#disco club was only a club during the 70s and a little into the 80s. mary macdonald started it.

[enbysiriusblack]

made a sorta 1970's hogwarts school timetable in word. please tell me if you have any clubs or such you think they'd have

[anthosvtr]

Glory to all underground associative movie theater

In 2018 thanks to a little associative theater near where I lived, I fortunately discovered the movie "Leto" by Kirill Serebrennikov. At first I wasn’t even supposed to go out this night, but my whole family was away at a soccer game and I was dreadfully bored. While I didn’t hear about this movie before, I was deeply interested about it. In fact, at that time, any movie set in the 70s/80s and talking about music was a catch for me. So i grabbed my keys and with only thirty-five min left for a forty-minutes trip to the theater I ran. Gladly thanks to the trailer playing beforehand, I didn’t miss any minutes of it. Once I sat in that middle row I knew I was in for a good moment.

Leto, which faithfully translate to summer/summertime, is a movie set in soviet russia and tells the origin story behind the Russian rock band Kino. More precisely through the glance of a love triangle that forms between a rock'n'roll musician (Mike Naumenko, Zoopark singer), his protege (Viktor Tsoi, who will, soon became Kino lead singer), and his wife (Natasha Naumenko). The chosen name "Leto" also come from the most famous Kino song Leto "summer will be over soon".

Leto movie poster Leto, by Kirill Serebrennikov, 2018.

The movie starts just like a summer would, we discover the leading characters in a beach party scene where Viktor Tsoï meet Mike Naumenko for what’s seem the first time. Even thought, Mike is already a prominent musician in the local rock scene in Moscow, the key focus seems to already be on Viktor Tsoï who intrigues Mike but also his wife, Natasha. This introducing scene feature Mike singing. While the song seems to start peacefully by describing a summer day, the tones suddenly switch in a way that immediately set the anxious soviet environment at that time, with lyrics such as

«I recently heard someone say, There’s a comet on the way,  Gonna blow us all to bits».

This anxious environment is emphasized by the fully black and white color scheme that the movie adopts, it also appear as a nod to the famous brutalism architecture that were omnipresent at that time in Russia. 

In the movie, Russia appears as a grey and depressing country which only show colors through the lense of rock music. The only moment of joy seems to remain the ones that are topped by rock music. The movie briefly shows us that people used to run illegal record markets. It consisted of making pirates copy of rock record that were banned in Soviet Russia at that time. Sometimes, rock isn’t enough to infringe the rules, and we are reminded of the strict atmosphere through small details. In fact, during the first concert that is shown, we see that some sort of officials force attendees are present to restrain the spectators. So that they could not express too much excitement and remains sat down during the show. Since Russia was under a cold war with the west, foreign cultural movement such as rock were seen as propaganda and forbidden under any form. Russian bands could only performed in Communist Party-licensed clubs and everything was strictly supervised.

The scene that really stuck with me, is the scene that take place in what appear to be a railway carriage. While some of the main characters act obnoxiously loud, we can see that the oldest generation present on the train seems to castigate them for acting as westernized clowns. The characters, in what seem to be a hallucination scene, soon cover “Psycho Killer“ by Talking Heads. Swiftly, we are taken away by the song and the lyrics that are appearing in screaming letters behind. Some dribbles unexpectedly appear outside of the strict framework of the movie.

Extract from the railway carriage moment, Leto, by Kirill Serebrennikov, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj_c9z9JQ3M&t=105s

The utterly chaotic scene chiefly serves as a way to respond to this old generation that seems to take comfort in this dictatorship situation.

Thanks to this movie I got to discover the band Kino, which I now, listen to religiously. I could never thank enough this little movie theater that, one day, decided to be the only to show this movie near me. Forthwith, I must end by saying all the glory to underground theater!

≈ 3300 without space september, 24th 2023

[afrival]

Hetalia Characters and Their Music Tastes

I’ve been in the hetalia fandom for like a year now and I stg thinking abt what these bitches listen to NEVER gets old

no warnings

will feature mostly modern day music, like 1950s-2010s

I don’t know a lot of artists that don’t sing in English so there’s probably A LOT that I’m missing on here, not even including shit from like the 1800s

The Allies

Alfred:

Before He Cheats by Carrie Underwood, The Chain by Fleetwood Mac, Crazy In Love by Beyoncé

- Listens to basically everything, but particular fond of like 80s rock and early 2000s shit

- Likes country music bc ofc he does, a huge fan of Carrie Underwood, Sam Hunt, and The Band Perry

- Got his love of rock from England 💀 Especially during the like the 60s-80s when Queen, The Beatles, and Elton John really popular

- They really only bond over their love for this period of music lmao like they would absolutely go ape during karaoke

- He loves more mainstream artists like Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, all those iconic mfs

- Probably enjoys old wartime music just for nostalgias sake. Shit from the 40s and he listens to Civil War tunes (Union Dixie lmao)

- Definitely listens to musicals and forces Ivan to as well. His favorites are Hamilton, Hairspray, and Chess

- LOVES LOVES LOVES The Backstreet Bogs holy shit. This man had a whole phase where he dressed like they did. Don’t even dare play I Want It That Way because he WILL sing along

- Speaking of which he’s actually a really good singer, like he probably used to sing at clubs and shit back in the day

- It’s very specific but I imagine his voice to sound like Taron Egerton’s cover of “Crocodile Rock” by Elton John

Arthur:

Killer Queen by Queen, Set Fire to the Rain by Adele, Tiny Dancer by Elton John

- Old man who had a weird punk phase in the 90s. Definitely listens to The Beatles and Gorillaz

- Like I said, he and Alfred bond over Queen and Elton and Bon Jovi and FUCKING Michael Jackson

- Refuses to admit he really likes Elvis

- Oh boy. He had so much fun in like late 2000s and early 2010s— Panic at the Disco, MCR, Green Day, he absolutely got his ears pierced during this time

- Doesn’t listen to like current mainstream music that much he will sob to Adele and probably really likes the Cry Baby album by Melanie Martinez.

- Francis plays so much Lady Gaga in the car that at this point he really likes her music

- He likes Ed Sheeran I am so sorry </3 and he absolutely gets bullied for it

- He can sing too honestly? I know I just said he listens to Ed Sheeran but I honestly think he kinda sounds like him too just maybe a little deeper

- Listen to Galway Girl and you’ll get a basic idea of what I imagine he sounds like

Ivan:

Dance and Cry by Mother Mother, Baby One More Time by Britney Spears, смерти Больше нет by IC3PEAK

- THIS MANS MUSIC TASTE MAKES NO SENSE. It ranges from fucking Aerosmith to Ic3peak to Lady Gaga

- Literally has every Mother Mother album downloaded and probably on Vinyl bc he’s a fucking dweeb

- Also a huge musical stannie, loves Wicked and Hairspray

- He and Al will split the parts to sing along to in the car

- Alfred made him listen to Britney Spears ONCE in like the 90s and now he’s obsessed

- Speaking of the 90s he went absolutely fucking ape during this time. The USSR wasn’t very big on western music but when it fell there was a HUGE influx of it and suddenly like it was just his favorite thing ever

- Alfred also got him into Carrie Underwood, literally lost of his music taste comes from Alfred forcing him to listen to shit

- During the 70s/80s he got really into Fleetwood Mac and Aerosmith, maybe even a little bit of disco but not a lot

- Went to a club with Al a few times and he won’t ever forget dancing to Footloose by Kenny Loggins at like one in the morning and having the absolute time of his life, easily one of his favorite memories

- Like I get so soft thinking about him just letting loose and actually having fun, even though he was very stiff and shit during the 1900s

- He can’t sing LMAO but my friend and I said once that he could lowkey rap really well and now it’s all I think about

Francis:

From Eden by Hozier, La Vie En Rose by Edith Piaf, Primadona by Marina

- If you look up the gay agenda his playlist would just show up

- I mean seriously he has it all: Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and Lorde

- HOWEVER she does really enjoy softer sounding music. Edith Piaf, Louis Armstrong, and Vera Lynn are favorites of his

- Listens to the Les Mis soundtrack like once a month

- REALLY REALLY loves Hozier, like a whole lot. He’s probably one of his favorite artists along with Sufjan Stevens

- Even more of his homo playlist includes Marina, Madonna and Troye Sivan

- Bullies Arthur for liking Ed Sheeran but he also really likes Ed Sheeran, just refuses to admit it

- Stromae ofc 🙄🤚 can’t just not include like the most popular French musician or whatever

- He can also sing but he sounds kinda raspy, it’s nice tho

Yao:

- I don’t think he listens to music LMAO, if he does it’s probably instrumental

The Axis

Ludwig:

Elastic Heart by Sia, From Now On from The Greatest Showman, Natural by Imagine Dragons

- Also doesn’t really listen to music but my friend said that when he does it ranges from classical to heavy metal

- For some reason I think he really likes Sia, he seems like a Sia kind of guy

- Doesn’t listen to Hozier but really loves Take Me to Church

- Most of his music listening comes from giving Feli the aux in the car

- The whore listens to Imagine Dragons like he fucking loves them

- When The Greatest Showman came out he had the soundtrack on repeat for a solid month, From Now Onis one of his favorite songs ever

- Cannot sing Jesus Christ do not let him near a mic

Feliciano:

Thank u, next by Ariana Grande, Break My Stride by Matthew Wilder, Bella Ciao by Manu Pillas

- Pop music! So much pop!

- Loves Ariana Grande and Conan Gray

- Probably listens to A LOT of classical because of his time with Austria

- His music taste is kinda all over the fucking place and it’s mostly happy and peppy shit

- Weirdly tho he listens to GRLwood? Like it’ll just shhow up on shuffle and suddenly he’s an entire different person

- Will listen to absolutely everything just to find something that Ludwig likes, was so proud of himself when Ludwig really ended up loving The Greatest Showman

- Doesn’t sing but plays like 5 instruments. Violin and piano are his faves

Kiku:

It’s Been So Long by The Living Tombstone, Faded by Alan Walker, Ophelia by The Lumineers

- LISTEN. LISTEN. HE LOVES VIDEO GAME MUSIC AND FUCKING THE LIVING TOMBSTONE

- The fnaf songs are his guilty fucking pleasures, he fucking loves them

- Loves loves loves the Undertake Soundtrack

- Listens to a lot of anime openings 💀 Me too tbh they’re so good at for what

- Big fan of TheFatRat

- In general he enjoys techno shit? Idk what the word is but it’s a lot of instrumental

- Listens to regular music as well (The Lumineers especially)

- Likes listening to Elvis because it makes him happy to see Alfred having fun

- Feli also introduces him to a lot of music but he can never fucking remember the names of the songs or artists

- He hums a lot rather than sings, and it’s really soft and gentle

If anybody wants any more characters lmk bc I love coming up with these, also I do have playlists for these bitches 😎✌️ Spotify is in my linktree (bio)

[weekendwarriorblog]

ED’s Top 10 (or so) Albums of 2020

I would like to dedicate this year’s Top 10 list to Tim Burgess and his amazing #TimsTwitterListening Parties (aka TTLP), which had me eagerly listening to new music and classic favorites on almost a daily basis throughout the pandemic. Those sessions surely have led to a few odder choices and surprises on my list than previous years. In fact, I don’t think a single artist on this list has ever made it into my Top 10 list in previous years, although to be honest, in the past, this list has only been an addition to my Top 25 movie list, and not something I’ve put nearly as much time or focus into.

Anyway, let’s get to the list.

10. Paul McCartney  - McCartney III 

Having been released just before Christmas, you can’t have a much more late entry than the latest solo record from Mr. Paul McCartney, the third record in which he played all the instruments himself. It’s another great example of how artists/musicians/songwriters were able to use the pandemic creatively and constructively. There are some great songs on here, including some highly experimental tunes, but appearing on #TimsTwitterListeningParty sent me down the deep well of his amazing previous work, which I remember absolutely adoring from when I was a young lad in the ‘70s.

Standout Track(s): “Deep Deep Feeling” “Seize the Day”

https://open.spotify.com/album/1P7h3400RJA3YZm8Va2884?si=bOeYLZe6TzCQfYSQDPr2Vw

TTLP Replay: https://timstwitterlisteningparty.com/pages/replay/feed_590.html

Everyone beyond this point should be proud that their records ranked higher than this rock music legend...

9. Slow Readers Club - 91 Days in Isolation/The Joy of the Return

If there’s one band that clearly defined my 2020, it’s this post-punk-ish band from Manchester that just really blew me away not just by the fact they made three great albums before the two released in 2020, but even more shockingly, that they have never played a gig in the United States or in New York City! Definitely have to change that as soon as possible! Fortunately, I was able to catch a number of their livestreams this year, some recorded from previous years, and a couple done live as a band that has to be considered not only of the hardest working bands but also one of the most attuned to their fanbase.

