#but all the songs that were originally in exodus are still there and still GOOD ykno so i can't say its a bad album either

[undyinglantern]

finally jumped off the deep end and listened to all the stuff i'd missed out on

[miseria-fortes-viros]

(brings microphone to your face) tell us abt ur au!!!! whatever you're willing to share, i love hearing abt wips.

OOHOOHOO OK!! so i have talked abt this before but i don’t think i have a tag for it however im going to go back thru and tag ALL of it bc well. i like all of my things in one place. ANYWAY. i’m going to put this under a cut bc it will be LONG because i cannot help myself ever. so, i present: trc rival bands au!

this is the pinterest board i’ve made for the au that i cannot stop adding to. i’m refraining from sharing my spotify playlists because uh. those are a major part of the story and i don’t want to take that away from it 😭 BUT trust me they are SO good. im obsessed.

anyway. rival bands au LETS GO!!

gansey, ronan, henry, and noah make up the (pop punk?/alt rock?) band Kings of Henrietta.

ronan plays lead guitar. he’s the son of legendary irish rockstar niall lynch and also ex lead guitarist of the boyband the lynch brothers. he plays a seven-string ibanez xiphos in black flat (VERY sexy guitar VERY difficult). its name is chainsaw. he has perfect pitch. he’s also very, very irish

gansey’s lead vocals and rhythm guitar. he grew up hollywood royalty but was never really interested in acting, just did it because it was expected of him. his exodus from the film industry in order to be in a band was originally widely considered a long shot but now. well. one of the most famous bands in the world and all that. he plays an obnoxiously orange gretsch jet that fans have dubbed “the pig”.

henry’s bass and backup vocals. he’s the heir to two tech fortunes but ran off to be a musician and was a solo artist for a few years before the formation of KOH (think yungblud). he has a classic rocker haircut, he’s openly queer, he’s a weirdgirl fashion icon. he plays a custom made electric blue fender precision with lightning detailing. he calls it “madonna” but this name has yet to catch on

noah plays drums (and also provides vocals on occasion if the occasion is screaming). his parents are music producers, his sister adele is also in the industry. he breaks at least one drum stick per show and tosses it into the pit. hardcore fans can and will fight for it.

they are SO fucking famous. like taylor swift 95m monthly spotify listeners famous. like people recognize ronan just from his hair like eminem famous. about to leave on one of the longest world tours ever famous. it is INSANE how famous they are.

they all met at aglionby and often played together but didn’t form a band until after niall lynch’s murder and the disbanding of the lynch brothers. there’s a few years gap between graduating aglionby and the formation of KOH

some circles still believe ronan killed his own father however they are very few and far between. WHATEVER

blue grew up in a house full of musicians. she can play pretty much anything under the sun but prefers drums and guitar. she went to juilliard on scholarship, which is where she met adam

adam did not grow up playing music with his family. he grew up learning it in secret. he cannot play everything however he is a VERY quick learner out of sheer willpower. he graduated high school as valedictorian and immediately got the fuck out of there to go to juilliard (also on scholarship). he and blue were inseparable almost immediately

they moved in together after graduation and blue took him home to henrietta when the rent started to get a little too high. they officially formed their band page of wands in blue’s room at 300 fox way

“page of wands” merges both of their symbolic tarot cards together (page of cups + magician). did i mention blue was raised pagan? she was. as to be expected. anyways.

virtually unknown indie rock band page of wands posts a cover of a KOH song. they do not expect KOH to see it. they also do not expect KOH to return the favor in front of tens of thousands of people. KOH does it anyways. because gansey is ENAMORED. he is SO FAR GONE.

blue hates this. she hates it so much. unfortunately POW’s sudden success is now irreversibly tied to KOH and there’s nothing she can do about it. or is there

their record labels agree to a rivalry. success! this is what she wanted

except it’s not. but she doesn’t know why

cue enemies to lovers. and long distance pining. mutual destruction. the entire music industry watching this all unfold. bluesey. pynch. way too many spotify links. you get the picture

guys i literally CANNOT stop thinking about this i don’t know what to do. what do i do. i am so lost. please help me

[rainbowfic]

Today's prompt list is: Avocado

Theme: Music 1. The full moon is calling / The fever is high / And the wicked wind whispers / And moans - The Eagles: One Of These Nights

2. And it's whispered that soon, if we all call the tune / Then the piper will lead us to reason / And a new day will dawn for those who stand long / And the forests will echo with laughter - Stairway to Heaven: Led Zeppelin

3. All the people we used to know / They're an illusion to me now / Some are mathematicians / Some are carpenter's wives / Don't know how it all got started - Bob Dylan: Tangled Up In Blue

4. There's room at the top they are telling you still / But first you must learn how to smile as you kill / If you want to be like the folks on the hill - John Lennon: Working Class Hero

5. Heard the singers playin', how we cheered for more / The crowd had rushed together tryin' to keep warm / Still the rain kept pourin', fallin' on my ears / And I wonder, still I wonder who'll stop the rain - Creedence Clearwater Revival: Who'll Stop The Rain

6. The exodus is here / The happy ones are near / Let's get together / Before we get much older - The Who: Baba O'Riley

7. Keep me in a daydream / keep me goin' strong / You don't wanna save me / sad is my song - Stevie Wonder: Superstition

8. But oh how it feels so real / Lying here with no one near / Only you and you can hear me / When I say softly, slowly - Elton John: Tiny Dancer

9. What'll you do when you get lonely / And nobody's waiting by your side? / You've been running and hiding much too long / You know it's just your foolish pride - Derek and the Dominos: Layla

10. Now she walks / through her sunken dream / To the seat with the clearest view / And she's hooked to the silver screen / But the film is a saddening bore / For she's lived it ten times or more / She could spit in the eyes of fools - David Bowie: Life On Mars

11. Then the door was open and the wind appeared / The candles blew then disappeared The curtains flew then he appeared / saying don't be afraid /Come on baby... and she had no fear - Blue Oyster Cult: (Don't Fear) The Reaper

12. Seeing her skin feeling silky smooth / Colour of cafe au lait / Made the savage beast inside / Roaring till it cried More, More, More / Now he's at home doing 9 to 5 /Living his brave life of lies - Patti Labelle: Lady Marmalade

13. This city desert makes you feel so cold / It's got so many people but it's got no soul / And it's taken you so long to find out you were wrong / When you thought it held everything - Gerry Rafferty: Baker Street

14. Now here I go again, I see the crystal visions / I keep my visions to myself / It's only me / Who wants to wrap around your dreams and... /Have you any dreams you'd like to sell? - Fleetwood Mac: Dreams

15. Too hot, too greedy / How could you leave me / When I needed to possess you? / I hated you. I loved you, too. - Kate Bush: Wuthering Heights

16. There is no pain, you are receding /A distant ship smoke on the horizon / You are only coming through in waves / Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying - Pink Floyd: Comfortably Numb

17. Love is an angel disguised as lust / Here in our bed until the morning comes / Come on now try and understand / The way I feel under your command - Pattie Smith: Because the Night

18. But there are times that you feel you're part of the scenery / All the greenery is comin' down, boy / And then your wife seems to think you're part of the / furniture oh, it's peculiar, she used to be so nice - Supertramp: Take The Long Way Home

19. But what a fool believes he sees / No wise man has the power to reason away/ What seems to be / Is always better than nothing - The Doobie Brothers: What A Fool Believes

20. You see I've been through the desert on a horse with no name / It felt good to be out of the rain / In the desert you can remember your name / 'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain - America: Horse With No Name

--

RainbowFic is an original fiction (and more) community on Dreamwidth. The pinned post has more information.

[tiikerikani]

I sold the last cape!!

2023.05.19 – Helsingin Kultturitalo

I wore the same outfit again.

I wish I didn't have to do it but if I'm on the metro in my costume and questionable-looking people show up close to me I leave at the next stop and hop into the next car or wait for the next train. I'm self-confident enough to be out in public like this but not to deal with the harassment, especially without a common language to communicate firmly in.

The usual suspects were not there as early as I was to loiter around outside. People would show up but they'd go to the restaurant next door and get coffee or drinks. It was warm generally, but cool in the shade. My hands were getting a little cold from me standing outside for an hour but this is practically tradition now.

As instructed, I asked Merch Lady to run back and get the two missing signatures for my playing cards.

The one from the "regulars": "I got the cards signed ages ago." (Good for you. I wasn't originally going to have them signed because I figured it'd be a common thing people would want to do.)

I did not see the blondes.

It started like 10 minutes late probably because it took a while to usher everybody into the room.

Although I bought this ticket the instant they went on sale, please believe me when I say that I did not intentionally buy the dead center seat in the front row. It didn't look like that on the map!!! As you know I find it a little awkward to be RIGHT THERE!! directly in front of Senpai and I wonder if something went through his mind about it too. Or not. I assume it's a pretty typical fangirl move.

I still don't like it but I guess that's just how they're doing the ending to Samaan mutkaan kaatunut now, going into the transition track while they move stuff into place for the acoustic set. With a dramatic song like that, the silences can be immensely powerful, and it's likely one reason it's the last track on the album. So it kinda sucks not to have that dramatic silence at the end.

It's hard to capture in a still picture but they're headbanging at this point (you know, where the song goes epic)

But I also didn't like the other end of this transition - this time he did introductions instead of starting right into Exodus. IIRC, he'd previously done introductions after the song. Does this shave some seconds off the running time?? Who knows. A cold open makes it so much more EERIE. (Indeed, it DOES open its respective album.)

