#em reviews things solo

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

Catching Up With Ilyas Ahmed

I think I initially came across Ilyas Ahmed via a typically breathless Aquarius Records writeup of a mid-00s double CD edition of Ilyas' first two solo albums. The Aquarius folks, god bless 'em, could sometimes slip into hyperbole in their reviews, but I took a chance and ordered it. This time, the hyperbole was more than justified — and I've been following the twists and turns of Ahmed's career ever since.

Finally, a few weeks ago, we hopped on the phone to chat, and you can check out our conversation now over on Aquarium Drunkard. It's a bit of a ramble ... but it's a good ramble, I hope! Not only is Ilyas a brilliant, imaginative musician, he's also a very thoughtful and nice dude. And his new one, A Dream Of Another, is one of my favorite things he's ever done. And did we mention the new Grails album that came out earlier this year? Holy smokes! Get them both — they're MASTERPIECES. How's that for hyperbole?!

And hey, since we're talking about Ilyas and Aquarius Records, here he is with the one and only Grouper, playing an in-store at the late/lamented SF shop about a decade ago.

[fiction-giga]

Dungeon Master

30 Day Blurb Challenge - list link here

Day 23 - Participating in their hobby even if it doesn’t personally interest you.

Eddie Munson x AFAB!Reader

Warnings - none :)

Word Count - 0.8k

Just wanted to let you guys know I'll be double posting tomorrow since I missed yesterday's post, so keep and eye out for that. - giga <3

You wouldn't really consider yourself a D&D player. Hell, let's be honest, you hadn't even heard of the game until you met Eddie.

He loved it. Loved everything about it. The roleplaying, the costumes and personas, the funny voices that came with the story telling.

But his favorite part of the game was the freedom that came with it. The way you could create and tell your own stories, with thousands of different possible outcomes. It didn't confine him to a box, to a standard of playing. And Eddie loved it.

You were pretty much forced into the process, not that you minded in the slightest. You always thought Eddie was cute when he got all nerdy, but you found it so incredibly sweet when he tried his best to include you in the process. He didn't want it to feel like a solo thing. He wanted to be able to share it with you and discuss ideas amongst one another.

His campaigns made a great improvement when you stepped into the picture. Granted, you didn't know a whole lot about the game, Eddie always felt as if you the missing piece he always needed. You completed the experience for him, made it new and exciting all over again.

Tonight was another one of those nights. He was about to start up a new campaign with the boys, and he was stressed. He always stressed himself out, practically drove himself up the wall one night.

He had been sat at the dining room table for hours now. Just him and his ridiculously large binder, papers and pens strewn all around.

"You don't see anything missing? Nothing I can add or take away?" He anxiously asked you, pointing to a small stack of papers. You glanced down at them.

You had already read those papers four times in the last twenty minutes you had been sitting there. But for Eddie? For Eddie, you can stand reading them for a fifth time.

"Ed's, I don't really see anything else that needs to be added or taken out." You muttered, not fully understanding his quick scribbles. You knew enough to tell that he was prepared and maybe even a bit...over prepared? I mean, could you be over prepared for a D&D campaign? Was that a thing?

He chewed on his nails as he reviewed the papers again.

"Do you think something could be added or taken out?" You rebutted his own question against him.

He was quiet for a moment, the gears in his brain clicking as they turned. His messy bun bounced as he cut his neck to look at his open manual. He read over a few lines, guiding his reading with his forefinger.

"I think...I think I can maybe take out the trolls..." His eyes cut over the papers, seeking your opinion.

"I think you can too. I mean, the boys did just get out of a tight fight with a rock giant, if they made it out at all. Think you should go easy on 'em until you pull out the big guns." You smiled at him.

He smiled back. "I think you're right. Too much rolling." He huffed, picking up a blue pen and scratching out the troll section of the campaign.

Once he re-wrote the section, he stepped back, eyes roaming over the lines over and over again, tweaking it here and there until he was sure it was good enough.

"Here," He shoved the re-write in front of you. You read the chicken scratch as best you could, trying to decipher what words meant what. From what you could tell, the rewrite was good, a vast improvement by a simple cut of rolling for chance.

"Is it good?" Eddie was staring at you, under eyes darker than before. His head rested on hand, his ringed fingers curled under his chin. His doe eyes were staring up at you in expectancy for your honest opinion.

"I think it's way better, Ed's. Think it got its flow back." You smiled up at him.

"Really?" His eyes were practically sparkling at the small compliment.

"Really." You giggled.

"Oh thank god." He groaned. He leaned fully back in his chair,head lolling back to face the ceiling. His fingers rubbed at his stinging eyes. He was exhausted and it was clear to see.

"C'mon, let's get you to bed." You held your hand out, his warm hand slapping into yours.

He slinked out of the chair, shoulders drooping uncharacteristically low for the normally energetic man. He followed you down the hall and into your bedroom where he plopped face down onto your side of the mattress.

He groaned as you nudged his side.

"Scoot." You nudged him a bit harder when he didn't budge.

He huffed before dramatically rolling over, situating himself, further snuggling into his side of the bed. You joined him shortly after, cuddling yourself into his warm chest. He gave your forehead a chaste kiss before settling in for the night.

"Goodnight, Dungeon Master." You whispered to him. His arm around your waist tightened as he pulled you closer into his chest.

"Goodnight, Princess."

[seancamerons]

just thinking about my last reblog, "I hope the fic you are working on right now finds a reader who will think about it constantly for years"

there was this fic years and years ago for semma on fanfictiondotnet. a lot of these stories are probably endangered bc of uncertainties and all the writing people movin' on to different spots on the internet such as a03 and even here on tumblr.

getting back to the stories, super romantic and was set sometime in season 3. unfortunately it never was completed, but i still think about how it could've ended.

i never at least to my memory ever personally spoke to the author, but would leave reviews when they were still posting chapters and even wrote one like a year or two ago in hope. they moved on whatever i guess. i'll never forget how cute it was though. there are two stories like that.

the first was called you are my miracle and the second one was called falling back. (also anything like not a title of a fic but any writing by evablue, iyykyk.)

sometimes you'll always remember some fic you read when you were younger, or whatever, and it has left a lasting mark and impression on you. very inspiring stuff.

just saying, that sometimes there are people who never say anything about your writing and you assume nobody cares but in reality, there are people afraid to talk to people on the internet bc it could potentially be a vulnerable or scary thing, confidence and shame/being ashamed, or whatever barriers hold people back from contacting complimenting others or in turn not comfortable accepting compliments. not just for a writer but also for a reader.

so i'll never forget these two random fics among the countless others i read as i wrote too. there's sometimes a little inspiration there, a little bit of borrowed elements, incorporated in pretty much all the stories at that time and beyond. some established canon norms or even fanon lived there or existed between the lines and throughout the lines. it's not necessarily copying but rather, almost like it's all part of the picture and what fans accept as unwritten or written truths if that makes sense. piggybacking off of ideas and brainstorming solo or with others is a true gift.

in short, i truly love to read, rediscover things, and discover new things, writing to create worlds when i write is fun and is a hobby for me that brings me comfort and peace regardless of how noticed i am or not at all (going with latter). the story may not be allll mine (because it's based on something such as a television show and not wholly original), and the ideas that are somehow claimed to be mine were born out of what to do with the scraps the show decided to gift us? i throw in things that happened, maybe motivations of characters, lil flashy backs, and such to make it more significant and special.

i will never forget, literally ever those semma stories. i don't know if i'd be all that interested in writing back some 20 years ago without reading these, there's more but these come to mind.

if i could track 'em down i'd do a ficrec with a bunch i loved over the years. some complete, some incomplete and some of those cute drabble one-shots. some are better written than others, or some are just masterpieces. it's a beautiful thing.

if anyone read this and have recs of their own or wanna gush about a favorite story? i am all ears in tag or comments. thanks for reading.

