame, seem entranced by the spectacle of the great poseur and his myriad voices. Nauseating.

At the end of the song to revolving globes descend and a tape of jangling piano speeds dizzyingly. The globes rise - UFOs taking off?

Anyway, it gives Fred a chance to change into a grotesque black outfit, and suddenly we’re back into the flashing lights/strobes.racing adrenalin scene again with “Stone Cold Crazy”, very fast and heavy, May playing a good scientific solo.

Freddie goes pianoing again for “Doing All Right” from “Queen”, slow and laconic with waterfalling guitar and lovely harmonies, but that gives way to a lousy solo over an unexpectedly Brazilian riff and more unnecessary changes. What are they trying to hide?

“Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon” is neat, and then the crowd get “Keep Yourself Alive”, which they’ve been baying for. It’s an okay song, but they do it terribly heavy and insult the listener with their soulless, declamatory attempts at communication.

Queen almost boogie on “Tie Your Momma Down”, also from the new LP, the most straightforward song so far with a slide break that veers towards a 12-bar. Freddie postures crassly under the rather inept lighting.

“Liar” from “Queen” comes in on a Bo Diddley beat, and as it gets into typical Queen HM jaggedness May slings out a real nasty phrase that sneers at the ineffectual stuff he’s played all evening.

As it dissolves into aimlessness it becomes obvious that Queen live are some great songs, an image and a lot of noise. Their heavy metal is no better than the likes of Nazareth, unfocussed, with no real dynamics outside of structural party tricks. A cover-up job for essentially lumpen music… yet they are capable of so much more.

“Lap Of The Gods” picks things up, its relentless chorus rising and falling on good chords - a rare commodity for Queen, as is its stable rhythm - and as the stage vanishes beneath dry ice they kiss goodbye.

Now this I don’t believe. Never in my life, outside of the likes of the Rollers, have I encountered such a hysterical response to a band. It’s like a riot, kids charging about in the smoky darkness, and if Queen don’t get back there soon this lot are going to knock the place down.

The encore is the great “Now I’m Here”, followed by their “Rock’n’roll” medley of “Big Spender” and “Jailhouse Rock.” They really shouldn’t do that. Mercury’s got no idea about getting down and having a good time, and his attempts to get audience participation are laughable. It’s scrappy stuff, and even their rock’n’roll is spoilt by too many changes!

As for where Queen go from here, the two songs they played from the next album were undistinguished, and can give no hint of what it will contain.

Nowever, it’s pretty obvious they’ve driven so far up their particular blind alley that there’s virtually no hope of them ever fulfilling the potential that was there in “Sheer Heart Attack.” They could have been giants of real music, but it seems they are destined to remain the most perfect indulgence in rock. Masters of style, void of content.

[newsiepedia]

Where’s the Essay, Mod Strings: All the Songs in Newsies (2017) in Order of Boppability

18. The Bottom Line

Now, normally I like villain songs. They’re usually my favorite songs in any movie, and Be Prepared is one of my favorite songs ever. However, The Bottom Line lacks the oomph of other Disney songs. It’s far too low energy, and the instrumentals are unassuming. Most villain songs make me temporarily on board with a villain’s plan, like “YES! Let’s kill the king in front of his son! Let’s lock this woman in a tower and exploit her for eternal youth!”, but The Bottom Line just makes me go “yuck, a capitalist”.

Favorite line: None, they all suck

17. I Never Planned on You/ Don’t Come A Knockin’

This song makes Jack look like a total creep, and I don’t care for that one bit. It also sounds completely out of character- if Jack doesn’t care for moonlight and poetry, then what do you call his little rooftop duet with Crutchie? Besides that, its vague and repetitive. If this song was excluded, his and Kath’s romance would look infinitely more plausible. The Bowery beauties are nice, though.

Favorite line: “Turns out my beau is just some bum/ Turns out that love ain't blind, its dumb”

16. That’s Rich

Now, before you crucify me, here me out. I love Medda- she’s the best adult in the play by far, and she’s clearly very important. But her song is..... eh. My main bone to pick with it is that it’s outside of the plot- I think it could have done a lot more for her character if Medda’s song had something to do with the newsies. Besides that, I don’t really like the style.

Favorite Line: “Now, listen, sport/ This life's too short/ To waste it on you”

15. Something to Believe in

Look, it’s a sweet song and all, but the lyrics are all off. We know for a fact that Jack and Katherine had something to believe in before each other- Katherine had herself, and Jack had literally all the newsies. Besides, I don’t really like the tune or the instrumentals.

Favorite Line: “And if you're gone tomorrow/ What was ours still will be/ I have something to believe in/ Now that I know you believed in me”

14. Watch What Happens (Reprise)

I don’t particularly like Watch What Happens, but I dislike its reprise for one reason- “go and look it up the poor GUY’S head is spinning!” You people WILL NOT shut up about that line! There are so many other good lines in this song to fixate on, why that one? Besides, I don’t like how quickly Jack gets over Crutchie’s imprisonment.

Favorite Line: “And we’ll tell them straight on/ they let Crutchie go or they keep getting pounded”

13. Watch What Happens

As I said before, I like this song a little better than it’s reprise. The chorus and the last bit are quite nice, and I like how it shows Katherine warming up to the newsies. That being said, I don’t like the tune of the verses, which make it hard to listen to.

Favorite Line: “But all I know is nothing happens if you just give in/ It can’t be any worse than how it’s been”

12. Letter from the Refuge

I like Letter from the Refuge mostly because of how it shows Crutchie’s personality. How he tries to make the newsies feel better before thinking of himself, how he makes jokes to cheer himself up, how he lies right through his teeth, et cetera. Also, the part when he sounds like he’s about to cry always gets me.

Favorite Line: “The end/ Your friend/ ... your best friend/ ...... your... brother/ Crutchie”

11. King of New York

I’m gonna be real here- not a fan of the tap dancing. Like obviously its cool in the filmed musical, but in the audio recording it just sounds really weird. The verses are kinda bad, but Albert makes up for it by yelling “KNOBBIN’ WITH ALL THE MUCKETY MUCKS IM BLOWIN’ MY DOUGH AND GOIN’ DE-LUX” at the absolute top of his lungs.

Favorite Line: “Tomorrow they may wrap fishes in it/ But I was a star for one whole minute!”

10. Carrying the Banner

Ok, now we’re onto songs I actually like. Carrying the Banner has really good energy, and the tune is pretty good throughout. The constant breaks for characters to deliver lines is a little distracting, but at least it blessed us with the best line in all of newsies: “I don’t need the limp to sell papes, I got POISONALITY!”

Favorite Line: “We improves our circulation/ Walking ‘til we fall”

9. The Bottom Line (Reprise)

Now THIS is a villain song. It still doesn’t make me want to side with Pulitzer, but it does an excellent job of ramping up the tension. The Bottom Line (Reprise) takes Pulitzer from being a figure for teens to rebel against to a monster who hopefully only eats orphans figuratively (though now I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s literal).

Favorite Line: “Too bad you’ve no family/ but you can’t have mine”

8. Finale

Finale is a really sweet song. It nicely wraps up Jack’s character arc, and the part where Jack and Katherine kiss warms my cold, unfeeling heart a little. However, it does make it sound like Jack was only staying in New York for Katherine and Davey, which simply CAN’T be right- can it?

Favorite Line: “Don’t take much to be a dreamer/ all you do is close your eyes/ but some made up world is all you’ll ever see/ Now my eyes is finally open/ and my dreams, they’s average size/ but they don’t much matter if you ain’t with me”

7. Overture

The Overture always gets me lit for the musical. It features my favorite parts of my favorite songs, and provides a nice buffer between Finale and Santa Fe (Prologue) when I’m listening to Newsies on the train. It doesn’t have any lyrics, however, and I’m not a fan of that.

Favorite Line: There are no lines lol

6. Seize the Day

Mmm, I love me a good song about revolution! Seize the Day has an excellent tune, and really good lyrics. I don’t dig the tone shift, however- I think I’d like it more if the song was either slow and sweet or fast and angry, not both.