All four ladies were wearing the pendant :)

Markus was wearing normal people black socks.

The strings doubled (?) their parts in the recorded intro to Faarao, which I don't think I have seen them do before. Normally they just play the recording, although a couple of times they have actually performed it (albeit slightly shortened).

Speaking of which, the ladies do a little "walk like an Egyptian" bit during the bridge (as you do)

In Turku I had seen somebody leave with one of the remaining capes, and during my awkward chit-chatting had found out that there was apparently only one left after that.

"HEY! I recognize you from the Facebook group!" somebody calls out to me. He says he really likes the cape and wishes he had one, and said that Senpai had told him they had all been sold.

"It's your lucky day! You see that hanging on the wall over there? It's a blue one, but it's THE LAST CAPE and it can be yours if you want it!!"

So he bought it :D

I told Janne that I had hoped to talk to Senpai last time and was hoping I could do that this time, but he was like "everything would be crazy if he came out here" and I suppose he means that Senpai is now too much of a big deal to pop into the lobby after concerts because he'll obviously get mobbed. I think it's his own choice whether he wants to talk to fans or not; it's not something his bandmates can decide on his behalf…

But in any case, I suspect that I am still on Senpai's good side. ("I think he likes you," says the fan whom I met last summer.) If he were tired of me, he wouldn't keep gesturing at me in the same song, whenever he can see me in the first row. I've run out of fingers to count the times he's done this. He is clearly doing it intentionally. But I can only speculate why… (You're not obliged to follow the literal meaning of the text with your choreography???)

So okay I'll go home like a normal person. I figure they were having some crazy party somewhere anyway.

There's always room for one more infectiously happy Senpai picture

[Concert write-up archive and master calendar]

[goboymusic]

I’m one of those idiot #millennials who doesn’t know how to fill up his car tires.

A new vocal recording booth and microphone pop filter were purchased and set up in the bedroom of my #MetroDetroit apartment before recording “#FaceTattoo.” After recording vocals and spending about one week mixing them, I realized that I hadn’t removed the microphone foam cover before recording, and the combination of that and the new pop filter muffled the vocals beyond repair, meaning I couldn’t fix the muffle in post production by tweaking the EQ, reverb, etc. With this realization, I re-recorded all of the vocals without the pop filter and spent a few extra days mixing them.

The original chorus was meant to use vocoder vocals generated by Waves #OVox (a plug-in purchased for this song) with the lyrics “she looks like a rockstar, she looks like a tyrant, she looks like a gypsy, she looks like a hybrid,” but no matter what I tried, I wasn’t able to get it to sound good enough to release. In the end, the original chorus was deleted, and the hardcore gay accented verse vocals “she let’s me do whatever I wanna do, wanna do, wanna do…” were turned into the new chorus.

The gay accent was an idea that I had during the 2nd vocal recording session. I thought it sounded hilarious, and anything that I could do to exploit it within this song, I did.

That’s one of the biggest benefits of DAWs, the ease in splicing together different recordings to create something new. Something similar would happen with “Her Dad (Song 96),” where vocals from the 1st verse were manipulated to create the song‘s chorus.

Developing instruments for “Face Tattoo” was even more difficult than “Rich & Crazy” and “Sex Song,” which were the most difficult songs to produce on GoBoy 5 up until this point. After a few days of developing instrument tracks, they weren’t quite meshing with the vocals and were subsequently deleted. A few more days were spent creating a 2nd set of instrument tracks, which were a little better, but still didn’t mesh well enough with the vocals. In the end, the 3rd set of instrument tracks meshed well enough to warrant uploading the song to the internet, which is what I did.

Shit hit the fan at work during the making of songs 90 - 94, leading to an exodus of many employees whom I had to temporarily fill in for (many of which asked to come back months later), which resulted in this song taking longer to complete than it would have. On average, each GoBoy 3 song took four days to complete, GoBoy 4 songs took six days, GoBoy 5 songs took fourteen days, and GoBoy 6 songs took thirty days (excerpts from post 90).

Beat + bass + melody. That’s the style of GoBoy 5. While I’ve appreciated this minimalistic style for years, “Tell My Mama (Song 42)” was the first time trying it. I went whole-hog with GoBoy 5, in which most songs primarily consist of a beat, bass and melody (excerpt from post 80).

For GoBoy 5, instead of creating for the sake of creating, like I did for GoBoy 4, I wanted to make poppier songs that would appeal to a larger audience. Was that goal accomplished? Well, maybe, I guess. It resulted in the song “In Love (Song 82),” which everyone and their mother seems to like (excerpt from post 79).

GoBoy 5 ragdolled me. I remember wondering if I’d live to see the completion of the album. While the style is minimalistic, the writing and production processes were chaotic, akin to throwing darts with a blindfold on. Most songs turned into a puzzle once they reached the mixing phase, with a portion of the pieces being destined not to fit. It required constant compromising - discarding segments, restructuring, rewriting, etc. The combination of the difficult production process and temporary chaos at work left a blood-soaked trail behind me (excerpt from post 80).

In April, 2021, almost all of GoBoy 3, 4 and 5‘s songs were restructured to be under 3 minutes (preferably under 2m 30s), including this song. I became okay with releasing songs around the 2 min mark after realizing The Beatles and The Beach Boys had some songs around that length. In an attempt to increase replay value in this streaming era, most of GoBoy’s songs are now purposely around 2m 20s (excerpts from post 37).

A bass boost was added to songs 37-99 in Nov, 2021, while I was stuck at home with covid. As a result, this song feels more powerful. The bass boost isn’t a simple plugin nonchalantly added to each song. It’s a process that took about 3.5 hours per song, or one whole month to complete all songs. Admittedly, I pushed the bass boost a little too far for some of them. The bass in some songs sounds like a freaking earthquake (unnecessarily pronounced low frequencies 20 - 50 Hz). Might dial that back someday. The bass boost was also applied to every song on GoBoy 6 and beyond (excerpt from post 37).

[cellgreys]

Tales of xillia 2 milla costumes

Yet they always do when someone says that. After all that crap, we're not finished here. I hope you'll go after the Waymarker with a similar sense of fervor. Good fight to introduce our old friend with. Overall, aside from Rideaux's relative unpredictability, he still doesn't have a whole lot of health or defense, and his elemental weaknesses will be his undoing. It sends out the four magical buzzsaws like normal, but then they change into tornadoes. One arte that is significantly changed is Dancing Bayonet. A few are upgraded, and he does have access to his Mystic Arte, though evidently he did not feel the situation appropriate to use his not-so-trump card right now. He's vulnerable to a lot of elements, and has a wide variety of close and long-range melee artes, though all of his moves generally have a longer reach here. Speaking of the big man, if you chose to fight him way back in Nia Khera, you should have an idea how Rideaux fights. The goons themselves are very much more annoying than they are deadly, but they can throw out healing items (as can a few other human enemies), so you'll want to take them out as soon as possible, hopefully while the AI is keeping Rideaux and his Fauxmatus busy. Give it your all, for Alt Milla's sake.Īlso, Rideaux has a bunch of his goons along for this fight. However, the only way to use it in this fight is if you lose this fight, and are sent back to the menu screen, where you can set it. Since it very much relies on the power of The Four, Alt Milla never got it. In addition, she also has access to her Mystic Arte. The sooner you can get TP-reducing accessories, give them to Milla. It's basically Jude's Healer and Restore in a single move, but beware the AI will drain through Milla's TP really fast. It's Milla's healing move (all characters have at least one), and as well as removing negative status effects from any characters in the blast radius around Milla. All except Undine are straight elemental-damage dealing moves, in their expected categories. So, what's different about Original Milla? Well, she has the power of Efreet, Undine, Sylph, and Gnome at her disposal. In addition to that, it's genuinely a fun, chaotic boss fight with a ton of action and a great battle song. One of my favorite fights in the game, if only because we finally have the one, the only, the original, Milla Maxwell tagging in for us. Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the abyss!Īh this fight. Milla gives us a brief demonstration of The Four. Our.old friend goes over to Elle, who is still holding Alt Milla's sword. How nice of you to join us, Milla Maxwell! Goddammit! Still, she can't give up.not now. This is not good, but we can't abandon Milla, not now. I see you're quite a hit with the kids, phony.ĭamn. You miss Maxwell, don't you? Your beloved wandering spirit. There's no need for you to feign anger, Jude Mathis. Just prior to this, Milla took a swipe at Rideaux, but, continuing the theatrics, he knocked it away and backflipped. Rideaux pulls an Albert Wesker and sends Jude and Alvin flying across the room with the palms of his hands. First of all, you need to have a living circuit. Would you still think I was bluffing if I said Spirius was founded by Kresnik, the first human ever to summon Maxwell? If only the arte weren't so messy. Spirius knows the calculatrics arte for summoning Maxwell. 4 fight, and holds his own pretty damn well. Rideaux proceeds to get himself in a 1 vs. Technically, the Crest is superior to Milla's Elemental Ribbon in terms of raw stats, but the elemental protection the Ribbon gives here is more advantageous than the minor stat gain the Crest resulted in. In the back left corner (from where I currently am), there are a couple chests with a Wind Crest and a Reverse Doll in them. Hey, maybe Marcia's bodyguards were worth a damn. Uhhh.wasn't this Exodus' operation in the first place? Who the hell wasted these guys? Some of the survivors mutter about a man in red attacking them, but for all we know they're making excuses. Part 22: The Woman Who Returns Part XXII: The Woman Who Returns