Standout Track(s): “The Wait” “Last Summer”

https://open.spotify.com/album/5mGjQoTtQY16FCSleB3fpU

TTLP Replay: https://timstwitterlisteningparty.com/pages/replay/feed_30.html

https://open.spotify.com/album/3AghJLF4yVqdau5NpQYQYg?si=rlclqEucR9mgm-ghr_IC7g

TTLP Replay: https://timstwitterlisteningparty.com/pages/replay/feed_503.html

And now... for a string of women to counterbalance the lads...

8. Throwing Muses - Sun Racket

It’s been a long time since I’ve listened to Ms. Kristin Hersh and her band, although I did see them a few times in the ‘80s/90s.  Thanks to the TTLP, I was able to relisten to one of the band’s earlier records which reignited my passion, and as luck would have it, Throwing Muses released a new record this year, one that’s much darker and heavier. I also learned that Hersh had created a similarly heavy almost metal side-project called 50FootWave, which is equally awesome. Definitely gonna be on the lookout to see them again down the road.

Standout Track(s): “Dark Blue”

https://open.spotify.com/album/6CAe3KknCE98ny4ufsACKT?si=gyWevKobSWC3jeoQm4ywlg

TTLP Replay: https://timstwitterlisteningparty.com/pages/replay/feed_417.html

7. Kylie Minogue - Disco

Hopefully, this will be the biggest shocker in this list, because it’s certainly my biggest surprise. If you had told ‘90s ED that a record by Kylie Minogue landed higher than one by Throwing Muses, he would have through you were absolutely nuts. I’m not sure I would even have listened to it if Ms. Minogue hadn’t made a guest appearance on TTLP, but I soon learned why Ms. Minogue’s work is so infectious, and honestly, in 2020, even if I didn’t actually get up and dance to the record— you’re welcome, downstairs neighbors— I was always dancing inside… and that’s something we all truly needed this year.

Standout Track(s): “Last Chance” “Where Does the DJ Go?”

https://open.spotify.com/album/7EBIA9cqbuqkyWfp3UCitD?si=bIzG51FRR8W6OK2SC6oy6g

TTLP Replay: https://timstwitterlisteningparty.com/pages/replay/feed_525.html

6. Emmy the Great - April/月音

I was only really aware of Emmy the Great from her work with Tim Wheeler, lead of my favorite band Ash, but I hadn’t really kept track of her career or checked out her solo records.  If Disco is the record that makes me happy with its joyous danceability, then Emmy the Great’s Autumn is one that does similarly with its mellow tunefulness that I found so relaxing and comforting. Plus her lyrics are pretty amazing.

Standout Track(s): “Writer” “Dandelions/Liminal” “A Window/O’Keefe”

https://open.spotify.com/album/4UKkCTAvqBAWVBnakgxmo2?si=nRvbuOqhRiGRM7nQtrQf8A

TTLP Replay: https://timstwitterlisteningparty.com/pages/replay/feed_536.html

5. Nadine Shah - Kitchen Sink

Yet another terrific UK artist that I discovered through #TimsTwitterListeningParty, first with one of her earlier records and then through her latest— noticing as trend here? Dark and mysterious with a mix of genres and arrangements and instrumentation that puts her in league with an artist like PJ Harvey, Ms. Shaw is an artist who has already found huge acclaim in the UK and I’m sure the rest of the world will soon follow.

Standout Track(s): “Ladies for Babies (Goats for Love)” “Trad”

https://open.spotify.com/album/0Your9tq4Z8voUjLG9pubz?si=z2-Ff0k0SXeAymHLzdPm5g

TTLP Replay: https://timstwitterlisteningparty.com/pages/replay/feed_279.html

4. Sofie - Cult Survivor

And then we have this record, the debut by a singer/musician that should not be confused with that OTHER “Sophie.” This record is almost as enigmatic as the artist herself, but it runs the gamut from David Lynch’s classic work with Julee Cruise and the ephemeral Cocteau Twins to low-fi dance music with a melancholy countered by beautiful tunefulness and true passion.

Standout Track(s): “Hollywood Walk of Fame” “Happen 2 B There”

https://open.spotify.com/album/50B74mMTKzwo8jaKLOR9Su?si=NRZW-96qRdmEKBo-eAIXug

TTLP Replay: https://timstwitterlisteningparty.com/pages/replay/feed_285.html

3. The Lottery Winners - The Lottery Winners

Another Manchester band that I only discovered since fans of the Slow Readers Club share a love for this far poppier British export, also from Manchester. This was another record that I could throw on any time during the pandemic and it really gave me joy and got me motivated. Yes, it’s unapologetically the kind of pop/rock the UK was delivering on a weekly basis, but every song is almost perfect pop with amazing production. I’m sure they’re gonna be huge in the U.S. as soon as they come over here… hopefully bringing the Slow Readers Club with them!

Standout Track(s): “The Meaning of Life” “Little Things” “I Know” “21” “I Don’t Love You” 

https://open.spotify.com/album/1VPGAdyPZWykKN5hnEoV8T?si=sNvJ6uRpQAeldFtatH_oAQ

TTLP Replay: https://timstwitterlisteningparty.com/pages/replay/feed_517.html

2. Badly Drawn Boy - Banana Skin Shoes

It’s been 20 years since Badly Drawn Boy’s brilliant debut ”The Hour of Bewilderbeast,” and while I’ve mostly kept track of Mr. Gough through his soundtrack contributions, I was blown away by his 2020 offering, which was such a nice bookend to his beloved first record with a number of truly great songs. (Sadly, this record still hasn’t gotten a #TimsTwitterListeningParty, but considering who else made this list, you should trust me that this record is indeed one of his best!)

Standout Track(s): “I Need to Someone to Trust”“Is This a Dream?” ”I Just Want to Wish You Happiness”

https://open.spotify.com/album/1cAXo6rl91xweqLM9M54KP?si=WITCPmbEQaqFWtCnL4pypA

TTLP Replay: NONE!!! A TRAVESTY!!!

1. Rufus Wainwright - Unfollow the Rules

Of course, I’ve known about singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright for decades. I probably even had more than a few friends who were true fans, although none of them ever told me, “Hey, Ed, you should listen to this guy”…so I didn’t. Like most of the others on this list, Mr. Wainwright did a Tim’s Twitter Listening Party for one of his earlier records that immediately sold me, so when his latest came out in August, I was ready to give  it a try. It became a record that probably became the most symbolic for my pandemic, as I would return to it again and again to discover all its treasures.

Standout Track(s): “Angels and Devils””Damsel in Distress” “Peaceful Afternoon”

https://open.spotify.com/album/07XUVGf2M6rXVsbdNqogTk?si=DCRc3nhAQTq8yv9EKIf9tg

TTLP Replay: https://timstwitterlisteningparty.com/pages/replay/feed_314.html

Honorable Mentions:

Holy Fuck - Deleter Everything Everything - Re-Animator  Thurston Moore - By the Fire Nada Surf - Never Not Together Sparks - A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip Working Men’s Club - Working Men’s Club Guided by Voices - All Three 2020 Albums! 

[wondroussimmer-blog]

GET TO KNOW ME-

Basically, no one actually tagged me in this, but I thought i’d give it a go anyway seeing as this is a new blog and you guys can get to now me a bit, so I tag anyone who sees this and also wants to have a go...

________________________________________________________________

1. What is your full name? I’m not putting my last name on here, but my first name is Maja (Miya) 2. What is your nickname? I don’t really have one 3. Birthday? January 1st 4. What is your favourite book series? I don’t really read book series’ 5. Do you believe in aliens or ghosts? Not 100% sure, I don’t believe in the sort of ghosts you see in films, but I think I believe our loved ones stay with us in some way. As for aliens, idk, we can’t be the only life but idk.  6. Who is your favourite author? I find the fault in our stars quite overrated, but i’d say John Green because some of his others are my favourites! 7. What is your favourite radio station? BBC Radio 1 8. What is your favourite flavour of anything? this is such a weird question, how can you have a favourite flavour for everything? but if it’s sweet, definitely strawberry! 9. What word would you use often to describe something great or wonderful? Again, weird question, but i use so many words for this, my most used are probably lovely and amazing 10. What is your current favourite song? this changes alll the time, but right this minute it’s probably sunflower by post malone and swae lee 11. What is your favourite word? is this a thing? 12. What was the last song you listened to? vacation by hippo campus 13. What TV show would you recommend for everybody to watch? big mouth, orphan black, queer eye, dexter 14. What is your favourite movie to watch when you’re feeling down? the breakfast club or mean girls probably 15. Do you play video games? only the sims 16. What is your biggest fear? probably the death of people close to me, and in the future not being able to have children 17. What is your best quality, in your opinion? probably that i’m a friendly person  18. What is your worst quality, in your opinion? i’m v insecure 19. Do you like cats or dogs better? DOGS... always dogs! 20. What is your favourite season? autumn/winter 21. Are you in a relationship? yes 22. What is something you miss from your childhood? having way more friends and barely any responsibilities 23. Who is your best friend? my boyfriend 24. What is your eye colour? blue 25. What is your hair colour? brown 26. Who is someone you love? my boyfriend and family 27. Who is someone you trust? my boyfriend and closest family 28. Who is someone you think about often? okay wow, so much variety in these answers but the same as the previous two answers 29. Are you currently excited about/for something? christmas and my birthday 30. What is your biggest obsession? probably sims 31. What was your favourite TV show as a child? Probably Tracy beaker or that’s so raven  32. Who of the opposite gender can you tell anything to, if anyone? my boyfriend 33. Are you superstitious? only slightly 34. Do you have any unusual phobias? cracking knuckles, moths (but only indoors), realistic looking mannequins and gas masks... so not much 35. Do you prefer to be in front of the camera or behind it? behind, every single time 36. What is your favourite hobby? playing sims, graphic designing, video editing 37. What was the last book you read? The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks 38. What was the last movie you watched? Muppet’s Christmas Carol 39. What musical instruments do you play, if any? I play a bit of guitar and can play the mr bean theme song on piano if that counts 40. What is your favourite animal? dogs 41. What are your top 5 favourite Tumblr blogs that you follow? I definitely have more than 5  42. What superpower do you wish you had? be able to teleport and go invisible  43. When and where do you feel most at peace? probably at home with my boyfriend 44. What makes you smile? sorry if this is becoming a boring answer... but my boyfriend! also my dog :) 45. What sports do you play, if any? I don’t at the moment, but I have done tennis, dance (ballet, tap and modern), swimming, karate, speed skating and netball 46. What is your favourite drink? water... how boring ik 47. When was the last time you wrote a hand-written letter or note to somebody? Last month, I made my boyfriend a scrap book as one of my boyfriend’s presents for our anniversary and wrote some letters as part of it  48. Are you afraid of heights? not if it’s a secure height 49. What is your biggest pet peeve? I have wayyy too many and so many grammatical ones, I absolutely hate when people incorrectly use was and were, so if someone said ‘we was going’, I think it’s quite an essex thing but I hateeee it, I can’t stand bad grammar, but also slow walkers, people who walk through the door without looking behind them to hold the door open for people behind, other drivers not indicating, people that have to be louder than everyone else, people that chew with their mouths open... basically I have a lot and this list could go on and on and on 50. Have you ever been to a concert? I’ve seen all time low, the 1975, imagine dragons, sunset sons, ed sheeran and paramore in concert so far and i’m seeing panic! at the disco in march which i’m MEGA excited about!!! 51. Are you vegan/vegetarian? vegetarian 52. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? This would change all the time, it went from radio dj, to dancer, to teacher when I was really young, then architect when I was a teenager, and now it’s clinical psychologist which i’m slowly working towards 53. What fictional world would you like to live in? I’ve not got a clue 54. What is something you worry about? EVERYTHING! I get a lot of social anxiety, so basically whenever i’m out of the house i’m worrying about absolutely everything and it’s the worst and gets me super down, so yeah, love that 55. Are you scared of the dark? okay so I don’t like leaving the dark, i’m fine being in the dark but I hate when i’m home alone and have to turn the lights off in the living room, kitchen and hall to go to bed... if that makes sense 56. Do you like to sing? i’m someone that, at home, is constantly singing, and when it’s only my boyfriend around, if one of us says a sentence that can in some way relate to a song, i’ll immediately sing it, but I suck so I won’t ever sing in public 57. Have you ever skipped school? in school I faked being ill a few times to get off of school, but in uni i’ve skipped way too many lectures over the past 3 years 58. What is your favourite place on the planet? I absolutely adore Spain, but also Belgrade (i’m half Serbian) 59. Where would you like to live? If not my current home town, i’d love to one day live somewhere like Norway or Sweden 60. Do you have any pets? yep, i’ve got a french bulldog 61. Are you more of an early bird or a night owl? I wake up pretty early, but I hate to start the day early 62. Do you like sunrises or sunsets better? sunsets. 63. Do you know how to drive? Yep 64. Do you prefer earbuds or headphones? the sound of headphones but I normally use earbuds 65. Have you ever had braces? nope, thank god 66. What is your favourite genre of music? this really ranges from charts, to indie rock, to ‘former emo kid’, to early 2000s r&b, to musical theatre 67. Who is your hero? probably my boyfriend 68. Do you read comic books? no 69. What makes you the most angry? as we’ve already gathered, I have a lot of pet peeves, so a lot! 70. Do you prefer to read on an electronic device or with a real book?a real book! 71. What is your favourite subject in school? I currently study psychology which has been my favourite subject since A levels, but during GCSEs I enjoyed maths  72. Do you have any siblings? 1 younger brother 73. What was the last thing you bought? some christmas presents for my boyfriend’s cousins 74. How tall are you? 5ft4 75. Can you cook? yes 76. What are three things that you love? spending time with people I love, travelling, collecting photos  77. What are three things that you hate? busy places, cheats, confrontation 78. Do you have more female friends or more male friends? I actually barely have any so this is kind of hard to answer 79. What is your sexual orientation? straight 80. Where do you currently live? England 81. Who was the last person you texted? my mum 82. When was the last time you cried? I’m not actually sure, which is funny because I cry all the time and super easily 83. Who is your favourite YouTuber? I have so many: in terms of sims: lilsimsie, urbansims, sophsims, simkim, plumbella, in terms of lifestyle: louise pentland, in terms of fashion and beauty: samantha maria, tati westbrook, busybee carys, patricia bright, antonio garza, and others: shane dawson, sarah baska, kendall rae, jaackmaate, and loads more! basically, if i’m not on tumblr, i’m on youtube, if i’m not on youtube i’m playing sims, and if i’m not on sims i’m on tumblr... 84. Do you like to take selfies? rarely 85. What is your favourite app? any social media  86. What is your relationship with your parent(s) like? fab 87. What is your favourite foreign accent? Australian and Scottish 88. What is a place that you’ve never been to, but you want to visit? I have so many but I won’t bore you with another long list, so just a few: Sweden, South Africa, Iceland and Canada 89. What is your favourite number? 1 90. Can you juggle? no 91. Are you religious? I was baptised but don’t really consider myself religious 92. Do you find outer space or the deep ocean to be more interesting? both as interesting as the other 93. Do you consider yourself to be a daredevil? not really 94. Are you allergic to anything? no 95. Can you curl your tongue? yep, one of my weird ‘party tricks’ is I can actually curl it 180 degrees 96. Can you wiggle your ears? no 97. How often do you admit that you were wrong about something? not as often as I should 98. Do you prefer the forest or the beach? probably the forest 99. What is your favourite piece of advice that anyone has ever given you?my dad probably gives the best life advice but there’s too much to put here   100. Are you a good liar? It depends 101. What is your Hogwarts House? Hufflepuff 102. Do you talk to yourself? All the time 103. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? I N T R O V E R T, i’m so introverted to the point I hate it but seriously struggle to change it 104. Do you keep a journal/diary? no but I have in the past 105. Do you believe in second chances? it depends 106. If you found a wallet full of money on the ground, what would you do? Hand it in 107. Do you believe that people are capable of change? It depends 108. Are you ticklish? VERY 109. Have you ever been on a plane? manyyyy times 110. Do you have any piercings? nope, I have but not anymore 111. What fictional character do you wish was real? no idea  112. Do you have any tattoos? nope 113. What is the best decision that you’ve made in your life so far? I’m really not sure 114. Do you believe in karma? to an extent, but at the same time bad things seem to happen to good people, sooooo 115. Do you wear glasses or contacts? neither 116. Do you want children? yes 117. Who is the smartest person you know? my cousin 118. What is your most embarrassing memory? omg my whole life is filled with embarrassing memories that I seem to always remember at the most inconvenient times or when i’m about to go to sleep that just haunt me out of nowhere...fun 119. Have you ever pulled an all-nighter? yes 120. What colour are most of you clothes? black or white 121. Do you like adventures? yep 122. Have you ever been on TV? no 123. How old are you? 20 - nearly 21 124. What is your favourite quote? not really sure. 125. Do you prefer sweet or savoury foods? sweet