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 06/04/2024 (Beyoncé's COWBOY CARTER)

Welp, as one would expect, she gets the double, the #1 album with COWBOY CARTER and “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” is back up top. Welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

Rundown

As always, we shall start with our notable dropouts - songs exiting the UK Top 75, which is what I cover, after five weeks in the chart or a peak in the top 40 - and this week, we bid adieu to some big deals: “FRI(END)S” by V (more BTS on the way), “BURN” by Hitler and Goebbels, “Coal” by Dylan Gossett, “Grey” by Yung Filly, “Selfish” by Justin Timberlake, “redrum” by 21 Savage, “Nothing Matters” by The Last Dinner Party, “Strangers” by Kenya Grace and finally, “Escapism.” by RAYE featuring 070 Shake.

As for our returns, we see “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus and “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi back to bottom-dwell at #75 and #74, alongside “vampire” by Olivia Rodrigo at #71, “Everywhere” by Fleetwood Mac, they’re basically all in the same boat. Notable gains on the other hand… we see boosts for “Anti-Hero” by Taylor Swift at #67, “if u think i’m pretty” by Artemas at #52, “FE!N” by Travis Scott featuring Playboi Carti at #50, “Never be Lonely” by Jax Jones and Zoe Wees at #41, sigh, “Been Like This” by Meghan Trainor and T-Pain at #40, SIGH, “Evergreen” by Richy Mitch & the Coal Miners at #38, “Slow it Down” by Benson Boone at #27 (likely even further next week thanks to the album), “Happier” by The Blessed Madonna and Clementine Douglas at #26, “Back on 74” by Jungle at #25 (what a great new run this is having), “Belong Together” by Mark Ambor at #22, and finally, Artemas gets his first top 10 with “i like the way you kiss me”. I mean, at least it’s interesting.

Now our top five should look pretty familiar: “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)” by Ariana Grande at #5, “Too Sweet” by Hozier at #4, “Lose Control” by Teddy Swims at #2 and of course Bey knocks Benjamin Boonerang off the #1 to #2 with “Beautiful Things”. Now to talk about - let’s be real - Beyoncé and some minor cameos.

New Entries

#64 - “NEURON” - j-hope, Gaeko and YOON MIRAE

Produced by Pdogg

So, j-hope of BTS released an album - or it seems more like a mixtape - that landed at #38 on the albums chart thanks to the classic BTS sales. Whilst there doesn’t appear to be a clear single on the project, especially considering j-hope was always more of a rapper in the group, but this got the video treatment and is very much what I expect from j-hope, at least from the very little I’ve heard of his solo work. It’s got a set of blissful pads against a vocoder sample and surprisingly heavy-hitting boom bap drums, as well as sing-songy rap flows in a nasal, almost J. Cole-like delivery that could be about love but keep it vaguer in the verse, it might be more conscious and spiritual, especially considering the focus on neuron activation. Gaeko is a lot more explicitly introspective, looking back on his life and how he’s not as aggressive as he used to be in his youth, finding more solace in playing ball with his son that “embracing the bomb” - some of the Genius translation could miss out some detail or context here. Now YOON MIRAE, a female rapper, really brings the heat here, as the intensity of the pianos ramp up, the beat gets a tad more minimal and she raps bilingually in a deeper yell than either of the guys here can cough up. She speaks somewhat generically of the rap game and motivation to grind, but her riffing on the final chorus is what convinces me, as well as her acknowledging that she’s granted the beat drop in the song, it shows an awareness of the structure of the song and not just being a guest rap verse, it’s clever and interesting, really puts the verse into perspective. So I ended up really liking this - it’s a bit fluffy, as K-pop often is, but it’s got grit and meaning to it this time around, and with the variety in flows, focused content, I can dig this.

#62 - “Jump” - Tyla, Gunna and Skillibeng

Produced by Sammy Sosa

I quite liked Tyla’s self-titled debut, currently at #33 on the albums chart. The South African singer brings a reassuring, youthful joy to detailed production and it’s all a light, feathery bliss that’s just a delight to sit through, even if the record is clearly not for sitting. I have a full first-impressions review on my RateYourMusic listening log (the account is exclusivelytopostown) if you want more thoughts on that, but my favourite moments on the album are when guest features with a little more smolder are brought in to balance the sweetness, like with Tems on “No. 1” and with Gunna and Jamaican deejay Skillibeng on this track, “Jump”, which has a subtle sprinkling of Afrobeats guitars and keys over the very unsubtle rhythm section, a great deep bass and busy drums that can counter the choir vocals in the verses as well as Tyla belting a tad on the chorus. There’s little substance to it - it’s just about being hot and having fun, with a hilariously repetitive post-chorus, but both Tyla and Gunna shout out her native Johannesburg and if you were expecting anything of further depth, you’re just listening to the wrong album. This is a lot of fun and I hope it catches on.

#61 - “I LUV IT” - Camila Cabello featuring Playboi Carti

Produced by El Guincho and Jasper Harris

Sometimes I wish this show was a video series. For this entry, I would probably just point and laugh at the calculated attempt to be interesting, for a demographic I’m a part of, and failing so catacylismically that no-one is buying it or bothering to listen more than once. I don’t mean to be harsh, and I’m not blaming the artists, more so the label and marketing teams: when releasing a pop single, you first have to consider - who is this for? Who can you appeal to and how? Here, Camila has her own fanbase already, so she’s going to try and appeal to them, naturally. Also, it has a very edgy, cinematic video for fans of say, The Weeknd or people who watch Euphoria. Sure, okay, that could work. Oh, and the song sounds like Charli XCX - though she recruited ROSALÍA’s producer - so she’s trying to appeal to her hyperpop crowd, that’s fine, you’re stretching yourself a bit thin there though, it could be a bit too camp for the edgy crowd if you do that, and a bit too dark for the hyperpop crowd if you get Playboi Carti on board, because I guess she needs a rap crossover audience… or at least an experimental rap crossover audience in this case. At least she’s not using a nostalgia-bait sample of a Gucci Mane song from… oh, she’s using a nostalgia-bait sample of a Gucci Mane song from 2009. Okay, so I guess the target demographic is everyone now, but hyperpop fans like authenticity, and this clearly doesn’t have it. Carti fans hate women, Camila’s own fans, if her old comments are anything to go by, hate… “rappers”, let’s say that. And really, what person who would be nostalgic for Gucci’s “Lemonade” - never charted here, by the way - would even be keeping an eye out for Camila Cabello? This is just a travesty of a lead single… and the song’s brilliant, all of that context just makes what the eventual end product is completely hilarious.