Favorite Line: “And say to the others/ who did not follow through/ you’re still our brothers/ and we will fight for you”

5. Santa Fe (Prologue)

There’s so much to talk about for this song. The melody is gorgeous- I think I like Jeremy Jordan’s more subdued vocals here. The lyrics are so sweet, and they really sell Jack and Crutchie’s friendship. And “watch me stand/ ...watch me run” is such a good line. 

Favorite Line: “Close your eyes/ come with me/ where it’s clean and green and pretty”

4. Brooklyn’s Here

I just love the energy of this song! Its a lot more violent than the rest of the striking songs, and I like that. Its also so dramatic? Spot knows the difference between a kid and a newsie: and its PRESENTATION!

Favorite Line: “Now them soakers is in for a soakin’/ What a sad way to end a career”

3. Santa Fe

This song just has so much emotion to it. Jeremy Jordan sings it so well, and the reuse of a song associated with Jack’s happy place in such a sad time hits hard. The addition of the bridge is also great, and gives even more opportunities for awesome melodies.

Favorite Line: “I need space/ and fresh air/ let them laugh in my face, I don’t care”

2. Once and for All

Oof, I love me some angry boys. This is the song that comes after a major turning point- the boys are a lot more serious, and there plan is much more concrete. There is a soft bit before, but it’s a lot shorter and it follows the same pattern as the rest of the song, so I can give it a pass. Also, the key change, godDAMN, I’m getting shivers just thinking about it!

Favorite Line: “In a few hours, by dawn’s early light/ we’ll be ready to fight us a war” (I love the allusion to the national anthem)

1. The World Will Know

Here it is, folks, my favorite song. The World Will Know is the most upbeat of the four strike songs, and I appreciate that. The tune is boppy, and Crutchie gets some rad lines. But what I like most about this song are the lyrics. They’re all really well crafted- simultaneously showing the newsies’ optimism and their determination to fight it out to the end. I had such a hard time choosing a favorite lyric because they’re all so good.

Favorite Line: “And the world will know/ we been keepin’ score/ Either they gives us our rights or we gives them a war”

[putschki1969]

Wakana in Concert with the Roma Italia Symphony Orchestra – Live Report

Okay, here’s my report. This time I didn’t want to wait too long since I was scared I would forget all about the details. Without further ado, let’s get to it.

First of all I wanna say one thing: WOW! Just WOW! This was a PERFECT live. I will be honest, I had my doubts when I first heard that this concert wasn’t just about Wakana. When they announced that Ryu Masaki would be joining I was quite bummed and felt a little cheated. Then Wakana announced in her latest blogpost that Mana Ogawa would be joining the live too and I was like “eh?? Why are you doing this to me? I thought this was a Wakana concert and not an ensemble live!!“ Turns out I needn’t have worried. While Ryu Masaki got to sing a handful of songs this was most definitely Wakana’s show (I actually feel kind abad for Ryu Masaki fans who attended the live). And Mana Ogawa was more of a backup singer to be honest (and she only appeared during two songs).

Overall thoughts on Wakana’s vocals: Flawless. For me she was honestly flawless. Yes, her breathing was still there and quite noticeable at that but that’s just part of her charm I think. Fans love her breathing and I think YK likes it too or she wouldn’t keep it in the studio recordings. But aside from that Wakana really slayed. She has never sounded better in my opinion. The arrangments were slowed down quite a bit so she never was out of breath and she got the chance to really hold her notes. Her voice was so strong and pure and perfect and she hit pretty much each and every note (even during believe which has never happened as far as I can remember!). She didn’t use her airy/flimsy/breathy voice once. At times she was a bit quiet compared to the orchestra but I only really noticed it in one song and even there it wasn't too bad (Jupiter). Not sure if the orcestra was just super loud here or if Wakana wasn’t feeling confident with a new song but at any rate, she got used to it suoe quickly and then she slayed. Wakana was BORN to sing like this, with dramatic orchestral arrangements. She didn’t strain her voice once and even though she sang quite a lot of songs in a row she didn’t seem to sweat at all. She obviously had a lot of fun and you could tell that she was well-rested. I am so glad she got to take a break. It was such a pleasure to see her this refreshed and happy. Now let’s start with the live itself

First Half

01. Nuovo Cinema Paradiso Theme This was an instrumental piece and it perfectly showcased the skills of the orchestra. I had never heard of this piece before (apparently it’s from an Italian movie by famous composer Ennio Morricone) but I immediately fell in love with it. Check out this version on youtube, it’s pretty much the same arrangement that was played during the concert with the violin in the lead). Very lovely and the orchestra already conveyed an epic feeling. I couldn’t wait to hear it in combination with Wakana’s voice. After this overture Wakana came on stage. She looked absolutely gorgeous wearing a white strapless dress with black glittery details in the waist area. The material and cut were more or less the same as the second dress which she changed into in the second half of the live (the white one had a tighter/sexier fit though). The picture below doesn’t do justice to Wakana’s actual dress. Wakana’s dress had a bigger bustier part and made her boobs look huge XD The black details didn't span such a big area on Wakana’s dress, it really was mostly concentrated on the waist area. While this looks like lace, it was definitely not lacey on Wakana’s dress, it was beaded. Sorry, I can’t explain it better.

02. Oblivious They changed the arrangement a lot for this one. They left out the ahhhhhh parts (why?? that would have sounded awesome and Wakana would have ruled!) and they slowed the song down quite a bit. Wakana had three (or was it four?) chorus singers supporting her during certain parts to make the song feel more epic (and to replace Keiko’s parts). On this note I wanna say that the back-up singers did an amazing job, they didn’t intervene too much (the focus was 100% on Wakana’s voice) but they definitely elevated the performance. I think out of all songs this might have been my least favourite performance. Simply because it didn’t feel like the new arrangement made the song any better. The oomph factor was missing and it seemed like the orchestra didn't have much to do. But still, Wakana rocked the stage! Overall, one of my least favourite performances that night.

03. Kimi ga Hikari ni Kaete Iku My dreams have come true. I have been to heaven and come back. This was perfection. UTTER PERFECTION. I have honestly no words to describe it. All I know is that I can die happy now. There were no supporting singers for this one here. Just Wakana and the orchestra. It was more or less the acoustic arrangement from the re/oblivious single but better. I never liked the first half of that song because the chorus felt anti-climactic (do I make sense?) but here she sang the first half just like the second half. The strings in this one killed me. So utterly gorgeous (comparable to the Christmas Live version but so much more epic and grande! Just check out the X-Mas version and fast forward to the “mezameta asa...” line and you will know what I am talking about) And Wakana’s voice was just so rich and beautiful, I couldn’t stop crying the entire time. THANK YOU SO MUCH WAKANA FOR SINGING THIS SONG!

04. Kizuato I have never been a huge fan of this song but the orchestral arrangement made it so much better in my opinion. Especially towards the end I had goosepumps because the song just kept building up. Here Wakana was supported by back-up singers again. It’s funny how they used a male singer to replace some of Keiko’s parts XD. Also, I don’t know how to explain it. The back-up singers didn’t sing all the Hikaru/Keiko parts, they just added a bit of flare here and there. For the most part, the arrangement was changed so that Wakana was able to sing all the parts. Oh, I forgot to mention, poor Wakana forgot her lines during the second verse, there was an awkward silence for two seconds or something but then she caught on quickly and dealt with it professionally. I think it must have been one of Keiko’s lines.

Ryu Masaki Part I will say that she really amazed me. I listened to a couple of her songs before the live so I kinda knew what to expect but still, she is an amazing singer! My Heart will Go on and I don’t Wanna Miss a Thing are two of my all time favourite movie tracks and she sang them so freaking well. And then there was Shadowland from the Lion King musical. So beautiful! I didn’t know the other songs but she pretty much gained a new fan this night. Great performer!!