[sinceileftyoublog]

The Rolling Stones Reissue Review: Live At The El Mocambo

(Interscope)

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Multiple times during The Rolling Stones’ 1977 concert at Toronto’s El Mocambo, Mick Jagger asked whether the critics had had enough to drink. It was presented as a joke, but I can’t help but think he was half serious. They were only five years removed from Exile On Main St., a huge commercial success that saw the band combine their early blues influences with pure rock and roll better than they ever had. The three albums that followed, culminating in the prior year’s Black and Blue, were considered minor Stones releases, certainly some of the least critically acclaimed of their career. So picture Jagger, leading one of if not the biggest band in the world at two secret shows at a 300-capacity venue, performing for adoring fans, joking more than once about music journalists. Almost half a century later, and after a few tracks initially appeared on the band’s 1977 live album Love You Live, we finally have a full document of these legendary concerts with Live At The El Mocambo. It paints a clear picture of a band looking back at their earliest inspirations while trying to stand up for the artistic merit of their somewhat maligned new material.

With the likes of keyboardist Billy Preston and percussionist Ollie Brown in tow, the Stones’ initial idea for their El Mocambo shows was to revisit the blues standards that first made them want to start a band, some of which they hadn’t played since their early days playing similarly small clubs, and a few of which they recorded for their early records. As such, they burn through classics like Big Maceo’s slow-lurking “Worried Life Blues”, Howlin’ Wolf’s dark, wailing dirge “Little Red Rooster” (featuring blues piano from road manager Ian Stewart), and Muddy Waters’ “Mannish Boy”, a song they would eventually play with Waters in Chicago. What’s remarkable is how well these older tunes fit alongside Black and Blue songs that can’t decide whether they’re trying to be blues or dive deep into the keyboard-funk jams of the 70′s. As much as the disco breakdown from “Hand of Fate” and falsetto-imbued slow jam of “Fool To Cry” foreshadow 80′s Stones, a song like “Crazy Mama” leads perfectly into “Mannish Boy”. In general, Preston shines on the Black and Blue tunes, from his bouncing piano lines atop the scratchy guitars of “Hot Stuff” to his vocal harmonies on an encore performance of the sneaky “Melody”.

During the encore, the band plays It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll’s “Luxury”, and Jagger introduces it by calling it “lesser known” and saying they want to make the tune more popular. The album had come out three years ago, and perhaps Jagger thought the tune’s reggae influences would be newly welcomed by a crowd more attuned to the popularization of the genre through Bob Marley. Still, it’s remarkable to imagine the Jagger of today worried about the reception of a minor song on a three-year-old album. The album ends with an 8-minute version of “Worried About You”, a song written for Black and Blue whose recorded version wouldn’t surface till 1981's Tattoo You, an album full of outtakes that ironically would end up sporting more hits and well-known songs than its predecessor Emotional Rescue. In hindsight, the 1977 El Mocambo shows were a turning point for the band, a combination of reflection and tinkering that reminded them how to synthesize the various things they did best, both new and old.

[petri808]

Karaoke Kraze

Lucy, Cana, and Levy have been friends since childhood.  Home for the summer from college they head to their favorite club to drink, sing, and just party the night away.  Levy’s boyfriend Gajeel brings his friends along but Lucy’s lyrical enchantments quickly leaves his younger cousin Natsu spellbound....

Chapter 1 of 10: The Voice

It’s nearly 7pm on a Saturday night in June as the three best friends all stand around one of the mirrors in Lucy's bathroom.  Sure, there are others they could use in her changing area but it's always more fun when they get ready together.

This is the first time in about 3 months since they’ve been able to hang out like this; each busy with college.  But every summer break when they come home to Magnolia their focus is on catching up and having fun like there were no cares in the world.  And tonight, was no exception, nothing was gonna stop them from heading to their favorite hangout spot; the Fairytail Karaoke Bar & Nightclub.

"Lucy quit hogging the mirror!" Levy whines, "It’s not like you need it."

Her friend was right; the beautiful blonde could turn heads just wearing sweatpants and a hoodie.  Over the years her girlfriends just put up with all the attention their friend received because they knew her better; she's never really cared for any of the guys who've worked up the courage to ask her out.  Not because many weren't handsome or rich since most of them were, but mainly because they only looked at her appearance and that's not what she was looking for in a real man.

"Levy your just as adorable."  She pinches her friend’s cheek eliciting a squeal from the girl.  "Besides, you've already got a boyfriend so who are you trying to impress?"

Humph!  She crosses her arms, "So, maybe I like it when guys still check me out!"

"Uh, you Naughty girl!" Lucy shrieks

"Isn't Gajeel gonna meet you there tonight?  Or are you trying to make him jealous?"

Levy smirks, "Maybe...   It makes the night games even spicier."  Cana and Lucy's jaws drop; their mousy, bookworm little friend sure has changed since she started dating this guy.

"My hero!"  Cana puts her arms around Levy’s shoulders.  "Where have you been all this time!"

Blushing, "So, um, he's gonna have a few friends with him too."

"Oh yeah, are they hot friends?!" The brunette wiggles her eyebrows

"I’m not sure whose coming.”

"Well I hope so, maybe Lucy here will finally get some action!"

Tch  “You might be getting too much action Cana!  Try settling down for once."

Placing a hand on her hip, she cocks it to the side, "Oh please, life's too short, I'm still young, and I wanna have fun."  She retorts in a serious tone.

Levy and Lucy look at each other smirking when all three start singing and waving their hands in the air, "Oooh, Girl's just wanna have Fu-un, Ooohh girls just wanna haaave fun!"  Erupting into a giggling fit at the end.

Turning back to the full-length mirror, “So, do you guys think this is too revealing?”  Lucy inquires of her friends as she smooth’s down the skirt and checks herself over.  “I still wanna be able to dance without anything bunching.”  

“If anything, I think it’s not revealing enough,” Cana not so coyly replies as she pulls at the halter top and pokes at Lucy’s breasts.  “Show off more of these!”

“No way, I don’t need those falling out!”  Sigh, “They are such a pain sometimes.”  Turning back to the mirror she poses a couple more times.  The simple but elegant red halter top dress she chose was cut in the middle and with her sizable boobs, plus an open back, there was plenty of skin up top to reveal.  The skirt was loose fitting, good for dancing, but short barely reaching her mid thighs.  Lucy worried it was too short but as long as she was careful she should be okay.  With a pair of black 5inch heels at the end of her long silky white legs the girl was stunning.  

As Lucy and Cana primp and strike poses in the mirror Levy’s cell phone rings.  “Hey Gajeel… Yeah we’re leaving in a few to head to the club… Alright we’ll save a booth… How many..  okay.  What time are you guy’s…  We’ll see you there… I Love you too.  Bye.”  

She turns around to let her friends know about the group when she sees them making kissy faces at her.  “Ooh I love you Gajeel.”  Cana wraps her arms around herself and starts to imitate the sounds of sloppy kisses.

“Cana!”  She shrieks; her face heating up as images of her and Gajeel making out pop into her mind.

“Ah” Lucy points out giggling, “She is thinking about it!!”

“Guys quit it!  You better not mess with me tonight, I don’t wanna be embarrassed!”

“Oh, lighten up Levy!”  Lucy teases her friend, “It’s just us in here.”   “So, what’d he say?”

“They’ll get there around 8:30-9, and there’s 5 of them so he said find a big enough booth.”

“I don’t think we’ll all fit in one booth, but I’m sure Mira will just give us the VIP section, I’ll call on the way there.”

“Sooorry, Miss influential,” Cana snickers

“Whatever, we’re all friends and she always take’s care of us.”

“Then why are we still standing around in here!  I wanna get my drink on!”  The brunette puts her arms around her friend’s shoulders and leads them out of the room.

“I’ll text Gajeel on the way there to find us in the VIP section.”

“It’s Time to party girls!”  Lucy squeals

As the black Bentley limo pulls up in front of Club Fairytail, one of the security guards named Al Connell opens the car's door for them.  Lucy instructs her driver Capricorn that she’ll call when they’re ready to leave.  He nods and wishes them a good evening as the three girls exit the vehicle.

“I can never get used to riding in that thing.  Lu I don’t know how you mind the attention.”  

She shrugs her shoulders, “I just grew up with it being normal.”

“Well I looove the attention,” Cana grins and waves her fingers at a few decent looking guys staring at them.

“Come on,” Lucy drags her drooling friend towards the door’s bouncer.  “Hey Elfman!”

“Hey girls; back for more I see.”

“You know it!”

“Mira’s already got the VIP section ready for you guys.  Is there anyone else in your group still coming?”

“Yeah, my boyfriend Gajeel, do you remember him?”