I’ve always been an advocate for mess in pop music - not necessarily the discourse, but the music itself and the rollout surrounding it - because it is exciting and part of the reason I do this show. There are more fascinating stories to be told with music when it reaches a mass audience, it’s just natural, and that’s especially interesting when the song is a Goddamn trainwreck that’s catchy as sin and does everything wrong. There are rage synths that don’t last the entire measure for no reason - and they don’t try and hide it - whilst the synths on the chorus play the role of a theremin. Cabello not being able to sing all that well means that her playing staccato, hyperpop robo-girl over a pretty rote Jersey club groove actually goes really well for her, even if she inexplicably decorates the song in breathy ad-libs as if she herself was Playboi Carti. Speaking of ad-libs, they leave in Gucci’s original “brr”s in the chorus, seemingly out of either laziness or refusal to re-record the choir hook, and given both hooks are just mantras, there are basically two choruses instead of an active chorus/post-chorus dynamic, especially since there is no considerable change sonically or tonally between the two. This lack of structure culminates in a “bridge” that is JUST multi-tracked ad-libs, and features Cabello saying “slow down, baby”… the tempo remains the same entirely and the drums don’t go into half-time like they probably should for a Playboi Carti feature. He goes for his deep, richer voice and the song just kind of… ends with his verse? Barely catching up to the beat, Carti rambles as usual, even less coherent in his mumbling than usual, and eventually, Cabello tries to insert herself into his orbit, it’s so painful. It’s telling that when I search for this song on Spotify, the artists recommended to me are Carti, Charli and then Ken Carson and Lancey Foux. Camila herself is nowhere to be seen in that list of artists and whether that’s because there’s none of her personality in this song or she didn’t have any to begin with is a question for another day. For now, this is garbage. I love it.

#60 - “Outside of Love” - Becky Hill

Produced by PARISI

Now Becky Hill kind of has something to prove to me now, she’s been on increasingly better production that fits the places she wants to go with her voice a lot more as of recent and it’s been pretty promising. Also promising are PARISI, a duo who I mostly connect with Fred again.. but have also worked extensively with Ed Sheeran, and particularly on some of his most interestingly layered songs vocally like “Afterglow” and “Visiting Hours” which may be a coincidence but had me really excited for what the boys could do with Ms. Hill. Turns out it probably was a coincidence, the vocal mixing is kind of mediocre actually, they don’t really contain her belting very well, not that it really needs containing given this is fully in festival mode. Everytrinkling synth pad, house kick, it feels like it’s a constant light fluttering under Hill’s desperate attempt to jigsaw this relationship back together. I know it’s an EDM-pop track so the lyrics are little to write home about but it should still be said that the description of herself as on the “outside of love” is interesting imagery, it makes me wonder what could be done with that concept by a more poetic writer who has a bit more time and, let’s be real, a fitting sonic palette for that kind of lyricism. Whilst this hasn’t immediately clicked with me as much as the past two, I feel I’ll appreciate this one for just being a maximalist bop with terribly-mixed gospel-like vocals on the final drop, it goes for an onslaught of everything in a very admirable way. It’s cute, it reminds me of when 2000s Eurodance hits would go way harder than they needed to simply to raise the dramatic stakes. So yeah, another Becky Hill song I like. World’s crumbling.

#9 - “II MOST WANTED” - Beyoncé and Miley Cyrus

Produced by Beyoncé, Shawn Everett, Michael Pollack, Miley Cyrus and Jonathan Rado

So, there’s a Beyoncé album, I think? It’s got a country and western tinge to it. Heard it’s long, heard it’s pretty good. Haven’t heard it. I probably will not listen to it and I’m not saying that to be “cool” or contrarian because if I were, I’d have listened to it and pretended to hate it. Realistically, I don’t have a dog in the Beyoncé does country argument. I’m not a country fan, or a country hater, I’m not a big Beyoncé fan, or Azealia Banks, so I have nothing valuable to contribute to the discourse as well as no reason to hear a damn near feature-length record. When Beyoncé did house, firstly, she did it well, and secondly, I’m a fan of house music! I know more about it than other genres, I’m quite educated in certain subgenres and I recognised a few of the samples and cultural references she was lifting from on RENAISSANCE. I feel like most of them may be lost on me or not fully resonate when discussing her pivot to country music, and I wish that wasn’t the case. Part of me just wants to say that I listen to Weezer and future bass so leave me alone. Thankfully, the British public has given me the easiest plate of two tracks from this album: a Dolly Parton cover and a mid Miley duet. It’s about being a ride-or-die, it’s got soaring guitars and both ladies have an audible rasp and grit to their voices, even if Miley ends up like a backing vocalist at times to Bey. They’re trading lyrics or in harmony nearly all the time, and Miley plays it a lot calmer than Bey, naturally, who probably wants and needs to prove herself in country pop more than the seasoned player. Hell, I actually think their chemistry here is awkward and not accentuated by the vague western-soundfont lyrics that don’t play into any notable angle, and in the bridge, just kind of give up on themselves. It’s a bit disappointing, to say the least.

#8 - “JOLENE” - Beyoncé

Produced by Beyoncé, Khirye Tyler, Jack Ro and NOVA WAV

Dolly Parton’s iconic 1973 jam “Jolene”, begging desperately for this beautiful woman not to cheat on her husband, is pretty undeniable, right? Well, I’ve never really liked it, sorry to say. My taste in country is pretty horrific, I’ll be the first to admit, but I’ve always found the instrumentation underwhelming and going for sinister when Dolly is selling it with a long of strength and desperacy, like she’s at her last tether. The sapphic elements are compelling of course, but they collapse in the third verse, then it fades out having sonically done nothing much at all. There’s always been something breezy about it to me that I never really understood, and that’s no disrespect to Dolly, she’s easily my favourite part. Regardless, this is one of those times where I have to give a chart history, so flashback to 1976, when “Jolene” first lands on the UK charts and peaks at #7, when “Combine Harvester” by the Wurzels was #1. I know that one because of my dad, if you haven’t heard that song… you know what, don’t.

“Jolene” was Dolly’s first top 10 over here and ended up re-entering a few times in the 2010s. Before that came many re-imaginings. First, in 1985, we had Glasgow’s Strawberry Switchblade cover the song, in a weird mix of new wave, freestyle and western elements that really show what performative country aesthetics can be, because this has more to do with darkwave than anything from the Deep South. It peaked at #53 and it is terrible. The 2000s is where the covers really ramped up, firstly in 2000 with the #100-peaking cover by London alt-rock outfit Queenadreena. Seemingly not on streaming, it came with their original, “Pretty Polly”, and fully goes into the dark cabaret aesthetic, especially in that... choice of a music video. I think I might prefer it to the original, it makes Jolene sound like an evil woman who I would like to step on me. We also saw a #99 peak for a song in 2007 by folk singer Ray LaMontagne also coincidentally called “Jolene” - it’s not a cover, but it’s a pretty great, tragic narrative ballad if you’re interested. Good accidental discovery to make. My favourite cover of “Jolene”, however, and the only version to get close to Dolly’s original peak until Queen Bey was the version recorded by the garage rock duo, The White Stripes, specifically a 2004 live version that peaked at #16. Now, am I biased because I love Jack White? Yes. Yes, I am, and so does Beyoncé, so shush. Everyone and their mother has covered Dolly, but out of all “Jolene” renditions I’ve heard, Jack just sounds the most devastated, and the eventual crash into distorted, hapless guitars and Meg White’s ugly-ass snares after that rushed, chaotic percussion panned exclusively to the left throughout, is incredibly cathartic. And that’s just the studio version - the live version that charted is even more dire and Jack is downright pathetic on it, worsened by the audience wooing, cheering and clapping on occasion, it eggs on Jolene in a way and publicises his angst “Jolene - Live Under Blackpool Lights” might honestly be one of the greatest cover songs of all time.