Second Half

05. Jupiter After Ryu Masaki had sung six songs in total there was a 20 minute break. Then Wakana appeared on stage again wearing the blue dress we have all seen on the pictures. And along with her came Mana Ogawa in the cutest pink dress ever. Together they performed one of my most loved non-Kalafina songs. Jupiter! This is originally a classical piece by Gustav Holst but Ayaka Hirahara made a song out of it. Wakana and Mana’s version wasn’t quite as epic as Ayaka’s but it is SUPER hard to reach that level of epicness. Also, I felt like in this song the voices got a bit drowned by the orchestra but only at certain times. It wasn’t bad or anything but it wasn’t perfect either. Wakana slayed throughout the entire song though. It’s HARD to sing an Ayaka Hirahara song but she nailed it. She kinda adapted Ayaka’s singing style (in a similar fashion that Keiko adapted Ayaka’s style during their performance of Kawaii Hana). I can’t really explain what’s so special about Ayaka’s singing style, she has that way of belting her lines and making her voice vibrate (ughhh, I wish had better words for it). Anyways, Wakana did a great job at using certain elements of that style and incorporated them in her own style. The result: a pretty epic sounding Wakana.  On a side note, OMG, Mana was so good too. I had no idea she was so skilled. Her voice went together so well with Wakana’s. They complemented each other in a great way.

06. Mizu no Akashi YESSSSSSS!!!!!! This is THE Wakana song! I am so freaking glad she decided to sing it. Mana joined her for this one too but she mostly did back-up singing (so nice!!) and sang a few lines. Mana harmonises so well with Wakana, it was a lovely combination. I don’t know what else to say about it. They stayed true to the original arrangment but of course they added a little oomph here and there. More strings can never hurt, right? Once again, tears everywhere. I feel like Wakana got a bit teary-eyed too for a moment but I could be wrong. I was sitting quite far away from the stage.

07. Hokage Ahhhhhhh! You probably know that I LOVE LOVE LOVE this song. I know most people don’t care for it but it is actually my favourite song on the far on the water album. And wow, they used the chorus singers in a nice way here. In the beginning, they were chanting and creating the melody with their voices. So pretty!! This song already has a gorgeous strings arrangement but once again, the added instruments made everything SO MUCH BETTER.

08. Natsu no Asa Out of all Kalafina summer songs I didn’t expect Wakana to sing this particular song but wow, I am glad she did. The first part was sung completely acaplla. Once again the back-up singers did an amazing job creating the melody. Kinda reminiscent of FictionJunction’s silent moon. In the second half of the song, the orchestra joined in and this honestly became one of the most beautiful songs of the evening. The atmosphere was perfect and the song really fits the current season. So lovely!!

09. Ashita no Keshiki Obviously I already knew this was going to be performed so it wasn’t really a surprise like all the other songs. But hey, that didn’t diminish my enjoyment of the performance one bit. Wakana sounded solid in the 9+ONE version but here she was just flawless. The kajiurago part was sung beautifully by the chorus people and all the whle Wakana was making eye-contact with as many people in the audience as possible. Her smile was blinding. This was probably one of the more reserved performances of the night where the orchestra didn’t get so much to do but still, very lovely

10. I Have a Dream If you loved their Blue Day performance then you would have loved this version even more. The strings were just so gorgeous. The Blue Day version already has a very lovely and elaborate strings arrangement that’s different to the original version but here they added a lot more grandness to it. One of my faves from this night. Utterly perfect! In the MC before the song Wakana talked about how this song is very reminiscent of a refreshing summer wind.

11. Believe I have never understood the hate that this song gets. Quite frankly I really like it and I have always been a fan of the strings in this one. I am such a sucker for the strings in the beginning and at the end. And boy, let me tell you, they really upped the ante, the strings in this version were SOOO EPIC (especially at the end)!!! It was like listening to a majestic symphonic piece. Probably my favourite orchestral arrangement of the evening. And Wakana didn’t struggle at all even though she sang literally all the parts by herself. I feel like she always struggles during this song, she also struggled quite a bit during the 9+ONE version even though that also had an acoustic arrangment (which is the reason I couldn’t enjoy it 100%) but here she knocked it out of the park. Absolutely stunning. One of my favourite performance of the night

12. Hikari no Yukue Like Mizu no Akashi I had hoped this song would make it into the setlist and YES, here it was!! I mean, if there is one song that needs to be performed by an orchestra then it is THIS ONE! And boy, this definitely didn’t disappoint. No words for the epicness of this performance.

13. Yume no Daichi While it is not my favourite RHH song, I think it was perfect for Wakana’s concert tonight. And once again, the new arrangement added so much to the song. From now on all Kalafina songs should be performed by an orchestra :P This is probably the song where I missed Keiko the most (don’t know why).

14. Musunde Hiraku She thanked the fans for always supporting her and having her back. Without us she couldn't have made it this far. This song was meant to convey her gratitude for us. Probably the most upbeat and lighthearted performance of the night. Wakana is so obviously in love with this song (check out my translation of the fotw Special Final MCs to find out her thoughts about it). Her love was strongly conveyed in this performance. She was walking back and forth on stage, waving to everyone in the audiece, showing us her radiant smile. Perfection!!

This was the last song and everyone began clapping for an encore but instead of Wakana, Ryu Masaki came back on stage to perform her final song (another solid performance!). And THEN it was time for Wakana to return! (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o))) She thanked everyone for coming and then she announced her very first solo tour. She was all like, “you probably all wonder when it is gonna take place. Maybe next year? Nope, next MONTH actually! XD“ Then she said that her FINAL song was written by herself. She came up with the lyrics and she admitted that it was very hard. The song is called Toki wo Koeru Yoru ni which loosely translates to On a Night that Transcends Time. By the way, this also relates to the title of her upcoming tour -Toki wo Koeru/Transcending Time-

15. Toki wo Koeru Yoru ni A GORGEOUS ballad if there ever was one. My memory is already fading but I definitely loved it. I suck at understanding lyrics so I can’t tell you what the song was actually about but believe me when I say it was beautiful. It felt like an old-school ballad, something from the 90s maybe. I wish I knew how to explain it better but I can’t. Wakana actually got a standing ovation afterwards (although there were some people who refused to stand up *grumbles*).

Okay, that’s a wrap for me tonight. I can’t think straight any longer. Too tired. All in all I will say that this concert was worth EVERY penny I spent on this trip. Along with the Hikaru Birthday Event and all my trips to different places this was the BEST holiday ever. I didn’t see any cameras so I doubt there will be a DVD/BD release for this but maybe, just maybe they recorded the audio of this live. I would buy that CD in a heartbeat. Personally I think they did a great job arranging the songs in a way they are suited for a solo performer. I wonder who actually did the orchestral arrangements because damn, they were SO GOOD!!! In some cases the back-up singers provided the necessary support and in other cases the orchestra provided the different melodies that are usually sung by Hikaru/Keiko. All songs felt wholesome, I didn’t feel like anything was missing and Wakana slayed throughout the concert. She shone brigther than a star and while she was a bit awkward during the MCs she was incredibly strong and confident during her live performances.

[reviewkpop]

UNLOCK by DAY6

tl;dr, I don’t remember where I was when this first came out because I was on a break from kpop social media but, however, I do remember where I was when I first listened to I Just (the only song to ever exist), as it was an extremely transformative experience for me. This is such a well-rounded, clear, diverse album that keeps Day6′s usual style while adding extra juicy elements for the more hard-rock inspired Japanese market. 

Vara’s rating: ✭✭✭✭✭ 

without further ado here’s why I love ever single song on this album, written like ive been imprisoned inside stan twitter for 5 years and can’t get out unless i review this album

Live Your Life: day6 japanese songs hit differently they really do. this one is an a1 prime rib example. the rolling drum (?) woosh sound right before the chorus is so sos os nice and all of the parts of this song are different feeling but still fit together completely seamlessly as expected. LISTEN, HOW THEY HAVE A GUITAR SOLO? WITH THE WOAHHHs at EVERY chorus. jae’s guitar is the backbone of this album and our society as you will read about further on if you ever get to my review of i just…….. and this song is NO different. also the lyrics are so pure. thank u kings of confidence. i gotta also talk about the outro to this song its so fucking beautiful. all the voices singing together is such a chef kiss mwah

Breaking Down: ive seen a lot of ppl (more than i expected?) cite this song as their fave day6 song and i mean valid. its day6’s harder rock side.. its reminds me a lot of how can i say and its very very good if thats your thing. also everytime mr k does the IM BREAKING DOWWN live its . very lovely thank you. its so so angsty i can feel the angst for miles with this one. when jae says “hearts never break the same” mkmfdnjgajk. yeah. this is one of the songs where u think its over but it ISNT!!!!!!! the guitar muting in the bridge fake outro whatever is so delicious i am a sucker for a good guitar muting rhythm technique can someone pls tell me what thats called im illiterate anyways it STARTS UP AGAIN the hecking guitar solo….. ladies and gentlemen…..