“The guy with the facial piercings?”

“That’s him,” Levy blushes, “and four more of his friends will be with him.”

“I’ll direct 'um to you guys when they get here.  You girls have fun tonight.”  He opens the door for them.

“Thanks, Elfman.”

They head straight for a roped off section that has a reserved sign next to it.  A girl with short white hair reaches them just as they are about to sit down.  “Hi Lisanna, how’s everything going with you and Bixlow?”

“We’re doing great, he finally proposed to me last month.”

“Really, congratulations!”

“Thanks.  So, what can I start you off with?”

“I think our usual’s, right?”  Lucy looks at the other two and they nod, “Oh and could you bring us the karaoke book?”

The girl smiles, “Already got it.” She hands the book to Lucy.  “I know your routine already, Karaoke then dancing.  I’ll be back shortly with your drinks.”

“You’re the bomb Lis!”  Cana yells after her.        

Lisanna puts in their orders with the bartender, her brother-in-law Laxus.  It doesn’t take long since he also anticipated their usual’s and soon the girls are half way into their first round.  

“So, what should we sing?”  Levy asks with the paper and pen in her hand, “We’ve got about an hour till they get here so we need about 7-10 songs.”  She enjoys hanging out when they come here to sing, but she rarely participates, saying that Lucy has the nicest voice and Cana, well Cana just likes to be a part of any action.

The three girls huddle around the song book and start pointing out songs for Levy to write down.  Mostly fun ones to sing but Lucy pick’s a couple of slower love songs as well.  Her friends tease her that those are All hers as usual.  She tries to plead for them to at least sing back up, but they reply no guarantees.  “Fine,” she huffs, “I still don’t know why you won’t sing them with me.”

“Because we can’t pull them off like you.  Duh!”  

Lisanna returns with their second round and they hand her their list of songs.  This section has its own karaoke set up so Lisanna programs the songs for them.  Cana and Lucy eagerly grab the mics and stand up in front of the screen ready for the first song to come on; ‘Love Shack’ by the B52’s.  “Okay you got the girls part.”  Cana winks at Lucy who giggles, “Kay.”

C- “If you see a faded sign at the side of the road that says 15 miles to the…” L- “Looooove Shack!  Love Shack, yeah, yeah.  I’m headin down the Atlanta highway… Lookin; for a looove getawayyy.  Headed for the looove getawayyy.”

Both girls start imitating 70’s & 80’s styles of dances like the disco finger, the bump, and of course the ‘Love Shack’ dance move; bopping around and having a blast with the music.  Even Levy can’t resist, joining them during the choruses.

C- “Knock a little louder, baby.” L- “bang, bang, Bang, on the door baby…” C- “I can’t hear you.” L- “Bang, Bang, Bang, on the door baby…” C- “Knock a little louder, sugar.” L- “BANG, BANG” C- “On the door, baby.” L- “BANG, BANG” C- “On the door baby!.” L- “BANG, BANG!” C- “Your What!?” L- “Tiiiinnn roof, Rusted.”  “Love Shaaack, that’s where it’s at.  Love Shaaack, that’s where it’s at.” C- “At the Lo-o-ove Shack…”

Levy starts clapping enthusiastically as the two girls plop down on the couch and gulp their drinks; luckily Lisanna anticipates their routine and is already on her way with the next round.  Over the next hour they sing to their hearts content, even growing a small crowd of mostly guys cheering them on.  

Gajeel and his friends all pull up around 8:25pm and head into the club.  Elfman opens the door and directs them to the VIP section, “Just follow the singing, I can hear Lucy right now.”

“Who’s Lucy again?”  Questions Gray

“She’s one of my girl’s best friends.”

“Are they nice, Juvia hopes she will get along with them?”  

“Oh yeah, their cool, you already know Levy so just talk to her if not.  I’m pretty sure the other two will be dancing most of the time anyways.���

“Are they hot?!” drools Loke, their playboy friend.

“Gehe, you’ll like Cana, she’s just like you, loves to party and isn’t looking for a serious relationship.”

“Sounds like my kind of woman!”

As the other four in the group just chat along the way, Natsu’s pace slows.  Silently wrapped up in his own thoughts, soaking up the words and her voice wafting through the air; ‘So this is Lucy we’re hearing....My God her voice is just so beautiful….’

“… Two by two their bodies become one…….  I see you through the smoky air.  Can’t you feel the weight of my stare…  You’re so close but still a world away…..  What I’m dying to say, is that I’m crazy for you.  Touch me once and you’ll know it’s true.  I never wanted anyone like this….”

Gray turns to say something to Natsu when he realizes his friend is trailing behind, “Oi Natsu, you coming?”  Looking more carefully he sees the dazed expression in his best friend’s face. “Dude, what’s the matter with you?”

“Her voice is just….  There are no words to describe it…”

“Huh?  Oh, you mean that Lucy chick whose singing, you don’t even know what she looks like; she could be ugly...”

Natsu cuts him off.  “With a voice like that….”  He looks at his friend, “You don’t gotta wait up for me I’ll catch up.” “Slowly now we begin to move.  Every breath I’m deeper into you… Soon we two are standing still in time.  If you read my mind….”

“Whatever man.  We’re heading to the bar first to grab our drinks.  I’ll see you at the table.”

“Yeah sure,” Natsu mutters as he continues towards the voice, drawn to it like a moth to a flame.   “It’s all brand new, I’m crazy for you.  And you know it’s true…”  

Making his way through the small crowd she finally comes into view.  His heart stops and feet plant locked to the floor.   He can’t believe what his eyes are trying to tell him… This girl, with the entrancing voice is drop dead gorgeous too!  A striking blonde with a flirty little red dress; his favorite color by the way, holding the microphone to her luscious looking pink lips… and those long…silky smooth legs…  “Wow…” he softly breathes out leaving his lips parted.  Her big bright brown eyes sparkling when the lights hit them; he listens spellbound as she drags out the last line.     

“…I’m crazy, crazy for you…”

[rqt1351]

City Pop Presentation (featuring DJ Van Paugam), 2020, Online presentation

Script

[Play Plastic Love Intro]

[Ryo: Introduction] Originally from Miami Beach and currently based in Chicago, DJ Van Paugam specializes in 70s and 80s Japanese Disco, Funk, and City Pop. He claims the title of the first DJ on Youtube who used only vintage Japanese records as sources of his mix, that had rarely been heard outside of Japan. Credited with resurrecting the genre online, he influenced dozens of other Youtube Channels and Radio Streams. Having achieved 100k subscribers on Youtube, he lost his channel on February 14th 2019 due to a dispute with the Recording Industry Association of Japan. Despite losing his Youtube channel, he continues to DJ live and create new original content focused on expanding the influence of the music to inspire a contemporary and cosmopolitan minded audience. Please join me in welcoming Van Paugam.

[Van] In 1980s Japan, a particular genre of music called “City Pop” sprang from the financial boom. It drew influence from many styles including Rock, Jazz, Pop, and Disco. At that time the thriving economic “miracle” propelled Japan into the global stage as a top contender in technology, science, and business. It generated prosperous cosmopolitan lifestyles, and the City Pop sound was the perfect match for the mood. With the advent of advanced car stereos, it became typical to hear City Pop while driving through urban landscapes and sprawling highways encircling metropolitan areas. Now that Japanese music is becoming more appreciated globally, City Pop is once again being heard, this time mainly by listeners outside of the country. City Pop can evoke a strange sense of familiarity as it borrowed various elements from other genres and mixed them together with a different sensitivity. It seems like remembering a distant memory too obscure to make out completely in your mind, but still comforting enough to keep you hooked from beginning to end. City Pop has been described by many as incredibly nostalgic, even by those too young to remember the era.

Its imagery and themes often reflect the social paradigm of the times; excitement for the future, romance and heartbreak, optimism and an overwhelming urge to enjoy life.

The genre presents a time capsule into the collective psyche of those who benefited the most from the economic bubble.

It reflects the care-free, breezy perceptions of a newly cosmopolitan generation of savvy business people, socialites, and lovers of luxury.

[Ryo] In Van Paugam’s opinion, the years 1978-1985 produced the best City Pop songs, since after that era the music started sounding too commercialized. In 1985 there was a pivotal moment in Japanese economy called Plaza Accord. The accord was signed between Japan, the UK, France, West Germany, and the US, aimed at reducing the imbalance in trade between the countries. At that time, Japan had a huge trade surplus, as the Japanese yen was weaker against the US dollar, while the US suffered from a consistent trade deficit. The accord was partially due to complaints by the US regarding the imbalance in the exchange rate between the yen and the dollar. Most Japanese imports had cheaper prices relative to their quality than the domestic products due to the weaker yen. This sudden, steep appreciation in the yen arguably caused the asset price bubble from 1986 to 1991, and its subsequent burst in 1992.

[Van] Like all dreams, Japan’s economic bubble of the 80s popped going into the 90s, resulting in the country’s commercialistic paradise being perceived with sharp disdain as much less euphoric times loomed on the horizon. City Pop records, and all their fantastical neon hopes and dreams were nothing more than a remnant of a time many no longer remembered, and most would rather forget as evidence of a country’s collective recklessness and disillusionment. The genre had long been relegated to the dust-bin of Japanese cultural importance, except for the few who kept the records alive. Thanks to the internet, the genre eventually found a new home online in the mid-2010s. It is once again being shared and appreciated for its finely crafted melodies, soaring arrangements, and evocative imagery of hopeless romanticism, innocent joviality, and promises of a bright future.

[Ryo] Here are some YouTube comments on some popular City Pop songs: [Van] - Anyone get false nostalgia listening to 80's music? I feel like I remember memories of the 80's yet I was born in 95'. Its so weird [Ryo] - You remember that time we were working as police detectives in Tokyo during the 80's, and we were at this little bar in Yokohama chatting up this cute waitress when the yakuza busted in and we had to fight them to this song? [Van] - Damn, takes me back to a trip to Egypt with my grandfather, a frenchman, a school boy, an arabian and a dog to defeat a meterosexual vampire. Good times. [Ryo] - This comment section is flooded with shit like this and I can't help but have similar fake memories too. What the fuck is this magic?! [Van] - It was a good time. I went to middle school through college in Tokyo metropolitan area in 80s. We followed new video clips from MTV Japan, every week. I went to Michael Jackson’s concert in Tokyo Dome, which was a best and newest venue at that time. Everything was hopeful and I was truly happy to be living in Shonan area where we had beach heavily influenced by American West coast culture. Every morning, I was passing by surfers who parked their pink “Beatle” on the way to my high school. The beach culture, night club culture in Roppongi and Nishiazabu, Italian restaurants in Daikanyama, Towe records in Shibuya... those are the things we liked and feel privileged. [Ryo] - I think the reason we’re all nostalgic for a time we weren’t even alive in is that we are nostalgic for that happy go lucky feeling, that feeling of the summer breeze and no worry too difficult to overcome. An optimism that was popular in the Japanese roaring 80s, and in our childhoods in the 90s-early 2000s in contrast to today, where technology is more advanced and the news is rampant with corruption, death, and disease. I don’t care what no one says, I’m making this decade my roaring 80s [Van] - I'm a Japanese who spent the 80s as a teenager. This is like going back to the old good days with lots of foreign friends I've never met. [Ryo] - 1980’s Japan was living in the future

[Ryo] Japan’s younger generations generally feel indifference or even disdain or resentment toward the culture of “bubble generation” as they cannot relate to such an optimistic outlook because all they have seen growing up is a slow decline in their economic opportunities. Therefore they are cynical about nostalgia felt by the older generation who experienced it in real time. The City Pop phenomenon is an example of how global capitalism and nostalgia work together to produce wants, needs and desires as one comment says, “I didn’t realize I needed it until I found it, thanks YouTube algorithm.”

[Play Plastic Love outro]

[boredout305]

Geza X Interview from 2005, Part One

Way back in 2005, Mor and I met up with Geza X at a recording studio he was working at in Los Angeles. It’s been a longtime since, and memories like vision just get worse, but I recall he had one of the late Rob Ritter’s (Gun Club, Bags, 45 Grave, etc.) amps there which he’d purchased from his former Silver Chalice band mate back in the ‘80s. Of all the illustrious accomplishments on Geza’s resume and cool stuff he had around, having Rob’s old amp really impressed me. This interview originally ran on a small website we started (In a Better World), long-since defunct. I want to point out that Mor was only nineteen when she did this interview. I think she did a great job and I wish she’d stuck with interviewing people. Geza was really pleasant, by the way. -Ryan Leach 

Interview by Mor Fleisher-Leach 

Mor: Having recorded so many singles, how do you think the demise of the 45 affected rock ‘n’ roll music?

