#and its the catchiest one to me!

[snow-and-saltea]

he held me — gently. almost too gently, as if parts of me had broken and dispersed and he gathered his hands around me like encircling sand. like he was trying to remind me that i had a shape i could return back to, when the tides receded for long enough, but his arms would be that container until i could do it on my own. in that cloud of grief and the ticking clock, i could feel something in me becoming loose and undone, and it was a terrifying transformation — sublimated into another form of myself i couldn't recognize. but it was still still a form he did.

was doing dishes and then got inspired for some reason. i was thinking about kavetham for this bc they r my heart's recipient for hurt comfort. i love messing around with imagery and metaphors!!!!! the vivid image of kaveh slowly breaking down in alhaitham's arms while he is also breaking down, but as an act of transformation and being afraid about being vulnerable!!! alhaitham who knows when to hold kaveh tight as to override any overwhelming physical sensations of grief and when to hold him loosely so that he might be allowed the space to unspool his tangled threads and the vulnerability to lay down the worst of himself in the open!!

i love them a lot.... they bring me much comfort :'))

[seaofreverie]

Sparkstember Day 7: Introducing Sparks (Those Mysteries)

The big nagging question that appeared in my mind right after having my first listen of this album, earlier this year on a particularly beautiful and sunny spring day, was "so THIS is one of the weak ones???". Because seriously, this album has it all: the Sparks spirit on full display, the humour, the FUN, the lyrical wit, incredibly catchy melodies, fun and lush instrumentation... It even feels like a bit of a return to the glam era, even if in a slightly different form.

I want to get to the bottom of what makes the humour on this album work especially... I think it's truly one of its strongest sides. There's a bunch of other albums to come later that could also be considered some of the more comedic ones, and I think it's always a pretty similar element connecting it all... What is it? Well, it must just be... one of Those Mysteries. But ok, let's at least give this a try.

Lots of elements here are quite, let's call it, cheesy on surface: the seriousness with which all the different Occupations are treated, the "aAaAAAA" backup vocals on Ladies, the bridge (and, honestly, everything else too) of Forever Young, the high stakes of Goofing Off, the melodrama of Those Mysteries... Maybe it's the knowledge that it's Sparks that lets one see past this "facade". Maybe someone uninitiated could think that this is all just played straight. Or would it become too obvious for anyone to be fooled by the time we get to Goofing Off? And is there anything to be fooled about anyways...?

Because yeah, these songs are funny and poke fun at things, but without veering into actual parody teritory. I've been thinking about a very similar thing with They Might Be Giants, who also use a lot of humour in their music but are NOT a comedic / parody act (...despite seemingly every music reviewer being convinced of the opposite). Maybe it's the devotion and respect with which they both treat their art and audiences: the subject matter might be funny, but that doesn't mean that what they do can be condensed to just some joke (which is, again, lost on some reviewers). So, well, there's definitely a lot more to get into in regards to this topic and more opportunities to do that soon with later albums, so, stay tuned, maybe?

Favourite songs (and other highlights):

They're all so good... And this is yet another Sparks album that I think just flows super well and all the songs make a magnificent whole. But still, here are some personal highlights.

Occupation: literally one of the catchiest songs in existence, it tormented me for days if not weeks on end back in the day. The flow of "You need an-ah, You need an-ah, You need an Occupation" is incredibly good

Ladies: like I described earlier... it's just so funny

I'm Not: beaten by maybe one other song for the spot of THE #1 song that I was unable to stop listening to over and over right after hearing the album it's from

Goofing Off: ok, THIS one's the funniest. And the guitar solo has no right to go as hard as it does

Girls On The Brain: Ron writes about a brother who's "kinda thick" and hands the song to his brother to sing. Ok!!

Those Mysteries: only Sparks could make a song as solemn and sentimental sounding as this that I'm actually a huge fan of

[atticcreationz]

Something I find really interesting about Nerdy Prudes Must Die (which I think heavily influences the fact that it's my favourite Hatchetfield show) is that its music and musical motifs are built so heavily upon all the shows that came before it, which is not something we see super often in mainstream theatre?? Stay with me here, I don't know if I'll be able to articulate where I'm going with this fully the way I want to but I'm gonna try.

Not only did NPMD have the catchiest and most heart-wrenching main motif out of all the Hatchfield shows imho (the "cool" motif - watch my heart break in two in real time while it plays behind Ruth's big note in Just For Once, ooof), but we all know it is jam packed with motifs from 4 other shows (TGWDLM, BF, NMT1, NMT2) in addition to the rest of the NPMD motifs. From the nightmare time motif to the cop motif, the inevitable motif, the coffee motif, Grace's scheme motif, Hatchet motif, etc, the list goes on!

For me not only is it fun as hell but it scratches an itch that the other Hatchetfield shows didn't 100% reach for me musically speaking. Not bad, just one box that wasn't ticked for me! It's almost the same itch as musicals like Hamilton, who pack in a huge amount of motifs and music/musical references without them overly complicated, and without distracting from the broad strokes with too much detail work. The motifs are easy for your ear to pick up on and follow without beating you over the head with them. Now, the likes of Hamilton (take the rest of what I say from here on out with a big ol spoonful of salt as someone who is observing as an enthusiast of musical theatre composing theory, not a pro) besides the obvious thoughtful hard work put into it are possibly more able to make space for these intricacies due to a sung-through format; and especially in Hamilton's case, being able to use both rap and music to create motifs. It feels like NPMD however is able to do this more like a movie franchise (thinking of things like Star Wars who have built up many different musical themes over the years).

On the one hand, big duh, that's how sequels/connected stories work. But on the other hand, even though we're used to seeing certain musical or lyrical ideas returning throughout a composers career, and although we're used to Starkid lore, jokes and call backs building up over time, I don't think I know many musicals that are sequels, and have built up a musical motif landscape over several years?? Besides Phantom/Love Never Dies, which I admit I don't know enough about. This feels like it might be another thing unique to (or if not unique to then certainly encouraged by) Starkid's format.