So how does Beyoncé fare? Well, she changes a lot of the lyrics to act more as a warning to people attempting to take JAY-Z instead of desperately begging Jolene not to get with JAY-Z, mostly because I don’t think Beyoncé could easily sell being helpless, especially in the context of her husband - we all heard Lemonade. I’m not sure how effectively you can sell the warning shot either considering, well, there was a Becky with some good hair who did all of this a few years ago. Sonically, I’m not head over heels for what sounds like a pretty rote rendition, even if Beyoncé’s vocals and some of the lyrics add a lot of character that simply isn’t in the instrumental. The backing vocal repeating “Jolene” at sporadic intervals, I can’t figure out exactly who it is, probably The-Dream, but he reminds me of Wyclef Jean on “Hips Don’t Lie”. That’s my intellectual observation. I just used a review of a song from the biggest black female country album ever to talk about a guy whose last name is literally White. When she releases a pop punk album, I’ll be more in tune, but for now, leave it to Azealia Banks and Spectrum Pulse, I’m sure if you combined the two, you’d create Frankenstein’s cultural critic.

Conclusion

Fascinatingly enough, this was a great week outside of Beyoncé, who takes away Worst of the Week for “II MOST WANTED” with Miley Cyrus and the Dishonourable Mention for her cover of “JOLENE”. Neither song are terrible, but I think I established in both reviews that my general disinterest for the album doesn’t entirely cover a lot of the flaws I believe are present in these tracks, I’m sorry. Again, I like Beyoncé, just not these particular records. As for the best… oh, God, it’s Camila Cabello’s “I LUV IT” featuring Playboi Carti, isn’t it? Honourable Mention goes to Tyla, Gunna and Skillibeng for “Jump” but I think I’ll have to spend a few days in rehab recovering from picking the other song as my Best of the Week. As for what’s on the horizon, more insufferable discourse as J. Cole drops a surprise diss record. Other than that, Charli XCX links with Gesaffelstein, Benson links with Boone and there’s new tracks from Bryson Tiller, Ava Max and the Imagine Dragons. All of it could chart, none of it could chart, we’ll see. For now, however, thank you for reading, long live Cola Boyy, and I’ll see you next week!

[falling-oceans]

note: I'm not doing TV shows bc that would simply be too many things at this moment, I'll consider it if I manage to finish this but until then. no TV (sorry Adam west!)

[placegrenette]

Every Ninety One Song Reviewed: “Biz,” 2023

“Bız,” released ahead of the album Gap, 2023 Music credits: Dulat Mukhametkaliev (ZaQ), Daniyar Kulumshin (Bala) Lyrics credits: Dulat Mukhametkaliev (ZaQ) Music video director: Askhat Bayanov

(Brief pedantic editor’s note: the song’s title is not “Biz,” as I originally wrote it, but “Bız," since the new Kazakh Latin alphabet uses the dotless I. If you speak American English, it sounds like the middle I in “bit,” so you were probably pronouncing it correctly even though I technically wasn’t spelling it correctly. If there’s a way to update the Unicode in the post title I don’t know it.)

At last we have the slightly-delayed pre-release single to the long-delayed album. It will make no difference in the long run, but for posterity’s sake, Ninety One originally said the music video would come out the 25th (the song was already available on streaming platforms by the time of the announcement), then changed that to the 26th, then had to make a sheepish Telegram post saying well actually the 27th, and finally released the darn thing after 11 pm Almaty time on the 27th. They’re not doing fantastic with meeting deadlines they set themselves, of late. But it’s a minor series of flaws, really; growing pains. I hope someday we get a little bit more of a glimpse into what it takes to take an enterprise like this running.

On to “Bız,” which has arguably the same relation to Gap as “Su Asty” did to Qarangy Zharyq and “Men Emes” did to its namesake EP, and those are big shoes to fill. “Bız” has less going on, both musically and lyrically, than either of those two. It’s a fun little hype track, especially when ZaQ decides to experiment with a goofier flow: “How you forgot about ME? Мығда NineTY? O-N-E?” But it’s not as lyrically ambitious; it’s basically a platform for the guys to talk about how awesome they are in the face of, once again, Vaguely Defined Adversity. The closest we get to anything substantial is ZaQ’s “My style is not accepted by your generation,” which is weak sauce when you consider what he brought to the table in “Men Emes.”

The other slightly worrying issue with “Bız” is how much it feels like Zaqira and the Three Singers. That may partly be due to circumstance: I’ll go ahead and speculate that Alem’s TV commitments meant he wasn’t available for much of the MV filming (which is why there are about three solo shots of him total) and Ace has been trying to slay the logistical hydra of the album release and tour setup (which may help explain why he looks so tense and preoccupied during his verse, especially in contrast to Bala’s looser performance). And ZaQ’s brain as Ninety One’s principal philosophical engine is not new. But they have been riding hard on We Are a Bonded Foursome for a year now; if they let ZaQ get out too far ahead without some obvious attempts at balance they risk doing some harm to that brand they’re so carefully cultivating.

Fortunately this is a pre-release, not a title track. I think they played the MV just right, for what it’s worth. Although Askhat Bayanov is still at the helm (and Nurs Bazarbay is director of photography, and Nurila Shakirova is producer and first assistant director, and Adil Kazkenov has a backstage credit -- anon, I still owe you that staff overview, as practically everyone I would mention worked on this video), we don’t have any callbacks to the symbolism-filled promo videos. It’s Ninety One in space, dancing and looking hot. They’ve actually never done a dance-performance-focused video before; it makes sense to do it now, as a calling card, before we get to the meatier (hopefully) content of the album.

How’s the Hair/Styling? Good! Bala’s undercut suits him, and in truth Zhadra has been doing especially well by her husband of late. Shame we couldn’t get a lingering shot of Ace in the tiara, though. Should You Start Here? I think I’m going to prefer “Gap” as an introduction -- we’ll see -- but as Boastful OT4 goes, this may outrank “Bata.”

[filmmarvel]

Ted Lasso S3 Thoughts!