[cigaretteparfum]

🎶✨when u get this u have to put 5 songs u actually listen to, publicly. then, send this ask to 10 of your favorite followers (non-negotiable, positivity is cool)🎶✨

lakjdfkadjf SO SORRY this has been in me ask box for so long i didn't mean to ignore you @leewalberg. 😭

picking only five songs is so hard but i've managed to (somehow) done it by separating them into kategories so here it goes!!

category 1: k-pop/c-pop. i managed to narrow this down to just Yixing's songs (surprise surprise) and my final pick is Ambush from his Producer album (2021)! i fell in love with that song pretty much from the first listen but i've also been revisiting it a lot lately. the whole album in general is amazing with quite a lot of repeating motifs all over but Ambush is definitely me favourite. ^_^

category 2: english. am torn between me personal holy trinity of Florence + The Machine, Hozier, and All Time Low (one of this is not like the rest), but ultimately i guess i'll have to go with All Time Low's Stay Awake (Dreams Only Last For A Night) from their 2008 album So Wrong, It's Right. that song has been my faithful companion through thick and thin since i was a kid so like. i have to choose it.

category 3: indonesian. alkfjkladjf HELP this one's the hardest to pick but ... Sandhy Sondoro's Malam Biru from his self titled album released in the distant past of 2010 -- that's me final answer. i guess it's more of a jazz-y song? alkdj idk much about genres so if you were to tell me am waaaayyy off i won't even be surprised. me favourite thing about this song has to be Sondoro's voice; it feels kinda rough but in a crunchy way. if you try listening to it you'll prolly get what i mean (... or not, lmfao).

category 4: vintage. the late Solomon Burke's Cry To Me (Rock 'n Soul, 1964) babeeeeeeeyyyy. i can't not dance whenever the song plays. found the song the first time on The Man from U.N.C.L.E movie's soundtrack and it hasn't ever left me playlist since. i absolutely adore this song and i absolutely love Burke's voice. i love his voice so much i want to materialise it, liquify it, then inject it into my bloodstream. listening to his voice is not enough i need it to be infused with me DNA. I LOVE HIS VOICE A LOT. i love his voice a normal amount.

category 5: instrumental. Radio Protector by 65daysofstatic, from the album One Time For All Time (2006), definitely. that's the entire essence of me soul captured within the confines of a less than four minutes song. (is it a less than four minutes song? i think it's less than four minutes am pretty sure.) look, forget MBTI and zodiac and all of that, you want to get a reading of me just listen to this song. you'll probably get the picture, and likely a pretty accurate one at that.

...holy shit i can't believe i actually manage to stay on track and only choose five songs. who knew it could be possible?! anyway here's at least several dozens more songs i eliminated during my attempt:

(expand at your own risk because it's long ... like HELLA.)

EXO: Obsession, Groove, Exodus, Growl, Monster (obviously), Call Me Baby, Ooh La La La

Lay: Sheep (obviously), Amusement Park, I'm Not Okay, Good Night, Goodbye Christmas, Bad, Flying Apsaras

Kai: Blue, Mmmh, Nothing On Me

Xiumin: You (WE NEED XIUOLO SOON LIKE REAL BAD)

(G)I-DLE: Oh My God, Put It Straight (the original version, not the Queendom nightmare one), i'M THE TREND, Hwaa, Hann, Last Dance

Taeyeon: INVU, I

SKZ: God's Menu, Thunderous

SVT: Rock With You

ToppDogg: Amadeus, The Beat

HyunA: Lip & Hip, Show Window

All Time Low: Coffeeshop Soundtrack, Hometown Heroes/National Nobodies, Outlines, Weightless (the original 2009's It's Nothing Personal version is good, but i prefer the 10th anniversary It's Still Nothing Personal version better), Monster (a different kind to EXO's), Safe, Kids in the Dark, Satellites

Florence + The Machine: Various Storms and Saints, Mother, Third Eye, Howl (it's kinda like EXO Wolf's distant cousin if you think about it), Light of Love, Grace, No Choir, Shake It Out, Too Much Is Never Enough, Caught, Hunger

Hozier: Talk, Be, Wasteland Baby, Someone New, Work Song, Sedated, To Noise Making (Sing), Movement, It Will Come Back

The 1975: Robbers (i replayed this song for like, three days straight last year non-stop and now it's forever in me On Repeat playlist lol), Chocolate, UGH!, Sex, She Lays Down, Menswear, Please Be Naked (this one's an instrumental but probably my most favourite of all The 1975's works)

Arctic Monkeys: From The Ritz to The Rubble, I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor, Still Take You Home, No.1 Party Anthem (lol)

Mako: Ocelot

COIN: Run, Crash My Car

Neon Trees: In The Next Room

Mother Mother: Get Up, It's Alright

Margaret Whiting: Time After Time

Half Alive: Still Feel

Acapella Onion: Jolly Sailor Bold (originally from The Pirates of Caribbean 4)

Sheila On 7: Sepia, Yang Terlewatkan, Melompat Lebih Tinggi, Betapa, Sahabat Sejati

Agnes Monica (now known as AGNEZ MO): Karena 'Ku Sanggup, Tak Ada Logika, Godai Aku Lagi, Matahariku

Peterpan (now known as NOAH): Menunggumu, Menghapus Jejakmu, Langit Tak Mendengar, Walau Habis Terang, Bintang di Surga, Khayalan Tingkat Tinggi

Tompi: Sedari Dulu, Aku Jatuh Cinta, Menghujam Jantungku

Tulus: Tuan dan Nona Kesepian, Jangan Cintai Aku Apa Adanya, Adaptasi

Ayu Ting Ting: Sambalado, Tatitut

Stand Here Alone: JAV

The late Chrisye: Kisah Kasih di Sekolah, Seperti Yang Kau Minta

The late Glenn Fredly: Januari, Terpesona

Gigi: 11 Januari, Nakal

Bondan Prakoso: Ya Sudahlah

Alexa: Dewi, Wajahmu Indahkan Duniaku

Audy: Menangis Semalam

The Dance Company: Papa Rock 'n Roll

Isyana Sarasvati: Keep Being You

Endah N Rhesa: When You Love Someone

Kunto Aji: Terlalu Lama Sendiri

Naif: Mobil Balap, Air & Api

Rif: Radja

Seurieus: Rocker Juga Manusia

(the indonesian songs elimination part really can fill an entire playlist on their own alkdjf i told you that was hard)

65daysofstatic: Await Rescue, Drove Through Ghosts To Get Here, Retreat! Retreat!, trackerplatz, Debutante, Don't Go Down to Sorrow

Emiliano Ercoli: Waiting Place, Buriana, Another One (Inside The Shell), Palingenesi, Unsaid Things

Philip Sheppard: Atomic Cathedral, Welcome to Dystopia

Burial: Prayer

The Best Pessimist: Above the Fog (part 2)

If These Trees Could Talk: From Roots to Needles

so how many songs in total is that? don't ask, at least i manage the complete the main quest of picking five as the main answer lololol the rest is just ... bonus. jfakdjfk let me know if you'd be interested to have all of them compiled in one playlist! <3

[radramblog]

Album Discussion- Shinjuku Mad

Usually on a Tuesday I like to take my time with a blog post. Listen to a full album, do a little research, put some real effort into it.

Unfortunately, time is not my ally today. So I kinda have to do one that’s a bit easier- in this case, I think I’d rather go after one of the ones that’s already on my phone, in case I have to do this on the bus or something.

(wait, I drove in today…)

Today we’re going to go into a self-titled album that is somehow not the artist’s debut. Rather, Shinjuku Mad is the second of two albums released under the name- the reason I specify as such is that one of the two (and later, the vocalist would help out again) members would go on to relative fame under a different name- Vaportrap pioneer Blank Banshee.

Peering into this album is like looking at a beta version of what was to come. It’s very much a different genre, an IDM album that completely predates Vaporwave’s explosion of popularity and Blank Banshee’s seminal album, Blank Banshee 0. It’s a solid enough album in addition to this, but it’s kind of hard to talk about seeing as there’s basically nobody who knows about Shinjuku Mad that didn’t learn about it through Blank Banshee. As such, expect a lot of BB coming up in this post.

Also a block of words, because no music videos exist for this at all. It’s one of those obscure albums.

This album opens on Cure for Fear. It’s one of those introductory tracks you often get in albums, at about a minute and a half long, with very reverb-y percussion and vocals and an almost ethereal haze of noise. It’s got these chimes that occasionally come up, reminiscent of some of the tracks from the AKIRA soundtrack, but beyond that there’s not a huge amount going on here. It does introduce a problem, however, one which we’ll get to later. It’ll be pretty evident if you’re listening along, though.

Track 2: Kowloon. I really did forget how short a lot of these songs were, with this being 2:13- the whole 10-track album clocks in at under half an hour. There’s a mix of drum machine and hollow wood percussion on this track that gives it a really interesting sort of feel, and some of the effects on the vocals feel extremely vaporwave- it’s no surprise that the dude behind this went on into that genre. Here’s where I can’t help but hammer on that issue I mentioned earlier, though.

The vocals on this album are quite weak. I know they’re very much trying to be ethereal, the reverb and falsetto make that much clear, and that style very much suits the instrumentation. But it just doesn’t sound great. It kinda comes and goes, but by and large I’d label them as subpar. I don’t really think it’s the fault of the performance either, it’s not like the bloke is missing his lines or mumbling more than is necessary for the album’s aesthetic, but there’s just something about them. They might be too loud in the mix for this kind of genre? I’m not 100% sure.