I've oversimplified a bunch of this for the sake of brevity (as if I've ever been concise in my life lol). But out of curiosity if anyone knows any other interesting musical theatre sequel examples outside of Starkid, let me know!

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 2/6/2024

some weeks it's really hard to come up with a snappy little bon mot to put here

listening

Barbarella, by a fuck of a lot of people. yes i DID watch this movie this week! this is the single catchiest theme song i have ever heard. i cannot link the actual opening credits scene bc tumblr will censor that shit SO fast. spotify

-

reading

Rebecca Roanhorse's Tread of Angels novella. this is an urban magic old west religious fantasy novella. VERY sangfielle friendsatthetable vibes, there's an old west mining town centered around the body of the demon Abbadon, which is being mined for its powerful properties. demons and angels have sort of interbred throughout the human population. there is some deeply nerdy catholic bullshit and i say that as someone who was in catholic school for fifteen years. actually let's just take Roanhorse's explanation

the setting and premise are not where the novella bites off way more than it can chew. the main character, a cardsharp, has a chanteuse sister being held accused of a murder and she's got 48hrs to prove her innocence. the time limit and general structure is good, and it uses its side characters wisely, there's just a fuck of a lot of them.

in general, this novella does not have the emotional room to make its emotional beats really count. for example, there was a second breakup with an ex after a night of passion that mostly just left me confused. more broadly, the main character has an oldest sister's selfsacrificing nature that has twisted into utter ruthlessness with regards to her sister, and i'm both impressed Roanhorse managed to convey that in so few pages and annoyed bc i really wanted to see more of that in way more detail. due to the nature of it being a novella, the series of escalating decisions she takes feel very jagged in their escalation. i hope that makes sense.

it's got really interesting ideas! i want to know more about the ideas! i wish this was a full book instead of a novella, so the ending hits a little better instead of a Well That Just Happened way. from this interview it seems Roanhorse also wanted it to be a full book, but it was sort of a "i need something short and sweet so i don't go insane while adapting my other book for TV" (which is very exciting!!!)

-

watching

really a bizarre set of films. extremely unemployed energy in this watchlist this week. largely composed of "what's on my letterboxed watchlist and also available for free on tubi, with brief forays into hulu"

Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons (2013, dir. Chow). loved the overall visual design of the antagonists and the monsters, did not overall love this movie. it is a solid martial arts showcase and the first twenty minutes with freshwater JAWS are the most tightly plotted. it kind of flounders (lol) after that. can't find a gif i like.

INU-OH (2021, dir. Yuasa) genuinely healed my heart a little i think. queer (complimentary, not queer in the western massachusetts housing coop way) feudal anime glam rock opera. i am sooooooo picky about bad dads in movies as a driving force but this really soothed my daddy issues. stuck the landing on both storytelling and visuals.

Barbarella (1968, dir. Vadim) WOW Jane Fonda was hot. this was both sillier and less porny than i was led to believe (if we ignore the softcore porn opening credits). however horny this movie was it was not brave enough to have some girl-on-girl action with barbarella and the evil empress, even though the evil empress never seems to actually learn her name and just calls her “pretty” or “pretty-pretty”. shoutout to the one fic on ao3 that rectifies this situation. certainly a piece of scifi history, i wish modern scifi was as brave with its theatrical set dressing, i think one viewing is good enough for me bc i cannot stop thinking about how all the women on set might have been treated.

john philip law popped up and i said out loud to my cat “hey i know him from cowboys”

Flower Drum Song (1961, dir. Koster) got conned into watching this by the hotvintagemen poll bc i wanted to see what james shigeta’s deal was, and if he did have a sort of ratpack sensibility as the propaganda described. he does! however this movie is unrelentingly awful. it is so so so slow. all of its comedy is racism-based. it feels like a three and a half hour two-VHS set instead of two hours. i like to think i have a stronger stomach for older media and am able to consider things as products of their times but this is my upper limit i think. one brief fleeting moment of cool production with this triple mirror effect

Dirty Dancing (1987, dir. Ardolino). we were trying to find something to watch on either peacock or hbo max, and when i said "oh i've never seen that" out loud my my best friend said "that's insane we're watching it". i did not hate this movie, but i feel like i missed some critical window of development in which i would have had to see this movie to really love it. i had sort of an abnormal high school experience and i am a smidge too old to relate to bildungsroman any more. but it was cute! it was fine! i think patrick swayze’s jawline could cut glass. this film was made after Roe v Wade (1973) and i feel like the backstreet abortion b-plot has done this interesting 180 from sort of a historical novelty to a real threat and terror again. fun!

that’s it for the watching section i promise

-

playing

im doing the thing where i play a game for ten minutes, put it down, and then pick it back up again, which is probably not terrific for the health of my elderly switch. but whatever. what have i been up to in breath of the wild?

not a ton of progress map-wise, but did make it up to zora’s domain.

i was planning on the camel being the first divine beast, to get that over with bc i had such a devil of a time in my last playthrough, but the thing about the desert is it’s really far away.

dicked around the dueling peaks stables for a while without managing to defeat that guardian and unlock that shrine. so it goes. i think i really need an actual guardian shield from one of the minor tests of strength shrines instead of a normie shield. this line and sidequest made me laugh— it wasn’t terribly hard to find this little cache but it was a tricky bit of gliding.

didn’t realize the horses don’t have that much vertical threat perception, just like real horses. this little band walked right under me and i failed to glide down and land perfectly on someone’s back, which did freak them all out.

i think my new favorite place in a game is this little grove clinging to the side of the dueling peaks. it felt very peaceful and cozy. nothing can get me up there and there’s more than enough room to make a little campfire and cook dinner and not roll off the mountain in a sleeping bag the middle of the night.

also fully kitted out my house bc i had a very successful mining expedition along dueling peaks. EXTREMELY forgiving and generous secondary opening area imo, thanks game