I want to talk about my overall thoughts on Season 3 before the finale comes out, because I’m sure I’ll have a lot to say about that! So let’s just get right into it. A lot of plot points and storylines felt like 1-off, little set ‘em up knock ‘em down types of things, as opposed to full arcs that carried a clear theme throughout the season. A big part of this is the focus being on such a wide variety of characters, and having to cover so many stories at once. This led to Ted being sidelined a bit? Don’t get me wrong, he’s still a huge part of the show, and had some great moments this season, but there was still a clear shift from previous seasons. In some ways I think this made a lot of sense- the team is becoming more like a family, we’re getting to know everyone and understand their individual stories more. While I like that idea, the lack of consistency when it came to Ted’s screen time was noticeable (he’s kind of the beating heart of the show). Some of the strongest episodes were ones where he was at the forefront. This whole season just felt a little less cohesive, with so many different things going on. Some of the extended arcs, like Colin’s and Nate’s were good, though. And as I’ve seen a number of other people pointing out, it kind of felt like they were just trying to cram as many hot topics into the season as they could, because they couldn’t really afford to focus on that many specific characters having longer arcs (which again, is why many of the characters had 1-2 episode arcs so that the focus could then be shifted to someone else). It starts to seem a bit like they were running out of ideas, so I’m glad they’re ending the show with intention instead of dragging it out. Another part of this issue (something that @king-author pointed out really well), is that we didn’t get to witness a lot of the important, impactful moments (particularly concerning Nate’s storyline). I think this season would’ve been a lot better (not that it was bad, just a bit of a step down), if they had chosen to focus on these bigger storylines and developing particular characters, as opposed to creating a bunch of random problems to keep everyone involved.

One particular storyline I’ve got issues with- I didn’t really see a point to the whole Keeley/Roy/Jack thing? Roy and Keeley’s breakup never really made all that much sense in the first place, but I understand the benefit of having Keeley go solo for a while. But then why bring Jack into the mix? It was pretty clear that Roy and Keeley were going to get back together, and so I didn’t really see any point to their relationship beyond an excuse to give Keeley more screen time (which I think could’ve been used in better ways).

So overall, this season has been kind of hit and miss. Since I talked about some of the misses already, let’s go over some of the hits! This last episode was absolute fantastic, between Roy and Keeley being back together, Ted having impactful tear-jerker moments, and Jamie having a moving arc once again, it felt like old times. Rebecca had some great moments as well recently, particularly her speech and everything with Rupert in Episode 10. She’s such a wonderful character, and that was a fantastic way to end her multi-season arc with Rupert. I also loved Jade! She and Nate have a fantastic dynamic, I really like the impact she’s had on him, she’s just a perfect addition to the show. And I think this goes without saying, but so many of the characters remain totally delightful (Sam, Jamie, Dani, Will, etc). This show is still wildly wholesome, sweet, and entertaining. And judging from the last few episodes, they’re going out strong! I have no doubt that the finale will be fantastic.

Anyways, I didn’t expect this review to be this long! If anyone actually made it this far, thanks for reading, and let me know what you think! Do you agree, and what did you like/dislike about this season?

[miloscat]

[Review] Megabyte Punch (NS)

Cyberspace Emissary.

Ten years before Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, Team Reptile (basically just two Dutch guys) had just made the browser version of Lethal League, and then Megabyte Punch was their next thing. The Switch version released seven years later with some slight additions, which is what I played.

Essentially, it's the platform-fighter mechanics of a Super Smash Bros. with on-the-fly customisation of your moveset thanks to swappable robot parts. It's got a straightforward battle match mode, but what I spent my time with was the adventure mode, a beat-em-up story in six stages that feels a bit like Subspace Emissary in Brawl. Brawl is my favourite instalment in its series and SSE is a big reason why, so I was pleased to see another game take a crack at the concept.

The story is pretty straightforward: the evil robot empire is muscling in on your peaceful robot village, there's some interludes of robot intrigue and robot zombies, and you eventually fight the robot emperor. The presentation helps it stand out though, the brightly coloured low-poly cyberworlds giving some novelty to proceedings, along with the team's trademark preoccupation with palette swaps.

As you fight through the robozones you will pick up new parts and bits (64 for an extra life in that stage, and can be cashed in at the hub village shop for rare parts). If you see a bot using a cool move, you might be able to snag it and start using it right away, or else give yourself more jumps, better defence, etc. In theory the parts can clue you in on an enemy's moves since (almost) all robots share a modular design, but they can be hard to read at a distance, cool though their individual designs may be. The experimentation with your loadout is nice, but parts do duplicate functionality and nothing is a strict upgrade so you really have to get creative/cheesy when the late-game difficulty spike arrives.

I enjoyed the parts that spawned in helper bots to temporarily fight by your side, but I might have also enjoyed co-op: you can play through the campaign with up to four simultaneous players. This would likely have helped with that tough final boss, although I imagine the splitscreen views get super cramped. The levels are huge with goodies hidden around to reward exploration, platforming, and even digging through the terrain with certain weapons: well suited to splitting up to range around, but I still had fun with them solo.

As with Brawlout which I played recently, Megabyte Punch has something of a stripped-back moveset compared to its inspiration. There's no smash attacks, no dodges, no grabs, and I kept finding myself reaching for these things out of muscle memory. The basic attacks seem to lack in impact and reach, and I had trouble avoiding damage and establishing proper spacing. I wished for a little more variety in the special moves granted by parts as well; the promise of a huge diversity of attacks wasn't quite fulfilled to me.

Still, the concept and presentation were cool enough to carry me through even if it's not quite a Subspace Emissary killer. It was enough for me that it plays around in that space and does its own thing to some extent. So if, like me, you were looking for more of that platform-fighter-adventure goodness with a bit of style, Megabyte Punch scratches that itch.

[freddiemercurydaily]

Gallery update 1 September 1984, Queen performed their second evening @ The Birmingham National Arena, Birmingham, UK  “The Works” TourFreddie's vocal introduction to ‘Somebody To Love’ is very beautifully drawn out. He then says, "f***ing let's do it", and jumps into the infamous piano theme of the song. During the improv section of ‘Keep Yourself Alive’ after the first chorus, Brian plays part of the solo from ‘Dead On Time’ off the Jazz album. On many nights of this tour, Freddie mentions the rumours of Queen splitting up which have come to light because it's a known fact by now that he has been working on a solo album. Tonight after ‘It's A Hard Life,’ he says the journalists can f**k off, and adds, "as long as you want us to be on this stage, we'll come back." It is no coincidence that he makes this speech before introducing the next song, ‘Staying Power.’ Originally a song about relationships, Staying Power is given a somewhat new meaning on this tour amidst all the band breakup rumours. Before ‘Is This The World We Created,’ Brian tells everyone that they're much better than last night's audience (they really are an enthusiastic bunch, as is clearly heard on the recording).

 He then tells a little story about his new guitar, the solid-body Gibson Chet Atkins classical electric: "Roger is a collector of guitars, and in his travels around the world he found this little job, which is very strange as it hasn't got strings [nylon, as opposed to steel]. So it sounds like a spanish guitar, and we use it for this particular song. So if you listen to this, you'll get a chance to sing after this, alright?" After the masses sing ‘Love Of My Life,’ Freddie tells them, "What a superb bunch you are." Brian's solo is significantly shorter tonight, perhaps due to a review stating how last night's only low point was how the guitar workout was a bit long. The end section of ‘Brighton Rock’ follows, and then Freddie introduces the next song. "Ok, we're gonna do something that Brian's written. This is gonna be our new.. our next single release. Thank you for buying all the other ones, by the way. If you buggers don't buy 'em, we won't be here! Enough of this crap. This is called ‘Hammer To Fall!”As soon as the audience sees Freddie with his Telecaster on they begin to sing the chorus of ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love.’ He urges them to "get it a bit faster" and then he begins the song. Although 1984 presented the more ambitious choice of songs, Queen took much less time settling comfortably into a setlist than they had done on their previous world tour. There would only be a couple more minor changes throughout the month. QueenLive

[yellobb]

Yellobb’s Year In Review

I definitely stole the idea to make this shortened and not as ugly, so thank you Em and Raen for that 😆

I posted 1,900 times in 2022

That's 749 more posts than 2021!

126 posts created (7%)

1,774 posts reblogged (93%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@microglia

@icaruspendragon

@dizzying-sights

@literallyheretorotaway

@jasonfunderberkerthefrogexists

I tagged 1,305 of my posts in 2022

Only 31% of my posts had no tags

#the simon snow series - 339 posts

#simon snow - 286 posts

#baz pitch - 245 posts

#toh - 213 posts

#snowbaz - 205 posts

#the owl house - 203 posts

#m rambles - 103 posts

#toh spoilers - 94 posts

#hunter toh - 73 posts

#current events - 72 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#i didn’t make either simon or baz a vscode user in my fic because you only find vscode after you’ve healed internally and they haven’t lmao

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

My Simon Snow birthday art, where I screwed up and gave the last Simon a random age instead of looking up how old he really is

118 notes - Posted June 22, 2022

#4

That post about how 40k words is classified as a novel got me thinking: how many people in the Simon Snow fandom have written not only a novel, but a longer novel than the source material?

Please note that, while I could probably get the data for what authors have written more than one/all of the books composite, this is mainly focused on the lengths of individual works. I used the Carry On fandom tag on AO3 for searching, since the Simon Snow and related fandoms tag has one fic that would place, and it’s a Fangirl fic, not a Simon Snow fic and AO3 is where most of the fics seem to be posted anyway.

This post is too long and I tagged too many people, so shortening it for y’all

180 notes - Posted November 22, 2022

#3

Based on this reel I saw the other day that immediately screamed Simon and Baz

(Click for quality)

209 notes - Posted June 3, 2022

#2

Thinking about how viscerally affected I was watching Kate in Don’t Look Up. How she is the only one who shows the very human reaction of being furious that people are making light of this thing that will be everyone’s doom at the beginning, but is essentially written off as being too emotional and “crazy”. How throughout the entire film this brilliant astronomer who LITERALLY DISCOVERED THE FUCKING COMET is discredited and ostracized for being just a tiny bit upset about everything and made out to be an idiot that no one should listen to. How she chooses to grit her teeth and bare it, but it blows up in her face because she still isn’t acknowledged. How she continues to try with all her might to save everyone until there’s no other way, but she still fails because there’s just too many forces working against her. How even when she doesn’t give a shit anymore because she’s just so tired of being pushed down she still cares so much, she just has to come to terms with the fact that she tried, and maybe that wasn’t enough, but that’s all she could do.

431 notes - Posted January 7, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Eldest AFAB sibling, queer, neurodivergent, former gifted kid, perfectionist culture is curling up in a ball and sobbing at all three of the Madrigal siblings’ solos

436 notes - Posted January 28, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[thisaintascenereviews]

Metallica - Metallica (The Black Album) Metallica, the California thrash metal band that kickstarted the Bay Area thrash scene, has gone through multiple sound changes over the last forty years, give or take. Their first LP, 1983′s Kill ‘Em All, is more or less a proto-thrash / speed metal record. It’s a very early iteration of thrash metal, but they would refine that sound on their next two albums, 1984′s Ride The Lightning and 1986′s Master Of Puppets, where they would essentially create the template for late 80s and early 90s thrash, but 1988′s And Justice For All showed them slightly moving away from the genre that they helped to pioneer and perfect. The album was still thrash at its core, but following the death of bassist Cliff Burton in 1986, they wanted to do something different. Bringing on Jason Newsted, they wrote and recorded that record, which experimented with song lengths and song structures, going beyond the thrash template. The songs were also a bit more melancholic, such as “One” being this somber ballad for the first half, which is something they dabbled in, but never went fully through with. It’s their first song they got a music video done for, but after that record, they regrouped and decided to do something different yet again. Depending on the kind of Metallica and/or metal fan that you’ll talk to, anything after 1991′s self-titled album, which is more commonly known as The Black Album, is bad and you should feel bad if you like it, because the band “sold out.” They think that it’s not “real metal,” despite them wanting metal to be popular, but when it does get popular, they still get mad about it. The same thing is happening with the title track of Master Of Puppets, thanks to it being in Stranger Things (go peep my review of that album if you want some more thoughts on that), but I wanted to dive into The Black Album again, as part of my series of Metallica reviews. That’s partially because this is one of the most interesting records in not just their discography, but rock and metal as a whole. The Black Album is one of the highest selling albums of all time, and despite Ride The Lightning and Master Of Puppets being so influential, The Black Album might as well be their defining record. “Enter Sandman” is one of the biggest songs of all time, and for good reason -- it’s overplayed, but it’s still great. It’s got one of the most iconic hooks and riffs of all time. That’s the biggest change of this record from Metallica’s earlier work -- it’s catchy as all hell. This album is incredibly accessible, featuring their catchiest material to date, as well as featuring more ballads and slower tracks. And Justice For All slightly hinted at that, but this album has two slower tracks in the form of “Nothing Else Matters,” and “The Unforgiven,” both great songs. When it comes to the other songs on this album, they’re all very accessible, energetic, and catchy, but what’s funny to me is that they’re still all quite “heavy,” at least in the simplest terms of what heavy metal is. This is a heavy metal record, and some of these songs are incredibly heavy, including “The God That Failed,” “Through The Never,” “The Struggle Within,” “Sad But True,” “Holier Than Thou,” and many more. Fans whined that this album was a “sellout move” from the band, but I don’t hear it. It’s catchier, sure, but it’s not a pop record or a butt-rock album (they’d do that in the late 90s, but that’s another story). It’s still a heavy metal record, it’s just metal down to its core. It’s just as heavy as their thrash material. A lot of the riffs and solos are heavy as hell, and they’re just as impressive, so I don’t understand what all the hate is about, especially when this album is as good as it is. The one major downside to this album, however, is that there’s not much variation to it. The songs don’t run together, per se, as they all have catchy hooks, ultimately making them stick out more, but aside from the ballads on this record, they all have a similar sound. It’s much different than what Metallica has ever done, but there’s not a whole lot of variety here. It’s just a kickass metal record, but to be fair, that’s all you need. It’s just that it clocks in at 63 minutes, so it’s a bit of a lengthy record. All in all, though, I love this record. I love it even more with each listen. It’s the quintessential heavy metal record. It’s right up there with Paranoid by Black Sabbath, The Number Of The Beast by Iron Maiden, Screaming For Vengeance by Judas Priest, or any number of metal records that are essential listening. The Black Album is up there, and it should be, it’s one of the highest selling albums of all time and it’s one of the most influential albums of all time, too. This album defined the 90s. It came out right before nu-metal, grunge, and all of that stuff, and it showed a lot of thrash bands that they can branch out and make different kinds of rock / metal, versus sticking to the same formula. If you’re new to Metallica, especially thanks to Stranger Things and you want something a bit catchier to sink your teeth into, this is the perfect album. Metallica’s always been good with hooks, which is another reason why I don’t really understand why fans whine about them “selling out” here, because a lot of their earlier songs are just as catchy. I mean, everything off Kill ‘Em All, is catchy and accessible, it’s just more of a speed metal record, so the riffs are razor sharp, but this record is chock full of them. The album pulls you in with “Enter Sandman,” and it doesn’t let go until the album’s done after “The Struggle Within.” It’s one of those records that won’t leave your mind, ultimately begging you to play it again and again.

[auspicious-voice]

Fuwa Maria AI & Fuwa Mario AI for DiffSinger Progress Report (April 2024)

It's been (almost) a month since my last progress report, but since it's April, I thought it wouldn't hurt to update with a new one. Plus, I got some big news to share!

Everything else is under the cut as usual.

Voicebank Progress

Both of Maria and Mario's DiffSinger voicebanks have been trained up to 200k variance and 160k acoustic! At that point, both voicebanks sound their very best, at least in version 1.0.0. Regardless, I'm still happy with the way they turned out, and at least they sound distinct from each other.

The reason why I say version 1.0.0 is because I have a potential version 2.0.0 update in the works. The thing is, version 1.0.0 will be the last time my old recording setup was used to record singing data. I say this because my current microphone, the Blue Snowball iCE, is just not cutting it for my needs these days, especially when it comes to singing in general. I don't really know when version 2.0.0 will come out, but maybe next year or so - IF I can get my hands on new equipment. Please expect version 1.0.0 to come out later this year, probably during June or something like that.

In the meantime, once I finish the artwork of my DiffSinger designs, I will post silhouettes of them along with new short demos. If that ReFlow update for DiffSinger comes out after I release my voicebanks, there COULD be a 1.1.0 update.

Possible Audio Equipment Upgrades

So for audio equipment, I'd like to upgrade to using an XLR microphone and interface for recording. I'm glad there are cheaper options out there that are actually good, plus I am on a budget myself, and would like to spend under $200 for that.

I am still using my pop filter, desktop stand, and isolation shield from my old setup, so with that being said, I'd like to upgrade to a Mackie EM-91C microphone and an M-Audio M-Track Solo audio interface. Both of these are budget options, but based on the reviews, I've heard that they are solid choices for starting out with an XLR setup. Plus the Mackie EM-91C already comes with a shockmount AND an XLR cable!

Potential Megamodel Development

I am considering developing a megamodel with my friends to add more language compatibility and range with the 2.0.0 update - that is, if everything goes to plan. I plan to add Maria and Mario's potential new datasets to the mix of course, as well as my friends if they're fine with that. It could be just plain singing data or even UTAU recordings - anything helps to further improve the model output.

For language support, Japanese and English are planned, but if possible, there could be support for French, Spanish, Italian, or perhaps even Chinese, Korean, and/or Tagalog. I still need to figure out the phonemes and how I want to organize them though.

I just hope that when the megamodel dataset is complete, Colab will still be merciful to me...I'm not sure why it takes longer to set everything up...

Character Progress

Designs

I just finished working on Maria and Mario's reference sheets for their DiffSinger designs! Currently focused on finishing their fullbody artwork, which won't be revealed up until their voicebank release.

And no, I don't want to work on additional append designs, that's already too much work...It'd make sense for standalone appends, which is what I did for my other UTAU voicebanks, but for DiffSinger...naaaaah.

Profiles

Nothing new at the moment! I'm still working on fleshing out the lore, given that DiffSinger Maria and Mario are just slightly older versions of their UTAU selves. Expect some lore drops about them when their voicebanks are released? I don't really want to make separate profile pages for them at all.

Anything Else?

For the potential 2.0.0 update, I would love to revive a discontinued UTAU of mine and resurrect them as a DiffSinger through the planned megamodel with a serviceable amount of singing data and vocal modes. If I can do the voice again, I might go forward with it!

Also Maria and Mario's 9th anniversary was on the 4th, and it's wild how they've existed for so long. Listening to their old voicebanks reminds me of how far they've come, and it makes me want to tear up a bit.

Anyways, I'll see you guys around! I might be able to publish full-length demos of Maria and Mario's DiffSinger voicebanks on YouTube at some point, so keep an eye out for that.

[music-my-beloved]

With The Beatles: A 16yo's (horrible) album review pt.2 !!

It Won't Be Long 🚆: Erm, the guitar is just *mwah* chef's kiss it really carries the song, she's the backbone. She's like, duh do do duh do and it's so cute. The background vocals are eating so good !! This song I think was the most prominent to me because I remember it from Across the Universe (incredible movie btw) . Really love this song, she's like a sister to me.

All I've Gotta Do !: Honestly would have done numbers in the 2010s because I feel like it has really good "call and response" potential !! Like, uh that one song,,,, I can't remember uhh oh Ain't No Mountain High Enough . I know I keep saying this but this song IS cute ! Also so far I've noticed they're utilizing back up vocals more which is much appreciated, I hope I hear it in the rest of the tracks on this album.

All My Loving 💗: Yay! More background vocals !! I go feral for them. The guitar is also SO good. If It Won't Be Long is a sister to me this song is my brother. Heard this one a lot growing up as well. Background vocals are heavenly the little , "ooooooos" in the background are so dreamy !!

Don't Bother Me 😔: okay first initial listen it reminded me of when my I would lose my mom in the store 😭😭 my forever "lost mom in the store" anthem !! Uhm, didn't quite jive with the rhythm but that's alright !! But it is a good song!! The dude's a little bit too dependent on that lady maybe her leaving was a good thing ??? idk I'm only guessing 😭

Little Child 🚸: uhm, I'm scared. girl they're gonna catch a case !! If a grown men in their 20s sang this to me I'd be like ,"Oh okay I'm gonna groove with y'all 'cause the beat is funky but the lyrics are concerning so idk might wanna work on that"

Till There Was You 🫵: oh. em. gee. La Vie En Rose who???? Girl this song is swoonworthy !! If a guy was like, "I used to never hear the birds singing before I met you, now that's all I hear" I'd cry OMG 😭😭 also it's just paul singing and like, omg it's so simple but it's simplicity totally makes it amazing !! It feels more personal that way !!! EDIT: OMG IM INJECTING THIS IN MY BLOODSTREAM!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's so amazingly awesome oh em gee I'm actually addicted it's not funny ! Oh my god I'm gonna explode!! Dopamine is real and I'm experiencing the effects, the world beautiful again !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please Mister Postman ✉️: this is a pretty good cover. Background vocals are once again in the spotlight they're just too good. The iconic beatles sound really starts to take shape in this album I've noticed !! Ringo did a good job on drums too !! Total rock and roll vibe. I was gonna compare it to another band it felt weird because it's like saying the parent sounds like the child and like no wdym the kid sounds like the parent !! I forget how much The Beatles really pioneered music !!!

Roll Over Beethoven 🎹: whaaaaa. man this track was a doozy ! They're cocky and it's workin'. Totally can see enthusiastic young couples totally jammin' to this it's so great ! Really loved the energy !!! Also that guitar solo is the beginning was AMAZEBALLS

Hold Me Tight 🥺: Whoa. This song is my second sister. This track was THE song at the beginning of my Beatles beginning when I was but a wee little girl lolll it's just so addictive. Makes me bop my head and smile everytime I hear it. The endorphins swarmed this one guys sorry 😔

You Really Got A Hold On Me 💕: Contradictions left and right !! Rhythm was a gentle little ebb and flow that was kinda refreshing to hear !! Liked the song.

I Wanna Be Your Man ♂️: whoa. Straightforward!! Some girls might like that in a man but uhm, idk the chanting of "I wanna be your man, I wanna be your lover" with the stark black and white of their faces on the album cover got me scared 😭😭 idk it was nightmare fuel I felt like someone was watching me. Uh but overall it was a high energy song maybe a bit too high energy for me 'cause I'm tired while writing this review but it wasn't really my preferred choice in music but I totally see me liking it like, a month from now !!

Devil In Her Heart ❤️: Maracas ?? 🤨whaarrrrr but uhm this one just felt like another song honestly. As I'm writing this review it's like, my 10th listen in the span of 3 days she's just not clicking 😭😭

Not A Second Time ⏰: Honestly the first few listens she felt bland like unseasoned chicken but now that I'm really listening it's got a simple little jive to her and I'm here for it !! It's got these vocal runs that I don't think I've heard before it's so unique!! Overall really liked her.

Money 💰: uh pink floyd who ???? But seriously this song rocks. Not the catchiest but it's true, she's REAL. I need MONEY

More album reviews on the way, next up: A Hard Days Night...

[avtracker]

monday, april 1, 2024

8:16a forgot to record when i woke up and stuff. i got to school around 30 mins ago. currently sitting in the library of my uni. i released Democracy is Magic this morning, me and my friend’s abridged, and so far it’s been getting good reviews from the two people i sent it to that have seen it lol. em saw it in a private screening, and she liked it. she told me later that she has quotes stuck in her head, lol. i actually forgot today was aprils fools day lmao, to me it was just release day.

i forgot my airpods at home :( and it’s still 1:50 until my first and only class. brutal. then i drive to work lol

there’s hw due in my deductive logic course at the beginning of class. i’ll hammer it out at around 9a i think

oh! there was very little traffic on the road to school today. also, this morning i stopped at an exxon and there were like 6 old men inside and all their heads turned when i walked through the door lol. split dye hair-having alt peeps be like: (the aforementioned)

i actually feel weirdly invigorated this morning lmao

8:27a OMG MARY JUST GOT BACK TO ME ON DiM!!! SHE LOVED IT :DDD DiM getting glowing reviews frrrr WE’RE ALMOST AT 5 GOD REVOIWS!!1

ALSO GHOST ENERGY ORANGE DREAM IS DELISH

9:50a okay thea and i have been texting and we know what we’re gonna do for the plot of DiM so i’m skipping class to work on it before i have actual work LMFAO

9:28p very eventful day. work was aight, nothing to report, but thea had work so we couldn’t talk more about our DiM plans, but they’re crazy! and also i’m trying celtx, seems nice!! i like that one project can have many episodes. will work great for this. i also watched youtube lol, but im really excited for the future of DiM

11:22p i decided that i wanna watch youtube videos on the account i plan to post from, you know like a normal person. so i set that up and lemme just say: breaking in the perfect youtube algorithm again is gonna be hard lol. also im feeling a bit dull rn but i wanna be creative and write something. maybe some DiM but i kinda wanna write a solo thing. perhaps this one short film/video idea i thought of earlier? that i wrote down? schmerhaps…

- 11:24pm

[tobotgaming]

season 4 episode 20

Alright i need someone to make dilluk x majeeko smu

Solid plan because they are going against majeeko and dilluk 

*solid plan because its tobot

Just realized something

Jump em

Ok so i'd imagine that the hounds would chase after them even when zapped by terracle 

Oh they just can’t go uphill 

JESUS CHRIST THEY ALMOST KILLED HIM

Since when did tower know how to design robots

I'm going to ignore the mukbang plot

Z could do godspeed

JESUS THE FUCKING CHAIR DISINTAGRATED This lady solos 

ANOTHER HISTORICAL MOMENT TO MAKE FUN OF YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE

Zaddy ♥️♥️♥️

Doing the adventure X thing where i won’t review the tobot until the transformation is made

JESUS HE JUST KILLED DILLUK HOLY FUCK

5/10 LORD WHAT JUST HAPPENED

[abnormalanthology]

CONCERT REVIEW!!

Back in September I went to see Greta Van Fleet. This was actually my second time seeing them because I was so blown away the first time that I just needed to experience that again. I would say that they are pretty widely known, but if you don't know, Greta Van Fleet is a grammy award-winning rock band of brothers Josh, Jake, and Sam Kizka and their friend Danny Wagner that formed in 2012. They initially got recognition for their similarity to Led Zeppelin, especially the lead singer Josh who's voice is practically indistinguishable from Robert Plant's. Under the rock umbrella, they fall mostly under hard rock, blues rock, and psychedelic rock due to their insane virtuosity and reoccurring themes of social justice.

One of the things that I love most about going to Greta Van Fleet concerts is that the atmosphere. The fans are called the "peaceful army" and that couldn't be more true. It feels like everyone there is someone that you could just instantly become friends with. The demographics of the fans is also quite interesting since I find that it's majority young women and middle aged dads. It's a beautiful crossover of generations bonding over the purest joy: great music. Also, Josh Kizka does really good crowd work and makes the show feel very personal. He also has some very funny traditions that he has picked up over touring. One such tradition being starting shows by saying "if you've got 'em smoke 'em" after which the entire venue proceeds to smell very strongly. He also is known to take shots with members of the crowds and wear glittery bell-bottomed jumpsuits, which many of the fans mimic.

Another aspect that keeps me coming back for more is the insane talent of Jake Kizka. Jake is the lead guitarist and a big part of the show is him going on up to ten minute long solos that are absolutely mind blowing. I've included a video of part of one of them, but if you have any experience with concert-going than you know that the videos never fully compare to actually being there in person. He has won numerous awards two of them being "guitar player of the year" and "best guitar solo of the century" by Guitar world and Total Guitar respectively. The way that he flows so effortlessly from one riff to another is magical to experience. He plays with such passion and energy that I'm honestly shocked how his fingers aren't bleeding by the end of the show. This concert made me feel nostalgic for what I imagine going to rock concerts in the 70's would have been like.

Overall, I would give this experience a 9.5/10. The set list focused mainly on their newest album, but included many of the highlights of their previous albums as well. The crowd was energetic but not rowdy, and toned down the noise during solos. The only reason I took off a half a point was because my seats kind of sucked, and I feel like the best way to experience it would be from the pit.