Geza: Let me back track a little bit, because I grew up in the ‘60s and heard a lot of the one-hit-wonder bands. There were so many groups with regional hits, like The Standells and The Seeds—stuff like that. Even bands like Love, who were very big in one area of the country, weren’t that well known in other parts. I used to listen to these singles. In fact, I used to go to thrift stores and collect all these Dogs and other bands’ singles that just never made it out of their city. Sometimes there would be an incredible song on there. This was the era when The Beatles and all those types of bands had hit singles and the format was so big with radio. Radio was a lot different in those days. DJs would play various genres on pop radio during their sets, so you’d get a psychedelic song followed by Tom Jones. It was just a completely different world and I loved it. I was really interested in music, but I was also a student demonstrator. I was involved in leading all of the UCLA anti-war protest marches when the UC schools went on strike. I was a big activist, but I was always following the underground music scene. There were so many obscure bands who had one really great song. That aspect of 45s caught my attention and I became fascinated with singles. What happened when punk rock hit was that there was naturally some intrigue about the music. Jimmy Carter heard about it and said, “Well, we can’t have that in this country! They’re talking about anarchy!” President Carter sent out a memo to the heads of all the record companies promising them these humongous tax breaks if they didn’t sign any punk rock artists. That’s why none of us got signed by the majors and only the real sugarplum bands like X or The Dickies got record deals on the West Coast. We were a lot more like the English version of punk rock. The first wave of punk rock during The Masque era was very anti-art and Dada influenced.

Mor: How do you think it was different on the East Coast?

Geza: The punk audiences and artists on the East Coast were generally older and came out of this New York Dolls tradition. It was good stuff. The whole skinny-tie thing came from the East Coast. We just wanted beer. Nickey Beat was making these incredible shirts with spray paint and things like that, so we were really going with the razorblades and safety pins aesthetic out here in LA. But back to the singles—when I had the opportunity to start recording bands, there was nobody releasing stuff. We were almost forced to start the DIY movement, so we met the people at the pressing plants. We pressed singles because putting them out was still relatively cheap and we’d cram as many songs on there as we could. Sometimes a single had three or four songs on it. Everybody in those days had a record player and all the punkers were really broke; they’d blast punk singles on cheap record players. Singles were a really good format for punk. I was trying to bring back the one-hit wonders, which I did succeed in doing with a lot of the groups that I recorded. I spotted the bands that were really strong and I was looking for good material.

Mor: You produced the first Germs single, correct?

Geza: Well, it was not technically the first Germs single (“Forming” on Chris Ashford’s What Records?). They took some cassette that they had recorded that was really fuzzy and released it as a single. That was their first single. I did their first major deal for Slash Records (“Lexicon Devil”). It was a single that Slash put out when they became a label after their run as an underground magazine ended.

Mor: When did you first start theorizing about X-Music?

Geza: Between 1970 to 1972, I really started thinking about what was wrong with music. I liked underground music, but I saw the train coming in where everybody was going into this lame stage with bands like Bread. Really terrible ‘70s, post-hippie dumbed-down bands that were pretty tame in comparison to the underground music of the ’60s. I thought the ‘70s were an era where music was dying. I started thinking to myself—what would be the most extreme thing I could do that would be the total opposite of that? I liked Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart and all those really weird, atonal bands, so I started playing with a lot more dissonance and what I called “X-chords”—which were just tritones. I read all these books on music theory. In the Middle Ages, people were afraid of these chords because they thought they would call forth the Devil, so people would be beheaded if they accidentally played them. If the court jester was playing along and accidentally hit a tritone, they would say, “Off with his head!” You had to be really careful around the church when you were playing tritones, so of course I bashed them out as loud as I could!

Mor: How was it different playing with bands like The Bags as opposed to The Deadbeats or The Mommymen were you would play X-chords?

Geza: The Bags was more of a poppy-punky band. I liked that kind of music too, because I liked so many different styles, including good top-40 and stuff that had a hard rock feel to it. I got into punk because in those days we were all starving to hear three-chord songs, but everything sounded like The Eagles, James Taylor and disco. All of that music was like a curse on LA in the ‘70s. If you turned a little amplifier up past “two” on the volume knob, you’d get booted out of these singer-songwriter clubs. Everything was acoustic and really cheesy and there were all these sensitive artists singing about these really sensitive things and I would just think, “Where’s the blood?” Needless to say, The Ramones showed up and played really loud and we were all really excited about it.

Mor: You joined The Bags early on, right?

Geza: Yes. It was pretty much around when The Sex Pistols and The Ramones had just started breaking out, and I was thinking “God this is great music.” My friend Joe Nanini and I said “Okay, we’re gonna join a punk-rock band.” Joe had moved to LA from Santa Maria with me, and he ended up joining The Bags too before he went on to Wall of Voodoo. I’d try to throw in a couple X-chords in with the Bags from time to time, but they’d get really mad at me.

Mor: Why did you go on to The Deadbeats after that?

Geza: I always liked kind of obscure, goofy, weird music. In those days, there was nothing like that. I was the only person I knew that was playing music in that vein. Then I met this band called The Deadbeats, and they were doing something very similar. Nickey Beat introduced me to them and I just thought “I’m home!” X-chords and all—they were ready for me. So that became a really happy outlet for some very arty, Dada rock. I really got to get my art-rock chops out with the Deadbeats. We would also wear costumes on stage which was really a no-no in those days with punk. We would perform brain surgery on stage with manikins.

Mor: After that you did the Mommymen which was your own thing.

Geza: Right. It was a similar thing to the Deadbeats, but it was a little bit more in between. I don’t know what I was thinking; I thought for sure it was going to be the next big punk hit. Now I listen to the Mommymen stuff and it’s so weird.

Mor: What was it like making the Mommymen record (You Goddamn Kids)? I heard you had some studio trouble.

Geza: No, not exactly. What happened was the studio where I recorded the Mommymen record was rented by these guys named Larson and Bobby Paine. Those guys were legends in the scene. They were not exactly part of the punk scene, but they were sort of lurking around it as producers. They were really cool guys and very talented songwriters. They really knew music and a fair amount about the studio. They worked with the Go-Go’s and Fear. They worked with a lot of bands before they came up, and of course they got shafted by all of them because that’s the way the world works. So anyway, those guys were my home team and good friends of mine. Bobby ended up playing bass in the Mommymen for a while. He and his brother Larson had rented this studio and they were cutting demos there. They were recording Fear demos, which I worked on. They were also doing Levi and the Rockats demos. They did the first Josie Cotton tracks, some of which appeared on her album (Convertible Music). I became an engineer at their studio sort of by accident. They’d asked every engineer in the city to help them get their studio running properly. They had rented it, but the gear was just sitting there and it was really old and trashed and none of it was really working correctly. In those days, I was this post-speed freak tweeker fiend, but I had this way with electronics gear. Finally, in desperation after they tried every engineer and they’d all gone running out of there in terror, they said “Look, you want to come in and goof around with this equipment and see what’s going on?” I went in there and thought there was no way to fix it—to have it actually working properly—unless I just took it all apart. They got really nervous, and I asked them to just go away and I’d do it and everything would be fine. So they came back about four days later. I don’t remember this story, but apparently Josie (Cotton) remembers it quite vividly and told me about it. I had every piece of gear on the floor taken apart, including this old plastic 8-track tape machine, and everything was just laying on the floor. They say I was petting the parts and talking to them.

Mor: Was this drug influenced?

Geza: No, I didn’t take drugs in those days, but that’s after I had taken loads of them! In those days, that’s what I used to do because I was always broke and I had very little electronic equipment. But I liked recording, so I would just get whatever was around and I didn’t have any money to repair the equipment so I had to talk to the gear. Anyway, I put it all together and it worked and I made a bunch of records there including my own.

Mor: How was the process of making that (You Goddamn Kids) record?

Geza: It was really fun. It wasn’t all tube gear, but there was some tube gear in there because it was a really old studio. It was a small place, but it had a decent sound—like a project studio. Even back then, I was totally in the DIY mode. I really have to say that I was probably one of the people who started the DIY movement back in ’77 and ’78. It was what went on to become DIY recording and so-called alternative rock. Of course, at one time it really was alternative.

[fitzonomy]

Dear Therapist.

Every Wednesday (except for the last Wednesday of the month), I write my therapist. I’ll post them here. I’ve been working with this therapist for three years, seeing her once a week. Recently, I decided I wanted to try to reduce my number of visits to once a month but I wanted check-ins. We agreed I could email her. Trigger warnings for everything under the fucking sun for these posts. If you don’t want to be sad, please click this link. Read more after the cut:

Isn't weird how I'm distressed that I didn't write you yesterday? I've sort of let everything fall apart after Wednesday last week. The climate at the office has completely fallen apart and I've given up on caring about it. For the rest of this week and next, my supervisor has outsourced me to every other office. Not that they have much to give me. So, I decided to just spend this week sitting around, getting paid by the hour to barely work and exist in an office that is a dumpster fire. Back when I was working horrible dishwasher job at the retirement community, Daft Punk had just come out the summer of 2013 Random Access Memories, their first album in six years (well, not the FIRST because in 2011 they did the OST for Tron: Legacy, a movie which ended up being a music video for Daft Punk's music for the movie. I was, of course, fine with this.). Anyway, not the point. R.A.M. was inspired by the music of late 70s and early 80s (primarily disco era). So, during horrible time as dishwasher, I listened to R.A.M. religiously. Track #3 is "Giorgio by Moroder" which is spoken word and disco house. Spoken word by whom? Giovanni Giorgio Moroder, pioneer of Italian Disco and Electronic House. During the disco era, he produced a LOT of Donna Summers singles (which is how I was introduced to him, my home filled with a weird mix of abuse and escapist music). In "Giorgio by Moroder," Moroder recounts his early life to the listener: "When I was fifteen, sixteen when I started really to play the guitar  I definitely wanted to become a musician It was almost impossible because the dream was so big I didn't see any chance because I was living in a little town, I was studying And when I finally broke away from school and became I musician I thought "well I may have a bit of a chance"Because all I every wanted to do is music but not only play music But compose music At that time, in Germany, in 1969-70, they already had discotheques So I would take my car and go to a discotheque and sing maybe 30 minutes I think I had about 7-8 songs. I would partially sleep in the car Because I didn't want to drive home and that help me for about almost 2 years to survive..."

I listened to that on the way to horrible dishwasher job and on the way home. It's all I'd ever wanted in life--struggling and taking something day by day to become THE name in my passions. Whatever those were. Are. Who knows. I'm putting this time in my life under sleeping in the car while driving back and forth between home and a discotheque in another country. I'm just doing this to survive. In the meantime, I'm working on where I want to be. I think. Of course, I still get hung up on "You should have just started working on this when you were younger." And then I remember my high school art teacher. I can't remember if I've told you the story. No one knew how to help in in high school the way no one knew to help me in college or grad school. In high school, I took four years of art on top of accelerated math and science classes. I think I met with my guidance counselor once in the four years I was in high school and it was to help find scholarship opportunities. It is not lost on me that my guidance counselor never took me aside for my bloody lips or bruises. I made good grades and seemed okay. That was all anyone needed, I guess. My art teacher was kind. I loved him and my art classes. He never seemed terribly interested in fostering or supporting me. A few other students he'd spend time suggesting sketchbooks or asking about their process. I think he just felt sorry for me. Especially after I went to foster care. He never quite cared about what I was doing. But then, last year of high school, he asked me what I would major in. I was so excited to answer, "Art!" And then That Look(TM) crossed his face. The "wrong answer" look. He said, "I don't think that's really a good fit for you." When I die, someone is going to say something about how I finally "found my peace." And then I'll revive my corpse and scream at everyone that I'm tired to people telling me what is good for me or whether I've gotten something or just... anything. I want people to listen, not talk at me about me. High school me reasoned he knew better than me and that he was right. When I got older, I was angry with him for being so callous. Then, two days ago, I was speaking with my writer friend from Maine--he goes by Sabes--and we were talking about art teachers who've failed us (his experience was an art teacher in college who told him he drew the wrong things--he dropped out of college and it weighs heavily on him). He said that our art teachers were shitty because they were bitter about being stuck working jobs as teachers and that was the source of their ugliness. I didn't argue but it didn't sound right for my art teacher. My art teacher told us a story once in class one day about how he came to be there. His father had worked in a factory. His brother too. He never wanted to end up there. And, yet, years later, there he was in the same type of coveralls with same name in big letters embroidered over his heart. He never told us the details together, but in a separate instance, he told our class about how his brother died of a drug overdose. I think his brother's death is what pushed him to finally go to college and pursue what he loved. He never said so, but that's what I think. That's how much he loved art. I don't think he was ever bitter about teaching us. He loved it. I think he thought he was trying to help me. And, to be honest, I didn't know what I wanted out of life either. An art major just didn't seem to fit the narrative I'd been building for myself. Foster kid ends up valedictorian with a full-ride scholarship? That kid good at all sorts of math and science classes? That kid in practically every volunteer and club group there was (that her parents allowed her to stay in)? No, art school isn't part of that story. So, now I'm not angry anymore. And I hate it. I hate knowing most of my life was probably guided by well-meaning people doing the best they could. That's a more horrible story than finding out everyone was out to hurt me or hold me back on purpose. At least then there are clear-cut villains and I know for certain I'm not a background character--in that case I'm the protagonist who is trying to get to my goal and things are keeping me from it. That's plot and conflict and interesting. Instead, my story is boring. It's boring because it's like everyone else's. Literally, my worst nightmare is realizing that I'm just like everyone else. I'm not. I know I'm not. But it doesn't quite seem like it's shaping up that way, especially working in this stupid, maddening office. I'm mediocre. That's a horrifying reality to be living right now. All my life, I thought at least I'd be striving towards something, sleeping in my car while driving from Italy to Germany and back to reach what I was always meant for. Maybe I'm just discovering that I'm not part of that group. I'm part of a larger mass that is meant to wake up and have routines for years on end. My weekly highlights are wondering when the tv shows I like airs. A popular question that I'm asked often: "Watching anything good?" I want to answer, "Yes. I've got an exclusive, private view of a show called My Life and it is on 24/7. I get to watch this person's life fall apart one second at a time while they labor under the pervasive delusion that they're going to mean something in the world. I already know how it'll end but I keep watching anyway because no one gave me a choice otherwise." Instead, I answer, "American Horror Story is back. I enjoy how campy it is." Until next week.