Stop the Rain: instrumental wise, this is a really really fun song… the scale up and down or whatever it is with synth + guitar in the verses and at the end of the chorus… very spicy indeed. i honestly think wonpil is the star of the show in this one bc its a really not aggressive but beat heavy?? song and wonpils softer voice really contrasts it nicely i think. i also love love LOVe the second verse with the minimal instrumental (of course i do) and then it goes into guitar solo mode.. i feel liek this album more than any other day6 album goes the hardest with the guitar solos thank you jae. also this song has wooaahs. guitar solo ✅, instrumental space ✅, woaaaahs ✅ but theres no guitar muting we’re almost there..

Say Hello: this song makes me smile. the punchy guitars, bubbly drums, wait actually the first time wonpil says “my girl” i teared up a little ouch…….. :((((((((((((((( so cute…. the bright lil woo ooooh ooohs in the chorus SO cute… its such a dreamy song and the lyrics are so nostalgic feeling its such a sweet song in general its abt like letting go but finding peace with it and wishing the other person well and its a really beautiful meaning. omg its like the opposite to hi hello njsdfdnkj theory?????

Everybody Rock: we are now in the ROCK zone everybody now . now COME ON keep it going now !!!!!!! 1 2 3 go!!!!! i absolutely adore the way the guitars fade out in the verses when the vocal lines start and its just a lil bass a lil drum. if theres one thing i love more than guitar muting its silence in music.. it really really makes songs great when theres some space left over i truly believe that. anyways this song has both thank u kings. jae’s prechorus with differnet members joining in is so nice as it gradually builds up more and more. extra important detail all the lives i can find of this they look like theyre having so much fun. also dowoon….. i truly believe i can be a rockstar bc of him. im in tears. the ending just lets it all sink in the extra 8 bars or whatever of extra instrumental very very nice addition thank you

I Just: i am truly sorry in advance for this im not gonna stop talking. musically,, this song is pretty simple (except for the guitar in the chorus, i’ll get there) but tonally, vibe-wise, on the feel good scale, this song is a 35 million absolutely fucking fantastic song. i love this song perhaps a little too much. i would like to speak briefly on jae’s guitar fill. if i could name my firstborn child after a sound byte it would be that one and you all know it very well. if i ever meet jae im gonna personally thank him for this and ask if i can get his guitar’s autograph. the fact the guitar gets louder in the last chorus with the vocals overtop of it too yum.. this song makes me miss a lover i nevr had or something but also feel like im falling in love and rolling down a grassy hill and staring into a sunset at the same time its like every single possible positive emotion for me. THE HEYYYY AHHHS . make me so inexplicably happy i love them with all my heart. ALSO you know how i said i love silence this song has it too!!!!!!!! with the faded guitar right before the last instrumental break !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! also again not to be a young k stan but u know i need to plug the 18125 i just nagoya young k fancam its in my genetics i will not apologize. he looks so happy i love . i listen to this song on a daily basis and you cannot stop me from doing so. if i get cloned and u have to figure out which charlie is the real one see which ones heartbeat starts getting faster by hearing the guitar riff then youll know.

Nobody Knows: the beginning of this song is the true modern mona lisa. i could listen to the guitar and drum before any vocals hit forever i am not gonna lie. this really reminds me of old 5sos in a way and i really like it.. gives me a lot of nostalgia from being a 14 year old (no i’m not a 5sos stan but listen to their new album it’s really good). absolutely very fun but probably also really sad if the lyric “please i dont wanna cry” says anything … yep ok. i forgot how much i love the bridge of the song listening to it now its really different to the rest of it its so so nice. very very good. i dont listen to this one as much as some from the album but i still love it a lot,, theres something about it thats a little haunting in a good way its like that buzzfeed unsolved episode where the ghost named apple tater visits them.

Falling: this song gets you because you think its gonna be a full soft ballad but it still has a rock heavy influence! this album is a LOT of more hard or classic sounding rock and i really like the direction they took it in! can i please talk about the bass riff RIGHT before the end of the verse its those little extra bits that are added in that make a song so much better and thats prime example. I’m not the biggest fan of the chorus of this song for some reason i feel like theres a little bit of something missing but the haunting synth that kicks in and gets more prominent all the way through the song is very very nice and adds to the whole acoustic rock (somehow??? they have the Range) vibe.

If ~また逢えたら～: this song was their debut japanese song and she has a very special place in my heart. it reminds me of a very specific time in my life. also its a fun one bc i always try to guess whether its the instrumental or the original version when it comes on shuffle (i have both saved lol). i love love LOVe the guitar at the between vocal lines in the chorus its so fucking juicy… you know what else we have is rapper k which as u know i go crazy over.. the instrumental version is young ks rap karaoke version. very very good. i think this passage from my old review of this (if you know, you know) sums it up ladies: and i honestly think youngks rap part just brings the song back to day6′s style!! like i dont think many other bands would have brought it down to that u know??? and i love it…. the instrumental in this is also so crunch !! its so aggressive but like the type of aggressive that snowstorms are on a weekday… bc they basically just showed up without warning, rendered us immobile,, but all in all we’re PUMPED that it happened.

Baby, it’s okay: this song is not my favourite song of day6’s, i think it’s lacking in some oomph for my ears, HOWEVER !! and this is a big however I really love the bridge and the lyrics and that makes up for it. also the “i want you to be happy” and “ill always be here for you” is so adorable truly.

anyways we all know this day6 has no bad songs, unlock is no exception.

- vara  

[carlculationinfinityinterviews]

Dawne-Dark & Lovely Track By Track

Solo artist Dawne's sound is a collective mixture of rock,blues,jazz and other experimental artefacts to taken from modern progressive artists.

Her debut release Dark & Lovely is comprised of four tracks displays everypossible angle of her musical pallete, not to say that this is all that Dawne has to offer. Dawne takes us through the creative processes and labours for each song and is the first of the new features that I'll be releasing on this site.

1.COME ALIVE

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://dawne.bandcamp.com/album/dark-lovely"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Dark &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp; Lovely by DAWNE&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

The shell of this song is about being at a crossroads. When I wrote the song I was in a place in life/as an artist where I wanted a lot more creative control/input, but was not really pursuing it with enough rigor. I felt stuck in a box during the days in regards to the people/situations I was surrounding myself with back when I lived in Hollywood. This one is one those songs where I wrote the lyrics in about five minutes and just let the pure emotion of my daily life come through in words.

I wrote this song by first creating the main guitar riff and putting it into Logic Pro. I then built the other parts around that main guitar riff theme. I remember the vocal line came out so damn easily! The odd meter bridge also felt so natural as I was almost exclusively playing/writing in odd meter at the time it was written.

As far as music theory goes, I do not consider/think of any music theory when writing music. I have studied lots of theory in the past but I find overthinking it takes away from the natural essence/flow of the song.

The lyrics paint a sort of vague picture of someone stuck at a crossroads and feeling unfulfilled in regards to their current state of living. Which is how I was at the time when I wrote it. I tried to use more vague terms to describe that feeling, and really let out exactly how I felt into the music. I’ll have to admit that putting lyrics out for people to read/criticize can be tough for me because my lyrics don’t hold back!

The studio process/production for this song was rather simple. I met with my awesome producer John McLucas and we recorded the vocals and whatnot in a few takes. I did the guitar and bass on my own in my rehearsal space, and Forrest Rice performed drums!