-

making

i started this glitch sampler pattern by tumblr's own mathysphere (not @'d bc this is a fuck of a long post) at the beginning of the pandemic, june 2020, while thinking "eh let's give this friends at the table counterweight thing a shot" got most of the way through both counterweight and this piece, put it down bc i was so annoyed with all the confetti stitches (random one-off stitches of colors that aren't anywhere near other stitches of the same color. i think i resorted to fraychek at several points in the rover square) and then put it down so long i had to throw it out during the great moth debacle, bc it was partly eaten.

here's what it will look like finished, and a link to buy the pattern

i think this time around i am a much better technical stitcher (the first crack at this i didn't know the loop method of starting, or pin stitches, or really any alternate endings except running the tail under the last few stitches). i usually stitch with three strands bc i like the look, but i think the loop method with three strands is overly fiddly. i have not picked up cross stitch since mmmm 2021, but any mistakes or unevenness in this will simply contribute to the glitch effect. i'm going to go back and backstitch the four "frames" and key portions of the sampler to highlight portions of the glitches (eg the yellow and blue centers of the spiral galaxy, the interior of the eclipse, perhaps add an antenna to the rover).

still not my tidiest back, but hey. it's going to sit in a frame and not have any sort of friction or extra force applied to it ever

i am really looking forward to framing this in a deep shadowbox, i have an idea about how to mat it with little melty cutouts for the drips at the bottom.

[gaywriterthings]

What's your all-time favorite Bob's Burgers episode? Like this is YOUR episode? (You can list multiple if you want!)

omg HELLO i love your questions and this is my favorite by far because i've actually thought about this so much

i've got two! they're prob tied. first is Large Brother, Where Fart Thou? because

1) every single plot HITS. this episode does not in any way MISS

2) bob and linda's plot is HILARIOUS and i will never not think so

3) tina's plot is silly, she makes a "ur mom" joke at the beginning i lose my shit at every time, AND she sings one of the catchiest songs in the show's history

4) and of course, the main plot. best gene and louise moment EVER. it shows just how much of a caring protective older brother gene is, and louise GAVE HIM A HUG AAAGH its so sweet it gets me every time <33

and second is The Hauntening BECAUSE

1) halloween is my favorite holiday lmao

2) it's honestly so funny. like there's SO many great quotable lines

3) its plot is just so fucking good. the reveal that the family faked this whole haunted house/getting chased by a murderer thing just to give louise the terror she wanted so badly to feel, and got their friends in on it too... it's AMAZING. louise was SO HAPPY and it was so sweet!

4) I Love You So Much (It's Scary) is one of my all time favorite bobs burgers songs. though i don't have a definitive ranking, it's in the top three, up there with This Wedding Is My Warzone and Sunny Side Up Summer

[thesinglesjukebox]

BILLIE EILISH - "BIRDS OF A FEATHER"

We too are sticking together on this...

[7.11]

Jonathan Bradley: The catchiest and prettiest thing on Hit Me Hard and Soft is this micro-scale nighttime fantasia, a burble of dazed affection and death imagery; it’s Billie’s most mellow evocation of the macabre to date. Her vocal is light but dexterous, pushing some syllables away, swooning on others, opening out when restraint threatens to take over entirely. A lesser performer would melt into the production -- the sort that we used to call lap-pop, back when not all pop could be produced on a home computer and that could mark a sound. It's interior in outlook, a composition of detail rather than impact. And the details are what sell this: the pattering thump of drums, the sleepy sprawl of the synth textures, the faint sparkling of guitar arpeggios that decorate rather than dominate. It’s a toybox tune, but one where the toys come to life as you dream. [8]

Kat Stevens: This is how I remember it: Sharon and Tracey are trying to win a cash prize at a karaoke competition, presumably to get themselves out of some sort of financial scrape. Tracey is reluctant at first but eventually commits to their hamfisted "I Will Survive" dance routine. However, Sharon gets stage fright at the last minute, leaving their man-eating, snobby next-door neighbour Dorian to save the day. Dorian pinch-hits "Like A Virgin" to the delighted crowd, and I decide that the next time I do karaoke, I will copy this schtick down to the very last gyration. Everything else about Birds Of A Feather was shit, so Billie has a low bar to clear here. [5]

Katherine St. Asaph: The sort of genial soft-rock arrangement Haim have made a whole career of, enlivened by the kind of vocal acrobatics Billie normally holds back. [7]

Jackie Powell: When “Birds of a Feather” was first released, critics immediately projected that it could be a top 40 radio mainstay or song of the summer, as this track is the "purest pop" Billie Eilish probably has in her catalog. It’s a foot tapper, and the combination of kazoos, acoustic guitars and melodic synthesizers emulate how a bird typically flitters around. But I don’t view “Birds of a Feather” as Eilish selling out or chart-hunting. Creating a song that sounds like the younger sister of Wham!’s “Last Christmas" -- which Eilish’s main collaborator and brother Finneas believes is a major compliment -- isn’t complying with some sort of industry trend. It’s not like Eilish went country like so many other pop acts have in the past three months. She also challenges herself vocally. Eilish has always been gifted at blending her upper register with her chest voice, and she shows off her excellent mixing in each pre-chorus, especially on the phrases “I don’t” and “might not.” So where does she challenge herself? Right in that final chorus, where Eilish crescendos on each overlapped response that begins with “til.” There are three of them. She begins in her head voice, mixes on the second, and then takes a risk and belts in a way we’ve never really heard before, her voice going on the proverbial rollercoaster that vocal teachers always have their students visualize and try to execute in warmups. "I couldn’t belt until I was literally 18," Eilish told Zane Lowe. “I couldn’t physically do it.” Now she clearly can, and she's all the more versatile -- the exact opposite of an artist’s intent when “selling out." [8]

Mark Sinker: Not doctorate-level semiotics here, but this comes into focus as a song – from sweetly yearning fuzzgoth to something more bodily and bitter and present — when the verse rhyme-endings switch from open vowels (-ay, -oo, -ee) to that hard array of -its. Which, I mean, yes, it’s actually Californian alveolar tapping shading into glottal stops, and that final rhyme of “stupi… ” actually trails off into the Billie-est of ether, so the bitter bodily array is way more implied than it’s physically there. [8]

Alfred Soto: Part of the charm of "BIRDS" is how it sounds like a demo for a dance-floor banger. That's also one of its hindrances. "I'll love you till the day that I die" is fine once, a place-filler every other time.  [7]

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: This John Legend, Lewis Capaldi corny-ass song sounds slightly pleasant when sung by Billie, but do yourself a favor and go listen to the "Guess" remix instead.  [6]

Ian Mathers: On the surface this is just pleasant (hits me soft, you could say), but I keep coming back to the "say you wanna quit, don't be stupid" part. Whether you hear this as about siblings or romance, there's just enough of that element to undercut (or maybe ground) the florid declarations of the rest of it. [8]

Nortey Dowuona: At one point in 1886, it was estimated that 50 American bird species were hunted for their feathers. Passenger pigeons and Carolina parakeets went extinct, one after the other. If not for the crusading of Harriet Hemenway and cousin Minna Hall and the passage of the Weeks-McLean Law (aka the Migratory Bird Act) by Congress in 1913, backed by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, snowy egrets would've been plucked to extinction. Think of all the years it took to get that passed into law and backed by the Supreme Court. Think of how much longer it will be until trans rights and the rights of the entire LGBT community are enshrined into law. And how much longer this song will last until that happens, long after me and Billie and you are dead. [7]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

[anomalocariscanadensis]

black metal 🎶 counter-attack!

black metal is one of my favorite genres. screams and tremolos just rub my brain the right way for whatever reason, i love them outside of black metal too (tho i can be picky with vocals especially). plus it's the faggiest subgenre of extreme metal - how many death metal bands would name a song some shit like "Tears of a Melancholic Vampyre"? it's got a lot of theatrical elements, and I tend to judge black metal albums by their overall vibe along with the music.

before i get into the recs, famously and unfortunately, a lot of people in black metal suck in a lot of ways. i generally don't worry too much about this because i'm pirating most of it anyway, but i've checked these ones out and as far as i can tell, none of them suck in any especially bad ways. with that out of the way here are some favorites of mine:

Spectral Wound - Frigid and Spellbound - melodic but uncompromising black metal that sticks within the classic vein, particularly influenced by Gorgoroth and the Finnish scene. one of the few black metal bands with good lyrics, inspirations including Walter Benjamin, Ingmar Bergman, Giorgio Agamben, and Kate Bush. this song is their catchiest, with some really good melodic riffs. no left theorists show up directly within its lyrics, which are instead about the beauty of a frozen river, and a Grindr hookup ("Come to me anon/Deranged and defiled/Twisting in dark passions/Of the cruel nauseous hours").

Mortuary Drape - Not Still Born (The Unborn Plane) - founded in the late 80s, this Italian band is one of the best of the "first wave" of black metal, from when it was all sort of a soup of black/death/whatever. they're influenced by occult rock and their sound predates the Norwegian codification of the standard black metal style, so they're light on the blast beats, tremolo riffs, and Satanism and heavy on the bass, necromancy, and occultism. though not nearly as influential as Bathory or Celtic Frost, they've inspired a decent few bands in their own right. this one's about getting reincarnated.

Yaotl Mictlan - Nada Verde Crece Aquí - one of the first songs that got me into the genre, and still a favorite. melodic folk/black metal which makes good use of some indigenous flutes, not a lot of blast beats. lyrics are derived from one of the Nahuatl flower-songs of Nezahuacoyotl, about the impermanence of all things on earth.

Paysage d'Hiver - Welt Aus Eis - the most common word used to describe Paysage d'Hiver is "cold". it's stark and minimal, riding the line between atmospheric and ambient, and barely produced: i once saw someone complaining about being able to distinguish the instruments on a newer album of theirs (or should I say his? it's a one-man project). these days, i get it. everything in this song blends together into an entrancing whole, only broken by snatches of croaking and cackling carried on a freezing wind, and (twice) a beautifully dissonant violin. the lyrics are never comprehensible or transcribed, but conceptually it's about winter and a mysterious spiritual journey, as all their songs are.

Deafheaven - Dream House - You already know this song. It's really good! Takes some of the musical elements of black metal, reconfigures others (more complex drumming, different sorts of melodies in the riffs), and completely changes the aesthetics while still keeping a coherent vibe overall.

Odz Manouk - To Feast on Celestial Bodies - the (one-man) band's name is Armenian for "Snake Child", from a folk tale about a royal couple whose baby was born a serpent. hypnotic dissonant riffs, harsh but clear vocals (with an interesting sort of singing at times), production that's neither too raw nor too clean. super cool song title also. if you go deeper into their music, the split with Tuukaria is not to be missed.

Negative Plane - Angels of Veiled Bone - one of the bands inspired by Mortuary Drape, they take the occult sound and bring it closer to modern black metal while adding a ton of reverb for atmosphere. the vocalist is really good at putting emphasis on the right points in the lyrics, which makes the vocals much more memorable than the average amorphous harsh vox. members' side projects Funereal Presence and Occultation are also excellent.

Iron Firmament - Keepeater - the production on this EP is so bad that the drums mostly just sound like a strobing effect on the rest of the instruments, which is honestly really cool. they've got some more EPs which lose that effect for better or worse. this song is - as you might expect - about covering the sky with iron plates, and a giant serpent that eats castles. i can't make out enough lyrics to tell how those two themes are related.

Gevurah - Dies Irae Lacrimosa - Gevurah are insanely pretentious "orthodox" Satanists (they worship Satan as a literal god, not a symbol of human will or whatever). their theology is some sort of Gnostic anti-cosmic occult shit, which as it turns out makes for really fucking sick black metal. the drums are doing a lot here but the real highlight to me is the boiling tremolo riff that starts a minute in (and gets brought back later with a vengeance). there's one part when it's just the vocalist shouting in a Quebec accent that pushes the cheese factor a bit too far, but the rest is really great.

[daeeeeeb]

the music in rwby

i feel like i could talk about rwby's ost for HOURS. not even like, how the lyrics represent a character and/or their situation (thats a whole other post) but how everyone composing them NEVER MISSES!! every song is just absolute banger after banger ranging from full on songs with vocals by casey lee williams to just scores that are used on the episodes of every volume (that you can just listen to!! and i think that rules.) every song in every volume hits the soft spot in my brain that makes me smile (bmblb from vol4), makes me cry (forever fall from vol6) and gets super fuckin hyped n pumped up (die from vol2, especially the part with casey just full on screaming the lyrics) and to be honest theres a lot of songs in the albums that fit those 3 criterias but those are the ones i could remember as of late i also love how much the casey has evolved as a singer (i've heard that she's been singing for RvB since she was like,6) from vol1 where she was, i think, 12 and her voice was plenty AWESOME to listen to already, then came vol8 and shit went DOWN. the opening kicking off with "we said GOOODBYYEEE" goes so goddamn hard its unreal. every opening in this series goes incredibly CRAZY and its not even funny like every second of the songs in the series are so damn well composed with the catchiest beats and best lyrics ever (specifically lamar hall, he raps so damn fast in big metal shoe, vol6) by the way, jeff HOWLING in some songs he is wonderful, like caffeine (vol2) or the vol3 opening. hell, songs where its just him doing the vocals are incredible too even if there arent that many, like bad luck charm in vol4 orr not fall in love with you in vol3! ill be honest, i dunno who composed what and who did this n that but im ASSUMING most of the guitar parts were just jeff, like the swell and heavy guitar in touch the sky, vol7, that ones gives me summer (not the character) vibes and it slaps. i love the solos sprinkled around the songs as well and im glad to see them still present and incredible as always in the vol9. (RED LIKE ROSES PART 3!! absolute PEAK. i listened to it for like 3 seconds on borrowed earbuds and it felt like heaven on my ears) the whole of volume 9 was incredible too, checkmate is incredible with the flow of the lyrics and the doots and the BASS, oh my god the bass. its really cool knowing martin de lima, from ok goodnight (the band casey sings in!! check them out, i need to listen to more of their songs aswell, awake sounds HEAVY and im all for it) composed some of the scores for vol9 and i hope there'll be more of ok goodnight in future volumes (greenlight vol10) didnt expect to have written so damn much but thats ok. what im saying is : music goes hard, goes cool and makes me happy. hope it makes you happy too :)

[musicaltheatregirlsandsongs]

Musical Theatre Song Contest: Round One A

Submitter’s propaganda under the cut

Losing My Mind

A beautiful, intricate, subtle song that is so quintessentially Sondheim in its melody

Drink With Me

Though not perhaps the catchiest song in Les Mis, "Drink with Me" does a great job at showing a lot of the themes and motivations of the characters. The youth of these essentially schoolboys is shown through their reminiscing on things such a girls and songs. The fear of what they're truly doing, whether it will mean anything presented through Grantaire's stanza. The friendship that binds them together, and the love they have for each other - a crucial theme throughout the story of Les Mis where people are trampled by an unjust system but still live and love and hope. And the yearning for a better day, all while knowing it might not happen. All of this within about three minutes, two minutes which will make you tear up. Please vote for this song <3

grantaire<3

this song single-handedly stuffs so much character development in like, three minutes, it is so so so necessary to the musical and it is a MASTERCLASS in making me cry

[magicalmikuri]

Some of my favorite Lostwave Songs - Solved and Unsolved (Part 2)

THAT'S RIGHT BABY IT'S BACK!!! For those who missed part 1, you can check out my lostwave gush-fest here.

Solved -

Found A Place by The Jazz Hipsters - Spooky vibes but very cool. Unfortunately this band hasn't seem to release anything else.

Boogie Home by Billy Workman - I love me some glam rock.

Summer's End by Prince of the Blood - The entire album, Portsmouth, is honestly so good, especially the titular song.

Creepy Crawlies by Bing Hitler with the Chain Gang - Not the best band name, but was a stage name of a Scottish comedian named Craig Ferguson. Picturing Shrek singing while listening to this is highly recommend.

Maniac Laughing by Johnny Cohen - HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA-

Oceans of Time by Al Bowlly - I love me some crunchy old music.

Mental by Tripp7 - This song slaps, it's also one of the few available on Spoofy so go check it out on there!

Weekend by Charlatan - Lovin' that sax. I also recommend En Walki Talki Man.

Take Off by Kigoy - This song sounds like it crawled out of an abandoned subway station and I mean that in the best way possible I love this song. Unfortunately it seems Kigoy only really did two songs, this and this one here that's worth checking out.

At the Lightworks by Ellie Greenwich - Yes, the Ellie Greenwich! I assume this song was solved in like five seconds. Delightfully 60s.

Paragon by NuKeMOuT - This song goes hard, feel free to screenshot.

Magic Summer by Captains - Lovin' that sax (again.) Also I love this lady's voice.

Unsolved -

"Johnny" - I can't see a sail boat without thinking of this song

"Treadmill of Time" - Possibly identified as a song by a band called Memorybank. Everyone says it has Depeche Mode vibes (I think originally it was passed of as an outtake of there's though it obviously isn't) but it gives me more TMBG vibes.

"Friends" - May sound like it's from a kid's show but it's VERY NOT. It's actually from, like, the opposite of that.

"Let's Get Up" - Another song from a porn film. Steals a lot of its lyrics from Dancing on the Ceiling by Lionel Ritchie but is actually better.

"I Was A Fool In Love" - One that's weirdly grown on me over the past few weeks???

"Trip To Rio" - The intro is honestly one of the catchiest things I've ever heard, period. I hope we find the full version soon.

"Poor Christmas" - The lostwave Christmas song, and I love it for that. I'm not at all religious I'm just weird and dig Christmas music.

"CIA" - Sounds like it's from a movie, it's got that cinematic vibe to it.

"Leylo Lo La" - Possibly a cover of a cover...?

"Ai wa Subete" - I love me some Japanese lostwave.

Might do a part 3 or a other songs by lostwave artists and where to support them (obviously the latter can only really apply to people with solved songs).

[bbbrianjones]

ok embarrassing time. i was tagged by @andypartridges and @anynameisbetterthanmyfirstone to tag the top five songs i have been listening to.

okay! by dave dee, dozy, beaky, mick & tich

here's the thing - i am insane. i was going through some old playlists from 2021 and this song appeared more time than it should . because it's shit. this song fucking sucks. i hate it. yet it is singlehandedly the catchiest song i've heard and unfortunately when i have a single second of spare thought this song will just appear in my head and will stay there for fucking HOURS until i listen to it.

2. rent by pet shop boys

VERY underrated song in the psb's catalogue. i love this song so much- the lyrics, the music, the general **vibe** of the song. it also works so well!!

3. don juan by dave dee, dozy, beaky, mick & tich

idk i feel like a matador when i hear this song without having the deal with the bull. also this song was on repeat during my last night in soho days. remember that??????

4. afterglow (of your love) by the small faces

this song causes the biggest rush of emotions and feelings despite hearing it like a dozen times. something about marriott's voice with all its vulnerability and passion, especially in the chorus, just does something to me. i feel him grab my heart and literally show it in front of my eyes.

5. have i the right by the honeycombs

very catchy. love the story behind this one. them stamping their feet on some floorboards to make that noise!!!! genius!!!!!

[randomvarious]

Vengaboys - "We Like to Party! (The Vengabus)" 1998 Eurodance / Eurohouse / Europop

The Vengaboys really struggled for a little bit to break out internationally before managing to basically become a co-ed Eurodance/Europop version of The Village People. Their first two singles, "Parada de Tettas" (which I guess translates to "Parade of Tits"?), and "To Brazil" both managed to chart in their home country of the Netherlands in 1997, but nowhere outside of the Benelux region (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg), besides Hong Kong, did any label seem interested in picking up either song.

Sometime around 1998, though, the group's producers, Danski & Delmundo, figured it all out: they found that patented, trancey, fuzzy-buzzy, honking Vengaboys synth sound. And its arrival was marked by a song called "Up & Down," which, if you've never heard it, is remarkably similar to "We Like to Party! (The Vengabus)"

So, "Up & Down" represented the start of the Vengaboys' turn-of-the-millennium Euro-dominance. It would become the first single of theirs to really be picked up internationally, and it smashed, particularly in the UK, where it reached #4 on the singles chart and #1 on the dance chart. And in the US, while it didn't touch the Billboard Hot 100, it still topped the publication's dance chart too.

Now, here's where things can get a tad confusing, though: after the Vengaboys released "Up & Down," they followed it up in April of 1998 with their hard-to-find, Dutch-only debut album, Up & Down – The Party Album!, which is not to be confused with their *international* debut album, The Party Album!, which came out over a year later; both releases happen to have pretty different track lists, and the original Dutch-only album only has one song on it that actually uses what would end up becoming the group's famous synth.

In fact, while both the Dutch and international releases have a song on them called "We Like to Party," they are actually two completely different versions. The one that went stratospheric and got the Vengaboys to really break out in the US contains the synth sound, whereas the original version off the Dutch-only album doesn't. And instead, the one from the Dutch-only album is like a weird breakbeat-Eurotrance thing that sounds like it *might* be sampling Slick Rick's "we like to party" line from "La-Di-Da-Di"??? Give a listen to this rareness. It took me multiple YouTube searches to find it, and a 90s throwback DJ might find some use for it, to blend it with the far more popular version 👀.

So, now, knowing about this particular track, here's what I think happened: Danski & Delmundo saw that their group had finally found success because of that trademark synth in "Up & Down," and they thought that they could earn another big hit if they had just used it again. So they constructed a pretty similar beat, repurposed the titular line from the original version of "We Like to Party," and then had group member Denise Post-Van Rijswijk sing some lyrics over it, which happened to include what would become one of the catchiest choruses of the entire decade. And voila, the Vengaboys then had an even bigger worldwide hit than "Up & Down" in "We Like to Party! (The Vengabus)."

This version of the song not only ended up slaying in Europe, but because it had lyrics, it became the group's biggest American hit too, reaching #26 on the Hot 100. And then after that one came the group's third straight single to use the synth: "Boom Boom Boom Boom."

Now, if you actually doubted my comparison of the Vengaboys to the Village People before, here's two things: one, the art for The Party Album! literally has the two male members of the group drawn as a cowboy and a sailor; and two, the music video for "We Like to Party! (The Vengabus)" has a short scene in it in which the Vengaboys run into a group of guys who are dressed as the Village People and are doing the "YMCA" dance; but the Vengaboys, who are a mix of bored and befuddled by their presence, end up pushing them aside, so as to say, "Out of the way, Village People! The new breed, The Vengaboys, are here!"

And as far as Europe goes, they weren't wrong. They'd never have another hit in the US after "Boom Boom Boom Boom," but they'd keep up the momentum with The Platinum Album, and now they're still beloved over there as a nostalgia act more than two decades later. And the Vengaboys would remain relevant in the US too, of course, with Six Flags appropriating "We Like to Party! (The Vengabus)" as its own theme song in 2004, which came with an iconic ad campaign that featured a dancing, besuited old man called Mr. Six, who, according to this credible Reddit comment I found, was actually just a 30-year old guy in prosthetic makeup?! 😲

More fun videos here.

[thisaintascenereviews]

Fluorescents - Scream It At Me

For as much as pop-punk has been back in the mainstream, there’s one kind that I don’t think has been represented — neon pop-punk. In the late 00s, and early 2010s, bands like Forever The Sickest Kids, All Time Low, Every Avenue, Hit The Lights, and many others, dominated the pop-punk scene, and it was called “neon pop-punk,” named for how a lot of the bands dressed in neon colors, how bright and synth-heavy their music was, and how they placed a lot more emphasis on the “pop” than punk. I, for one, absolutely loved it, and a lot of favorite bands from that era came from the neon scene. In recent years, as pop-punk has been getting bigger in the mainstream again, I’ve noticed that a few bands have been either turning more into a catchy and neon-ish band, or they’re immediately jumping into that sound. State Champs’ last album, 2022’s Kings Of The New Age, is their catchiest album yet, and bands like Stand Atlantic, Broadside, and Honey Revenge are releasing albums that are way more pop than punk.

The latest band I found in this vein is one that I’ve been subtly following for a while on TikTok, and that’s Chicago outfit Fluorescents. They finally dropped a debut album, entitled Scream It At Me, and it’s composed of songs they’ve released within the last couple of years. These guys caught my attention by having a very pop-focused version of pop-punk, and reminding me of a lot of 00s bands, whether it’s the lyrics, vocals, melodies, and their overall sound. They also have a few other subtle influences, like some easycore and hip-hop in spots, but they mainly have a very pop-influenced sound. I didn’t know their debut was coming out until a few days before, but I was ecstatic, and to no surprise, I’m head over heels for this thing. This is one of the best albums I’ve heard all year, and one of the best pop-punk albums I’ve heard in a long while.

These guys take everything I love about the genre, especially back when I really listened to it, and make it so well. They also subtly modernize the sound, too, especially with the lyrics, but it doesn’t sound immediately dated or cringy. The biggest thing that works here, and why I keep returning to this album, are its hooks. This thing has hooks for days, and despite being a 34-minute album, I’ve played this a few times in a row before, just because I can’t get enough. It’s so sugary sweet, you might get a toothache from this record. From front to back, I always have a smile on my face when I listen to this record. Every song really sticks out, and that’s a rare feat on a pop-punk record these days.

It helps that this band has a few other tricks up their sleeve, whether it’s a few different vocalists, and a sound that manages to have the songs flow together quite well without running together. They make each song stand out enough, and it works so well. Lyrically, these guys are nothing that special, but a lot of these lyrics remind me of bands I used to listen to back in the day. One of their vocalists reminds me a ton of the vocalist of Hit The Lights, and it just takes me back almost 16 years ago listening to their sophomore album in my sophomore year of high school. They just have great chemistry, and the multiple vocalists help the album from getting stale.

I just really love this record, but it’s a mixture of nostalgia for this sound that I forgot how much I loved, and just how well done it is. I usually find a few pop-punk albums each year that I love a lot, especially after getting back into the genre around four or five years ago, and this may be the best one, unless something random sneaks up behind it. A couple of other great pop-punk albums have come out, too, like the new Neck Deep record that came out in January, for some reason, but Fluorescents is easily one of the best unsigned bands that you’re not listening to.

[dustedmagazine]

Armbruster — Can I Sit Here (Dear Life)

Violinist Conor Armbruster has shifted gears on Can I Sit Here. His previous release, Masses, reveled in the generous acoustics of an acoustic violin in a church sanctuary. On his latest for Dear Life, Can I Sit Here, the recording of an electric violin is close-miked and in mono, with many of the tracks using lots of distortion. Some electric violins have a number of extra strings that allow the performer to access a wider registral compass. That is certainly the case here. There is more use of drones too, as well as sounds inspired by heavy post-rock and even metal.

The leadoff track, “I’m Really Trying to Catch Up With You Soon,” bridges the gap between Masses and Can I Sit Here, with repetitions of organ-like sonorities wafting in the high register. Eventually, a thunderous, sustained bass register line enters as do treble register rock solos. The ostinato persists, creating a piece that, if only it had drums, would sound every bit like a piece by Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Indeed, in places one wishes that percussion, even electronic percussion, was incorporated.

“Playground” has a distorted repeating chord progression that registrally unfolds into a bold, bracing textural environment. It is nearly two thirds of the way through the piece that a rollicking solo is added. Shrieking “bird calls” arrive, as does dynamic intensity, the conclusion abandoning the chord progression for a sustained dissonant high note. In “Playground,” Mogwai seems like a touchstone. In fact, one could readily hear Armbruster touring in support of some of the aforementioned ensembles, heating up the crowd with searing strings.

“No Other News” features a constantly pulsating high note juxtaposed with bass strings in a wayward melody. The piece breaks into triplets against dovetailing melodies. Partway through, the ostinato from “Playground” makes a brief appearance, followed by bent bass notes and glissandos against the upper drone. It concludes with another repeated note in the low register and a swath of chords. “Lament” remains a chordal ostinato for most of its duration, until it goes sideways in a downward bend. “Thank You for Putting These Feelings Into Words” follows closely upon, with repeated spacy riffs providing the mood of a sci-fi soundtrack. Perhaps the catchiest among selections is “Tell the Crowd,” with a loping repeating bass-line and a solo that combines Americana and experimental music. “Can’t Wait To Be Chillin’” closes the album with a seven-minute work in which the violinist takes his time, with another bass ostinato and an alto register solo dovetailing alongside it. It is only near the end of the piece that Armbruster moves from a clean sound to distorted chordal slides. The close is a fragmented version of the ostinato, gradually fading.

The technical underpinning of Armbruster’s music is impressively assured and the sounds he explores are consistently interesting. Can I Sit Here makes me eager to hear what surprises he has up his sleeve for the future.