[213hiphopworldnews]

How ‘Black Panther’ Became A Real Contender For Album Of The Year

Getty Image

The first time a Kendrick Lamar song plays in Black Panther, T’Challa is in the club. As the doors to the underground casino in Busan, South Korea swing wide, the song presses outward like a hand: “Tell me, who’s going to save me from myself?” It thrums across the room as T’Challa, the king of Wakanda, played by Chadwick Boseman, and his companions, Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and Okoye (Danai Gurira), survey the scene below from a second-floor balcony.

The song — “Pray For Me” — is the closing salvo of Black Panther, the soundtrack companion to Ryan Coogler’s Marvel juggernaut. In December, the record, produced by Kendrick Lamar, landed eight Grammy nominations, making it the most-nominated project at the 2019 awards this month. Among its eight nominations is one for Album Of The Year, where it faces off against Cardi B’s Invasion Of Privacy and Kacey Musgraves’s Golden Hour. Though they’ve been nominated 14 times, film soundtracks have won Album Of The Year just three times: in 1979, for Saturday Night Fever; in 1994, for The Bodyguard; and in 2002, for O Brother, Where Art Thou?. This year, Black Panther looks especially well-positioned to become the fourth: It’s got Kendrick Lamar, it’s got blockbuster momentum, and it’s got precedent. All these soundtracks operate in parallel with the films themselves, using their themes as a framework, but they also stand apart from the movies, eventually becoming entirely their own thing, unmoored.

This wasn’t always the case. For much of Hollywood history, film soundtracks were largely, indelibly affiliated with the movies they came from. “In the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, and into the ’80s, for a little while, if you were a fan of music soundtracks, you were talking mostly about the underscore music — that is to say, the instrumental music that was recorded in the film,” like those for Star Wars, The Mission, and Breakfast At Tiffany’s, explained Daniel Carlin, the chair of the screen scoring program at the University of Southern California who worked as a playback engineer on The Bodyguard. Movies really only focused on songs, rather than score, if they were outright musicals — The Sound Of Music, for example, or West Side Story. When the transistor radio came around, though, it set a new standard: Film characters, like people, had to be playing music on the go, longtime music supervisor Maureen Crowe told me.

Then came Saturday Night Fever: Two years before the Grammy for Best Disco Recording made its debut, the same year as Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” was released, and the year after Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell turned Studio 54 into a nightclub. It was the zenith of mainstream disco, the era depicted at the beginning of Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights. Saturday Night Fever opens with “Stayin’ Alive” — John Travolta saunters down a Brooklyn street, grabbing a slice on his way to work at a local hardware store, Barry Gibb’s crooning falsetto instructing, “Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk, I’m a woman’s man, no time to talk.” The Bee Gees wrote “Stayin’ Alive” specifically for the film — along with other now-immortal disco tracks like “How Deep Is Your Love” and “You Should Be Dancing.”

When it was released, the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack proved inescapable. “We weren’t on the charts,” Maurice Gibb said at the time, according to Rolling Stone, “We were the charts.” Saturday Night Fever, per the same story, topped the charts for six consecutive months; the magazine described the soundtrack as the “ne plus ultra of mainstream disco.” It marked the ascendance of the Bee Gees as the popular faces of disco — despite the genre having emerged as the soundtrack of nightclubs frequented by queer people and people of color. (The co-opting of a music form emerging from Black, Puerto Rican, and queer discos by white musicians and fans in the ’70s is the theme of the film’s climax: After winning the top prize at a dance contest, Travolta’s character, Tony Manero, gives the trophy to the more deserving black couple who would have won, he explains, were it not for a racist panel of judges.)

The soundtrack’s astonishing success led The New York Times to remark that the Bee Gees “are getting as big as The Beatles,” underlining the “increasingly important commercial links” between music and film. There was a “well-orchestrated plot” to ensure the success of both soundtrack and film, film music historian Jon Burlingame told me recently. “It was a remarkable campaign that worked like gangbusters,” he said. Disco, while ubiquitous, had just crested its peak — under the surface of its mainstream success, the scene itself had already begun its inexorable decline; in a way, Saturday Night Fever captures this tragedy — but the band was only about to reach its own.

“Instead of driving a trend, it’s sort of capitalizing on a trend,” said Crowe, whose music supervising credits include The Bodyguard, True Romance, and Wayne’s World. Likewise, these soundtracks — the most successful ones — don’t tend to discover artists, but they do present an opportunity for established artists to make more music with a broader platform. When production began on The Bodyguard, Whitney Houston was already a household name, having put out the smash hits Whitney Houston and Whitney and I’m Your Baby Tonight, which went four times platinum — a falter, compared with her previous albums.

For fans of The Bodyguard, the swelling chorus of “I Will Always Love You” is perhaps forever entangled with the final kiss between Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston, but the half-life of the soundtrack’s hit has vastly outpaced that of the film itself. In the film, Houston plays Rachel Marron, a major pop star whose manager, after death threats culminate in an assassination attempt, hires a new bodyguard (Costner) to beef up her security. During the film’s climactic scene, Rachel wins the Academy Award for Best Actress, a gentle irony considering Houston and Costner both won Razzies for their own efforts. Still, despite its critical reception, the soundtrack — basically a new Whitney album — went on to become the best-selling soundtrack of all time. (The second? Saturday Night Fever.)

“The film gave it its platform; it gave it its context,” Crowe said. Whitney Houston had been nominated for, but had never before won, the Album Of The Year Grammy; she’d be nominated again, for the Waiting To Exhale soundtrack, but The Bodyguard would remain her only win. Name recognition alone might not do it — Prince made a soundtrack for Tim Burton’s Batman that topped the Billboard charts upon its release but was not nominated for a Grammy — but they don’t hurt.

In the month before the 2002 Grammy ceremony, where the soundtrack to the Coen Brothers’ O Brother, Where Art Thou? would win Album Of The Year, several of the artists involved with the record took the show on tour. Down From The Mountain sold out as it traversed the country; two years later, it birthed a sequel, the Great High Mountain tour, with songs from both O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Cold Mountain. Produced by T Bone Burnett and featuring Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris, and Gillian Welch, the soundtrack reimagines traditional bluegrass, folk, and blues tunes from the Appalachian region, setting classic tunes to modern recordings.

The film itself operates in much the same way, setting Homer’s Odyssey loose in the Depression era, with more George Clooney. But, while the film itself was not a particular commercial hit, the soundtrack absolutely was. “It was was this remarkable collection of roots and folk music that people fell in love with and somehow reminded us of our musical heritage,” Burlingame said. Outside of Grammy voter circles, T Bone Burnett might not have the same pop clout as Whitney Houston or the Bee Gees, but the soundtrack shared the same kind of internal logic — a study in vintage Americana, where the others drill into disco or power ballads or hip-hop’s most exciting contemporary voice — that allows it to function inside, and independently of, the film.

Grammy wins certainly didn’t precipitate mainstream recognition of pop music from films, but they’re representative of a broader trend that’s continued to gain momentum since Saturday Night Fever first won in 1979. (The Grammy has occasionally also been granted as a corrective for previously overlooking an artist. Like Whitney Houston, Kendrick Lamar has been nominated for Album Of The Year multiple times — for every album, in fact, since 2012’s Good Kid, m.A.A.d. City — but has never won, despite a Pulitzer win last year, for DAMN.) The soundtrack for Guardians Of The Galaxy, a wide-ranging compilation of retro sounds, was 2017’s third-highest-selling vinyl, after two Beatles records.

Even more recently, Billie Eilish has said “When I Was Older,” her Roma song, was written “from within the narrative of the movie”; it was a tenuous connection and was greeted with some confusion online, but the song has nevertheless amassed more than 15 million Spotify streams. It’s probably pretty safe to say Roma has not been played 15 million times. A Star Is Born — whose Barbra Streisand incarnation came out in 1976, just two years before Saturday Night Fever — has burst once again onto the charts; “Shallow” earned nominations for Record and Song Of The Year while “Why Did You Do That?” is a whole entire meme. There is now, of course, a deeply commercial connection between an album’s promotion and its sales and awards success — what was novel for Saturday Night Fever is now de rigueur. But, as a film like Suicide Squad — a flop for the DC Comics universe, with its incidentally scattershot soundtrack — demonstrates, a strong publicity campaign can only take you so far.

But Black Panther, like its predecessors, consistently reflects its film’s themes in a way that also gives it some structural integrity on its own. This isn’t always the case: Sometimes, the random assortment of songs that make up a movie soundtrack sound, feel, well, random, when set loose from the film itself. “Some soundtracks exist solely to capture the mood of a film; the best, however, have an excitement all their own,” Briana Younger wrote for Pitchfork in a review of “King’s Dead,” the second single off the Black Panther soundtrack.

Part of Black Panther’s success as a discrete album has been its association with Kendrick Lamar, the artist. It doesn’t just bear his name; his fingerprints are all over it. It’s brimming with artists drawn from Lamar’s own Top Dawg Entertainment and from across the black diaspora — like South African rappers Saudi, who mostly performs his verse in Zulu, and Yugen Blakrok, a female rapper who goes toe-to-toe with Vince Staples. It fits: The film is “a day-glo, big-budget, action-packed depiction of the same conflicts that animate Lamar’s career,” NPR wrote in a review last year. Just as Coogler was able to make a Ryan Coogler film inside the Marvel universe, so too was Lamar able to compose a Kendrick Lamar album from inside T’Challa’s catsuit. The relationship is symbiotic, at once elevating music and movie.

Yet just three of Black Panther’s fourteen songs are featured in the film itself; instead, the soundtrack is modeled on those of ’90s films, for which musicians “would take themes and make music inspired by the themes,” Coogler told Fact magazine last year. “You almost never see the phrase ‘music from and inspired by the film’ anymore, but that was always the catchall, starting in the ’80s and the ’90s, for people who wanted to put out a soundtrack and threw a bunch of songs in that weren’t necessarily in the film,” Burlingame told me. “In a way, Black Panther is almost in that tradition.”

The movie leans on the score, composed by longtime Coogler collaborator Ludwig Göransson, and existing pop music to set the scene; Lamar’s songs hover across the two categories, written specifically for the film yet used within it like any other club hit. And they could be any other club hit, because Black Panther is as much a Kendrick Lamar album as The Bodyguard was a Whitney Houston album or Saturday Night Fever was a Bee Gees album; it’s as much a survey of a specific facet of hip-hop as O Brother, Where Art Thou? was of a certain type of roots Americana.

So, in Black Panther, when arms dealer Ulysses Klaue instructs a lackey to “put some music on,” it’s only natural that the cue is Kendrick Lamar.

source https://uproxx.com/hiphop/grammys-black-panther-film-soundtracks-album-of-the-year/

[trendingnewsb]

5 Cities That Changed Unrecognizably In Only A Few Decades

The ways cities change over the ages never cease to amaze people. We love to think about the times our home megalopolises were nothing but tiny little specks of civilization, back when everyone knew each other’s names and wore monocles, and dinosaurs flew biplanes. But we also think that these cities stay basically the same, simply slowly swapping wood for stone, gaslight for electricity, and quite tall buildings for really tall buildings. It takes ages for a city to truly change. But that’s not necessarily true. There are cities that, due to war, societal upheaval, or other extraordinary circumstances, completely transformed in the span of a few seasons of The Bachelor. For example …

5

Pre-Revolution Tehran Was One Of The Hippest Cities In The World

Since the late 1970s, the popular perception of life in Iran is that of fatwa-issuing ayatollahs, rabid flag-burning crowds chanting “Death to America,” and women getting harangued for having the audacity to let too much hair poke out from underneath their headscarves.

But before the Iranian Revolution, the capital city of Tehran had the opposite reputation of religious extremism: being cool as hell. For decades, Iran was at the cutting edge of culture and civic progress. In ’50s Iran, you could visit the kind of rock and jazz clubs that could easily be in Hamburg. This was when the Beatles were still calling themselves the Quarrymen.

Back when “rocking out” couldn’t be confused with “death by stoning.”

But the greatest symbol of how progressive Iran was had to be its very chill attitude concerning women. During the ’60s and ’70s, downtown Tehran was as into big hair, short dresses, and freedom of expression as any secular Western country. Just take a look at their amazing fashion magazines:

via Flashbak

via FlashbakBig hair is truly the universal language.

Yes, during the time of free love and disco, the women of Tehran didn’t have any “morality laws” to keep them down. The new generation of Iranian gals could do anything they set their minds to — from studying at the country’s actively pro-women universities to competing in one of the country’s many beauty pageants …

via Flashbak

… to becoming actors, writers, and bona fide pop stars …

via FlashbakAnd she wasn’t even involved with the Disney Channel before making it big.

Those are two album covers of vaguely Cher-like Iranian pop sensation Googoosh. She was reportedly a favorite of the Shah, and was set to conquer the world with her happy music. But after returning from a trip to Los Angeles, she found herself in the midst of the revolution, which banned her music, banned her from performing on stage, and finally banned Googoosh herself, as she went into exile in Egypt.

Not that Googoosh or her many artist friends had any desire to stay. She also returned to a land where the new regime tried its hardest to scale back women’s education, going so far as to make several academic fields “men only.” And while crushed velvet and turtleneck sweater dresses aren’t to everyone’s taste, it’s a helluva lot more chic than the current Iranian “fashion,” whereby adding a little bit of white to the all-black outfit is considered a heroic act of symbolic protest.

4

Mogadishu Was Once A Hopping Vacation Town

In popular culture, Somalia is mostly known for warlords and pirates of the non-swashbuckling variety. But the capital city, Mogadishu, was once one of the jewels of the Horn of Africa. Thanks to a few decades of nonstop coups, assassinations, and civil war, the city has lost its once-sterling reputation as a lovely seaside tourist destination with pristine beaches and a vibrant nightlife. Now, a good night out means successfully crossing the street without getting shot.

Somali Tourism Association“Black Hawk Down? Sorry, never heard of that drink.”

Over the past two decades, there hasn’t been so much as a long weekend during which Mogadishu wasn’t involved in some sort of militaristic pissing match. That last image is of the beautiful Jazeera Palace Hotel, which al-Shabaab terrorists blew to smithereens with a car bomb in 2015 in an effort to murder foreign journalists. Occurrences like these are how Mogadishu has earned the reputation of being “one of the world’s most dangerous cities,” something that doesn’t sound too great on a tourism billboard.

Even Detroit finds this a bit excessive.

Yet despite all this, there’s talk of Mogadishu making a comeback. Beaches are being reclaimed, a “peace garden” has been built, and there are even reports of the former financial district becoming a “beehive of commercial activity” once again. And it doesn’t take too long for a town to go from ruins to prosperity, as evidenced by …

3

Sarajevo Is Proof That Cities Can Recover From War, And Quickly

Just to show we’re not completely beholden to a company policy of relentless gloom and doom, we’re glad to tell the story of Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the flashpoint for a depressingly destructive war in the ’90s. But despite losing over 11,000 souls and having their city methodically leveled during years of needless carnage, Sarajevans refused to wallow in the rubble for even a second. So they pulled themselves up by their proverbial bootstraps, shook off the literal dust, and got to work.

The last time you may have seen images of the place, there were probably featuring plenty of bombed-out structures. But we’re glad to say that these photos are now embarrassingly out of date. In a matter of years, Sarajevo rebuilt to the point where you could forget the city was ever a war zone.

Mikhail Evstafiev, Ex13Although any project surely feels like a breeze when you no longer have to worry about sniper fire.

Read Next

5 Reasons Growing Old In 2018 Is A Total Nightmare

Unlike most other places, which would prefer to start fresh and erect new buildings, Sarajevo decided that it liked things exactly how they were before being bombed to hell. So when the shelling finally stopped, people repaired their bombed-out buildings right where they stood. Reportedly, a full 80 percent of all damaged structures have been brought back to life, which as one reporter noted, shows “raw evidence of the hardiness of the human spirit.” Refusing to pay for a new city because the old one will be fine after they fix it? Sarajevo isn’t merely tough; it’s dad-with-his-own-tool-shed tough.

Quasimodogeniti, Jennifer BoyerAnd the tool shed may or may not have been the site of atrocities a while back.

2

It Only Took A Few Decades For Dubai To Become A Futuristic Wonderland

Whenever Dubai shows up on our radar, it’s usually because of some kind of over-the-top architectural marvel or ostentatious display (of the gold-plated sports car with cheetahs in the passenger seat variety) of some obnoxiously wealthy sheikh. But Dubai wasn’t always a land of donut-shaped skyscrapers, seven-star hotels, and huge man-made islands in the shape of palm trees. Only a few decades ago, it got as much tourism as Paris, Georgia. If you want to know how much of a difference a dream, some hard work, and a ton of slave labor can achieve, take a look at before and after photos of the Dubai Airport …

Dubai AirportsIf only you’d invested in that weirdo plane back in 1980, you’d have a Gulfstream by now.

… or the downtown area…

via Condos Hotel Dubai, tobiasjo/iStockFact: There is more than that one tower in Dubai.

… or the transformation of its beachfront (and actual beach) …

via The Culturist, EXTREME-PHOTOGRAPHER/iStock

What got the ball rolling on Dubai’s metropolis was, unsurprisingly, oil. However, the folks in charge realized early on that their petroleum-based windfall wasn’t going to last forever. So in order to find a permanent source of income, they invested heavily in a short time to make Dubai the premier tourist Mecca in the Middle East — besides, you know, the actual Mecca. Too bad the place is such an architectural affront to nature itself that Neptune is trying to drag it down into the sea.

1

Shanghai Expanded So Fast That It Changed The Climate

It’s hard to imagine a place like Paris or Chicago ever not having clean water, safe roads, and a Starbucks every 0.8 miles. But the truth is that it takes a city centuries or more for all those amenities and comforts to be built. Except for Shanghai, which became a modern city so fast that it made Mother Nature’s head spin.

As China’s most important port and industrial center, Shanghai had to keep up as the country became an economic giant over but a few decades, and the results are jarring. According to NASA, over the last 40 years, Shanghai has doubled in population, jumping from 12 million to 24 million. Because of this rapid increase in both people and infrastructure, the city limits grew from 119 square miles to over 500, making aerial shots of Shanghai over the years look like the aftermath of a giant concrete mill explosion.

NASA“And sorry about the water …”

But this incredible expansion hasn’t been all sunshine — or rather, it has, and that’s the problem. As everything green gave way to concrete gray, the result was an “urban heat island effect,” wherein switching cool nature with a bunch of heat-absorbing surfaces like asphalt and concrete causes an area’s average temperature to shoot up by several degrees. It’s not exactly what we traditionally think of as climate change, but you try explaining the difference in a place where cooking shrimp on manhole covers is considered the new normal.

And it’s only going to get worse. Its city center is already considered #1 in runaway bigliness, and some predict that Shanghai will bloat itself into becoming the third-largest city in the world by 2030. The Chinese are understandably proud of what they’ve accomplished in a short amount of time, and good for them. And if continuing that hot streak means raising the temperature to the point where Shanghai becomes a citywide crock pot slowly cooking a few dozen million people to perfection? Well, that’s the price of progress.

Crock Pots are best used on chicken, not people.

Support Cracked’s journalism with a visit to our Contribution Page. Please and thank you.

For more, check out Parts Of The World You’re Picturing Totally Wrong and 19 Famous Places You Picture Wrong: Side By Side.

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Read more: http://www.cracked.com/article_25321_5-cities-that-changed-unrecognizably-in-only-few-decades.html

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[wopcalmetacritic]

Pitchfork Review: Craving by Ariana Grande

Craving For Playing Safe: Reviewing Ariana Grande's New Album 60/100

Ariana Grande is one of the most massive hittmaker we've ever seen, and we're fine with that - she knows how and when to do it, and it always works pretty fine; and that's exactly what she've done with her new album, 'Craving' - which includes productions for major names such as Alesso, Skrillex, Poo Bear, Bloodpop and Cashmere Cat.

The album opens with a monotonous song called "Eggs & Ham", it features CupcakKe, and is a good song to dance to with your friends, but doesn't surprise us at all, it sound like something she could've done two years ago. We know, it's like her own brand, but still: you can keep your brand and still reinvent. Also, "You can do me in a box, you can do me with a fox / You can do me with a mouse, you can do me in a house" is probably the most embarrassing verse we've ever read this year so far.

"Keep Me" shows an attempt to latin reggaeton vibe, even though Ari is a italian descendent - but hey, we like a mix of cultures! "Keep Me" is the perfect song to blast into the radios and clubs, with an extremely catchy chorus and obviously, cheap lyrics: the perfect hit. Its beat is good, it makes you want to dance all night.

"Bump N Grind" is the Michael Jackson-esque moment of the album; it's a great 70's influenced song, that could fit properly into a Bruno Mars album or even a Cher's disco compilation. A looping instrumental that keeps stuck in your head for a whole day, the classic "I don't wanna be just another girl" kind of track - which is one of the verses - and a Nicki Minaj rap that goes with a "I ain’t no hoe, I’m a relationship girl / Cuz, honey, I am the type to really rock your world" kind of thing. Meh. It could've been huge, but it's flat and it loses it's shining after a few refrain loopings - which happens a LOT during the song.

"Weather" is a song to give a highlight, the 70's disco fever is still a current element but this time the beat is a little faster, a little hotter, a little catchy - the melody gets you in a dancy loving mood and the "Hot, hot, hot, hot" post-chorus gets you hard. No sexual conotations in here. Truly a great pop song!

"World Without Your Love", a massive worldwide hit, doesn't really need a new approval after its successful job at the charts - it's sticky, it's cute, it got us all.

Next track is "Long Distance", a sexy melody in a sad eternal kind of love composition, those kind of post-breakup love night when you know it isn't going to work out even though the love is real and you both want to work on it: the lyrics are identifiable to her young fans and true love believers - "I know those two weeks are gonna feel like forever / But timezones ain’t stopping us from being together". It's a pure Ariana song, it's good, but it doesn't show nothing but what we were already expecting.

"The Flu/Reaction" sound more like an Outro to "Long Distance" than truly a full song - it's cute... but it's basic; it's loveful... but it's cheap - "Cuz you’ve got me rollin’ / My heart has been stolen / By a heartthrob, he’s mine / Wish I could have you till the end of time", really, Ari? Fans are probably going to love it as that 'underrated song', but it simply doesn't fascinates us in any kind of way (composition, melody, lyrics), it's just... Flat. Purely and in a cute kind of way... basic.

The next one takes us to a The Weeknd album: "Nothing Without You" couldn't have a more ironic title - the album could easy go on without this song. It's a forced 80's urban gangsta-ish kind of vibe, that could easily fit into an Daft Punk album, or as already mentioned, a The Weeknd album. Is it bad? No, but neither is it good.

"Leave You", the ninth track, takes us back to when Bieber released "Sorry"... Three years ago. Ironically, he's a featuring on the song. A tropical beat with a catchy love affair lyrics, doesn't surprise us at all, but still, got us moving with Bloodpop's beat. It's cool, chill and sexy, but the classic cliché - excerpt from the lyrics include "My heart’s telling me yes, my mind’s telling me no" so... -, it's nothing that we haven't already seen in the last couple of years.

The tenth track is "Dirty Things", a piano ballad that turns into an electro midtempo track with a paused instrumental at every hook; it's a beautiful harmonization along with Ariana's beautiful vocals, the envolving melody and its pure lyrics - "I’ve had dreams of you and they have all been pleasant, they have been the only things coming to cure this desert". It's not a huge song, but it's really good, and will probably turn into a fan favorite, for sure.

"Liar" is a urban hip-hop song that comes with a flow from trap, swag and rap - and it sounds fitting for Ariana's new sound. That's what we were expecting, something new! No wonder she picked it as a single, 'cause it's fantastic: the perfect defition that sometimes less is more - the production is a monotonious rap song, but it fits perfectly to the melody and its composition - we all had some liars in our lives, didn't we?

The rap-ish kind of style remains at the next track, "In My Past", in a 90's hip-hop slow sad beat that gets you in your sad mood. "So I’ll just pour another drink, drink it down fast / Thoughts of you in my mind, giving me a hot flash" says the singer, in an honest composition that fits its slow rhythm and its pure melody. It's raw, it's human, it's good.

"Craving" brings out again the 90's inspired elements in a sadly sexy rhythm, along with another heartbroken lyrics. It might be the album title track, but it's not the best song off the album, not even close. It's an extremely personal track, which will get her fans attention and envolve their hearts through their own personal issues at love life, but it sounds like a bonus track, an outro or something that you like but you don't really give much attention - which is sad, after all it's the title track and it closes the standard edition of the album.

Thankfully, we have some deluxe tracks! "Another Lover, Pt. II" is an sad piano ballad that we've been waiting for - it's kinda true when fans say their faves put the best songs off the album as bonus tracks. "Another Lover, Pt. II" brings another personal track (Ari mentioned it'd be a personal album), in a teenage girl-ish confessional type of lyrics, but that's what makes it sound so pure. It's purely beautiful, powerful at its best and great, raw vocals. Emotional!

A Cashmere Cat production along with a Sia composition, "Quit" couldn't be better. It's powerful chorus "I can't quit you, I can't quit you" follows up to a good electro chill break with some raw instruments, bringing the vulnerable cute Ari we all love. It's not the best song, it's not the worse, and it fits perfectly as a bonus track - adorable, but not memorable.

"All That I Want" is memo to Ari's brand style, which is nice, but still no surprise. The beat is good, in a boucing smooth way, it's perfectly the piano-dancing Ariana song we all like... But completely predictable - not even the lyrics make it a little better, "I’m so glad I found ya because you’re all that I want in a man". Not great, but it's okay.

As always, Target got some exclusives, and the international editions as well, with the 17th song "Cruella Devil" and "Changed My Mind". The first one, a song we totally agree to be a limited bonus since it doesn't add a single thing to the album, its instrumental it's too repetitive even with some oriental-esque vibes, in some cheap content as lyrics - "Cuz I don’t wanna sound cocky but you know I put it down (..) / Cruella Devil, you know I keep it trill, never leave the table till I’ve finished my meal". Leave it for the 101 Dalmatians, please. As for "Changed My Mind", a smooth midtempo hip-hop beat in a typical Ariana style. No big deal, it wouldn't change much if the track was in the final tracklist or not - it's okay for a bonus track though.

'Craving' is a pure Ariana Grande album, it has the perfect elements to be a massive worldwide selling hit: catchy bubblegum songs, cute cheap lyrics and youthful moody melodies that get your heart melted to your feet. It's a good album if you don't expect nothing different from what we already know from Grande's catalog... and the past 5 years of pop music. Ariana played safe, and it's a garanteed move to the charts, but until when she'll keep playing safe with songs that sound premade and doesn't show much than what we were already expecting?

Highlights: Weather, World Without Your Love & Liar

[djrelentless]

Diary Of A Mad DJ

(tales of what a club disc jockey goes through) (entry #1)

January 10, 2015 at 7:46am

Tonight's entry is about the eternal struggle of requests or not to take requests.

The problem with requests is that most of time the DJ has to make a judgement on whether or not to play what was requested or play what is going to keep the energy of the floor. Most people who make requests have no concept of anything other than what they want to hear. They never consider that perhaps there was a request before theirs or that the DJ may have programed a certain vibe for his/her floor. But then there are those who request because they want to change or control the music with regard for the entire room.

Tonight I had an interesting situation arise. The venue I spun for is a very young crowd. Even though my floor opens at 10 PM, it doesn't normally get a crowd until 11:30 or midnight. I have never understood in cities where the clubs and bars close early (like 2 AM) why people always wait until midnight to come and party. When I was first coming out to bars, I tried to get there when the place opened. I wanted to dance as long as I could. I felt like an empty dance floor was an open invitation. But I guess the kids coming out today are too cool to be the first ones on the floor (but the party doesn't start until you get there). Make your own party. A dance floor will never get a crowd until someone takes that first step on to it. But anyway...I digress.

Tonight I actually had a small group of people on my floor by 10:30.....eight women to be exact. Four young girls and four older women.....the perfect storm for a tug-of-war over what to play. Given that the demographic of the venue is a 20-something college crowd. I tend to stick with a format of Commercial Pop Club hits and light Hip Hop. I can throw in a few "Old Skool" tracks (which means something radio friendly from the 90s), but anything from the 70s or 80s is usually too old for them. So, when the older women asked me for some "Motown" I had to explain that this was not the venue or night. I knew that any Motown selections would kill any hopes of keeping my usual crowd in my room. I said "I'm not gonna make any promises, but I will see what I could do." I was at Hip Hop speed. "How Many Licks" by Lil Kim was playing.

The first Motown track that came to mind was Diana Ross' "Upside Down". I almost ignored their request, but I felt it was early enough to squeeze in a few Disco tracks in to appease them. I followed Miss Ross with "Got To Be Real" by Cheryl Lynn. Then my mash-up of "Best Of My Love" by The Emotions and "Emotions" by Mariah Carey. Swinging up to the 90s with a modern twist, I played the Gigamesh Remix of "Groove Is In The Heart". Then followed that with the Paul Bryne Remix of "This Is How We Do" by Katy Perry. So....problem solved andI was back where I needed to be musically to be ready for any new people on my floor.

But then.....as it always happens with demographics. The older women came back up and one said "When are you gonna play some more GOOD MUSIC?" (as if I was only to play for them and forget the rest of these kids - now who's feeling a little entitled?) Often when a group (older, twinks, latino, or caribbean, etc - in my experience - it is never enough to play two or three songs in the genre that they want) they don't want to share the floor. If the DJ plays their request, he and his floor becomes their property for the rest of the evening. Nevermind that the normal format may be something completely different.

It takes a while to build a night. It takes a while for a DJ to get his room to understand and trust his techniques and ideas. And I tend to play like it's an audition every single time I spin. Why? Because you never know who might be listening. I have gotten a lot of work and bookings because I impressed someone with how I controlled my floor and kept them dancing. In my opinion, a good DJ knows how to read his room. A good DJ knows that there are peaks and valleys throughout the night. Don't stay on one style or genre for more than 4 or 5 songs. Keep them guessing. I've been a DJ since 1980 and have seen a lot of clubs/bars come and go. A DJ plays a huge part in how your establishment will survive and build its brand. I have even seen where a DJ who does not know how to control his/her floor will cause a bad energy which could cause fights. If you let your audience control you in the booth then your music will be all over the place. That kind of energy can cause hostility and anger when some patrons don't hear what they asked for immediately. This is why it is important to establish some ground rules. Let your audience know that you will do your best, but not all requests are appropriate at certain times. So, if the DJ does not play your song right then or not at all it wasn't a good place in his/her set. Or the DJ might not have had your song at all. (example: on New Year's Eve I got a request for Billy Joel. Why would a Club DJ have any Billy Joel songs in his library? And why would a DJ interrupt his dance floor with a Billy Joel song on New Year's Eve? This is a pretty selfish request if you ask me.)

I blame the iPod for this sense of entitlement. Because you can literally press a button and hear whatever you want when you want, many people believe that's how a Club DJ works. He/She should stop whatever they are doing and just play your song right now. And because we have some DJs who do just that instead of mixing and programing like Club DJs used to, we now have a generation of club goers who think this is the norm. While the art of mixing and programing is being lost. The pioneers like Nicky Siano who practically invented mixing two records did not create this technique for it to be forgotten or swept under the rug. If you want immediate gratification, why not just put an iPod in the booth and let the customers go up and select their songs. It will save you a lot of money. (That's sarcasm if you didn't know) Of course that would not and could not happen. Club DJs are needed to use their skills to create and build nights. I do miss the days when the DJ just had to worry about being a DJ and not a promoter, but this is the reality of clubland today. You have to be a jack of all trades to be a DJ nowadays.

But don't think that the Motown requests are the only thing that can hurt or kill your floor. As my floor was getting started (after the older women realized that the music was changing to my normal format and left), I got a request from a twink for "Thinking Bout You" by Calvin Harris. It's not a new track, but it's one of those what I call an acquired taste. You either really love this track or you really hate it. I played it and I watched several people leave my floor and others come to the door of my room and then walk away. If it is peak time and you should be playing some major hits to motivate people to get on the floor, you really have to consider should you go there with a mediocre track or something that is actually on the charts right now.

Now according to where you are (meaning what city you are in), there are some tracks that are timeless and will get everyone going regardless. (example: "Show Me Love" by Robin S.) In a college bar, a track like "Raise Your Glass" by Pink can be a motivator while in an older demographic this song would be considered noise.

I know that many think that I hate requests.....and pretty much, I do. But a request can be helpful if you have no clue what to play. A request can lead you in the direction that will help your first dancer take that step onto the floor. But if you don't know how to read your room after one or two request, you might want to reconsider your profession.

I take requests until I give "Last Call". Some have told me that the music gets so much better after "Last Call". I think it's because I get to be creative without any interruptions. I always go in with at least five tracks that I want to play during the evening. But there's nothing like getting to the end of the night and realizing that you didn't get to play all that you planned. That means that I had a full night of spinning. I kept up with requests and the flow of my floor. Hearing the crowd react when certain tracks drop always puts a smile on my face. That means that I am doing my job well.

So, for all my DJ friends out there....what are your thoughts on requests?

[weliveourdream]

Hola everyone.

So, like I told you in my latest post – yesterday’s post to be exact – I’ve just been to another Two Door Cinema Club concert. I know, exciting stuff, right?

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I think most of you already know how much this band means to me, because I’ve pretty much talked about it everytime I mention it. And if some of you haven’t heard, I’ll just say it again. Also because I love this story too much. So, TDCC were my first real concert ever. Seriously. It was four years ago and actually my mum had to drag me with her kind of. I didn’t like the band from the beginning, I thought their music was kind of stupid. Crazy, I know. But a few days before the concert I started listening to their music and I completely fell in love with it. And the concert was soooo fantastic. I also bought my first band merch or concert shirt there, which I now have a huge collection of. So yeah, it all started with this band. And the rest is what we call history.

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After this concert and this tour they kind of disappeared, only to release one tiny EP in a matter of 3 years. And now that they’ve released their new album last autumn, another tour had to come. And of course I had to see them again. I mean I saw them live at Reading last year, but seeing them again, after 4 years, in the same venue, nearly on the same date, was just a must for me.

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And to be honest, the concert was just mind-blowing (as expected). My friend and me were pretty early so when we got into the venue, there were about 50 people there. So I probably don’t have to mention that we got to be quite close to the stage, third row actually. But f course the place filled up during the first and the second support act. Oh yeah, speaking of them, the first one was called “Parcels” and it was like they had just used a time machine to get here but actually belonged to the 70s or 80s. Long hair, jeans up right to the stomach, disco music and the perfectly matching dance moves. IT was so fascinating for me to watch them on stage. And the second one was called “Blaenavon”, a band from England where you could already sense their Englishness when they got onto stage, before even playing one note. They were more of the rocky side, so enjoyed them a little more than the first one.

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And then we had to play the waiting game, as always. But after half an hour they finally got on stage. And the funniest thing was that before the concert I had told my friend that I thought they would be starting with their song “Cigarettes In The Theatre”, first because it’s an extremely empowering and motivating song, so the perfect one to start with, and second because they also started their set at Reading with it. And then they actually played it as their first song. So amazing.

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Yeah and then the concert went on and on and it just got better and better (and hotter and hotter to be honest, I was a total mess at the end). The played so many old song which I had hoped for but also some new ones and for me it was the perfect mix. I loved that we were standing so close to them so I could really watch the expressions on their faces and their movements. Also the crowd was amazing, there was such an overwhelming dynamic and power in the small hall, I loved it. And you could really see how much they enjoyed playing for us which just makes a concert ten times better.

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And after one and a half amazing hours it was over. I was hot, my voice and throat pretty damaged, as well as my ears. And I was craving for air. That’s when you know the concert was just perfect. And actually, it really was perfect. It reminded me why I love this band so much. For me they are the best indie band you could find, seriously. And I think that will never change. They really do have a special place in my heart and I can already see myself jumping around and screaming the lyrics at one of their next shows. Plainly because they and their make me so freaking happy.

.

So yeah guys, there you go. That’s what I experienced last night. I had such an amazing time, I can’t wait for the next tour. I hope you enjoyed this post and if any of you were at the concert or know the band, don’t hesitate to say something. Oh and as always pictures of the concert are down below. Enjoy. And, as always, thanks for reading. x

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  Two Door Cinema Club Hola everyone. So, like I told you in my latest post – yesterday’s post to be exact – I’ve just been to another Two Door Cinema Club concert.