2. NO GOOD

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://dawne.bandcamp.com/album/dark-lovely"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Dark &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp; Lovely by DAWNE&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

This song was inspired by something most creative types have to come to terms with at some point, and that is being criticized by the regular world for fully pursuing their craft. I had some specific folks in my life who were highly critical of me pursuing this art fully, and it was something that naturally came out in song form. It was damn refreshing to record this song. It was cathartic to say the least.

Once again, the song was built off of a main riff/idea, and then all of the other parts I am able to hear in my head follow that riff. Then comes the vocal melody on top, then bass lines I hear, and then we add drums. I also have studied the likes of certain songwriters I enjoy the most, like Daniel Caesar, to try to make each section really stand out and build up and then flow into another in a way where each section really hits. I enjoy hearing that in any artist I regularly listen to!

I didn’t think much theory in this song either, except for in the bass line where I routinely studied a way to make the line hit the root notes yet still add fills that led section to section in a way that uses more classical theory.

As stated above, the lyrics came from a place that was very pure and open to critiquing those who hate on artists and musicians. It was almost my way of just yelling it, “I’m No Good,”in their faces, so that I could just say yeah, I get it, I’m not following the path you want me to, I’m not a societally ‘good' girl, I’m going to do what I think is best for me… the song almost was sort of meant to take on what is considered societally ‘good’ versus what is actually ‘good’ for a specific individual and their needs as an artist, a human, a creator, etc. 

All of my favourites did what was truly good, not surface level good, for themselves and for the planet, so I take a similar route. 

When I developed this song I really listened to some of my favourite songwriters/Rock bands that are totally killing it, to get the icing on top that i wanted. I always write nearly every part of a song on my own in isolation, and then before we record it and finalise it, I hear that extra oomph in some bands/solo artist I dig and use some little things I consistently notice in their work to add to my own. 

I think that finding those little details that really push and pull a song and tripling down on them is inevitably what makes a group/artist ‘make it’ in the long term or not, because those spots are often looked over by people who don’t spend enough time on their art.

We used a bit more production methods on this song than on the others. Again, i worked with John McLucas and he actually programmed in the drums on this song. We recorded guitars in amp as well as a DI track, same with bass.

3. DRIFTER

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://dawne.bandcamp.com/album/dark-lovely"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Dark &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp; Lovely by DAWNE&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

As funny as it sounds, this song was initially about someone I sort of loved. But then when I went to record it the feeling was gone but that lovey, gushy feeling is still sort of there when I hear it. This song was definitely written back when I was more inspired by mathy/virtuoso-esque guitarists, as heard in the main riff. I was also studying some jazz at the time and I think a little bit of it wore off in there! 

Again, I wrote ‘Drifter’ around the main riff as heard in the verses and build everything else around it in the order of guitars, vocals, bass and then drums. I rewrote the lyrics when it was time to record, and I’m glad I did! This song, like the others, came out quite quickly and easily. Once I get a main theme it’s generally very easy for me to hear all of the other parts and then execute the song fully.

Music theory was used only as a way to write the guitar solo. I went back and found out all of the chords in the verse, chorus and bridge and it was actually super fun to do! Didn’t realize quite how jazzy it got in their in those verse and bridge parts!

The lyrics vaguely paint a situation of being the kind of person needs to focus on their art/craft more than on another person. When I say, ‘I’m drifting,’ and, ‘That’s how it’s got to be if you want to run with me’ it reflects the choices that musicians have to make in order to make this happen. I have to tend to my art, rehearse, travel, write when I get ideas, etc., and the person I am seeing has to understand. 

There are lots of things someone gives up to be an an artist full time/be in a band, and it’s worth it. But it’s often hard to find a partner/person who is close to you who fully understands the commitment to a different lifestyle. I let this song develop by really engraining the first riff in my head, and then slowly but surely building the other pieces on top. It took a little longer to write than the other songs.

We kept the production process simple. As with the other songs, we did guitars first, amped and DI’d, then bass, then Kynwyn Sterling added drums underneath, and I laid the vocals on top. It was the hardest for me to get a guitar solo that I dug, I took a lot of time to try to make it sing!

4. SWEET NOTHINGS

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://dawne.bandcamp.com/album/dark-lovely"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Dark &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp; Lovely by DAWNE&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

This song was also more inspired by the mathy artists I was listening to at the time, from the likes of Chon especially. But I also wanted to make it more personal, emotive and a little darker. I definitely intended to also challenge myself as a player and compose something I thought had a lot of beauty, nothing cheesy. 

This song was written when I considered myself more of an instrumentalist whereas I now pursue singing/performance/artistry much more.Again, I made that main riff and it was something I was sort of jamming on for awhile! Then the other parts slowly but surely came. 

I wanted to make all of the guitar parts sound very smoothly connected with the voice leading, as well as with the vocals on top. I thought very much so like a musician, with jazzy and classical training, when constructing Sweet Nothings. The process was the same, I just sat and played and sang until it all came together and made perfect sense to me. 

As far as theory goes, this song was written when I was in a phase in life where I paid more attention to theory. I was getting into shell chords on guitar, as well as really paying attention to smoothly connected voice leading. Then I used whole steps in the verse chords to create a sort of tension, leading into a sort of upiddy, sonorous triplet feel in the chorus. 

Some of my classical training probably comes out, in the way I move up an down the neck in the playing. I also aimed to use a lot of open voicings in the guitar chords to challenge myself with the chords I came up with! The lyrics touch upon a sort of apathy I was feeling towards romantic love at the time. It’s hard for me to feel, I have a very one track mind and when I’m focused on a song or a group, I get consumed by it. It was kind of saying, yeah, you like me and it’s sweet, but it doesn’t do for me what I want in life right now. 

I feel differently about that kind of approach now. I get excited about love rather than feeling like it’s a road block. I developed the song, once again, in isolation and through sitting with each riff until it felt like magic. I was a lot more shy and reserved and less confident when I wrote this song so I sorta just sat in practice rooms all day. I also took a sort of all or nothing approach with it, and said if I’m going to make a fulfilling guitar piece, let’s go all the way and really connect the dots, or each chord/voicings, so to speak.

The production on this song was so bare! I actually recorded the guitar at my old rehearsal space in Hollywood with an audio engineer who I met. Then I recorded the vocals myself in that same spot! Funny enough, a few people asked me how I got such a good vocal recording tone on the song. I laughed so hard, because I literally did it myself for the first time. I think what helped is that I used an awesome mic, an Audio Technica, that gets the clearest, most vibrant tones on my voice.

 It’s one of those things where I’ve tried mics worth a few thousand dollars, and I don’t like the sound as much as I do from the Audio Technica that I frequently use! I’ve read of some super big producers who use 200 dollar mics for the same reason, it captures their essence in the best way, and that’s what you gotta look for in gear, in my opinion.

Please follow Dawne and support her music by streaming, sharing and purchasing her music.

You can follow Dawne’s page in the following links:

Bandcamp:

https://dawne.bandcamp.com/

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/TaylorDawnMansfield/

Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLIa4-xhfv4K_uhiiWP2EXw/featured

[arbitrarygreay]