Resistor, the third track, is the best known song from this album by an order of magnitude. I mean that quite literally, as the track as over 540,000 monthly listens on Spotify as compared to Kowloon’s 32000. It’s kind of shocking, I mean for such an obscure album with zero singles, why is this of all tracks the one people suddenly latched onto?

As it turns out, it’s because again of the artist’s future work as Blank Banshee. Resistor would be reworked into one of the more popular tracks from BB0, Dreamcast, and it would appear that people got curious as to what the source was.

The thing is, aside from sharing a vocal performance, the tracks are very different. As it is, Resistor is a much faster track than the previous, driven by this fast percussion and bassline, making for a genuinely solid exercise track of all things (I say from experience). It’s got a fun little synth solo in the middle, the vocals are pretty solid (aside from like right at the end of the last chorus, holy shit), and the song’s coda and outro are a fun little bit of controlled chaos. I’d put Resistor as one of the better tracks on the album, is what I’m saying.

I’m going to do something I haven’t done in a while when discussing music on this blog- I’m going to jump through a few things. As much as I like this album, the songs aren’t nearly interesting enough to justify a song-by-song breakdown. I think if you listen to Resistor and like it, it’s probably worth chucking on the rest of the album- it is, again, less than half an hour long. But its an album where it’s more valuable on a meta level than it is sonically.

Shinjuku Mad as an album feels a lot like a hybrid between older IDM trends and the synth/vaporwave elements that would become popularised in the 2010s. There’s also tracks like Inductor, which border on rock songs with the power behind that bassline and percussion- in general much of the instrumentation is cleaner than you’d expect from an artist like this, especially considering how muddied much of the vocals get. There is a real focus on the vocals, which as I’ve discussed is a weakness of the album, but I do think it’s possible to look past that issue. There’s some really fun synth lines, some excellent percussion, and real aesthetic. Songs like Human Wave Attack feel stark and lonely, notes echoing into the void, which ironically is not at all like Track 4, Void- with synths and vocals disguising a guitar and drum line that feels extremely garage band. As in, the concept, not the program. Singularity is a song that feels again predictive of Blank Banshee’s future work, a low, slow synth track reminiscent of BB songs like Hyper Object or Metamaterial.

There are some genuine gems on here in addition to Resistor, though. City of No Tomorrow, the eighth song, has got to be one of my favourites- somehow, despite featuring none of the instrumentation typical of the genre, it’s extremely cyberpunk, a sense of struggle and futility resonant through the track. It’s the one song on the album I listen to regularly, getting myself lost in the groove of the bass and tapping my foot along to the percussion. It’s just really good, man.

If this isn’t your first time encountering Shinjuku Mad, reading this might cause you to go back and have another listen, upon which you may notice a few somethings missing. I don’t expect that to be the case for literally anyone reading this…but I needed a segue. This is because, upon the reintegration of Shinjuku Mad and its predecessor Organic Thoughts from the Synthetic Mind into Hologram Bay’s catalogue for the 2019 reissue, two songs were cut, likely for fears of legal issues regarding sampling. The version of this album that I remember has those tracks!

Those songs are Negatives (formerly track 6) and Neon Exodus (formerly track 12). Negatives is another one that’d show up as a Blank Banshee track (in this case, Gunshots), and is actually really solid? Like it integrates a raid siren into the instrumentation without having it sound weird, out of place, or, well, alarming. Neon Exodus is…wow I just don’t know this track at all. It’s fuckin aesthetic though. Welcome to this spontaneous live-reaction, I guess. I recognize the sample this is built around (and thereby why it isn’t on the album anymore) but I cannot name it for the life of me. It’s, uh, interesting. I dunno, 6.5/10?

Anyway, part of the reason I bring this up is that before I want to close this out I have some complaining to do. Said 2019 reissue was something I tracked at the time, and noticed both SM albums were releasing on Vinyl, Cassette (because, you know, nerds), and digitally. But not CD. I threw an email at the website about it, and they did eventually respond (it genuinely took like two months though), but not in the positive. The reissue had no plans to include a CD, unlike all three previous Blank Banshee albums.

But the original 2010 version of the album, along with a few slight differences in songs and in album order, does have a CD release, albeit an extremely limited one, according to Discogs. These CDs have to exist, they’re now listed on the new Shinjuku Mad website. Apparently one sold 6 months ago through Discogs. I need to find a copy, though considering on that site 7 people list it as owned and 72 (including myself) list it as wanted, it’s probably not going to happen.

And that, ultimately, is Shinjuku Mad. It’s a very odd piece of history as far as vaporwave goes, considering it’s both a prototype and also something completely, utterly different. The album is pretty decent on its own, but not mindblowing, and something you could probably live without. There are like two tracks (three if you include Negatives) that are 100% worth it, but the rest are skippable. Which is a shame, but mediocre music has to exist somewhere, right?

That I apparently haven’t discussed Blank Banshee on this blog before (aside from when I was talking about Vaperror) is actually kind of shocking. I suppose, then, that there might be some lacking context. I probably will have to do that at some point, though I probably won’t do BB0 because I like picking the hipster options- so either BB1 or MEGA. Metamorphosis didn’t really pique my interest, and I somehow missed GAIA existing in the first place and still haven’t listened to it. So if you’re interested in seeing me ramble over some of that, I’ll see you then. I mean, it’ll still happen if you aren’t interested, but nobody’s going to make you read it.

Or am I…?

[bearsinpotatosacks]

Maybe Death is Just Going Home- A Spones Fic

The wind was soft on the back of his neck. Stroking the weak skin that was exposed. Sunrise was still underway, the blues and yellows and greens all mixing together. 

His garden was thriving under the care of his yard workers, who he'd employed to do the tough work his brittle body couldn't take anymore. The pond near the fence was full of lily pads and flowers, fish showing their faces occasionally. Flowers poked their heads up to the sky from the raised flower beds. A wind chime jingled somewhere to his right.

He remembered a time when he didn't let himself enjoy these things. The song of a bird or the way a flower bloomed. It was the days of being a strict Vulcan, of denying the emotions that drove his species to pure logic and repression, of pushing his human half to the point of breaking with every breath.

His friends helped him cultivate these sides of himself. Jim through kind words. Leonard with initial harsh behaviour, that he realised was his affection and watched it melt into true care and love. 

His heart panged at the thought of them, a pain he rarely let himself indulge in. There was little chance of seeing them again. Who knew how much time had passed for them? How old they'd be if he found a way to return home, an impossible feat, or if they'd even be alive?

There was even less of a chance of seeing Jim again. His research into finding him again had failed, even with the alternate technology he had at his disposal. There was no way to cheat death, especially one that happened in another world. They'd already done so with him and he didn't think it would be allowed a second time, or a third if you counted this universe's Jim.

He opened his eyes again. Meditation was meant to clear his head. But everything was too muddled lately to sort. He could feel the end coming. 

The skyline far away melded into the sky. Ships left and arrived from ports. Cars and trains with families all on their separated journeys. Infinite possibilities.

He turned his gaze to the grass springing up and spreading out away from the glass of the city. The growing season was coming. Flowers blooming, the sun on his face. Storms were frequenting the skies more often, the grounds soft and supple from the rain. 

He closed his eyes and smiled to himself as he felt the ache deep in his bones. Today was a good day to die.

"How old are you now?" A familiar voice pricked his ears. "And yet you can still cross your legs so wound up like that without pain?"

He opened his eyes. "Leonard." His husband.

"Who else is it gonna be?" 

He raised an eyebrow and took in what was most likely a hallucination. Leonard's hair was grey and hands worn, circa their encounter with the Klingons just before the Enterprise was decommissioned. Just before Jim went missing.

His red uniform was smooth, unwrinkled against his body. A look of mischief filled his eyes, a rare sight but a welcome one. He'd accept anything after all the years.

"You do realise that this isn't real, and therefore there is no point in conversing with you,"

Leonard feigned hurt with a hand on his heart, "I came here to give you a peaceful send-off and here I am being insulted by the man I call my husband,"

"The statistical probability of seeing you as a hallucination, in a much younger state than I left you in, is impossible, " 

"We have done many impossible things over the years,  and besides, the last time I knew, you don't have conversations with hallucinations," He crossed his arms and sat on the wall to a raised flower bed.

"What is your suggestion then?"

"I'm an angel, sent from God, to convince you to come along and die,"

"There are two faults with your proposal,"

"Two?"

"Yes, two," He said. "That is a very Christian focused theory, Leonard, and as you know my belief systems are of Surak's teachings and Judaism,"

"Last time I checked, Christians and Jews have an overlap in a religious book, our old testament, your Torah,"

Spock nodded.

"And ain't the story of Abraham in there, where he was told by God he was gonna have a kid of his own,"

"Yes, your point being?"

"And ain't the Exodus story, the one o' Moses, have God showing themselves to Moses to convince him to free the Jews,"

"These are theologically correct, Leonard, but I am still waiting for a point," He smiled again, he missed their debates.

"If those events happened in our religious books then what's saying it ain't happening right now, bringing me to you," 

"I didn't know you believed these tales so strongly, from what I believe these tales are to learn lessons from, not to take any literal meaning. And both of your examples were God showing themselves, and we both know you are not God," He looked at him. "Therefore you're not here."

"My second point was that I am ready to die, and God, being all-seeing, would know that," 

Leonard got off the wall. The look of mischief replaced by concern and love. Death had always been a sensitive subject for him. One of the most common disagreements was regarding Spock's longer lifespan. And it didn't matter how many times he told him that they could have a relationship just like any other, he knew he'd never let the subject go.

"I do have one more question," Spock continued. 

"What?"

"Your belief in angels, does it encompass the idea of the dead becoming them if they have lived good lives?"

The air wavered between them as their emotions poured into it. He thought they were both glad they knew some things without words.

"Yes,"

"Then that means that to get to me you must have died, which is counterintuitive to your plan of convincing me to die,"

"Why?"

He shuddered, his eyes filling with tears as his hands shook. "Why? Why do you think the knowledge that you died alone, without seeing me or having me by your side as you left this world,  would ease me into death?"

The image of a fragile Leonard, delirious from pain medication, calling for him with his dying breaths flashed to the forefront of his mind. He shook his head to rid himself of it but only made it clearer as the silence dragged on.

Leonard's face broke into a slight smile to ease him. He stepped towards him and reached his hands out to him.

"I knew you'd say something like that, so I want you to know I was at peace," He said. "After one hundred and eighty-three years, Spock, I was very fulfilled and welcomed it, just like your doing now," 

Their eyes locked and words ceased. Spock's head cleared, like all he needed was a conversation with him to clear up all the metaphorical mud in his head.

"Come home to me, Spock,"

And he did. Standing up from his position on the terrace and fitting perfectly into his arms like he always did. 

His hands traced the stubble on his chin as Leonard carded a hand through his hair, now black again due to his soul matching the time period. Their lips touched in a simple kiss and everything felt complete.

The sunrise dissolved away with the sounds of spring. And Spock was home once again in Leonard's arms.

And that's it! I got inspired by that scene in Beyond where AOS Spock saw a picture of the original crew and my angsty bittersweet brain got this question. How did Spock Prime die and how can I make that queer and peaceful?

I hope you enjoyed this, I enjoyed writing this!

[jaesqueso]

What if Johnny debuted in EXO?

If you didn’t already know when Johnny joined SM Entertainment he trained with the EXO members and he was actually part of some initial line-ups but ultimately not debuting until years later with NCT instead. As EXO are one of my favourite groups and Johnny happens to be my NCT bias wrecker sometimes I wonder what would happen if he had actually debuted with EXO so if you’re interested in it to, do join me on this ride!

✰

Position, Unit, Symbols and first Teasers

For position I think he would have the same as he currently has in NCT: Lead dancer, sub-rapper and vocalist. These positions really fit him and I think he would specially be a good addition do the dance line. He would also be replacing Sehun as the maknae as he is the youngest of the EXO final debut line-up.

Since EXO initially debuted with the Korean and Chinese sub-units concept I think he would fit more with the members of EXO-K than EXO-M so I believe he would be placed there until eventually the units are blend.

From the existing powers I think the most fitting one for Johnny would be Fire (because let’s face it, he does light a fire within us, right? No? Just me? Ok). But if he was an addition to the line-up instead of a replacement they would give him a new power so I think it could be something like speed, that would be a good addition to the existing ones. As for his number, since most numbers are based on their birthdays or favourite numbers he could either be 09 or 02.

EXO was announced in December 2011 but only officially debuted in April 2012, in the meantime we were presented by several teasers introducing the members. I believe Johnny could have easily slayed the “Lightsaber” teaser (originally by Kai), be part of one of the teasers that feat several members or even having a brand new teaser with another demo that SM teased but never released (the fact that we never got a full version of Metal still doesn’t sit right with me…).

Mama (EP)

“What is love” was the first pre-released track sang by D.O and Baekhyun (Korean version), and being the vocal song it is Johnny wouldn’t be part of it much like the rest of the members.

“History” was the second pre-release single and all the members are included in the vocals and dance so he would too. Johnny would probably get Chanyeol ad-lib’s in the beginning of the first and second parts of the song, as for dance he would probably be centre at least in one of the chorus and mostly in the front line of the formations. Out of the 3 singles for this EP I think this is the one that would fit him best.

“Mama” was the last single promoted for this album. I don’t think Johnny would have a lot of lines here because most of the song they all sing together. Honestly I do believe this choreography could’ve looked better with 7 members instead of 6 as some parts look a bit strange, and I think Johnny could have quite a few centre parts instead of Kai (don’t get me wrong, I love Kai but we gotta admit SM was way to biased in the beginning).

As for the other songs: “Angel” is sang by the vocal line and “Two Moons” by the rap line, I think Johnny would fit “Two Moons” better. “Machine” would also be a song he would fit in well.

XOXO (Studio Album)

“Wolf” is the title track for this album and there are a lot of parts for Johnny to slay, from the beginning divided by the rap line to the last section of the second part before the chorus. I would love to see him being another branch on the EXO tree (I love this choreography so much) and since all the members come together on this song he could have a lot of time in the front line.

As for the other songs: I don’t think he would participate in “Baby Don’t Cry” like Kai and Sehun because I think it’s really well split between the other 4 members. The songs that would most fist him in my option are “Let Out the Beast” as it has some good parts that would fit his voice, “Heart Attack” (I might be a bit biased on this one as it’s my favourite track on this album) and “My Lady” as I think the all vibe of the song would be very interesting to see him in.

XOXO (Repackage)

“Growl” is a very fitting song for Johnny in my option, he would absolutely kill this choreography and the whole school concept would look so good on him.

As for the other songs: he would be freaking adorable singing “XOXO”.

Bonus note: I would love to see his acting skills in the little drama they did for this album. SM could’ve done so much more with it if that concept had been more developed.

Miracles in December (EP)

“Miracles in December” this track is only sang by the main vocal line so again I don’t think Johnny would be part of it, although he would look gorgeous in that music video (the acting scenes).

As for the other songs: the most fitting one in my option would be “The Star” as I think it has the best vibe for him. Also can you imagine him in the elf costume? A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!

Overdose (EP)

“Overdose” would also be a good tittle track for Johnny from styling to the choreography. In this one the rap line barely has any lines but I think he could’ve blend in with the vocal line instead.

As for the other songs: he wouldn’t participate in “Moonlight” as it’s only sang by D.O and Baekhyun but I would love to hear him in “Thunder”.

EXODUS (Studio Album)

“Call Me Baby” has a very nice vibe for Johnny, again styling and choreography wise he would absolutely slay this and I feel like he could also get quite a few lines (but last face it, this would be the perfect song for EXO if they stuck with the original tittle “Call Me Daddy”).

As for the other songs: he would participate in “My Answer” as again is focused on the main vocal tine but I would love to hear his voice in “What if…”, “El Dorado” and obviously “Playboy”.

Love Me Right (Exodus Repackage)

“Love Me Right” has such a beautiful aesthetic we would get so many cool Johnny shots. And even thought the stylist screwed up making them wear American football uniforms with baseball hats (logic where are you?) I would love to see him with that. For this one I don’t think he would have many lines but there are a lot of parts in the choreography where he could easily be centre.

As for the other songs: “Tender Love” would suit him so well.

Sing for You (EP)

“Sing for You” is a slower track pretty much sang by D.O, Chen and Baekhyun so I wouldn’t see him having a lot of lines, but also it wouldn’t be the most suited concept for him.

As for the other songs: obviously I think he would fit “Lightsaber” as I previously mentioned he could’ve been in the initial teaser, but also “Girl x Friend” has some good lines for him.

Ex’Act (Studio Album)

“Monster” has a very cool choreography for Johnny to slay and there are a lot of good lines for him too. Visually we’ve seen dark Johnny a few times so he would fit right in.

“Lucky One” would have me go crazy with Johnny in those white suits. Also if his power was speed, like I mentioned in the beginning, it would be cool seeing him use it in the music video to trick those women who are keep EXO locked down.

As for the other songs: in terms of side tracks this would be a very good album for him as most songs would fit his vibe, except “Stronger” that is sang by the main vocal line and I don’t really feel like there would be space for someone else as the original distribution is really good.

Lotto (Ex’Act Repackage)

“Lotto” is my favourite EXO tittle track (I don’t even understand why some many people hate it) and I would love to see Johnny there. The whole concept just screams his name, even if they didn’t gave him a lot of lines he would still stand out here.

As for the other tracks: “Can’t Bring Me Down” would also be a great track for his voice and I think he could’ve also joined the line-up for “She’s Dreaming” even though it’s not sang by the whole group.

For Life (EP)

“For Life”, just like “Sing for You” would also be a track where Johnny wouldn’t have many lines.

As for the other tracks: like in their first EP we have two songs one for the vocal line “What I Want for Christmas” and one for the rap line “Twenty Four” and although I would love to hear him on the first one he would’ve definitely be in the second one instead because it’s so much his vibe.

The War (Studio Album)

“Ko Ko Bop” is the tropical vibe I crave to see Johnny in. Ever since I saw him in that floral shirt for the “Resonance” teaser pictures I knew he would’ve slayed this. Also it would be amazing to see him dance this choreography.

As for the other tracks: let’s just cut to the case and admit we just want to see him do the choreography for “The Eve”. Now that we got that out of the way I can also say that this would be a very good album for him in terms of side tracks as I could see him fit any of them.

The War: The Power of Music (Repackage)

“Power” is my least favourite EXO tittle track but honestly I could see Johnny in this music video with the other members fitting that weird spaceship with Doctor Octopus arms and they could’ve even used his speed power to defeat the villain. This would be a great opportunity to show case his bright and corky personality. It would also be amazing to have his ‘superhero’ cards and have him included in the comic that you get from the physical albums.

As for the other songs: “Sweet Lies” would be an amazing song for him.

Universe (EP)

“Universe” is another slow song so it would pretty much be like “Sing for You” and “For Life”.

As for the other songs: this album has my favourite side tracks so I’ll be biased and say he would sound amazing in all of them. Well, except for “Lights Out” which I think is the same situation as “Stronger”.

Don’t Mess Up My Tempo (Studio Album)

“Tempo” would make all our biker Johnny dreams come through. There are some pretty good line options for him and he could also have some killer parts in the choreography. Overall another great tittle track for him.

As for the other songs: this would be another great album for his vibe, specially “Sign�� and “Oh La La La”. Also I would die hearing him sing “Smile On My Face”.

Love Shot (Don’t Mess Up My Tempo Repackage)

(There are no individual pictures for this shoot)

“Love Shot” is another tittle track with a great choreography for Johnny to slay, can you imagine him dancing that chorus? Anyway, when I saw the editorial NCT 127 did for Elle Japan I just knew his yellow suit would have looked so good next to EXO’s suits for this era.

As for the other songs: I would’ve loved to know how his voice would complement “Wait”.

Obsession (Studio Album)

“Obsession” has such an amazing duality concept, I would love to see Johnny against x-Johnny. Styling wise it would be something very interesting for him to try. In terms of line I think this would be the hardest one to fit him in as I think this is probably the best EXO distribution of their discography but anything is possible.

As for the other songs: the best ones for him in this album would definitely be “Trouble”, “Jekyll” and “Ya Ya Ya.”

✰

Wow, this took me so long to put together but it was worthy to walkthrough the EXO memory lane with Johnny. In my honest option I think it was the right decision to not debut him with them as I feel like he fits the whole NCT vibe way better but it’s always fun to wonder!

Do let me know your thoughts on this and also if this is something you’d like to see again maybe with other groups or members.

Thanks for reading ❤︎

[wesenschau]

Israel, Pharaoh, The Tents of Kedar and Mary

In Deuteronomy 32:21 we are told what happens when Israel deviates from God’s hierarchical prescriptions:

“They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.”

It is in God that all things have their being/existence, it is in God’s mind that all things are sustained. This means, when man turns away from the cosmic hierarchies which God operates in creation by, they are turning towards non-being/non-existence/disintegration/exile. We can see a typological pattern throughout the Old Testament of Israel failing to fulfill the torah, tending towards non existence, being exiled and then being reunified through the gentiles. This article from James Jordan explores this concept more in-depth. What it means for Israel to move God to jealousy with that which is not God, is to turn away from divinely established meanings and names of reality and try to name/bring meaning to things on your own account (it is the attempt to make a name for oneself [gen. 11:4]). This is the fundamental sin which divides us from God/where God wants us to be. Of course there is always a redemptive aspect to this pattern. This can be seen most clearly in Christ’s redeeming the sin of Adam. 

Whenever Israel turns from God, they face exile -- they are sent to the wilderness; God then turns his attention to the wilderness and shows Israel how the wilderness/unknown aspects of reality are to be reconciled into the grand cosmic structure of things. The books of Isaiah and Jeremiah shed much light on this. For Jeremiah, as a mosaic-type prophet, Israel has become the new pharaoh. Note Israel disobeying God’s commandment to  “not . . . return the people to Egypt . . . , since the LORD has said to you, ‘You must never return that way again” (Deut 17:16) in Jer. 31, and Israel committing the sin of pharaoh in Jer. 34 (the refusal to release slaves/the presumption that man can account for all aspects of reality). Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help! (Is. 31:1). For Isaiah Israel is as a barren woman requiring a kinsman redeemer. At the end of Daniel we are told from the time of the book till redemption is 1290 days, which is 430*3. 430 years is the time from Abraham till the time of the exodus (Gal. 3:17)/ the time of sojourn in Egypt (Exodus 12:40). There is a triplet “exile” from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up (Dan. 12:11). In order these three sojourns are under: Antiochus Epiphanes -> the Maccabean dynasty -> Herodian dynasty + Jewish priesthood. The little horn of Daniel 7 corresponds with the 2-horned land beast of Revelation 12 and has a twofold operation of Herodian and corrupted priestly power structures. This two horned beast is the same beast that crucified Christ and is described in Revelation as the whore of Babylon, who “in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints” (Rev. 18:24). This is the same Jerusalem whom Jesus laments over in Mt. 23:17 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!“.

This brings light to the passage in Matthew 2:3 where God calls His Son out of Egypt -- Egypt, being Israel. It is no wonder that Ishmael, son of an Egyptian, is shown by Saint Paul to be a symbol of Israel/the law in Galatians 4.

Now that we have established the pharaonic nature of Israel at the time of Christ, we can open up a prosopological reading of Psalm 120:5. In Psalm 120:5 we see Christ sojourning in Meshech and dwelling in the tents of Kedar. Meshech is a son of Japheth and one of the surrounding nations in the battle of Gog and Magog. Kedar is a son of Ishmael and is associated with the nomadic wilderness (Ezk. 27:21; Jer. 2:10). Ps. 120:5 is Christ mourning over the apostasy of the Jews -- the giving up of their wings of holiness (Num. 15:37-41) and their taking up of wings of abominations (Dan. 9:27). “Woe is me!” cries Christ, “that my people have rejected me! Woe is me! That the temple has become desolate, like a wild desert! Woe is me! That I dwell in the temple which has been transformed to a foreign tent of nomads!” The consequence of Israel’s rejection of Christ is that he is to bring light to the nations, which, although obviously good, is not good that it needs to be done under the pretext of Israel’s disobedience. Christ’s mourning over the temple in Luke 19:41-44 (note verse 42 and Ps. 120:7) comes from the same place as Jonah’s mourning over the conversion of Nineveh under the gourd plant. The conversion of gentiles meant the disobedience and demise of Israel; thus Christ laments: “Woe is me! that I sojourneth in a foreign nation, that I have been forced out into Egypt, even unto the tents of Kedar, to find someone to share my love with!”

A mariological reading is also, in my opinion, applicable -- particularly in light of Sg. 1:5-6. Mary, like Isaiah, comes from a people of unclean lips (Is. 6:5) (note the solution to this uncleanness is sacrificial/eucharistic in nature [Is. 6:6-7 -> Ps. 120:4]). In a mariological reading of song of songs we see a Holy Bride seeking nothing but to serve and love her Bridegroom. We see that Mary desires to bring Christ into her mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived her (Sg. 3:4) and to lead Christ, and bring him into her mother’s house who would instruct her (Sg. 8:2). I believe this is fulfilled in Luke 2, in the presentation of the Lord in the temple (and continues to be fulfilled by many faithful Christians bringing Christ into the various profane institutions/structures in which they were raised. On a grander scale the Church has never failed to take profane philosophy/worldly knowledge and baptize it and consecrate it to the Lord).

[Side note: Sg. 8:3 provides an interesting insight into the Marian aspect of the Eucharist -- demonstrating her inseparability from the Church, which I would like to develop/explore further, God willing].

In my opinion, Mary’s confession of being black, but comely and being likened unto the tents of Kedar, and the curtains of Solomon is possibly twofold in its allegorical indications:

1) Mary is in a temple which is stained -- where the curtains of Solomon have become like the black tents of Kedar. Why did this happen? because Israel failed to keep their own vineyard and was subjected to enslavement under foreign rule (Sg. 1:6). Because of Mary’s identification with the temple and her people, which are of an unclean lip (Is. 6:5) she mourns over their uncleanness, but shows that there is still hope in the whittled down, comely line of David, which is a sign of God’s faithfulness. Because the Jews have become like Egypt, the children of Mary’s mother (meaning: the benefactors of second temple corruption) force Mary and her Bridegroom out unto the real tents of Kedar, where Christ transforms them into curtains of Solomon (Sg. 1:5-6). It is interesting to note Kedar’s connection to Egypt -- Kedar being a son of Ishmael and his Egyptian bride (Gen. 25:13) (Ishmael was also born of an Egyptian woman [Hagar, Gen. 16:1]). (The fact Ishmael had an Egyptian mother and an Egyptian wife further solidifies the association of bride and mother in this context. Also note the comparison of the Bride to a company of horses in Pharaoh’s chariots in Sg. 1:9).

2) This next idea is ultimately connected to the concept of original sin and the story of Adam being installed as the priest/keeper of his garden/vineyard but he failed to do so, and because of that, God had to put barriers/mediators between Adam/man and Himself in order that the sun may not burn them (sg. 1:6). Mary, although sinless, carried the burden of original sin. It is because Mary had original sin but was sinless that she perfectly fulfilled her place in the arc of salvation as new Eve. (Eve did not have original sin but still sinned -- Eve was like the curtains of Solomon but voluntarily brought upon herself exile out of the garden into the wild tents of Kedar. Mary, however, although stained by the blackness and burns of original sin remained altogether comely.) 

The antimonies of black, but comely and the tents of Kedar / the curtains of Solomon (as well as the multitude of twofold descriptions throughout the song of songs) definitely call back to the two goats in the day of atonement, in which all of reality is accounted for by God and the prescribed participation in that reality by Israel -- although, this is a concept I need to explore more in-depth. 

[The unknown/wild aspects of reality, represented by the tents of Kedar, are not inherently evil and will ultimately be reconciled within God’s total account of all things within His cosmic structure of reality. It becomes evil, however, when man attempts to structure reality and account for these wild/unknown things within his own naming/reasoning.]

Many of these ideas are drawing heavily upon concepts I’ve been introduced to by Kabane/Seraphim Hamilton, who never fails to provide inspiring, edifying and brilliant content.

This was a jumbled together mess of ideas but I hope some level of coherency was achieved and that someone can learn something from this. 😄

[reddoll123]

Hi Red!!

I was going to say good evening, but I realized, I wasn’t sure what time zone you’re in 😅 but adjusting to a new job! How exciting! I can totally relate as I’ve been adjusting to a new role/position at work and helping out the ones taking over my former position. So, I totally understand how RL can be!

Awwww Tao was my original bias from EXO-M 🥺 but I haven’t followed much since he left 😓 But I have to agree with everything for Jongin, Soo, and Sehun. And yes, Sehun is like such the maknae/baby of the group that it makes me all soft for him. But I think of that for all of the members haha

2014! That was such an emotional year with everything that happened. I still remember when my best friend messaged me about Luhan and I was all 😭 but he seems happier now, so that’s all I can hope for them.

Were you ever able to see them live? I was fortunate to see them a few times but I’m definitely waiting for all members to be out of military so *trying to save but so hard in these times*

I’m going to ask random questions to figure out what to gift you! What’s your favorite exo song? Or better yet, what’s your favorite performance? Do you have a favorite color?

I think for now that’s all, so that way I have more questions later haha

Have a great day/afternoon/evening!

Your EXO-L 🤶🏼

Hey again Santa anon~! 😄

Hehe so rn it's still the day time as I'm answering this~ And congrats on your new role at work!

And so no unfortunately I've never seen them live 😔 but I've always imagined them like randomly visiting my area for a vacay lmao and I'd spot them and stay chill as I ask them for an autograph while inside I'd be losing my shit lol.

Anyways how was it seeing them in person? And how many of them were there at the time? Do pictures really not do them justice like I've heard some ppl say? I'd love to know hehe.

((And yes, I can't wait 'til all the members are done with their military service! Sometimes I'll be listening to a song, or watching a drama they're in (like I recently watched Memories of the Alhambra) and I just start missing the heck outta them >_<.))

And so on to your questions: So my favorite EXO song? Lmao I have so many favs tho 😅...Hm if I have to narrow it down to a few tho lol then it's between Lucky One, Tempo, Power, Non-stop, Paradise, Obsession, and Exodus.

And hm my favorite performance? (I'm guessing group-wise, right?)...Oh gosh lol. I really gotta narrow it down again...Okay so one is 170603 when EXO performed Monster at the Love Dream concert (those royal outfits bruh <3), another is the 171115 The Eve performance at the Asia Artist Awards (again love the outfits hehe), the 170720 The Eve comeback stage, the time they performed Power at the Mama awards (the remixes, the hype!!), the 160609 Lucky One comeback stage ^^, any Touch It performance, and the 190119 Love Shot performance in Chile!

And if ya meant solo performance (sorry then lol) it'd be any For Life solo stage that Kyungsoo's done + any Tell Me What Is Love performance. For Jongin, the 191229 Spoiler stage + the 201202 Mmmh stage. And for Sehun, that 171124 stage where he danced shirtless lol + any Baby Don't Cry performance (same with Jongin).

And lastly, my fav color is blue xD. Thank ya for the q's, and hope ya have a great day as well!

[goboymusic]

Last night’s episode of #TheLastofUs was the biggest divergence from the source material thus far. Did it work? Yes. Did I like it? Yes. Will I be contemplating the underlying messages of the episode for years to come? Probably. That said, for that segment of the story, I prefer the game’s pacing.

There are plenty of #hiphop songs about being rich, but no #poppunk songs that I know of. For “Rich & Crazy,” I wanted to make a @blink182 style pop punk song about being rich and blowing money across the world.

To get myself into the right headspace to record a Blink-182-esque song, I woke up at 5am to watch #MTV’s “Pop Disaster Tour” documentary on YouTube (about a co-headlining Blink-182 and @GreenDay tour from the early 2000s), then proceeded to record vocals.

Sometimes I’ll warm up my voice for about twenty minutes while cruising around Metro Detroit, as I did for this song. The cruising is unnecessary. It’s just an enjoyable routine.

Shit hit the fan at work during the making of “Rich & Crazy,” leading to an exodus of many employees whom I had to temporarily fill in for, which resulted in this song taking three weeks to complete. On average, each GoBoy 3 song took four days to complete, GoBoy 4 songs took six days, GoBoy 5 songs took fourteen days, and GoBoy 6 songs took thirty days.

Luckily, all of the original songwriting made it into the final song, which is rare. That said, while the songwriting went smoothly, getting the song to sound good enough to release was excruciatingly difficult, the most difficult part being creating instrument tracks that meshed with the vocals (I still don’t think they’re great).

Throughout songs 88 - 99, I began dabbling in a raspy pop-punk vocal style, something that would become more prevalent on GoBoy 6 and 7. Not only do I love that singing style in pop-punk / rock music, but it’s a way for me to cover up my narrow nasal passages.

A few songs prior to “Rich & Crazy,” GoBoy’s production process changed so that instrument tracks would be created AFTER the vocals were mixed. That way, I could ensure that the instruments meshed with the vocals. In GoBoy songs, the melody is the most important part, and the instruments only exist to support it. This new production process would be used for every song on GoBoy 6 and beyond.

Beat + bass + melody. That’s the style of GoBoy 5. While I’ve appreciated this minimalistic style for years, “Tell My Mama (Song 42)” was the first time trying it. I went whole-hog with GoBoy 5, in which most songs primarily consist of a beat, bass and melody (excerpt from post 80).

For GoBoy 5, instead of creating for the sake of creating, like I did for GoBoy 4, I wanted to make poppier songs that would appeal to a larger audience. Was that goal accomplished? Well, maybe, I guess. It resulted in the song “In Love (Song 82),” which everyone and their mother seems to like (excerpt from post 79).

GoBoy 5 ragdolled me. I remember wondering if I’d live to see the completion of the album. While the style is minimalistic, the writing and production processes were chaotic, akin to throwing darts with a blindfold on. Most songs turned into a puzzle once they reached the mixing phase, with a portion of the pieces being destined not to fit. It required constant compromising - discarding segments, restructuring, rewriting, etc. The combination of the difficult production process and temporary chaos at work left a blood-soaked trail behind me (excerpt from post 80).

In April, 2021, almost all of GoBoy 3, 4 and 5‘s songs were restructured to be under 3 minutes (preferably under 2m 30s), including this song. I became okay with releasing songs around the 2 min mark after realizing The Beatles and The Beach Boys had some songs around that length. In an attempt to increase replay value in this streaming era, most of GoBoy’s songs are now purposely around 2m 20s (excerpts from post 37).

A bass boost was added to songs 37-99 in Nov, 2021, while I was stuck at home with covid. As a result, this song feels more powerful. The bass boost isn’t a simple plugin nonchalantly added to each song. It’s a process that took about 3.5 hours per song, or one whole month to complete all songs. Admittedly, I pushed the bass boost a little too far for some of them. The bass in some songs sounds like a freaking earthquake (unnecessarily pronounced low frequencies 20 - 50 Hz). Might dial that back someday. The bass boost was also applied to every song on GoBoy 6 and beyond (excerpt from post 37).

[tempural]

origins of tentaspy

Interview I conducted with Lakidaa (known as Engineer on the chan) about the origins of Tentaspy, and other old TF2chan stuff.  Interview conducted March 29th, 2020.  Content warning for discussions of Scout x Spy shipping (pre comics, no incest you sillies!) and racism on the chan.

If you were ever curious about where the Tentaspy meme came from, here ya go!  It’s also a nice lil documentation of some older fandom stuff, before it all moved to Tumblr (then combusted).

---

scumsuck: About Tentaspy.  I was on TF2chan in the pre-2009 days, and I recall it being part of a little mermaid AU?  With Scout as the little mermaid and Spy as Ursula?  Is my recollection true?

Lakidaa: Ah yes.  Yes!  I was Engineer [on TF2chan].  It was because we were on a kick of watching Disney movie songs in their native language & Beauty And The Beast is a French story.  

scumsuck: So Tentaspy started as a SpyScout thing, then it got into Teufort monster territory.

Lakidaa: Right.

scumsuck: When you say 'we were on a kick of watching disney', you mean you and other people on the chan?

Lakidaa: Yes! There was a steam chat we hung out in.

scumsuck: Do you remember who else was there on the disney movie thing?

Lakidaa: Uhhh me? Jones. Khorosho, the mod who was an Aussie, Dr.Tanner, oh! Yeah uhh Kilomonster.  Idk the exacts because it was 10 years ago.

scumsuck: The vagues are fine too!  10 years dang...

Lakidaa: A big problem was that the mod was Aussie and kinda oblivious to racism lmao.  It’s why I quit.

scumsuck: oh boy I remember a LOT of casual racism on the chan.  like the 'nickname' for demoman.

Lakidaa: Yyyyyeah. It’s why kilo bounced and why I eventually bounced.

scumsuck: bounced off the chan, or out the TF2 fandom in general?