Christian Carey

[sweaterkittensahoy]

I threatened a 40-minute video of annoyance with this, but I'm lazy, so here's a time-stamped dick pull instead:

It's the catchiest song in the whole fucking movie, and it does nothing to earn any love or devotion from any version of its audience.

0:36: "you got yourselves on the front page." accurate.

0:40: "So what, you get your picture in the pape, so what's that get you, huh?" -- A fair question from a kid who understands via selling papes how quickly headlines change. Which is established earlier in the film in a way that kids were meant to pick up on.

0:41: "What are you talkin' about, huh?" / (various newsies saying 'shut up you've been in a bad mood, etc.) / "You're glum and dumb. What's the matter with you? You're in the papes you're famous! You're famous, you get anything you want!" -- Previous scenes have set up that the Newsies understand the rules of Yellow Journalism, so to have Race get annoyed that another seasoned Newsie questions why it matters they're on the front page when they all know the front page will change basically instantly is to undercut what we've already been told the Newsies know themselves. Also, this has been made clear to the kids who are watching who undoubtedly picked it up.

0:58: "And that's what's so great about New York!" this is meant to show that New York is great because anyone can be famous for one edition. But we've seen the Newsies understand that this means nothing in the greater story. Having any Newsie in this scene claim front page status makes anyone famous doesn't work with the story that's already been set up. And, again, this has been made clear for THE KIDS IN THE AUDIENCE.

0:59: "A Pair of new shoes with matching laces" / "A permanent box at Cheapshead Races." / "A porcelin tub with boiling water" -- growing up in the early 90s, I'm sure I identified with the idea of new shoes with matching laces (it was a THING), but I sure as shit didn't have any sense of why having an easier time gambling would make a fellow kid happy (because I wasn't raised by OR a degenerate child gambler). And while I happened to grow up in a situation where I did NOT always have hot water on tap, the phrasing here didn't provide any explanation about why I should care about someone wanting a tub with BOILING WATER.

1:08: "A Saturday night with the Mayor's daughter!" This movie was aimed, at the oldest, towards 10-12 year olds. My best wishes to anyone who felt a tingle in their jeans at this moment and spent many years wondering why they wanted to fuck pirates.

1:13: "Look at me, I'm the King of New York." Vinnie from Dougie Howser MD was why I watched this movie the moment I could get my hands on it in my own home, and he delivers. Thank you, Max Casella. You did great.

1:22: "Nobbing with all the muckety-mucks…" I respect Christian Bale as an actor. He is SO BAD in this movie. He can't sing or dance for shit, and I wanna backhand whoever cast him in this role.

1:34: The Newsies fighting over the paper when the movie has etablished they know being on the front page doens't mean shit is a fucking problem.

1:38: "A courdrory suit with fitted knickers / a mezzanine seat to see the flickers / Havana cigars that cost a quarter" Are you just listing shit that no kid in the early 90s is going to be able to understand as important or were you all too high on coke to give a shit???

1:47: "An Editor's desk for the star reporter" See previous comment. No fucking child in any point knows what an editor is, why that desk is important, or what a star reporter is. Disney was just coked out at this point.

1:53: Bull Pullman put his whole cunt into this performance, and I love that for him. The script never could decide how much emphasis he should have, but he showed up in every scene as Cool Uncle Cunt and showed them. Good for him.

2:01: Calm down every spotlight-stealer we knew in high school.

2:10: "Proud yet humble, he's the king of New York." -- Max Casella proving why I loved this movie when young.

2:18: "Tomorrow they might wrap fishes in it / but I was a star for one whole minute!" Proving--AGAIN--that these kids know how fragile the news cycle is, yet we're supposed to think they're all excited about making the front page????

2:24: The dancing is in no way with the beat of the song, and I am pretty sure my molars no longer exist because I ground them to dust.

2:32: They are now in sync with the beat, but my molars are still fucking dust.

2:37: This is a kid power movie. Pullman shouldn't be jumping on a table to sing along.

2:45: No kid is going to appreciate a sit-down game of dance-and-slap, and Pullman joining in is further disconnection from the overall kid power theme of the movie. He's supposed to be their ally, not their equal. It's a mistake to have him be part of this moment.

2:49: "Once a piker" -- No fucking child in the early 90s is going to know that "Piker" is an insult about a "simplistic" person who thinks they have more impact on business than they actually hold.

[cto10121]

The catchiest of all the little recitatives of this show, lol. Decided to do them both and fortunately Tumblr now allows multiple audios, so why not? I also took the trouble to learn Fleur-de-Lys’ harmony, which actually sounds nice on its own. Neat.

Phoebus’ Name (Le mot Phoebus)

Esmeralda Now, good sir, if I may inquire The name of he to whom I am bound?

Gringoire I am Gringoire, poet and squire Troubadour and prince of the streets 

Esmeralda The prince of Paris’ streets, very meet

Gringoire I am not a rake nor a lout I would never wander about  With you as my lady  My queen

Esmeralda If you’re scribe, then you can read Then Gringoire, if you’d please heed my need: What does Phoebus’ name mean?

Gringoire Jove above me! Joking aside, Who’d dare wear that name with such pride?

Esmeralda One whom I do love above all 

Gringoire My Latin’s rusty, but I recall Phoebus is the god of the sun

Esmeralda Phoebus’ name means the sun

Lovely Like the Sun (Beau comme le soleil)

Esmeralda He’s so lovely, like the sun Bright and strong, a prince of love Deep within me wakes a love That grows and soars the skies above For he’s lovely, like the sun Bright and strong, a prince of love My prince…my one

Fleur-de-Lys He’s so lovely, like the sun Strong and fierce, a rogue, a knight In his arms, he holds me tight It feels so wrong, it feels so right But he’s lovely like the sun Strong and fierce, my day, my night  My knight…my one

Both He’s so lovely, like the sun Bright and strong, my prince of love He is mine, I’m all he is And someday soon he’ll make me his He’s so lovely like the sun Wondrous man, my love, my one He’s so lovely like the sun Soon He will be mine!