Music of 2017

These three tracks captured my attention this year. They still do. Tsubaki Factory - Waratte I immediately pegged this song as sharing the same chorus melody as Gfriend's "Me Gustas Tu," making a couple of mashups (1, 2) from that fact. Not only did that give me healthy appreciation for the various ways one could branch the verse/pre-chorus composition (Tsuno Maisa) using some music theory principles, it impressed on me how important the arrangement (Hirata!) is, as Waratte's is soooooo much better than MGT's, proving Ellington/Mills true as always. Also, the MV is really fun. Reminded me a lot of Perfume. Momoiro Clover Z - Blast! My previous thoughts still stand. (1, 2) Quite happy to see how Momoclo's invisible manners era will go, and I do hope Momoclo's Olympic dreams aren't premature braggadocio, but that they can hold out to 2020. I want to see this performed in person so badly, but also dude, those outfits are all-time greats. WANT. Morning Musume - Jealousy Jealousy Man, Hashimoto can find all the new hotshot composers he wants, but you just can't stump the pure synergy Tsunku can bring out of his favorite arrangers, in this case, Ookubo Kaoru (yes, I've come around to those brass bits). Like with Waratte, I messed with a mashup for this song, which has since because a favorite of mine on the music player, which also made me so appreciative of how lushly maximalist Jpop arrangements are compared to other traditions. As friends can attest, at karaoke I went beyond Ijiwaru Shinaide and sang this song's composition over so many others, hah. But it's kind of weird. Not many Tsunku-isms at all, other than some structure fuckery, but the composition feels more like some of his chameleon masterpieces like Take Off Is Now, where he gets the lay of the land of a new genre before he starts really experimenting. But those lyrics are so immersive and thought-provoking, as usual. Well, that, and they gave us some truly dank memes, too. Tsunku just can't be beat, yet. Wait, our Takui song of the year was Shuukatsu Sensation? Lawl. A Takui/Dance Man joint, dude! That single was amazing. Not quite Waratte levels of earworm, but worthy of being another Roudou Sanka whose lyrical content I pointedly ignore pfffft. Japan ain't got a Shostakovich problem yet lol. As for non-2017 songs that grabbed me this year because I don't give a shit about timeliness: 1. Moshimo..., from the Mobekimasu single in 2011 LMAO what timeliness You just can't beat classic Tsunku bubblegum, with its tricky little composition turns and deceptively difficult vocal interpretation level. A bunch of H!P members have twigged on to that challenge, taking it on for their Bday events, and Duu and Momo even using it for their graduations. Still salty that "kissed me on a Tuesday" was never a part of the lyrics, though. 2. Into You by Ariana Grande, from 2016. I was put onto this by Todd In The Shadows' 2016 best of, and my immediate thought was "That reminds me of TMYW" and off to the mashup races it was (but I don't feel like linking them right now). Max Martin truly is the greatest composer of our time, and Scandinavian pop composition is still where it is at for non-Japanese pop. From the same album, Greedy is also all right, although lol as shown by above mashup its arrangement could use some more oomph, and it also mashes nicely to Cake by the Ocean, with that bridge hook melody. But meanwhile, Bad Decisions not only mirrors Be My Baby from Ariana's last album, but is also would make me unable to take Demi Lovato's Sorry Not Sorry from this year seriously at all, as they're dead ringers. Made me wish the latter had the former's double claps in the chorus, which is hilarious. 3. I abused my local libraries for albums so much this year, y'all. On top of two Babymetal albums (yoooo Tale of the Destinies+The One), I rocked my socks off to Tokyo Jihen's album "Sports" from 2010 this year for a memorable long drive. The lead song "Ikiru" is pretty great. 4. Soundtrack land was rather disappointing this year, but I didn't watch much anime, so oh well. I did, however, rewatch Riverdance and several of those tracks are still gold lol. Going all the way back to the 90s y'all! Some brief tracks that just didn't quite make the cut for top tier fascination (None of them from 2017, of course): Angerme's Umaku Ienai, Sharan Q's Zurui Onna, Kobushi Factory's Go To The Top and Chotto Guchoku ni! Chototsu Moushin (but lbr I really mean the Kawai Daisuke ver.), and Momoclo's Mahoro Vacation. None for you Kpop. I mean, I'm sure there are some Loona or Red Velvet songs waiting to ambush me, but I wasn't in the "explore TSJ's picks" mood this year, sorry. I had some some great classical music discoveries this year, including Hermann's Scene D'amour, Kabalevsky's Overture to Colas Breugnon, Stravinsky/Tchaikovsky's Pas De Deaux, Schubert 9, and William Grant Still, as well as some exploration of MIDI image compositions and MIDI flips. Also I created a music abomination this year no regrets.

[theworstbob]

the thing journal: 4.9.2017 - 4.15.2017

scattered thoughts about the 7+ new things i took in last week. this week: japandroids, metric, pusha t, inside llewyn davis, anthony hamilton, brandy clark, kendrick lamar, kubo and the two strings, and moonlight

1) Celebration Rock, by Japandroids: THIS WEEK: EXTRA-CAPSULE-Y REVIEWS OF ALBUMS I THOUGHTLESSLY ADDED ON MY PREFERRED STREAMING SERVICE THAT I NOW FEEL OBLIGATED TO LISTEN TO. This is the sort of meat-and-potatoes-y rock music I like but don't do much more with. It doesn't feel as Midwest-y as The Hold Steady does, so I appreciate it more, but it's definitely in that Hold Steady school of music I smile politely at but struggle to connect with, and that's definitey owing more to my own special brand of cynicism than it is to any flaw in this album. It's very good, it just needs to be sorted to the Not For Me pile.

2) Fantasies, by Metric: This album was added because I wanted to listen to more releases from 2009, since, before I made a point of seeking out 2009 music, I had listened to, I dunno, three albums made that year? Because I got MAD depressed that year. And it's always fun to dive into a band's older works after being introduced to them with their most recent stuff. I listened to Pagans in Vegas and loved it, which is how this ended up on the Project 2009 list, and this is a cool album in its own right, but I'm listening to this album with the perspective of someone who knows this band's future, and it's like, okay, this is cool, but while I'm not sure how to place what they added between then and now, I am able to tell it's not here, I can kinda hear how these songs aren't as electronic-y (music term) and could have used that extra little oomph (also a music term).

3) King Push: Darkest Before Dawn, by Pusha T: This is maybe my favorite prelude to an album that still hasn't been released 1.333 years after the prelude dropped of all time. I'm not sure there's a rapper in that second-tier, that level just below a Kendrick or Killer Mike or Danny Brown, more reliable than Pusha T. Pusha T appears on a song or releases an album, and I know exactly what I'm getting, a solidly written and delivered thing that's probably about dealing drugs. He's been doing this thing for over 15 years, and he's always managed to keep it fresh, which is pretty astonishing, and he's able to make a compelling enough prelude that it still holds up on its own 1.333 years later.

4) Inside Llewyn Davis, dir. Joel Coen & Ethan Coen: A few weeks ago, I mentioned really digging The Bombpops' song "Fear of Missing Out" because it was a song, in some small part, about realizing the futility of pursuing a creative career, on trying to balance being a rock star with working a normal job, so of fucking course I loved The Coen Brothers' take on roughly the same concept. When would I not enjoy a sad movie about creative failures with Coen-y characters and Coen-y humor? ("That Jean... I'd sure like to fuck her." is a line I saw coming a million miles away that made me so happy when it actually happened.)

5) What I'm Feelin', by Anthony Hamilton: I enjoyed this R&B album on a bus ride home from work! I think dude's a tremendous singer, I enjoyed most of these songs, and I'm still not exactly in a place where I have anything to offer an R&B album much beyond "I liked you!"

6) 12 Stories, by Brandy Clark: Like I can connect to a country album's sadness because I've been listening to country since I was a kid, and listening to country willingly since I realized "You Lie" was a jam, but R&B is a genre I didn't engage with as a kid much farther than John Legend, so it's easy for me to tell what makes an album like this great -- sad stories about broken people, folksy references that skirt the edges of country cliche, heartbreaking details about the American lower class ("We pray to Jesus and we play the lotto/'Cuz there ain't but two ways we can change tomorrow" is a devastating chorus for a first track) -- because it's what I've spent time with. I need to work harder on understanding what makes an Anthony Hamilton album great. Like, I enjoyed that one Jazmine Sullivan album a couple years ago, I should be able to dig into a What I'm Feelin' and find all the things I can love there.

7) DAMN., by Kendrick Lamar: ...Do I need to reserve judgement until we get confirmation that the fan theory of a secret double album is nonsense? Or should I reserve judgement until I can separate this album from my anticipation? Two of Kendrick's albums are probably in my all-time Top 50, and Section.80 might be in there, as well. I don't like coming at albums from a perspective where I'm expecting them to be among my all-time favorites, but that is the standard Kendrick has set. It's really fucking good. It's a collection of amazing songs by the one musician who's probably better at his thing than anyone else alive is at their thing. It's not good kid level earth-shattering or TPAB-level ambitious, and it's insane to me that this album, by this artist, could ever feel underwhelming to me, that I've listened to this album twice and am saying, "Number two for the year so far. Tsk, tsk, I expected more, Kendrick." Maybe it's because I gave myself a day and two spins to really get to know this album. (Of course, TPAB is an album I've only listened to all the way through twice, and I have no problem hailing that as a masterpiece. That album is challenging, though, not just in its thematic content, but in its delivery, if I haven't called TPAB a David Lynch film before, I'm saying it now. Also, it's kind of weird that I feel bad about reviewing an album after one listen but have no problem proffering film/TV opinions after one watch.) It's a concise record delivered with confidence that I'm going to listen to again and again. That's all I know for sure.