Lakidaa: Both?  I was an actual administrator; I had full powers on the Chan itself.  And I got sick of Tanner’s racism and then Mog (that was her name)’s defense of it claiming the usual ‘oh we’re not Americans we do t Do that tee hee’ defending.  And it was the fandom.  This was before tumblr, really. I was doing LJrp at the time.  So if you weren’t posting on the chan there wasn’t really anywhere to get your fix.

scumsuck: I guess there were a lot of people sick of the racism back then, but the chan culture was too much.

Lakidaa: Yeah. We hadn’t realized that it didn’t have to be that way :V

scumsuck: I think I remember that the chan was made cuz everyone else on 4chan's /v/ was sick of the 'ironic' gay porn posting?

Lakidaa: Right.

scumsuck: So besides TF2chan , there wasn't the mass exodus to Tumblr yet.

Lakidaa: Because [LiveJournal] didn’t suck enough yet.

scumsuck: Curiously I don't remember that much of a TF2 community on LiveJournal.

Lakidaa: There wasn’t.

scumsuck: I remember ones for other shows like Metalocalypse and Venture Bros and so forth, but I guess TF2 never stuck on LJ.

Lakidaa: I was very LJ at the time.  Those shows were shows and like. I don’t think fandom had developed enough to take these characters which were, at the time, broad sketches, and do stuff with them.  All the meet-the videos weren’t out by then.

scumsuck: Now we can take vague-as-hell characters, like the ones from Overwatch, and mash em into something workable.  I wonder if the OW fandom could have thrived pre-tumblr.

Lakidaa: I don't think so. OW itself is the descendent of TF2’s character-based shooty.  I also admittedly have no fucking clue what’s up with the gator Sniper. (in reference to me asking if they knew the origins of Tentaspy's counterpart, the gator Sniper.) That was way later when I was in 40k

scumsuck: I love this stuff, and I'm trying to get together more memories of the chan and it's culture.   Do you remember Teratomarty?

Lakidaa: Yes!  And makani!  She famously did the administrator as a fan thing and got scooped by Valve.

scumsuck: Heck yeah!  Makani what a legend.  There were a lot of -isms and -phobias in TF2chan, as a part of the awful chan culture, but a lot of great art was made there too.

Lakidaa: Oh yeah.  I still have some documents too.

scumsuck: Oooh what sorts of documents?  I know the chan's been like... deleted and reformatted a couple times since I was on there so a lot was lost.

Lakidaa: Old fiction!

scumsuck: Do you recall who drew some of the first pieces of visual art for Tentaspy when it was created?  And who did the first fics?

Lakidaa: Me for fics lmao.  But for art I don’t remember.  There used to be a pictochat. (a site for multiple people to draw on the same canvas at once)

scumsuck: Do you still have your Tentaspy fics?

Lakidaa: Maybe!  I’m on phone and it’s all on the desktop lmao

scumsuck: They're important historical documents!

Lakidaa: Bro I read the post on tumblr about the 70s spirk fic in A&M University.

scumsuck: Ye Olde Yaoiz.  This stuff is honestly important!!!  I know I wouldn't have developed as an artist without all the slash I was reading back in my youth.

Lakidaa: Same.

scumsuck: Does Tentaspy predate 2010?

Lakidaa: I believe so.  Aha 2008 stuff.  I do have some [writing] that's Tentaspy, but it's chat; I'd have to find Jones and ask them if they're down

scumsuck: 12 years... Good timeframe though, that's when I was actively browsing the chan.

Lakidaa: It does have some nsfw on it which is double why I'm asking. This doesn't look like it's a chat chat tho it looks like our old DMs

scumsuck: Did Tentaspy originate as a NSFW concept from the getgo?

Lakidaa: For about 10 minutes it wasn't NSFW and was just us ragging about.

scumsuck: How do you feel about fanworks of tentaspy?  I'm working on a doujin of Tentaspy, and this is one of the reasons I wanted to contact whoever created the concept.  If I were to print comics of this concept you and your friends created, would they feel odd to you?

Lakidaa: Not really!  It's perfectly fine. It's a concept that's left my hands.  I'm not in TF2 anymore (Overwatch and 40k and my OCs honestly) so I'm like, 'at least someone's enjoying it'

scumsuck: Oh yeah, the fandom ghost that will never leave.

Lakidaa: yes :p

scumsuck: I haven't been into TF2 since like... 2009-2010, but I got back in the last couple years and have had a blast figuring out where the fandom went post-Tumblr.  I love this like.. metacontextual historical stuff

Lakidaa: Yeah! I'm glad someone's on it.

scumsuck: I think that's all I have to ask you for now, I'll wait and see if Jones responds!

Lakidaa: (._.)7

[desertislandcloud]

Artist feature: Jesse Markin, universal excursions through indie-pop, Rap, RnB, and African folk – a soundscape beyond any genre limitations.

We've been lucky to interview Jesse Markin following on from his award-winning debut album FOLK and latest singles Smokestack, Exodus and Hemostasis, and his latest second full-length album, NOIR.

Can you name one formative influence on your music? A place, a person an experience...

I truly feel like the influences I've had on my music came from different places and stages in my life. Almost feels impossible to name just one but if I had to I would have to name my old band member from The Megaphone State and partner in crime Simo Tuominen. With him, we've always collected records and exchanged ideas from the jump. Pushed each other to find new things and explore so, those were definitely the most influential moments in my life when we talk about influences in music and in life.

Studio or live?

I'm an introvert at heart so at the studio there is no stress or tension when I step into the booth. Being in the studio is kind of like the exploration phase where you're just trying to create and break limits. Live situations have their ups too and now I'm talking about the immediate feedback you get from the audience but there's usually a lot more work than just the performance. The studio feels like home with no tensions.

What was the first track you wrote on the album?

On the Side of the Road was the first one I wrote for the album. At the studio we kinda pursued this Jimi Hendrix feel with a mix of pop elements and I feel like we did a pretty good job.

What do you feel is the best song on your album?

This is a hard question mainly because I truly love every single song and each one of them suit me differently according to the situation but being an emotional guy I would have to say, Mothers!. There was no planning or arranging when it comes to this song, just raw emotion. My guitar player was on a break just having fun with melodies and I told him to keep going while I was mumbling the words: I should have known better. The song came about very organically and it is personal. Two reasons I love making music.

Are there any artists you would like to collaborate with next?

The main thing is to find a proper workflow, matching ideologies and musical tastes so I don't really have anyone particular in mind but I'm a fan of many. Erykah Badu, Emma Salokoski, Teemu Brunila, Madlib, Yasiin Bey to name a few.

If you didn’t become a musician, what would you be doing right now?

I was working in import while recording my first album so I would probably be still doing that if life wouldn't have stepped in. My second greatest passion alongside music would be movies so, who knows, maybe I would've moved to that at some point. I like to keep my options and mind open.

If you had one message to give to your fans, what would it be?

Life is happening, don't wait just do. You won't regret it.

Where do you see your music in a years time?

Obviously, the goal is to reach greater platforms and spread the gospel. I haven't set any limitations when it comes to my music. There are always new things to achieve.

Are there any subjects that you wouldn’t write about?

Not really, you just have to find the right angle no matter what you or I decide to write about. So it all comes down to how one perceives one's surroundings.

Read a book on the beach or party in the sun?

Party in the sun all day. Shit, I'm down to mingle haha.

Best gig so far and where?

Flow Festival in Finland has this legendary Balloon Stage which is a beautiful stage and a couple of years back I was watching TV admiring the performances on that stage and I said to myself that one day...To my surprise, that day came.

What qualities do you think you need to be an artist now?

Originality, passion and drive. Also, you need people around you that understand and share your vision.

What’s your creative process for creating your music?

I follow my intuition. Sometimes I start with the melody, sometimes I start with the lyrics. It all depends but the main key is that whatever feels right must be right.

Do you follow a process or ritual before a performance to get rid of nerves or performance anxiety?

I go through the set trying to remember everything I need to and then push-ups to get the heart going. Simple but it works for me.

Learn more about Jesse's new album > https://www.instagram.com/jesse_markin https://www.facebook.com/markinjesse https://open.spotify.com/artist

[arterrorist]

Shout out for all those old thrashers still around!

So these are my thrash cassettes. It is a bit nostalgic return to the days of my youth, when thrash was my religion and cassettes were my holy communion :). My music tastes nowdays are muuuch more diversified, but apparently good old thrash still runs in my veins. This is mostly 80s thrash with some titles from the early nineties (up to 1992) when some of the late masterpieces of the genre came out. I’m still on the hunt for some more tapes (like Death Angel, Xentrix, Coroner, Voivod, and couple more form Mekong Delta) but this is a nice set already showning different faces of the genre. The most heavy would be Sepultura’s “Arise” with it’s thrash/death mayhem, the lightest Megadeth’s “coundown to extinction” full of catchy tunes, I would even dare to say they’re songs ;), I even hesistated should I include this one here. For similliar reasons I excluded Metallica’s “Black Album”  (which is not as bad, but thrash it isn’t), but deceided Megadeth was more true to it’s thrash origins so it stayed. There is technical side with Mekong Delta, “And Justice for All” and “Rust in piece” and unholy end of the spectrum reigned by mighty Slayer. There is more sophisticated stuff by Testament and more straight forward like Exodus. Odd stuff like Anthrax “I’m the man” or Sacred Reich’s song “31ways” and regular like everything in between :) Thrash on \m/