8) Kubo and the Two Strings, dir. Travis Knight: got damn what a fucking gorgeous film Like, I hate that the best display device in my apartment is my laptop monitor, because my laptop is kind of garbage? And there were times where it could not handle this film, when the picture quality was not what this film demanded. I want to see this movie in an environment where I can, like, see this movie, actually see this movie in an environment where I don't have to deal with quality loss. I honestly feel like I insulted this movie by watching it on Netflix with earbuds and inconsistent picture quality, I did a disservice to the craftsmanship and love that built every single goddamned frame. There was a moment early on in the film where the character stuttered, and THEY ANIMATED THE STUTTER. THEY ANIMATED HIS FUCKING MOUTH STUTTERING. LIKE OH MY GOSH, YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO, BUT YOU DID AND I LOVE YOU AND I'M SORRY.

9) Moonlight, dir. Barry Jenkins: This movie was made for basically the same amount of money as CBS pays the dude who plays Sheldon on The Big Bang Theoy. That's so amazing. It feels weird to wave a flag for a film that won some sort of award for being a good movie, but this is such a strong fucking movie. It's such a visually astonishing movie, using its Florida setting to incredible effect (it must have been the worst to shoot in the wind, but man, those scenes with the strong wind blowing on the beach looked so cool), doing all these things with color I haven't been able to fully parse. (That scene where the kid's mom is bathed in red light, screams four words at her son, stalks into her bedroom, and closes the door and leves the kid staring at a green hallway was perfect.) This is this dude's second film. That's insane. Like again, it feels weird to stand up for a film the Academy stood up for, but everyone needs to see this film, everyone needs to see this story and see the way this dude tells it.

[putschki1969]

Hikaru Birthday Event 2018 – Live Report

So…since my last report was stupidly deleted by yours truly and I only provided a mini-report, I thought I would write a proper one for you now. This time around I am using google docs so I hope nothing will be deleted. Without further ado, let’s get to it!

The day of the event was my second day in Japan. I was still quite exhausted from my travels but oh well, it wasn’t too bad. I got up pretty early and met up with my friend Sai to line up for the merchandise. We were at the venue (Suntory Hall Tokyo) at around 10 am to make sure we got everything we wanted. Thankfully the wait wasn’t too bad since we were protected from the sun underneath the building. It was still humid as hell but pretty bearable. Some Japanese Kala-fans from twitter said “hi” to me and as always I was super awkward. Sorry!! Anyways, after the wait was over, we finally got to buy our goods. I bought pretty much everything except the towel because meh, I am not a fan of towels. So yeah, I got the white shirt with the pink triangle, the cap, the ticket file and the booklet\clearfile set. Here’s a sneak peek at the booklet in case you haven’t seen it yet 〈(•ˇ‿ˇ•)-→ CLICK ME

By the way, the goods are available on the Space Craft Online Store since yesterday so be sure to get them quickly!! https://spacecraft-shop.jp/kalafina

Afterwards we headed to “La Maison Kioi” (the Kalafina SPICE interview location) to enjoy some cake. Then we headed to Shibuya to check out the Starbucks seat Keiko sat at in the 10th Anniversary Film. Just a while back, Hikaru had tried out a Calpis drink so e decided to have it too. The place (Afternoon Tearoom) was close by so that was very convenient. The lassi was certainly interesting, it had quite the unique taste, not sure I would order it again though XD.

Slowly heading back to the venue, we came across a bunch of fellow Kala-fans who had just gotten out of the afternoon event. We only heard good stuff so of course we were more than excited. At the venue we met up with lots of other Kala-fans and made some new friends. Then after another hour or so we were finally allowed inside. I delivered my letter and the ones by @theraspberrybushes and @mello-chi and then I went to my seat.

The event started on time…with a more or less unspectacular power point presentation regarding all the questions Hikaru had been asked in the questionnaire. I am pretty sure they used all the questions because there were at least 40 or something. No way in hell I could memorise all of that, especially since the questions/answers went by way too fast. Some random stuff I remember. • Hikaru’s favourite numbers are 2 and 7 • She owns around 1000 mangas • She can read a volume in about 30 minutes • If she hadn’t become a singer she would have wanted to become a mother in her 20ies • The type of character she likes in games: Men-tough; Women-peculiar and beautiful • The type of men she likes: Kind and calm • Favourite colours: Monochrome, blue and red • Favourite game: Momotaro Dentetsu • He favourite castle is Himeji • Her favourite characters in FGO are Gilgamesh and Shiki

Sorry, I can’t think of anything else. She also replied to my questions about recommendations in Toyama but she wrote like ten places or something and there was just no way for me to read it that quickly (especially since I suck when it comes to location kanji) But really, the questions weren’t exactly the highlight of the event but the most amazing part about this section were the childhood pictures of Hikaru which were randomly thrown in between questions. Like seriously the cutest pictures ever of baby Hikaru (and her little sister). Chibi-Hikaru was so freaking adorable, I could barely contain myself. We saw her wrapped up in cute winter clothes with her cheeks all red from the cold. With pig-tails!  (♥ω♥*) We saw her in her pjs at home watching TV.

Then she finally came on stage wearing the gorgeous outfit you saw in the blog post. The top is by IENA in case anyone is interested. Of course I ended up buying it because how could I resist???? http://zozo.jp/?c=gr&did=55355842

She sat down and personally replied to three more questions that were asked frequently. The first one was about her in-ear-monitors. Someone was curious what they always hear when they wear them. Hikaru explained how they work and how they tune out unnecessary noises etc. Next question was about which merchandise she designed was the most memorable for her. She didn’t actually reply to that question iirc but she used that opportunity to introduce this event’s goods. A staff member rolled up a cart with all the merchandise and she introduced them all similar to what she wrote in the Harmony countdown. Sakurada Hirotaka helped her come up with the goods so he deserves credit as well. She also explained that the colours of the shirts represented Kalafina’s origin colours. The final question was about mobile games and how much time she usually spends playing them. If she is into a game and there is an event going on, she will pretty much play all day long. As soon as she gets up, on the train, during breaks, in bed…until she falls asleep XD

Next up was the manga corner. I spaced out a little here. She always read a page out of one of her beloved mangas and then she talked about why this section felt so special to her. ・xxxHOLiC ・My Hero Accademia ・Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai

Please don’t ask me what she talked about. I have literally no idea. I have never heard of these mangas so it didn’t make much sense what she was talking about. But still, it was very nice to see her talk about her passion.

We played Janken afterwards and two lucky winners (one of them my friend Sai) got a present from Hikaru and got to go up on stage. While I can’t say I care much for the mangas they received as present, I would have killed to get a chance to go up on that stage. Oh well, turns out I suck at Janken. XD Somehow I completely forgot how to play it T_T

The Live

宝石-Houseki: WOW! Just wow! I didn’t know that this was the song Hikaru auditioned with. But hey, that explains why she was eventually chosen because man, she slayed! She sounded amazing! I think the song was slowed down a bit, yeah, it definitely was. Her performance was so powerful and tragic, she almost sounded like she was using elements from Keiko’s and Wakana’s voices. She had the same oomph as Keiko and yet there was a hint of tragedy (the same tragedy you usually get from Wakana). Flawless, absolutely flawless. Honestly, I am not even sure which version I like better, Hikaru’s or Keiko’s.

プラチナ-Platina: This is apparently one of her most frequently sung songs at karaoke. She absolutely loves it. It was an okay performance, I can’t say I like that song very much (it’s too cutesy for my taste) and I don’t think the song is particularly suited for Hikaru’s voice but Hikaru was super adorable and all smiles and she obviously had a blast with it so I was happy for her.

北ウイング-Kita Wing: Wow!! Just. Wow!! Hands down one of my favourite performances of that night. I had never heard that song before but Hikaru’s rendition was absolutely gorgeous. I just got to listen to the original version and OMG, they changed it SO MUCH. They slowed it down a lot and made it sound so much more tragic and sad. It left a lasting impression and I think I will have to buy it now. So beautiful.

CAT'S EYE: Sakurada wrote a special jazz arrangement for this song. I wish there was footage of this performance. Hikaru was so freaking sexy here. The way she moved to the lyrics, especially during that “sexy” line! Oh boy! Nosebleed!!! And it was a song I actually knew so YAY about that. If I remember correctly, I think it was actually one of the songs I voted for so double YAY.

ARIA: Finally, the song I had been waiting for. I obviously voted for this because it’s one of my all-time favourite Hikaru songs and I loved the 10th Anniversary version so freaking much (everyone else also voted for it so I kinda knew this would make it onto the setlist). This version was in a slightly higher pitch I think but not as high as the original version. She sang it with so much emotion, at this point I first started crying. Once again Hikaru mentioned that this song means the world to her and it has taught her so much. It’s always special if she gets to sing it and every version is different/unique. I was a bit sad because all the Wakana/Keiko/Kajiurago parts were left out. I had hoped she would sing that WaKei section after the bridge. It’s literally one of my favourite parts of the song because of the lyrics. But oh well, it was still a mind-blowing performance and Hikaru knocked it out of the park. She struggled a bit during the 10th Anniversary performance (especially during the final verse - although studio magic made sure it sounded well-rounded on the DVD/BD) but here she hit every note.

Blackbird: Hikaru mentioned that we would all recognise this song once we heard the chorus but meh, it seems I am the only one who has never heard of this song. Guess it’s because I have never really listened to the Beatles. Sorry to everyone who thinks that’s blasphemy or something. Either way, Hikaru made me really like this song although it will not become my favourite. Nothing about it was very memorable so I have a hard time remembering any details. I just know that Hikaru sounded really chill and cool. She obviously enjoys to sing this type of song.

Honesty: It’s honestly embarrassing how few songs I knew during this live. This was another one I had never heard before but boy, Hikaru made me fall in love with it immediately. I don’t know what it was about her performance but it was just so touching and emotional, it seemed like she meant every word she was singing. Everytime she sang “honesty” my heart broke a tiny little bit. The feels! Oh, the feels!!

Just the Way You Are: Can’t say I ever cared much for this song but once again Hikaru brought something special to it that made me appreciate how lovely this piece actually is. It really felt like she was singing from the heart. On that note, I would like to mention that her English pronunciation was really good during all the English songs. You most definitely understood what she was singing and she tried her best to emphasise each and every word. Very impressive. That’s certainly not a given with Japanese artists. Although I guess we all know that Hikaru’s English is very good. After this song, Hikaru told the Japanese audience that even though they probably didn’t understand the English lyrics, she hoped she was able to convey the meaning through her singing (she was!!). She invited everyone to check out all the lyrics because they are all super beautiful.

魂のルフラン- Tamashi No Rufuran: I was one of the people who voted for Zankokuna Tenshi no These so when she started to talk about Evangelion I freaked out a little. Unfortunately she ended up singing this song instead. I haven’t really watched the series so I only ever knew the OP and nothing else. Can’t say this song left a lasting impression. I don’t remember much from it. T_T Sorry, Hikaru. And sorry to everyone who had expected a more throrough report. I think she struggled a bit during the high parts here but it wasn’t too bad.

History Maker: I am embarrassed to say that I once again didn’t recognise the song. It sounded familiar but I couldn’t for the life of me remember where it was from. I was confused because I thought it was a Western song but Hikaru had mentioned she would sing anime songs now. I was like, “ehh???” Only afterwards when Hikaru mentioned it was from Yuri on Ice I suddenly remembered. [I am definitely the most clueless person when it comes to anime] This was most certainly the most upbeat and fun song of the night. Everyone was hyped and Hikaru was running around the stage, trying to connect with as many people in the audience as possible. And it worked. So much power, so much strength. Simply amazing. She really managed to capture the spirit of the song. Can’t say I watched the anime but I know it’s about sports and figthing spirit and boy, after this performance I was SO READY to climb Mount Fuji XD (which is good since I actually did climb Mt. Fuji the day after). Once she was finished Hikaru told us that actually no one had voted for her to sing this song but since it’s one of her faves she thought it would be okay to include it, this was “Hikaru’s vote” so to speak.

sprinter: Hands down my favourite performance of the night. The lights were dimmed and all you could hear was Hikaru’s voice which was already brimming over with emotion. The arrangement was super slow, she sang pretty much all the lines (including Wakana’s and Keiko’s). She didn’t sing the Kajiurago parts though. When she got to the “kimi ni aitai…” part, the hall became completely dark and there was just a tiny light illuminating Hikaru. Her voice was raw and fragile and very quiet. She wasn’t even singing them properly, it was more like she was saying them to us. It’s hard to explain but it was utterly heartbreaking. Tears everywhere. She only sang that part once and I think that’s for the best because this way it was incredibly powerful. And even though you could barely see her face you could definitely hear her voice break. She ended the song with Wakana’s line, “I'm calling your name”. By the end of the performance everyone was in tears and you could see Hikaru wiping away a tear too.

That was the end of the live, Hikaru took a bow and thanked everyone. When she told the audience to give a big round of applause to Sakurada he started playing the first tunes of “Happy Birthday”. It was a bit awkward at first because Japanese audiences never know what to do in situations like that. But they caught on surprisingly fast and so everyone was singing for Hikaru. That’s when Hikaru pretty much broke down into tears and watching this made me cry even more. She desperately tried to compose herself afterwards but nope, she couldn’t. Whenever she started to speak, a new wave of emotions seemed to hit her. She had to use a towel to wipe her tears away. She said that she didn’t expect Sakurada to play the birthday song for her (although I think that’s not true because he apparently played it during the afternoon event too but I forgive her for that little lie XD). Oh well, whether she was surprised or not she seemed to be moved either way and that is the only thing that counts. She thanked us for coming, thanked us for making this night incredibly special for her and finally assured us that she would forever remember this evening and treasure it within her heart…during the whole time tears were streaming down her face. She hopes that the next time we all meet there will be less tears and more laughter. She apologised for crying so much (oh please, Hi-chan, never apologise for that!!!!) Then she left the stage and the audience was asked to remain seated until told otherwise. The individual rows were asked to wait in line and leave the hall one by one.

That’s when we all got our personal greeting and postcard from Hikaru. She was standing outside wearing the white shirt from the merchandise and she handed each and every person a handwritten note and thanked them once again for coming. The staff people were rushing everyone out but fans were able to talk to Hikaru for a milli-second. When it was my turn I was shaking and I started crying again. Hikaru smiled at me and gave me one of her English cards (like seriously, she even prepared English cards for her foreign fans! So thoughtful of her!). I told her that I was incredibly moved by her performance (as if my crying wasn’t indication enough) and it looked like Hikaru was about to start crying too but then I was ushered outside so I can’t know for sure. I was shaking so much and then and it took a few minuted to compose myself.

All in all it was a super special event and I am so glad I got the chance to attend it. Hikaru is a born solo performer and she owned the stage throughout the entire event. She made me fall in love with her even more. You could really tell how much she cared about her fans. Right now I am very grateful that she is there for us and wants to be close to us. This event and all her blog posts make me so very happy, you have no idea. My only regret is that Hikaru didn’t mention Wakana and Keiko during the evening event. Why did she only talk about them during the afternoon event? So unfair! But oh well, it’s not like I missed much. She basically just told the audience that they are keeping in touch and that she had received birthday geetings from both of them (duh! Of course she did! Did anyone doubt it?) and that Wakana regularly sends pictures of her plant babies. They are all doing their own thing now so I understand and respect their choice (yes, I think it’s their choice and they are not forced by Space Craft) to lay low and not mention the others too much. However, it’s still nice when they do.

Okay, that’s a wrap. Hope you enjoyed this and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask