#i have particular mixed feelings on ep 17 most of which i feel that the story is done a bit sloppy i think it started around ep 16 or 15

[koetjingwarrd]

You're my baby, say it to me...

[d-criss-news]

20 Questions With Darren Criss: How Acting Has Helped Him Make New Music

While Darren Criss has graced our TV screens with a range of characters, from high schooler Blaine Anderson on Glee to serial killer Andrew Cunanan on The Assassination of Gianni Versace, he was last spotted just being himself, on our For You Page on TikTok. “I’m walking to rehearsal with a guitar on my back with a Trader Joe’s bag ... I did not bring an umbrella because I forgot that it was raining. I’m rocking that NYC musician life,” the Glee alum explained in the hilarious clip posted three days ago.

While Criss’ acting work has earned him acclaim and stardom, he leaned into making music during the pandemic. On Aug. 20, he dropped a new EP, Masquerade, featuring five new tracks that Criss says were inspired by the different characters Criss has embraced throughout his career. After Criss wrote songs for his musical comedy web series Royalties and Apple TV+’s animated sitcom Central Park before the pandemic struck the United States, he then used those experiences as a precursor to his new EP. As Criss continues to promote his new music, he answered 20 of Billboard's questions – giving us a peek into how his new EP came together, and how growing up in San Fransisco shaped him as an actor, singer and all-around artist.

1. What inspired your latest project, Masquerade?

Although I would have preferred that it come at a far less grim cost, I finally had the time. Before the pandemic, I had written 10 new songs for my show Royalties -- along with an original song for Disney and another for Apple’s Central Park. These were all assignments in which I was writing for a certain scenario and character. Go figure. It was the most music I had ever written in a calendar year. This really emboldened me to rethink how I made my own music— to start putting a focus on “character creation” in my songs, rather than personal reflection. The latter was not proving to be as productive. The alchemy of having this time and having set a new intention with my own songwriting and producing made me put on a few of my favorite masques and throw myself a Masquerade.

2. How do you think your background as an actor complements your music?

They are one and the same to me. I treat acting roles like musical pieces— dialogue is like scoring a melody; there’s pace, dynamics, cadence, tone. Physical characterization is like producing -- zeroing in on the bass line, deciding on the kick pattern. Vocal characterization is like choosing the right sonic experience, choosing the most effective snare sound, and mixing the high end or low end. It goes without saying that it works in the complete opposite direction. Making each song is taking on a different role literally and employing the use of different masques to maximize the effectiveness of the particular story being told.

3. On Instagram  you wrote that “Masquerade is a small collection of the variety of musical masques that have always inspired me.” Which track do you identify with most in your real life?

Everybody absorbs songs differently. Some key into the lyrics, some into the melody, some the production, some into vocal performance. When I listen to songs, I consider all of their value on totally different scales. So it’s hard to say if there’s any track I “identify” with more than any others, since I -- by nature -- identify with all of them. I think I just identify with certain aspects more than others. If it helps for a more interesting answer, I will say I enjoy the slightly more classical, playful -- dare I say -- more Broadway-leaning wordplay of “Walk of Shame,” but that’s just talking about lyricism. I enjoy the attitude of “F*kn Around,” the batsh--t musicality of “I Can’t Dance,” the relentless grooves of “Let’s” and “For A Night Like This.” All have different ingredients I really enjoy having an excuse to dive into.

4. What’s the first piece of music that you bought for yourself, and what was the medium?

Beatles audio cassettes: “Help” and “Hard Day’s Night.” I just listened on repeat on a tape-playing Walkman until my brother and I got a stereo for our room with a CD player in it, which was  when I just bought the same two albums again, but this time as compact discs.

5. What was the first concert you saw?It’s hard to say, because my parents took us to a lot of classical concerts when we were small. But I guess this question usually refers to what was the first concert you went to on your own volition, and that my friend, was definitely Warped Tour ’01. My brother and I went on our own— two teenagers going to their first music festival, in the golden age of that particular genre and culture. It was f--king incredible.

6. What did your parents do for a living when you were a kid?

My dad was in private banking and advised really, really wealthy people on how to handle their money. My mom was, by choice, a stay-at-home mom, but in reality, she was my dad’s consigliere. They discussed absolutely everything together. They were a real team, and I saw that every single day in the house. They both had a background in finance (That’s how they met in the first place.) and were incredibly skilled at all the hardcore adulting things that I absolutely suck at. They were total finance wizards together. So of course, instead of becoming an accountant, I picked up playing the guitar and ran as far I could with it. Luckily, they were all about it.

7. What was your favorite homecooked meal growing up?

My dad was an incredible chef. For special occasions, I’d request his crab cakes. They were unreal. I’ve never had a crab cake anywhere in the world that was good as my dad’s.

8. Who made you realize you could be an artist full-time?

I don’t know if I’ve actually realized that yet.

9. What’s at the top of your professional bucket list?

The specifics change every day, but the core idea at the top is to continue being consistently inconsistent with my choices, and to keep getting audiences to constantly reconsider their consideration of me. But I mean, sure, what performer doesn’t want to play Coachella? What songwriter doesn’t want to have Adele sing one of their songs? What actor doesn’t want to be in a Wes Anderson film?

10.  How did your hometown/city shape who you are?

San Francisco. I mean, come on. I was really lucky. The older I get, the more grateful I am for just being born and raised there. It’s an incredibly diverse, culturally rich, colorful, inclusive, vibrant city. By the time I was born, it had served as a beacon for millions of creative, out-of-the-box thinkers to gather and thrive. I grew up around that. The combination of that with having parents, who were unbelievably supportive of the arts themselves, laid an incredibly fortunate foundation to consider the life of an artist as a legitimately viable option. It’s a foundation that I am supremely aware is not the case for millions of young artists around the world. I was absurdly lucky.

11.  What’s the last song you listened to?

I mean probably one of mine, but not by choice. I know, lame. But I’m promoting a new EP, what’d you expect? But if you wanna know what I’ve been listening to, as far as new s--t is concerned: a lot of Lizzy McAlpine, Remi Wolf, and Charlie Burg.

12.  If you could see any artist in concert, dead or alive, who would it be?

The Beatles is an obvious "yeah, duh." Sammy Davis, Mel Tormé, or of course, Nat King Cole. I would’ve loved to see Howard Ashman give a lecture on his creative process and his body of work.

13. What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen happen in the crowd of one of your sets?

I feel like just having a crowd at all, at any one of my sets, is pretty wild enough.

14. What’s your karaoke go-to?

The real answer to this I’ll write into a book one day, because I have a lot to say about karaoke etiquette. I have two options here: I can either name a song that I like to sing for me, for fun, or I can name a song that really gets the group going. The answer depends on what kind of karaoke night we’re dealing with here. So I will say, after I’ve selected a ton of songs that services a decent enough party vibe for everyone else, then I would do one for me, and that would be the Beatles’ “Oh! Darling.”

15. What’s one thing your most devoted fans don’t know about you?

What I have up my sleeve.

16. What TV show did you binge-watch over the past year?

Dave is a stroke of genius. There are episodes that I believe are bona fide masterpieces. Also, My Brilliant Friend is a masterclass in cinematic television.

17. What movie, or song, always makes you cry?

It’s A Wonderful Life.

18. What’s one piece of advice you would give to your younger self?

Get used to sharing everything about yourself and your life now, or more astutely, to the idea that you don’t necessarily get to control how your life is shared. I know it’s not really your thing, but you’re gonna have to get used to it, so start building up those calluses now. And don’t worry, all the stuff you love now will be cool again in your mid-thirties, so keep some of those clothes because you’ll be a full-blown fashion icon if you just keep wearing exactly what you’re wearing. Oh nd also, put money into Apple and Facebook.

19.  What new hobby did you take on in the last year?

I’ve always been a linguaphile. My idea of leisure time is getting to study or review other languages. This past year, I took the time to finally dive into learning how to read, write, and speak Japanese. Other than making music, it was one of the biggest components of my 2020-2021.

20. What do you hope to accomplish or experience by the end of 2021?

I hope I get to play live shows again.

[incarnateirony]

after jared has now confirmed on that podcast that the last scene of the show will just be sam + dean, i hope everyone can stop speculating about cas being there. he is not. (that of course doesnt mean hes not in the ep at all)

For those who WANT to actually listen, you can see it here (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jared-padalecki-returns/id1256754097)

While I intend to talk on this statement left by the Nonnie there's a few other things to talk about. For those specifically interested in THIS QUOTE, it’s part “Ten” in my notes.

Before I go on, lemme say, I keep saying Misha *isn’t* in the final *shot.* I can also say *ten thousand times* that “the final shot” is NOT THE SAME THING AS THE “FINAL SCENE.” I don’t know how many times I have to beat this into people’s heads. The “Final scene” may not even BE the final shot because for all you know, the last final scene is something like around scene 50 and the last 10 shots are some Swan Song montage with a dialogue. Scenes are also composed of *multiple shots* on the regular, and *very rarely* shot in order. So actually, it depends on what you even consider a ~scene~ but a shot and a scene are not the same thing. No matter how many times people choose to misunderstand this, this will continue to be true. 

As it is, the board already going up to 47 was high. Not unheard of, but high. I absolutely do not think anybody should be surprised if that’s actually closer to the last 5 minutes of the episode and the next 10+ shots are literal full blown montage. Because once again, and I can not emphasize this enough, they are not teleporting to a bridge at the end of the fucking show. I repeat, they are not, in the last 20-40 seconds, teleporting to a bridge at the end of the fucking show. And they weren’t on that location any other day. 

But I also know this fandom takes anything that’s in shorthand and blows it up into the worst case extremization, so I’m actually going to address this and even tag @curioussubjects and @winchestersingerautorepair and point out that Jared talks about “the last time Sam and Dean see each other” -- so enjoy that. See you on the other side, brother.

Okay so first, as a general note related to everything, that particular podcast is a mess. There is literally 17 minutes of nothing related to Jared at the start. It's a mix of sadness about how he knew a relative was dying, sadness, people's sad facebook messages which I get, losing someone is sad--but then a bunch of nonsense about ads and swag and sponsors. Like to anyone preparing to actually listen, you can skip to about 17 minutes in.

One: Confirmed they started quarantining (J2 at least) on Aug 2. 14 days gave them a few days before filming. But they refused to break quarantine even to walk the dogs to not reset the quarantine period. (This is one of the first things they talk about after the barrage of ads and other things)

Two: Jared has some great insight on how and why to let a dog go. He jumped it a little sooner than I would I think, but he talks about knowing when they're in pain or suffering. He gave assistance to her bad hips and other things through late life but saw when the spark left her and she wanted to go. Someone will probably try to problematize this but as someone that witnessed someone refusing to put down their dog while she spent half of her day having seizures and shitting herself, huffing, being terrified and unable to move, that was impressive. (This starts somewhere around 22 and goes to about 31:30, it's about a ten minute segment.)

Three: after this they actually go into the show, it also lets us know that the podcast is *recorded early on in filming*. It's talking about the first few days he left for filming. This wasn't just-now recorded. This is a few weeks old, like most Inside of You podcasts are.

Four: Jared ignores social media a lot, he confirms.

Five: He goes on having to talk about saying goodbye to a 15 year friend, never having gone more than 5 months without playing Sam, the process of being in the moment. It boils down to staying distanced from social media and your phone to be in the internet, which can actually add to feeling alone. (This may not be true for everyone, but I can definitely see why it feels so for Jared--he admits it's somewhat escapism.) Rosenbaum debates what counts as connection, but Rosenbaum also doesn't deal with a bajillion shitty comments from all his fandom lanes. He uses the podcast as an example, which is entirely different than Jared talking about ignoring twitter or instagram.

(Commercial break at 39 for a counseling/therapy service, runs to about 41 then one for a toothbrush rofl goes to about 43:15, so basically a 4 minute commercial break)

Six: Jared talks about his clinical anxiety impact on the final shooting and everything and why it was so important to have his dog with him during quarantine. He started terrified about it but got 4-5 days in and realized it was great. The wife and kids even considered going with him but he said it was okay and declined. After 45 he goes on complimenting his wife and the work she does at home.

Seven: He goes back to March 12 being the last day of filming back before covid and everyone had to run home on Friday the 13th of March LOL. So Supernatural got cursed on Friday the 13th. Rolling back to everything Gen has to do with the kids and the routine, goes back to talking about her. Talks about being the New Toy from dad being home so much. But then back to August first day of shot as an outdoor shoot. How early it was. So 21pt1 was an outdoor shoot. They continue to go on and on about how hard having kids is, if rewarding, until after 50 minutes. This converts into a conversation with his psychiatrist about his kids, his mom's birthday during social distancing, and all kinds of other commentary. Difference of psychologist vs psychiatrist. Loves sugar cuz he couldn't have it as a kid, etc.

Eight: This bit carries them all the way out past the hour mark. Just before the hour is where the "pain" section from the promo comes from. It turns into mortality and fear of death. Turns into stuff like natural childbirth. So from an hour to 1:03:00 it goes on, then it turns into another ad break that goes to about 1:07:15

Nine: How emotional the ending is, reading the script every day, remembering places start after the 1:07:15 commercial end. First week they shot up the old highway for example. Jared saying goodbye to locations he knows. Very bittersweet. There are no pickup shots because of covid.

Ten: The final scheduled moment, what you're talking about, and Jared tried very very VERY difficultly. (1:08:30 or so) -- he struggles and says "The last time Sam and Dean see each other is the last time Jared and Jensen see each other, if that makes any sense." He refused to say what the last scene was. It will be the last filming camera moments together. Which unto itself uh, hi, yes, welcome to every speculation I ever had, see you on the other side brother. Because it's the last time they see each other.

Eleven: After a bit about being emotional, they talk about Jared’s arrest, the trolling about orange jumpsuits from the crew, and asking what happened. Jared doesn’t even entirely know what happened, says it’s not an excuse, but the cliff’s notes are he was filming in Van, then he flew to Austin, he had a double date with Gen and two friends, he went to his friend’s bar (we alllll know Stereotype), they split some wine, a cocktail, hadn’t eaten, hadn’t slept, bachelorette parties and show fans bought him drinks, he doesn’t know what even happened, he thinks he was blacked out, got pulled down by his hair and thought he was in a fight. He hasn’t had a drink since, he was like absolutely fucking nope. He literally wonders if he was drugged in the drinks he took from other people, but either way, he’s completely stopped drinking. It goes into them settling and actually the people thinking he was drugged, which is why the legal followthrough was light.  This goes out to almost 1:20:00.

Twelve: Around then he goes on about Walker’s pickup period, how and when shooting normally works, and it’s all kinda in the air because of Walker, shortseasons because of covid etc. 

Final question blast:

Supernatural movie?: Jared hopes so

Channel chuck norris?: Make Walker his own, has nothing to do with Chuck’s walker even if he grew up watching it in texas, new character, new story, new era.

Paranormal experiences of his own?: He has seen some things, experienced some things he can’t explain, but as far as specifically, “definitively no but possibly yes.”

Talked with Chuck Norris at all?: Not talked to him directly, their “people” have talked, had to give his blessing though because Chuck Norris co-owned the rights. Part of the EP group and ownership.

If you had a chance, what superhero would you play: He’s heard Nighthawk from fans, he kinda sits there quietly thinking and has a hard time. Screentested for the Superman McG movie in 2004 but didn’t get it.

The car wasn’t in either of their contracts. Jared actually goes on that despite images Jared’s actually the car guy more than Jensen. It wasn’t in either of their contracts but they kinda just knew it was gonna happen. He goes on about his favorite cars, his car books and parts books since he was a kid, etc.

-----------

Following through on this, I HAVE to keep saying. 47/A47 is, I would bet 5 dollars on it right here and anyone that wants to bet against it can leave a comment in the notes so I know who owes who money, Sam and Dean having their final talk already post major resolutions with a few more ends to tie up, saying their pre-goodbyes, and shot 60 is Sam and Dean’s final shot of going separate ways, with Sam on one side and Dean on the other. 

[dustedmagazine]

Dust, Volume 6, Number 11

HAAi

As it was with September, so it is with October. After what felt like the dam breaking on all those albums optimistically held back by the pandemic, October continued to rain down releases and there was no shortage of them to cover. As ever, if diversity’s your thing, we have it: From pimp-rap to free jazz, death-metal to AM gold, jungle to Azerbaijani guitar jams, we got it all for you to peruse. Contributions this go ‘round come care of Ray Garraty, Ian Mathers, Bill Meyer, Jonathan Shaw, Andrew Forell, Tim Clarke, Justin Cober-Lake, Patrick Masterson and MIchael Rosenstein.

AllBlack — No Shame 3 (Play Runners Association/Empire)

Just when we thought that pimp-rap was going out of business, AllBlack blessed us with No Shame 3. It is a lot of what it claims: playfulness with no shame, ignorant beefs, endless balling during California nights and showing off in earnest. AllBlack alludes to the fact that even though he’s getting that rap check, he’s far from quitting the pimp game: “Made 40K in eight days, that was just off pimpin'.” But behind this happy façade is something darker that’s looming on: “As I got older, I ain't scared, I guess I'm cool with death / You speak the truth and they gon' knock you down like Malcolm X.” While admitting that rap is a cutthroat game, AllBlack is only one of the few artists of a younger generation who is ready to pay respects in his songs to the OGs — the godfathers of pimp-rap, to Willie D, Dru Down and Too $hort. The standout track here is “Pizza Rolls,” where DaBoii and Cash Kidd drop in to deliver the funniest lines. 

Ray Garraty

Bardo Pond — Adrop/Circuit VIII (Three Lobed Recordings)

Adrop / Circuit VIII by Bardo Pond

There are plenty of reasons to do small, limited runs of certain releases, in music as in other artistic fields, ranging from the brutally practical/logistical to the aesthetic, but when the material released in that fashion is good enough, it can be a relief to see it given further life (and not just digitally). This year saw the mighty Three Lobed Recordings (who we featured in an anniversary Listed here) has seen fit to reissue on vinyl two Bardo Pond LP-length pieces that were originally issued in limited run series back in 2006 and 2008. They were in good (and varied) company then, but resonate together in a pretty special way, whether it’s the tripartite Adrop wandering from gnarled, crepuscular grind to violin-powered epiphany or back down to delicate nocturnal acoustics. The longer Circuit VIII doesn’t have as distinct phases but still builds to an all-time Bardo Pond-style crescendo, featuring Isabel Sollenberger’s only vocals of the duo. Even with a band and label this consistently on point, these particular recordings are worth the wider dissemination, whether considered as archival releases or just a hell of a double album.

Ian Mathers

John Butcher & Rhodri Davies — Japanese Duets (Weight of Wax)

Japanese Duets by John Butcher & Rhodri Davies

There’s a bittersweetness about Japanese Duets that’s as pungent as the puckered, perfectly placed reports that English saxophonist John Butcher sometimes punches out of his horns. This is the third in an ongoing series of download-only releases that Butcher, idled by COVID-19, has culled from his archive, The Memory of Live Music, and the unbearable lightness of its format, only accentuates the sense of lost opportunities and experiences. One of the things that a touring musician gains in exchange for their embrace of uncertainty is the chance to go to some unlikely place and undergo something extraordinary. The four-page PDF that comes with this download reproduces photos from Butcher and Welsh harpist Rhodri Davies’ 2004 tour of Japan, which took in swanky museums and shoebox-sized jazz cafes; each image looks like a moment worth living. But if all you can do is hear the evidence, that’s not exactly settling. This improvising duo was audibly on a roll, pushing reeds and strings to sound quite unlike their usual selves, and challenging each other to move beyond logic to the rightness of jointly made and imagined moments. Thanks, guys, for sharing the memories. 

Bill Meyer

Ceremonial Bloodbath — The Tides of Blood (Sentient Ruin Laboratories)

The Tides of Blood by Ceremonial Bloodbath

Yikes — talk about truth in advertising. Canadian death-metal band Ceremonial Bloodbath delivers the goods promised by their moniker and this new LP’s title. It’s a repellent record created by dudes that play in a bunch of other death-metal bands based in British Columbia: Grave Infestation, Encoffinate (not Encoffination), Nightfucker and numerous others that tunnel even further under the broader public’s attention. Give these guys credit for their single-mindedness: None of those bands is likely to make you feel any happier about the human condition. Neither will listening to The Tides of Blood, but it’s a better record than any that those other acts have released. The songs are low-tech, dissonant and about as subtle as a bulldozer’s blade knocking through your front door. In other words, the record is largely in line with what we’ve come to expect from the death-metal recently dug up by Sentient Ruin Laboratories, and for a certain kind of listener, that’s a good thing. Check out “The Throat of Belial,” which comes on hard and fast, then downshifts into second gear and unleashes a tangled, coruscating sort-of-guitar-solo. The mechanical chug reasserts itself, then speeds up again, unleashing steam and the smell of something… organic. The song has a ruthless momentum, as does the rest of the record. Pretty good Halloween music if you want to scare all the trick-or-treaters off your lawn.

Jonathan Shaw

Cut Worms – Nobody Lives Here Anymore (Jagjaguwar)

Max Clarke evokes a wistful nostalgia for an America that existed perhaps only in the mind, the warm campfire glow of an era personified by The Everly Brothers’ harmonies, the twanging guitars of country rock and 1970s singer songwriters. On his new album as Cut Worms, Clarke literally doubles down on his musical project. Nobody Lives Here Anymore comes in at 17 songs that, while individually fine enough, meld into one another and gradually fade from the memory as the album unwinds. Clarke never quite transcends his influences and is not a strong enough lyricist to engage at this length. The effect is similar to that of The Traveling Wilburys where the whole is lesser than the sum of its parts. That said, Clarke is engaging company with a voice that splits the difference between the aforementioned siblings, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty. He has an ear for a melody and skillfully recreates an AM radio sound that trips the memory for anyone who grew up with this music either as inescapable background of their lives or soundtrack for their teen dreams and heartaches. 

Andrew Forell

Dead End America — Crush the Machine (Southern Lord)

Crush the Machine by Dead End America

This new EP by Dead End America (DEA — see what they did there?) comprises four short, piledriving hardcore songs, all directly addressed to the current occupant of the Oval Office. “Bullet for 45 (Straight From a .45)” neatly captures the EP’s essential sentiments, and also suggests the general level of restraint exercised by the whole enterprise. Hint: Restraint and nuance are not Dead End America’s strong suits. That’s not surprising, given the folks involved. The band and record were conceived by Steve “Thee Hippy Slayer” Hanford, late of Poison Idea, and of this world. It’s pretty wonderful that this is some of the last music Hanford produced — pissed off and irreverent to the very end. Additional contributors include Nick “Rex Everything” Oliveri (the Dwarves), Mike IX Williams (Eyehategod), Blaine Cook (the Fartz) and Tony Avila (World of Lies). Sort of remarkable that a record including players from all those legendarily vile, venomous bands doesn’t just spontaneously self-combust; maybe it helps that they focus their collective rage on such a deserving target. RIP Steve Hanford. The wrong people are dying.

Jonathan Shaw

Chloe Alison Escott — Stars Under Contract (Chapter Music)

Stars Under Contract by Chloe Alison Escott

Chloe Alison Escott is the frontwoman of Tasmanian post-punk duo The Native Cats, and her pre-transition solo album, The Long O, released on Bedroom Suck back in 2014, received justified plaudits upon its release. (It remains a low-key favorite of mine.) New solo piano-and-vocals album Stars Under Contract was all recorded in one day by Evelyn Ida Morris (Pikelet), which lends these performances an on-the-fly liveliness. For the most part, it’s rollicking fun, with some wryly funny lyrics that betray Escott’s sideline in standup comedy. This performative confidence comes through in early highlight “There’s Money in the Basement,” which has the jaunty barroom bounce of “Benny and the Jets.” Later, Escott reaches for the heavens on single “Back Behind the Eyes Again,” with a truly heartbreaking piano progression. Though the 16 tracks are wisely interspersed with short instrumentals such as “What Are You Reaching For,” “Evening, Sunshine” and “Playfair,” 43 minutes is a lot of piano-and-vocals songs to get through in a single sitting. On closing track “Permanent Thief,” there’s a tantalizing flash of drum machine and bass, which could be a nod there’s another Native Cats album on the way soon. 

Tim Clarke

Eiko Ishibashi — Mugen no Juunin - Immortal - Original Soundtrack (King)

If you sit up nights fretting about how Eiko Ishibashi and her partner, Jim O’Rourke, pay the bills, this music may be your melatonin for your worried mind. Immortal is the soundtrack for Blade of the Immortal, an anime adaption of a popular manga that’s been picked up by Amazon Prime. Ishibashi composed and played the music with contributions from Tetuzi Akiyama, joe Talia, Atsuko Hatano, and O’Rourke, who also mixed the music. Ishibashi’s music echoes the affect-stirring melodies of her song-oriented material and the careful sound placement of her recent electro-acoustic work for Black Truffle; when the swirl of keyboard tones looms over her piano on “Animal,” there’s no mistaking it for anyone else’s work. But this is still made for a mass market, with unabashed classical music lifts and big, booming electronic percussion that would make a multiplex’s walls throb if you gave it a chance. There’s no physical release or Bandcamp option, so if you want to check this out, Apple Music and iTunes are your options. 

Bill Meyer

Ela Minus — Acts of Rebellion (Domino)

Colombian musician Gabriela Jimeno’s debut album as Ela Minus is a collection of original tracks that merge songcraft and club sounds into an assured mix of electronica on which she plays all the instruments and sings in both Spanish and English. After spending her teenage years drumming for hardcore band Ratón Pérez, Jimeno studied jazz drums as well as the design and construction of synthesizers, and she eschews the use of computers to create her music. She brings a DIY spirit to her work combined with meticulous production style that gives acts of rebellion the experimental edge of early 1980s independent synthpop. The highlight "Megapunk” is musically close in spirit to Cabaret Voltaire, its defiant lyrics — “There’s No Way Out But to Fight” — tying freedom of expression to wider human progress. A textured and nuanced album, Ela Minus joins an ever-growing group of South American producers to tune into.

Andrew Forell

Erik Friedlander — Sentinel (Skipstone)

Sentinel by Erik Friedlander

Cellist Erik Friedlander seems to pop up in the oddest places, playing now with the Mountain Goats, then with Dave Douglas, and finding a little time for film scoring on the side. It's reasonable that for new album Sentinel, he'd connect with a couple of other artists — guitarist Ava Mendoza and percussionist Diego Espinosa — equally comfortable with finding unexpected sounds in a variety of styles. The group, given their background, sounds their best when they're blending genres. “Flash” starts off as new jazz, turns into rock for a moment, then some strange cello lead pushes it into alien territory. At the edges of the trio's work, heavy rock often feels about to break out, but the group refrains from ever indulging that impulse. “Feeling You” even provides some light, pretty pop, allowing the band to show its full breadth.

Friedlander's compositions provide the basis for the album, but Sentinel never feels like just his album. The band, assembled for what sounds like a hurried set of takes, found their partnership quickly, turning the pieces into fluid performances. “Bristle Cone” lets all three members shine and functions like a microcosm of the disc as a whole: As soon as you think it's a guitar album, you start paying attention to the percussive elements; as soon as you remember it's experimental cello work, you're back to guitar rock. The trio's engagement with the music and with each other comes through, the playful innovation guiding each piece into a multifaceted whole.

Justin Cober-Lake

HAAi — Put Your Head Above the Parakeets EP (Mute) 

Put Your Head Above The Parakeets by HAAi

Though it was Teneil Throssell’s mixes that initially made her name as HAAi (and remain strong even amid the pandemic, her latest for XLR8R another beauty), her own productions are a wonder unto themselves that demand repeat listens even as they come a trickling single or carefully cultivated EP at a time. The Karratha, Australia native, Coconut Beats hostess and Rinse and Worldwide FM veteran’s latest is the delightfully titled Keep Your Head Above the Parakeets EP, pure headphones music meant for sunrises, sunsets, walks in deep snow, rain-swept moors, you name it. Her talent is in balancing airy synth melodies with ever-shifting percussion influenced primarily by jungle, breaks and (ultimately) house; when people talk about psychedelic dance music, this is something like what I always hope to hear. Another unmissable missive.

Patrick Masterson

Hübsch, Martel, Zoubek — Ize (Insub)

Ize by HÜBSCH, MARTEL, ZOUBEK

Decades have passed since Derek Bailey wrote his book, Improvisation. At that time, it was already clear that the intentionally non-idiomatic music he pioneered and practiced was a subset of the more universal matter of improvising as a necessary aspect of playing music. It was also becoming clear that non-idiomatic improvisation’s aspirations and proscriptions amounted to a new but quite identifiable idiom, and this Swiss trio is okay with that. If you told Carl Ludwig Hübsch (tuba, objects),Pierre-Yves Martel (viola da gamba harmonica, pitch pipes) and Philip Zoubek (piano, synthesizer) that the music on Ize sounds a bit like the British ensemble AMM’s, they’d likely nod and thank you for noticing. They’re not trying to make a new kind of music, they’re trying to be good at a kind of music that they love, and on those terms, they succeed. Aside from the occasional Feldman-esque piano phrase, they mostly trade in layers of tone and texture, operating in complementary parallel to one another, taking the listener through states of meditative stillness and slow-motion vertigo. 

Bill Meyer

J Majik — Your Sound - Photek & Digital V​.​I​.​P 12” (Infrared) 

J Majik - Your Sound - Photek & Digital V.I.P by J Majik / Photek / Digital

Released on the same day as the “This Sound” single that allegedly was refashioned from “unfinished jungle project from the vaults,” “Your Sound” was further proof that UK drum n’ bass vet Jamie Spratling bka J Majik still has plenty of material from the golden era to get out into the world. The original is a certified mid-’90s Metalheadz classic, but Photek and Digital’s reworking on the a-side “originally only destined for the dubplate boxes of the ultra-elite” has been floating in the ether for years as an alternative; its light Amen sequences and booming bass will have you yearning for every closed club you can’t attend. J Majik’s remix of his own tune on the flip was originally the b-side to a 1997 Goldie VIP edit, so having a more readily available remaster here does it a world of good. One for the headz, obviously.

Patrick Masterson

KTL — VII (Editions Mego)

VII by KTL

Most of KTL’s recordings have been seeded by theater and film soundtrack commissions. But when Stephen O’Malley (Sunn 0))), Khanate) and Peter Rehberg (Pita, Fenn O’Berg) found themselves in Berlin this past March with more time on their hands than they expected, they booked themselves into Mouse On Mars’ MOM Paraverse Studio sans portfolio and set to work. The first track, “The Director,” seems to acknowledge the situation by introducing the Shephard-Risset glissando, a repeated scale that sounds like it is endlessly ascending or descending. The titular figure never arrives, but while you’re waiting, fat looped electronics impart the experience of going somewhere while leaving you exactly where you’re at. The director isn’t the only value missing from this equation; O’Malley’s default sonic signature, a massive metallic wall of sound, has been softened to a close-shaving buzz that rattles and circles around within Rehberg’s synthetic/sonic biodome. That’s right, while you’ve been baking bread and putting on that COVID-15, KTL has actually lost weight! 

Bill Meyer

Lisa Cay Miller/Vicky Mettler/Raphaël Foisy-Couture — Grind Halts (Notice Recordings)

Grind Halts by Lisa Cay Miller/Vicky Mettler/Raphaël Foisy-Couture

Montreal-based guitarist Vicky Mettler, bassist Raphaël Foisy-Couture and Vancouver-based pianist Lisa Cay Miller are all new names to me. For their trio collaboration on Notice Recordings, the three work their way through a set of eight free improvisations that range from one and a half minutes to eight minutes long. The combination of piano, guitar and upright bass is striking from the start: Miller slips seamlessly between the keyboard and inside-string preparations, mostly eschewing readily identifiable sonorities of her instrument. Mettler’s resonant, brittle electric guitar is the perfect foil to Miller’s piano and one often has a hard time teasing apart where inside piano strings end and guitar strings begin. Add to that Foisy-Couture’s dark low-end bass, which he attacks with groaning scrapes, shuddering arco and assorted string treatments. The three engage in active improvisations, plying their respective instruments into a collective whole while steering clear of garrulous interaction. The fourth piece, “Lower” is as close to trio exchanges as things get, opening up the ensemble sound to allow shredded guitar textures, resounding piano chords and scabrous bass abrasions to accrue into pulsating timbral layers. A piece like “As It Spins” is more about process, adding in the rumble and clatter of assorted percussive detritus, used on their own and to activate the strings of the instruments, which jangle with resultant shimmering overtones. The pieces often segue one into the other, creating an enveloping sound-space throughout. Based on this one, I look forward to hearing more from each of the participants.

Michael Rosenstein

Mint Field — Sentimiento Mundial (Felte)

Sentimiento Mundial by Mint Field

Mexico City-based duo Estrella del Sol Sánchez (voice, guitar) and Sebastian Neyra (bass) enlist drummer Callum Brown to expand the range of their dreamily psychedelic shoegaze on Mint Field’s second album Sentimiento Mundial. Sánchez has the breathy cadence of Rachel Goswell and moves easily between an almost folky introspection in her guitar playing to squalling walls of sound underpinned by Brown’s often motorik drums on tracks like “Contingenicia” and “No te caigas.” The bulk of the album is more reflective, Sánchez’ Spanish vocals close to your ear as she concentrates on atmosphere and dynamics. The result is a dreamscape that lulls, then hits with febrile bursts of restless dread, an impressive collection that fans of 4AD in particular should recognize and embrace. 

Andrew Forell

Takuji Naka/Tim Olive — Minouragatake (Notice Recordings)

Minouragatake by Takuji Naka/Tim Olive

Minouragatake (a mountain outside of Kyoto, Japan) is the fourth recording by Takuji Naka and Tim Olive, a duo that has played together for close to a decade now, melding together music of slowly evolving rich timbral abstraction. Each are consummate collaborators and for this session, they make their way across the seven untitled tracks with steadfast focus to the nuanced details of their respective sound sources. Naka utilizes “long loops of sagging/distressed cassette tape winding into and out of similarly distressed portable tape players, with real-time analog processing.” Olive uses his regular array of magnetic pickups and low-tech analog electronics, drawing out volatile hums and changeable striations that coalesce with his partner’s slowly devolving layers of sound. These pieces are imbued with unflappable deliberation, each sound integrated into the cohesive, gradually unfolding improvisations. Each of the pieces sound as if one is tuning in mid-stream and end with a sense that they could continue on indefinitely. Rather than adhering to any formal developmental arcs, the two patiently sit within unfurling sonic worlds as layers ebb and flow. Naka’s degraded tapes lend an aura of catching wafts from some distant celestial emission which Olive subtly shades and colors with hisses, whispered mutable fuzzed gradations and aural grit. Snatches of scumbled lyricism morph into static-laden swirls; washes of flaked and tattered textures disperse into shuddering thrums. Naka doesn’t record much so it’s good to hear another project from him. Olive has been on a particular roll as of late and this one is a laudable addition to his discography.

Michael Rosenstein

Okuden Quartet — Every Dog Has Its Day But It Doesn’t Matter Because Fat Cat Is Getting Fatter (ESP-Disk)

Every Dog Has Its Day But It Doesn't Matter Because Fat Cat Is Getting Fatter by Okuden Quartet: Mat Walerian/Matthew Shipp/William Parker/ Hamid Drake

Put aside the bleakness of this double album’s title because this music embodies the idea that things can get better. Not that there was anything wrong with Polish woodwinds player Mat Walerian’s previous recordings, which have all involved some combination of the musicians on this one. But Walerian has never sounded so strong on his various instruments (alto saxophone, bass and soprano clarinets, flute); so clear on how to get the most out of Matthew Shipp, William Parker and Hamid Drake; or so engaged with jazz, and not just the free jazz that he’s made with these gentlemen to date. By turns subdued, impassioned and bathed in all the shades of the blues, Walerian no longer sounds like a guy who has great taste in sidemen who happen to have played with some of the greats of our time, but a guy who sounds like he belongs in their company. Each lengthy track (they range from 11 to 18 minutes long) imparts a narrative feel without dispelling the mystery that makes you want to hear them again. Here’s hoping that when things start moving again, this band finds a way to move around the world and move us in person. 

Bill Meyer

Om — It’s About Time (Intakt) 

It’s About Time by OM - Urs Leimgruber, Christy Doran, Bobby Burri, Fredy Studer

To a fan, It’s About Time might sum up the feeling upon learning that the Swiss quartet Om finally recorded a new studio album 40 years after its predecessor, Cerberus (ECM). It also captures the existential question facing a quartet of improvisers, some of whose paths have often crossed during that time, but some of whom have taken very different roads. On the one hand, drummer Fredy Studer and guitarist Christy Doran play in a Jim Hendrix cover band with Jamaladeen Tacuma; on the other, soprano saxophonist Urs Leimgruber works mainly in freely improvised settings with the likes of Alvin Curran and Joelle Leandre these days. Burri seems to be the guy who has maintained connections with everybody. How to make sense of such a history without denying anyone’s musical identity? During their first go-around, between 1972 and 1982, Om was played polyrhythmic electric jazz. During the mostly low-profile gigs they’ve played since reconvening in 2008, they’ve had time to forge an updated vocabulary that is less groove-oriented but takes full advantage of the timbral resources on hand. While it’s evident that time has passed, it’s by no means a waste of time. 

Bill Meyer

Rüstəm Quliyev — Azerbaijani Gitara (Bongo Joe)

Azerbaijani music, by and large, hasn't broken through to the American mainstream. That might not change, but the new anthology release of Rüstəm Quliyev's work, titled Azerbaijani Gitara, at least makes a case against our insularity. Quliyev's work, even for an insider, would be hard to pin down given that the overriding goal seems to be the synthesis of as many styles of music as possible. Western ears will be most comfortable with the psych-rock influences here. Quliyev also reworks Bollywood, folk, Middle Eastern dance and more on his electric guitar. Taken from recordings from 1999-2004, this nine-song collection sounds more coherent than that idea might suggest, but no less frantic. Quliyev plays with a persistent energy, his kinetic approach matched my his chops, often with a tone reminiscent of Carlos Santana (if we reach a little). On songs like “İran Təranələri,” he allows the piece to develop patiently, but these cuts rely on movement and virtuosity. Quliyev had a challenging life cut short by lung cancer, but his music finds itself unleashed through apparent joy.

Justin Cober-Lake

ShooterGang Kony — Still Kony 2 (Empire) 

A fortnight shy of his 22nd birthday (this coming Wednesday, mark your calendars and send best wishes), Sacramento rapper ShooterGang Kony has dropped his second full-length project of the year in Still Kony 2, a skit-free set of songs with a Biggie homage as the cover that explores further his emotional depths while still retaining the bouncy Bay Area nature of his livelier side. There’s stuff like “Red Ice” and “Fasholy Good,” of course, but there’s also the stretch of sobering songs later in the tracklist, including “Overdose,” “Flaggin” and the particularly affecting “Do or Die.” No matter the type of beat, though, Kony feels completely at ease with his cadence and wholly in control of his verses despite occasionally verging on a Detroit-like dismissal of the beat. Even if you can’t see the geekin’, you can certainly feel it.

Patrick Masterson

Suuns — Fiction EP (Joyful Noise)

FICTION EP by SUUNS

For better or worse, Suuns’ new Fiction EP is pretty much the sound of 2020 encapsulated, not in the sense of distilling current musical trends, but rather in succinctly conveying the disorientating feeling of living through a year that has been such a traumatic mess. Across these six tracks, the Montreal-based band creates a fuzzy, feedback-streaked, claustrophobic racket that just about coalesces into song forms around breakneck rhythm tracks. “Fiction” and “Pray” will meet the expectations of anyone expecting Suuns to continue sounding like fellow noise-rockers Clinic, but elsewhere there’s surprising variation to the band’s sound palette. Opener “Look” emerges out of the darkness like a warped apparition, concluding with a chant of what sounds like “Sheep, sheep, sheep.” They enlist the help of Jerusalem In My Heart for droning instrumental “Breathe,” and Amber Webber lends ghostly vocals to “Death.” At the EP’s end, the Mothers of Invention’s wailing blues-rock classic “Trouble Every Day” is barely recognizable, foregrounding Zappa’s lyrics and chewing them up into a garbled rush of splenetic invective. Though short, there’s something satisfyingly ghastly and cathartic about this EP that really cuts through.

Tim Clarke

Women — Rarities 2007-2010 (Flemish Eye/Jagjaguwar) 

Rarities 2007 - 2010 by Women

Some outlets rode much harder for Women than others when the band was still a dysfunctioning unit (RIP Cokemachineglow, namely), but there’s little doubt left a decade on that what the Calgary quartet had going was a volatile yet beautiful indie-rock ideal that hasn’t been duplicated in Viet Cong/Preoccupations or Cindy Lee since. These rarities, affixed to a deluxe decennial reissue of Public Strain due out in November, could all have made the final tracklistings of either of their full-lengths. The music veers between sunny ‘60s singalongs and dark guitar dissonance; I find myself thinking of The Walkmen’s first LP on “Bullfight” (a free release from 2011 in the aftermath of the band’s collapse the year before) and of The Chameleons on “Group Transport,” which is considerably more Janus-faced with its juxtaposed harmonies, for example. It took me much longer than it should have to come around on Women, but in case you’re still on the fence or also just never got around to them in the first place, perhaps this small coda will sway you in their favor once and for all.

Patrick Masterson

Yo La Tengo — Sleepless Night EP (Matador)

In July, Yo La Tengo released the abstract, droning instrumental EP We Have Amnesia Sometimes, harking back to the sound of their excellent soundtrack album The Sounds of the Sounds of Science (2002). This new Sleepless Night EP brings together five covers and one original, first released in conjunction with an L.A. exhibition by Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara, who helped the band pick the songs. Sleepless Night opens with “Blues Stay Away” by The Delmore Brothers and “Wasn’t Born to Follow” by The Byrds, both fairly straight renditions of the blues and country-rock originals. The real keeper in this collection comes next in the form of Ronnie Lane’s “Roll On Babe,” beautifully sung by Georgia, which hypnotizes with its languid sway. Their cover of Dylan’s “It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry” also has Georgia take the lead over beatless organ, bass and guitar. “Bleeding” is the sole original, a shimmering atmospheric piece with ghostly vocals from Ira, which dissolves in a pool of pitchshifted reverb. Finally, “Smile a Little Smile for Me” strips out the rhythm section from the Flying Machine original and slows the tempo, Ira’s measured vocal performance lending the song an affectingly forlorn slant. Though the material here offers few surprises, it’s a reassuring release from a justifiably loved band at a time when we could all use a little more reassurance.

Tim Clarke

[birdlord]

Everything I Watched in 2019

Movies

The number in parentheses is year of release, asterisks denote a re-watch, and titles in bold are my favourite watches of the year. 

01 The Death of Stalin (17) does a neat trick of building goodwill for Steve Buscemi’s Krushchev, then brutally pays that off in the last few minutes. 

02 Sorry to Bother You (18)

03 Support the Girls (18)

04 Paddington (14)*

05 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (16)

06 Eighth Grade (18) probably the most terrifying movie I watched all year, if you didn’t watch it through your fingers, who even are you?

07 Morvern Callar (02) much less bleak than the book, but then, nearly anything would be

08 The Favourite (18) revolting and beautiful. 

09 Columbus (17) a really lovely movie about architecture and parent-child relationships.

10 Bring it On (00)*

11 The Land of Steady Habits (18) feels wackier than your average Holofcener, but still a good watch. 

12 Spotlight (15) i was really bowled over by this, and wasn’t expecting to be. Workmanlike filmmaking, but an extraordinary story, well-told.

13 The Killing of a Sacred Deer (17) Barry Keoghan is a blank, but somehow compelling screen presence. This one has an ending that made me bark with laughter.

14 Legends of the Fall (94)

15 Moneyball (11)* if you don’t feel like watching anything in particular, you can always watch Moneyball

16 If Beale St Could Talk (18) very beautiful, but I failed to connect with it on any other level. 

17 For Keeps (88)

18 Abducted in Plain Sight (17)

19 Oscar Shorts (Animated) (18) the offerings were very sappy this year, but the winner was decent! Lots of Toronto content (weird). 

20 Oscar Shorts (Live Action) (18) *unquestionably* the worst one of these won ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

21 Velvet Buzzsaw (19)

22 Vice (18) ugh

23 Friends with Money (06)

24 Can You Ever Forgive Me (18)

25 Bohemian Rhapsody (18) haha what. was. that.

26 Mars Attacks (96)*

27 Paddington 2 (18)

28 Buffy the Vampire Slayer (92)*

29 Shoplifters (18)

30 Blindspotting (18) jacked Ethan Embry in a supporting role?! Whither? Howso? Wherefore?

31 Witness (85)

32 Harry & the Hendersons (87)*

33 The Matrix (99)*

34 T2 Trainspotting (17)

35 Blockers (18)

36 The Slums of Beverly Hills (98)

37 Can’t Hardly Wait (98)*

38 Avengers: Infinity War (18)

39 Iron Man II (10)

40 Isle of Dogs (18)

41 Chinatown (74)*

42 To Live & Die in LA (85)

43 Age of Innocence (93) Daniel Day-Lewis manages to make Newland Archer compelling, where in the novel he’s...the worst?!

44 Shopgirl (05)*

45 The House (17) didn’t sustain all the way through, but then, that’s how mainstream comedies often go. 

46 The Beguiled (17)

47 Badlands (73)*

48 Poetic Justice (93)

49 The Empire Strikes Back (80)*

50 Calibre (18)

51 The Kindergarten Teacher (18)

52 Hounds of Love (17) a nice little Aussie thriller, set in the 80s

53 Kicking & Screaming (95)*

54 Octopussy (83)*

55 Jaws (79)*

56 Lover Come Back (61)

57 Frenzy (72)

58 Always Be My Maybe (19)

59 Certain Women (16) took a while to get to this one, but it’s as great as they say it is. 

60 Baby Driver (17) all flash, little substance.

61 Sneakers (92)

62 Roadhouse (87)*

63 Bull Durham (88)*

64 Ghostbusters (84)*

65 Booksmart (19) I think this will improve on multiple viewings, though I loved the soundtrack and the mix of characters. 

66 Hereditary (18)

67 Rebecca (40) George Sanders as Rebecca’s cousin is BRILLIANT

68 Vertigo (58)*

69 The Dead Don’t Die (19)

70 Crawl (19)

71 Dazed & Confused (93)* If you don’t watch this once a summer, what is wrong with you?

72 Jackie Brown (97)

73 Talk Radio (88)

74 The Guilty (18)

75 Killing Heydrich (17)

76 Lady Bird (17)*

77 Billy Elliot (00)*

78 White House Down (13)* Channing Potatum saves the White House!

79 The Film Worker (17)

80 Whitney (18)

81 Mascot (16)

82 Apocalypse Now (79)* technically I’d only seen the Redux version from the early 2000s, so the regular cut is new to me. 

83 Apollo 13 (95)*

84 Psycho 2 (83) the twist is very guessable, but there are a couple of nice-looking scenes.

85 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (04)*

86 The Bodyguard (92)*

87 Murder Mystery (19)

88 Wildlife (18)

89 The Stepford Wives (75)*

90 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (71)*

91 The Natural (84)

92 The Other Boleyn Girl (08)

93 Speed (94)*

94 Opera (87)

95 That’s my Boy (12) haha what?!

96 The Big Short (15)

97 Elizabeth the Golden Age (07)

98 The Glass Castle (17) when I read the book, I genuinely thought it was fiction, it’s so insane. 

99 Dawn of the Dead (78)*

100 All About Eve (50) lady on lady violence is a special thing

101 La La Land (16)

102 Morning Glory (10) remember Rachel McAdams?

103 Casino (95)*

104 Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (06)

105 Pet Sematary (19)

106 Clue (85)*

107 Her Smell (18) amazing soundtrack and the songs were well-chosen. Heartbreaking musical moment in the final act. 

108 Bobby Sands: 66 Days (16)

109 She’s Gotta Have it (86)

110 Good Morning (59)

111 Hustlers (19) I didn’t connect with this as much as the reviews led me to believe I might. 

112 Nocturnal Animals (16)

113 Kill Bill Vol 1 (03) I’d only ever seen the second one before, being a non-Tarantino completionist.

114 Fried Green Tomatoes (91)* I watch this more than anticipated...

115 Steel Magnolias (89)

116 Notting Hill (99)*

117 A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (19) the tiny city models were inspired!

118 National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (89)*

119 Let It Snow (19)

120 Frozen (13)

121 The Irishman (19) most interesting as a sort of pastiche/reckoning on the part of Scorsese about his other gangster films. Really outmoded view of unions. Definitely could have been edited down if anyone were able to come to it without undue reverence, but I did love the bit about the fish.

122 Girls Trip (17) actual plot is beside the point. 

123 About a Boy (02)* I always think of this as the “vomit and sweaters” movie, anyone else?

124 Animal House (78)*

DOCUMENTARY : FICTION - 4:120

THEATRE : HOME - 9:115

TV Series

01 Russian Doll - I think I would have enjoyed this more if it hadn’t been bingeable - would have made a nice week-by-week discussion sort of show. I loved to watch the changes between re-ups of our major characters, and I think the actual plotting would reward re-watches. 

02 Catastrophe S4 - A satisfying ending to an excellent show, with very charismatic leads (and deeply weird supporting characters). Had to write around Carrie Fisher’s death, and I’m sure did a better job of it than Star Wars did. 

03 Friends from College S2 - More of the same, which is what I was after. A show like cotton candy (but with more infidelity). 

04 High Maintenance S3 - A lot more of this season took place outside of New York City, which was a great change of pace. And a great deal more information about The Guy and his own life; both difficulties and successes included. 

05 Losers - This was a great little docuseries on Netflix that I didn’t hear a lot of people talking about - it’s about sports losses, but unusual sports ie curling, figure skating and the like. You’d think it would get repetitive, being as it’s always about recovering after loss, but it doesn’t! I wish they would make another season….

06 Shrill - a tight six episode dramedy about an alt-weekly journalist in the Pacific Northwest, based on Lindy West’s memoir of the same name. John Cameron Mitchell as her boss (based on Dan Savage) stands out of the ensemble cast, as does Annie’s roommate played by a British standup Lolly Adefope.

07 Broad City S5 - I haven’t always kept up with Broad City, but I came back to it for its final season, and thought it did a good job of setting its characters up for big changes in their lives. 

08 I Think You Should Leave - It’s easy to assume that all sketch comedy is terrible and always will be, but then you see this, and throw your TV out the window (due to all the laffs)

09 Fleabag S2 - Everything you’ve heard is true, this season is goddamn hilarious and ridiculously sexy. A huge step up from the first season, which was already pretty fantastic and incisive. 

10 Fosse/Verdon - Musicals are not particularly my bag, so I’m sure there was a lot that I missed in terms of references, but the lead performances ably carried me through all of the time jumps and various performances. 

11 Stranger Things S3 - Say it after me: d-i-m-i-n-i-s-h-i-n-g r-e-t-u-r-n-s! Maya Hawke kills it, though. 

12 Big Little Lies S2 - Unnecessary, and (if possible) even sillier than the first season.

13 Lorena - Part of the ongoing quest to rehabilitate the maligned women of the 1990s, this gave me tons of context that I had no idea about at the time, due to being a dumb kid. 

14 Glow S3 - I felt like I was losing steam on this series this year, but episodes like the camping ep kept me coming back. A great ensemble, though some unusual character choices (like a certain kiss *cough*) took me out of it by times. 

15 Lodge 49 S1-3 - I’d kept hearing about this show, so I finally sought it out. I can’t say it was amazingly compelling (I almost dropped it after the first season) but it’s definitely an oddball of a show, slipping from setpiece to setpiece with little regard for logic. For me, a background show. 

16 Chernobyl - This show really gave me the Bad Feeling, humans were definitely A Mistake.

17 On Becoming a God in Central Florida - Kiki in a trashy mode, not as infinitely appealing as the version she pulled off in the second season of Fargo, but scrappy and industrious nonetheless.

18 Show Me a Hero - I’d put off watching this for years, it felt like it was going to be too dull (housing policy in Yonkers?) but it’s great, and larded up with Bruce Springsteen songs, obvs.

19 Great British Bake Off S9-S10 - I’d also held off on watching this for a long time, out of loyalty to Mel, Sue, and Mary Berry. But I needed some comfort viewing towards the end of the summer, and the new hosts and judge do an able job, although the show’s tropes are feeling a bit well-worn at this point. 

20 Righteous Gemstones S1 - A rollicking ride for sure, with a great cast. Your mileage/patience with Danny McBride may vary, so keep that in mind, naturally. 

21 This Way Up S1 - A small show starring the fabulous Aisling Bea, about mental health and families and some nice comic physical acting. Oh, and in case you were watching The Crown and crushing on Tobias Menzies’ version of Prince Phillip, he plays a hot dad love interest in this, which gives you all the Tobias you’re looking for, without the PP racisms. 

22 The Crown S3 - This is the first season of the big cast switchover, and I thought it stuck reasonably well, once we were in it an episode or two. This season concentrated even less on Elizabeth herself, preferring her sister, husband, and (newly!) her children.

[appavevo]

okay so listen some times you get really interested in one single thing and that’s all you think about for a long time so you develop some dumb thoughts and here are a list of mine about atla and tlok in no particular order

1. in tlok they made aang look so BORING like so COOKIE CUTTER. the only times i like how they made aang look is in the old friends poster and in the picture where he’s airbending the rolls like that’s IT like come on yall focus too much on making the hair differenet people got faces too ya know

2. TENZIN IS LIKE 16 YEARS OLDER THAN PEMA??? ISN’T THAT CRAZY??? LIKE PEMA WOULD HAVE ONLY BEEN ABOUT 20 WHEN AANG DIED. ALSO TENZIN HAD KIDS SO OLD

3. at the end of tlok bumi must be about the age (maybe a few years younger) when aang died that’s so weird bc bumi doesn’t look old i wonder how it happened with aang like maybe the last few months of his life he just physically aged like 30 years wouldn’t that be weird (and sad)

4. i mentioned this before but i’ve seen posts like “its sad to think about the fact that aang probably had to bury appa” and NO i refuse to believe that esp appa bc i thought an avatars spirit animal lives as long as the avatar? like roku’s dragon lived and died with him so that’s what happened with appa too. also momo, i’ve decided

5. kinda.............weird how learning the avatar state was like one of THE main problems in atla and aang had a hard time with it and it was considered this awesome power that we didn’t see that often and the in the legend of korra she just.......................gets it. like aang gives her her bending back and oh here’s the full power of the avatar state as well no need to learn about the chakras and meditate on life or whatever hey also have some energy bending as well why not

6. lin beifong is literally so hot 

7. also in the legend of korra, bending isn’t as cool.. like in atla bending has all the beautiful forms and its like a dance or an art like that dance aang and katara did was based on their bending moves!!! and tlok isn’t like that and they try to spin it like “oh its modern now” but that’s just lazy and  boring

8. also (that one video explained this better than i could) while it’s kind cool to see the new technology mixed with the bending at first, the legend of korra is so much more american than atla, like i can see how a city with all those cultures mixed together might be a bit culturally ambiguous but like....... idk they talk about democracy in a weird way and they literally got the statue of liberty type thing going on (although i love every reference to aang i can get) and idk how to describe it. the bending is like this too where it used to be based off of hung ga kung fu or tai chi chuan now it’s just ..........boxing. i’ve seen some people say it’s because its easier to animate but like idk

8.5 oh also the whole good and bad evil spirit thing goin on (i forgot their names i think the good one was raava?) was really like god and satan smelling even though they tried to paint it as yin and yang idk it just didn’t come off like that

9. speaking of animation while i am desperate for new material can they NOT MAKE ANOTHER LIVE ACTION VERSION like........make a NEW STORY or maybe just DON’T with how korra turned out just like.....focus on the goddamn comics bc those are kinda fun and chill

10. bolin is pretty funny but him and mako and even asami are kinda boring im sorry but they are(asami is more interesting than mako though)

11. also fucked up how like the culture that was the most accepting and peaceful and spiritual and kind is the one that we never fuckin see this isn’t really a complaint about the plot just like it fuckin sucks!!! i would have loved to see some gay and funny air nomads

12. also maybe this is just bc im a big dumb fan but i refuse to believe aang was a bad father like maybe he didn’t divide his time in the best way but hey no one’s perfect and kya esp made it clear she wasn’t interested in air nomad culture so like what was he supposed to do ALSO SORRY BUT HE HAD TO LITERALLY BUILD A WORLD OUT OF 100 YEARS OF WAR AND REBUILD HIS CULTURE OUT OF NEXT TO NOTHING LIKE SORRY HE DIDN’T HAVE TIME TO TAKE YOU FISHING OR WHATEVER 

13. i do love kya though bc lesb 

14. THAT ONE LINE IN TLOK THAT WAS LIKE “ZUKO KNEW AANG BETTER THAN ANYBODY”??????? LIKE OF COURSE THEY WERE VERY COURSE BUT KATARA IS RIGHT THERE???? HELLO???

15. bc im a big dumb stupid idiot every character i get attached too i immediately insist that they can sing bc i’ve always wanted a really good singing voice so i’ve decided that aang is just like, a great singer

16. god i just love momo

17. UHHH I’M CURRENTLY READING THE WIKI AND IT SAYS THAT KYOSHI LIVED TO BE 230??? THAT’S COOL????? 

18. i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again, air nomad avatars are just cooler bc of their fuckin tattoos. when those tattoos glow? fuckin tight. korras just got her eyes and like.......where’s the drama and conflama 

19. while the spirit world can be interesting idk how i feel about the spirits in the legend of korra, like all cutesy and weird like that, like i don’t hate it, it’s just really different from atla spirit world and idk

20. i’ve always been curious about aangs tattoos like,,,, the ones on his arms go into his armpit, but like the one on his back? does that just go all the way to his ass or what? and where do the leg ones stop do they connect with the back ones or just go to the hip bones or idk

21. i wanted a detailed map and description and history of air temple island and i want it now

22. while i know that extensive and unnecessary backstory and weigh a good story down WHO ARE AANGS PARENTS, I’M JUST CURIOUS. LIKE WERE THEY EVER TOLD HE WAS THE AVATAR?

23. i will defend aang until the day i die bc he was so young and so good and even the stuff he did selfishly he has like ample reason to can u imagine being twelve and waking up and realizing that not only are you the only person left of your race and culture and history and that everyone you knew and loved, like even people you didn’t really know but the people who you would smile too sometimes, the all died pretty violent and horrible deaths while you were just stuck in some ice bc you got hit by some storm after running away can u imagine???? ALSO LIKE the world hadn’t had an avatar for a century so he had to just like make shit up as he went along of course he could talk to his past lives but like..........idk!!!! and how do you build up

24. I ALREADY SAID THIS BUT KORRA JUST..........GETS THE POWERS. LIKE WE SAW AANG NOT ONLY LEARN THE ELEMENTS BUT ALSO DEAL WITH LEARNING ABOUT THE AVATAR STATE IN DEPTH AND HOW BEING THE AVATAR WORKS AND IT WAS SPECIAL AND INTERESTING AND WE COULD HAVE SEEN KORRA WORK TO GET HER AIRBENDING POWERS AND HER SPIRITUAL SIDE AND HER AVATAR STATE BUT THEY WERE ALL JUST FUCKIN HANDED TO HER EVEN THE E N E R G Y BENDING LIKE COME ON................................................................GIRL WHOS WRITING THIS

25. real disrespectful how much sokka is neglected in tlok!!! smh

26. this is very important to me but my favorite episode (not really including the last ones bc those are just on a dif level) but my favorite episode is 3x2 The Headband which was the footloose ep if you don’t remember..........it’s just fun............he just wants to dance AND HE WAS FUCKIN MACKIN YOU SEE THAT SHIT?????????? “DON’T WORRY ABOUT THEM IT’S JUST YOU AND ME NOW” LIKE BITCH!!!! YOU’RE TWELVE YOU HAVE NO BUSINESS BEIN THAT SMOOTH also i LOOOOOOVE the fact that aang being a good dancer is literally canon....................

27. i literally never wanted to know how the avatar cycle started like don’t explain the magic like that just leave some mystery

[thirstinmore-blog]

Best Albums of 2018

BEST ALBUMS 2018

20. Noname: Room 25

19. Jeremih & Ty Dolla $ign: Mih-Ty

18. Tierra Whack: Whack World

17. Parks Burton: Pare

16. Oneohtrix Point Never: Age Of

15. Angelique Kidjo: Remain in Light

14. Shannon Shaw: Shannon in Nashville

13. Curren$y & Freddie Gibbs: Fetti

12. Ariana Grande: Sweetener

11. Vince Staples: FM!

10. DJ Koze: Knock Knock

9. Mariah Carey: Caution

8. Courtney Barnett: Tell Me How You Really Feel

7. The Carters: Everything is Love

6. Snail Mail: Lush

5. Shannon & the Clams: Onion

4. Teyana Taylor: K.T.S.E.

3. Kacey Musgraves: Golden Hour

2. Blood Orange: Negro Swan

1. Dirty Projectors: Lamp Lit Prose

(Spotify playlist)

(Capsule reviews of Top 10 below) 

10. DJ Koze: Knock Knock.  The music writing trope of “a sounds like b + c” is as lazy as it is played, but sometimes you hear a record and those type of comparisons spring to mind, like when I first heard Saint Pepsi’s Hit Vibes and instantly thought of J Dilla making a disco record.  That was also my response to Knock Knock, which sounds like the Avalanches making a more patient update of Since I Left You for 2018 ears.  The record is long and lush, and draws from roughly nine billion different aesthetics, but its particular mélange still manages to sound fresh.  As with SILY, the album is best experienced as a complete piece of music (though several tracks, such as “Lord Knows” and “Scratch That” would sound great in a mix or DJ set).  Knock Knock takes the listener through ambling pathways that wrap around and revisit each other, like an evening stroll through the spacious Joshua Tree National Park depicted on its cover.  It’s nearly a two-hour journey, but it’s well worth the price of admission.

9. Mariah Carey: Caution.  Mariah got a dirty mouth and I’m here for it.  As mother, a twice-divorcée, a woman nearing 50, her work and her image are all her own; if she wants to include the word “fuck” in a bunch of songs on her new album (“GTFO,” “With You,” “The Distance”), then who the fuck are we to tell her no?   It’s a refreshing twist from someone whose public persona is often so curated, but I’m burying the lede.  The real story here is that Caution is a batch of excellent R&B songs from one of the genre’s all-time greats.  It’s not overwrought – by contrast, the album’s sultry blue cover art is indicative of the moods within.  The Ty Dolla $ign-featuring “The Distance” is laid extremely deep in the cut, assisted by some subtle production from Poo Bear, Lido and—holy shit, Skrillex?  Yup, and like Mariah herself, everyone involved uses an even hand and measured patience to let each song breathe.  

A personal highlight for me is “A No No,” which flips the Lil Kim/Lil Cease classic “Crush On You” on its head.  Here, where Biggie intones “he’s a slut, he’s a hoe, he’s a freak/got a different girl every day of the week,” there is no irony intended.  She gauges her suitors’ intent and responds simply: “that’s a no-no.”  In fact, the word “no” accounts for easily half the song’s lyrics, but it’s still a blast on subsequent listens.  But don’t get it twisted – highlights abound herein, from aforementioned singles “GTFO” and “The Distance” to the thoughtful, expansive, Dev Hynes-helmed “Giving Me Life,” which begins as a downtempo club hit and morphs into a surrealist dream.  Mariah Carey is one of the artists who’s been in my life the longest – I’m so happy she’s still killing it.

8. Courtney Barnett: Tell Me How You Really Feel.  Courtney Barnett is what I was raised to believe an indie rock star should be: an unassuming, smart slacker with regular clothes and the ability to unleash earthbound poetry and atmosphere-puncturing solos with equal aplomb.  That effortless cool permeates every facet of her work, from her casual half-singing style to her loose but proficient playing, a mighty guitar god in the body of a humble 31-year-old.  (That she recorded a collaborative record with renowned cool guy Kurt Vile should surprise no-one.)  But what’s really striking about Barnett’s work is her wryly observant lyrics; whether she’s describing the banalities of urban life (“City Looks Pretty”) or eviscerating toxic masculinity (“Nameless, Faceless”), her keen eye and incisive wit pervade every line.  Tell Me is the sound of a strong artist getting stronger.

7. The Carters: Everything is Love.  I often say that as I get older, my favorite elements of songwriting are editing and restraint.  That’s why I tend to hate double albums and love EPs.  I just believe that most double albums would be better if distilled down to one really strong record.  EPs, on the other hand, leave the listener wanting more.  Such is the case with Everything is Love, which reads like a Beyonce trap record with a number of guest verses from Jay. Regardless of speculation on who did the lion’s share of the writing on the record, both are in top form.  Bey’s signature vocal virtuosity is on display as ever, but the real delight is in her capable delivery as a rapper.  She glides effortlessly through triplets like “Poppin, I’m poppin, my bitches are poppin, we go to the dealer and cop it all.”  Big Sean could never.  Meanwhile, Jay turns in a few of my favorite bars of the year (and also a very slick Drake diss) on “Boss:”

“You not a boss, you got a boss. N*ggas gettin’ jerked, that shit hurts, I take it personaly.  N*ggas’d rather work for the man than to work for me.  Just so they can pretend they on my level, that shit is irkin’ to me.  Pride always goeth before the fall, almost certainly.  It’s disturbing what I gross.  Survey says: you not even close.  Everybody’s bosses till the time to pay for the office, till them invoices separate the men from the boys. Over here we measure success by how many people successful next to you.  Here, we say you broke if everybody is broke except for you. BAWSE.”

I don’t know if they intend to release more records as The Carters, but Everything is Love is a fun, successful experiment.

6. Snail Mail: Lush.  There’s no reason for a debut LP to be this good.  The record, from solo project-turnt-band of 19-year-old Lindsay Jordan is focused, clever, and sophisticated.  Every component of these songs appears exactly as it should.  Jordan’s songwriting is clean and incisive (“I hope whoever it is holds their breath around you/’cause I know I did,” she sings on album standout “Heat Wave”).  The arrangements are smartly simple; seldom do they deviate from the four-person rock lineup, so the embellishments that are included (the French horn on “Deep Sea,” the layered keys on “Speaking Terms”) really leap out.  The playing throughout is lovely, with Jordan’s beautiful guitar technique front and center (the finger-picking on “Let’s Find an Out” is a particular delight). Everything in its right place – only where Radiohead’s inward gaze can be mopey and self-indulgent, the core strength of Lush is its efficiency.  There’s no filler here – just the exact amount of support that each piece requires.  The drumming feels especially strong in this regard – there’s an economic directness in Ray Brown’s playing that prioritizes the backbeat over everything, including his ego. The fills that he does include are modest and workmanlike.

It’s right that the record would be released by Matador, because these songs are drenched in the influences of the 90s slacker rock of Yo La Tengo, Sonic Youth, Sleater-Kinney and Sebadoh.  And as with each of those bands, Snail Mail’s songs are buoyed by excellent lyrics.  Jordan doesn’t just sound wise beyond her years, she actually seems to have lived more in her 19 years than many folks twice her age.  There’s a subtext of sobriety in some of the songs (“It just feels like the same party every weekend, doesn’t it?” on “Pristine,” or “I’m so tired of moving on/spending every weekend so far gone” on “Heat Wave”).  Perhaps the self-reflection that’s required in recovery has helped to distill her worldview.  

And look, I don’t mean to be patronizing here – this album would be a major achievement from any person of any age.  But to hear an artistic vision this crystal clear and laser-focused from a 19-year-old is something truly special.  I can’t wait to hear what she does next.

5. Shannon & the Clams: Onion.  Upon first listen, Onion struck me as the best record the Clams have released to date.  Now, admittedly, I’m a sucker for keyboards, and the inclusion of organist Will Sprott is pure Patrick-bait.  But beyond my own tastes, the organ both fills out and anchors the Clams’ garage doo-wop sound.  There’s a welcome succinctness to Onion: the songwriting is tight, the guitar playing is melodic and utilitarian, and the vocal performances from both Cody and Shannon are more technically refined than in any of their previous outings.  One wonders if Shannon’s work on her own solo album (the very good, Dan Auerbach-produced Shannon in Nashville, which also came out this year) pushed her to improve her technique.  And don’t get it fucked up – this is still a Clams record.  It’s still shaggy and loud and rambunctious – but they’ve worked hard to reign in their wildest tendencies.  Some might say that it’s layered, just like-- *an oversized cane hooks around my throat and drags me offstage* ….Well…..let’s just say it’s good.

4. Teyana Taylor: KTSE.  Of all the seven-song mini-albums Kanye produced in Wyoming this year, KTSE is both the best and the least talked-about.  She arrives seemingly out of the blue, a fully-formed artist who knows her strengths exactly.  She has bars when she feels like spitting them, a beautiful husky alto when she feels like crooning, and a profound connection to multiple styles of club music that’s borne of her history as a dancer.  It’s become a bit trendy to nod to vogue & ballroom culture in the last few years, but while Drake’s Big Freedia feature on “Nice for What” feels a little forced, Taylor can walk it like she talks it.  A dancer by trade, her comfort in the ballroom is palpable. 

Ye keeps it simple, remaining comfortably in his wheelhouse and flipping excellent soul samples such as Billy Stewart’s “I Do Love You” (which he repurposes into a nostalgic 4/4 slapper on “Hold On”) and The Stylistics’ “Because I Love You, Girl” (which he expands into a melancholy mediation on the horn section of the original).  It’s a welcome return to form.

3. Kacey Musgraves: Golden Hour.  In her SNL performance earlier this year, Kacey Musgraves appeared as a flat-ironed, longhair disco queen.  As she slayed Golden Hour’s catchy lead single “High Horse,” I was reminded of Dolly Parton.  I’ve been spending a lot of time with Dolly’s mid-70s and early-80s catalogue this past year, having purchased vinyl copies of All I Can Do, New Harvest…First Gathering, and Dolly, Dolly, Dolly.  Parton is one of those artists whose discographies are so gigantic as to seem practically impenetrable, so I’ve been trying to hear as much as I can.  Dolly, Dolly, Dolly is an especially interesting entry: released in 1980, it was her 23rd album, and it represents a pretty clear swing for crossover success.  A handful of the tracks are straight-up disco, and these are what Musgraves called to mind.  I was thrilled – Dolly’s disco experiments were widely panned, but I think there’s a lot of good there, maybe Golden Hour would be an attempt to vindicate Parton’s vision?

Unfortunately or not, I was incorrect.  In total, Golden Hour bears more resemblance to Dolly’s friend & frequent collaborator Emmylou Harris (Kacey’s hair should’ve tipped me off, SMH).  It’s a beautiful, understated, and thoughtful set of songs that could fit as well on a folk radio station as a country one.  Like Harris, Musgraves has an innate sense of how to let a great song be great, hanging back in both arrangement and vocal performance.  She’s emotive when she needs to be (“Rainbow”), and contemplative as needed (“Golden Hour”), always letting her writing breathe.  Also, she has the confidence to bury the lead single so deep on Side B that you almost forget it’s there (and are thrilled when it is).  As a person who prefers the full album experience to that of a shuffled playlist, this is one of my very favorite tricks.

Quite simply: great songs + great arrangements = a surprising list-topper for me.

2. Blood Orange: Negro Swan.  For years, the roles of sexuality and gender in black identity have been foci of Dev Hynes’ work as Blood Orange.  He spent time with drag queens and sex workers while writing his debut album Coastal Grooves, and has often cited transgender icon Octavia St. Laurent as one of his primary influences.  But while these interests have colored his previous albums, on Negro Swan they’re the bedrock.  In a press release preceding the album, Hynes described the album as “an exploration into my own and many types of black depression, an honest look at the corners of black existence, and the ongoing anxieties of queer/people of color.  A reach back into childhood and modern traumas, and the things we do to get through it all.  The underlying thread through each piece on the album is the idea of hope, and the lights we can try to turn on within ourselves with a hopefully positive outcome of helping others out of their darkness.”

These ideas are fundamental to the songwriting, and they’re reinforced by snippets of conversations with Janet Mock and Kai the Black Angel (who adorns the cover in a durag and angel wings) peppered throughout the album’s 49 minutes.  On “Family,” Mock defines community as “the spaces where you don’t have to shrink yourself, where you don’t have to pretend or to perform, you can fully show up and be vulnerable in silence, completely empty, and that’s completely enough.”  That search for community, the desire to be seen and loved and supported as your whole self informs each of these beautiful songs.  Already a competent producer, Hynes continues to grow, selecting beautiful flourishes like the jangly, perfectly out-of-tune guitar on “Charcoal Baby” or the soft, echoing snare drum on “Dagenham Dream” to characterize the thematic content of each piece.  Negro Swan is a powerful and complete work of art.  It sounds like he’s finally found some answers to the questions he’s been asking. 

1. Dirty Projectors: Lamp Lit Prose.  On Lamp Lit Prose, David Longstreth appears to be having more fun making music than he has in years, probably because almost 100% of his band has turned over (kudos to longtime bassist Nat Baldwin, whose playing tethers him to his own beginnings).  Beyond the new Projectors themselves, Longstreth spent the months during the writing of the album making new friends in the LA music scene, and bringing them around the studio to record various parts.  Members of Haim contribute to album standout “That’s a Lifestyle,” Syd (of The Internet) anchors the refrain in “Right Now,” and Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold and Vampire Weekend alumnus Rostam Batmanglij stack harmonies onto the swirling ballad “You’re The One.”

I see LLP as the second half of a diptych begun by the self-titled Dirty Projectors, released last year.  While that record wallowed in the pain of a broken relationship with former Projector Amber Coffman, LLP reveals a healed and newly in love protagonist.  Both records feature David Longstreth at his most vocally competent: he’s now able to truly execute the melismatic R&B runs he lovingly wrote and charmingly attempted in his earliest work, his diaphragm now supports his every leap and bound, and his croon is sweeter than ever before.  But furthermore, both albums expand on ideas that have popped up throughout his illustrious and impressive body of work.  Whether he’s reviving the Rise Above era blasts of noisy guitars on “Zombie Conqueror” or revisiting the orchestral ambitions of The Getty Address on the stunningly soulful “I Wanna Feel It All,” Longstreth sounds like a worker with a complete toolbox and a detailed blueprint.  He’s been working at honing his craft for years.

I saw the Projectors in June, at a time when only “Break-Thru” and “That’s a Lifestyle” had leaked.  I didn’t know what to expect, being among the seemingly small minority of fans who liked their previous record.  But their set was staggering.  Flanked by his group of mostly-new faces, Longstreth was bouncing all over the place, proudly showcasing each instrumentalist & vocalist (seemingly everyone had at least one moment in the spotlight), visibly excited about playing with this group of people.  And that makes sense: LLP is Longstreth relishing the fundamental glee of musical collaboration.  The joy is positively bubbling over in tracks like “Right Now,” “I Feel Energy,” and “I Found it in You.”  To see him play these songs live is to wonder if he’s talking about the act of musicmaking itself when he sings: “Ask now, I’m in love for the first time ever.”

[gemcatvinyl]

GEMCAT’S 15 BEST ALBUMS OF 2017

2017 is almost over, and it has been a great year for music. We’re counting down some of the best and my favourite records from this year, and why they stood out to me as fantastic!

HONOURABLE MENTIONS Best Compilation -BADBADNOTGOOD Late Night Tales Mix

All 5 King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Albums released this year are worth a listen!

THUNDERCAT - DRUNK

ST VINCENT - MASSEDUCTION

MAC DEMARCO _ THIS OLD DOG

15-10 These first ten albums are listed in no particular order. 15 RATBOY - SCUM

Ratboy’s Grungy debut record was one of the most fun albums to come out in 2017, with it delivering equal parts quality music and immature wit. It stands out to me due to its sincerity as a record, Jordan produced a album that is unapologetically him, wearing its influences on its sleeve and being proudly DIY. Check it out here LISTEN

BEST TRACK - TURN AROUND M8

14 PARAMORE - AFTER LAUGHTER

I’ve never been a Paramore fan, the limited work I’d heard from them never wowed me, so After Laughter and its sheer brilliant sound really caught me off guard! Paramore gave us probably one of the best mainstream pop LPs of 2017, full of sleek bouncy production, consistently powerful vocals, and some amazingly well crafted, bittersweet lyrics. My only complaint is that the album isn’t longer! Check it here LISTEN

BEST TRACK - FAKE HAPPY

13 FATHER JOHN MISTY - PURE COMEDY

Let’s be honest. The past few years have been a bit shit. A LOT of horrible stuff has happened, and it can sometimes feel like the world is on its last legs. Pure Comedy ,as a record, captures that mood like no other. 

It’s moody, cynical, lovelorn, emotive and funny. FJM pens some of his best songs yet, and gives some of his most powerful vocal performances too. As challenging a listen it can be, boasting 2 songs over 10 minutes, Pure comedy is some essential listening if you enjoy singer-songwriter music. Listen HERE

BEST TRACK - BALLAD OF THE DYING MAN

12 ARIEL PINK - DEDICATED TO BOBBY JAMESON

Ariel Pink is a pretty eccentric and annoyingly pretentious musician, seemingly on the levels of Zappa and others from that era. Yet, he and his albums are extremely endearing. I only discovered him this year, Listening to 2014′s POM POM over the summer and becoming quickly obsessed with his personal brand of surreal nostalgic music. 

I then learnt of this new album, and it did not disappoint. the charm and nostalgia for something you were never part of comes in droves and results in another technicolour beautiful mess of a record. HUGELY recommend, especially as an introduction to Ariel. LISTEN

BEST TRACK - TIME TO LIVE

11 SZA - CTRL

On her Debut studio album, released through Kendrick’s label TOP DAWG, SZA proves she is one of the best new RnB artists out there, and one of many amazing new independent female artists. 

One after another Ctrl dishes out brilliantly moody, introspective and sexy ballads, each of which have some pretty unique choices musically, giving the record a standout sound. Another album you NEED to hear. Check it LISTEN

BEST TRACK - DREW BARRYMORE

10 COURTNEY BARNETT + KURT VILE - LOTTA SEA LICE

The perfect combination of musicians!!!! US based singer songwriter Kurt Vile and Melbourne indie rock hero Courtney Barnett join forces for the best collaborative album of 2017, and possibly the best indie rock album of 2017. Both artists bring out the best in each other lyrically and musically, and have a perfect chemistry that leads to a 9 track LP that just oozes warmth and charm, a great autumnal record. Listen HERE

BEST TRACK - OUTTA THE WOODWORK

9 CHARLI XCX - NUMBER 1 ANGEL

Charli XCX is my favourite pop artist right now, period. She has somehow cracked the ever-present issue of writing music that can both top the charts and stay creative. This record is her pushing the boat creatively, and realising the masses of potential shown with her Vroom Vroom EP. 

With the help of PC music, she delivers a mixtape of varied and catchy bubblegum pop, a cocktail of new and old pop music staples. Theres some brilliant features too (shout out to Cupcakke!) Check it out here LISTEN.

BEST TRACK - BABYGIRL

8 KENDRICK LAMAR - DAMN.

The GOAT, K-Dot dropped out of thin air his latest project, a record like nothing else he’s released. DAMN. is aggressive, dark, muddled and personal, rough around the edges in an incredibly fitting and artful way. This record offers curveballs at every corner, from a U2 feature to outright pop rap tracks, near vicious vocal delivery and the ever presence of “NEW KUNG FU KENNY!”

While it isn’t the grand statement To Pimp a Butterfly is, I don’t think it set out to be. DAMN is a record that’s surprising and brilliant. LISTEN

BEST TRACK - XXX

7 ALT J - RELAXER

Relaxer is the much anticipated third album from ALT J, who have continued to prove to me why they are one of my all time favourite bands. Despite it being their most sporadic and genre hopping record, it is an album that twists and turns in such creative and unpredictable ways. 

It offers everything you want from ALT J, a set of artful, weird, haunting, beautiful, pretentious and poetic songs that stick in your head. Also 3WW is one of the best songs ALT J has ever made, it’s brilliant. RELAXER is ESSENTIAL listening for 2017, preferably live. Listen HERE

BEST TRACK - 3WW

6 PRINCESS NOKIA - 1992 DELUXE

The past few years have seen a resurgence in Independent and strong female artists being recognised for producing amazing RnB, Hip Hop and Soul music. Artists like SZA, Kali Uchis, Tommy Genesis and Anna Wise have been able to break into the mainstream from underground success. 

Though all of these women are FANTASTIC, for me the artist and album that has best embodied this badass feminine, strong willed approach to music is Princess Nokia on 1992 DELUXE. This album is varied collection of new and old hip hop staples, from lofi hip hop to trap, all created with a clear underground flair, and a strong sense of confidence and humour. Princess Nokia deserves all her success and more. Truly Badass Divine Energy.

check it HERE.

BEST TRACK - ABC’S OF NEW YORK

TOP 5 These albums are my five favourite albums of 2017, with number 1 being my favourite release of 2017.

5 IGL☉☉GHOST - NEŌ WAX BLOOM

The only truly electronic record in this list, Neō Wax Bloom is the best thing to come out of the genre this year. IGLOOGHOST delivers 40 something minutes of pure high energy breakbeat style dance music, soaked in sugar and mystique. Each song is incredibly dense and colourful, bringing elements of free Jazz, UK Garage, PC Music, IDM, Techno and rave together into a neat and well crafted package of music . 

Complimented by equally stellar artwork and a surreal astrological backstory, Neō Wax Bloom is truly truly unique. LISTEN.

BEST TRACK - SUPER INK BURST

4 TYLER, THE CREATOR - FLOWER BOY

Tyler has been one of the most unique artists in mainstream hip hop for a long time, with a loyal fanbase ever since the creation of OFWGKTA. He is also someone who as a person I have a great deal of respect for, because of his proud sense of self and creative motivation. Despite this, he hasn’t always been a good musician in my opinion, even looking past some EXTREMELY questionable lyrics over the years. 

However, With Flower Boy, he’s proved himself to be someone truly special, something he’s had potential to be since day one. Flower Boy is his most thoughtful, mature, introspective and creative album to date. Tyler plays to his strengths, and offers a near perfect hip hop/RnB album, chocked full of fantastic features. Another ESSENTIAL 2017 listen.  Check IT

BEST TRACK - BOREDOM

3 REX ORANGE COUNTY - APRICOT PRINCESS

Off the back of his stellar features on Flower Boy, I decided to listen to Rex Orange County’s Debut studio album, and somehow its pure charm and musical talent made it just surpass Flower Boy in my favourites list! To quote a FADER interview tagline “Rex Orange County Is Teenage Joy Personified” And he truly is. Apricot princess effortlessly blends RnB, Jazz, London Rap and Lo-Fi rock across 10 tracks of bittersweet bliss. One of the best new artists out there. Listen HERE

BEST TRACK - TELEVISION/SO FAR SO GOOD

2 BROCKHAMPTON - SATURATION TRILOGY

These 3 albums share the number 2 spot, as some of the best hip hop of 2017. Brockhampton is a LA based 17 member Boyband (and yes, they are a boyband) creating music 100% themselves, and it is lyrically better and better produced than 90% of mainstream Hip hop from 2017. 

If that doesn’t convince you, it’s also extremely diverse and fun to listen to. I hope this is the start of more AMAZING independent Rap, music and ART, breaking the mainstream. Do yourself a favour and don’t sleep on this fire! 🔥

BEST TRACK(S) - SWEET, STAR, 

1 KING KRULE - THE OOZ

The OOZ is my favourite record to come out in 2017. Which is a big surprise to me. I only heard of King Krule a day after this album came out, and I decided to listen to it off the back of the fantastic singles. And it blew me away. its so unique in its approach and sound, combining Post Punk, Jazz, lo fi Rock, Ambient music, Trip Hop and outright Crooner vocal delivery (Its almost like someone told Archy some of my favourite genres and this was the outcome). The OOZ was made for me.

 Further than his though, This record has a haunting and poetic beauty to it, flowing almost like slime, with its constant woeful and meandering sound, twisting and turning between styles, and combinations of emotionally potent and nonsensical lyrics. This album sounds like its cover, it sounds like the colour blue, it smells like cigarettes and saltwater. it’s a midnight masterpiece, and my favourite album from 2017. LISTEN

BEST TRACK - SLUSH PUPPY

[diamonddeposits]

BEST TRACKS OF 2017-ARTISTS LIST #12

WOOZLES

Emotional rock as bright as a votive candle.  Woozles is the avatar of Connecticut's very own  Conor Ryan and in his sound he perfectly captures the essence of relationships between friends and lovers, the restlessness of days both good and bad and the enduring spirit to carry on even when life keeps giving you the hits. His Wasted Nights LP was released earlier this year via the venerable Z Tapes . In 2017 he will be gifting us more music. Here is his list with some thoughts on his favorite artists that did not make the cut!

2017 has been an awful year in general, but an incredible year for music. If I were to have not given myself limits on this end of the year list it would have included Tyler the Creator, Paramore, Khalid, Lorde, Deerhoof, Japanese Breakfast, Fleet Foxes, Grizzly Bear, Phoenix, Big Thief, and so many others. However, I wanted to try to focus on some "lesser known" bands that in my opinion might not have gotten the exposure they deserved this year. For anyone that just wants to listen instead of reading my rambling, here's a Spotify playlist of all the songs on this list that are available on Spotify. I hope you find some new hidden gems with this list and if you can be sure to support these artists! They need you! 

01. Rose by Sam Nazz I can't pinpoint in words exactly what makes this song so magical. Sam's vocals are absolutely incredible and the melody melts my heart. The lyrics are still cryptic to me, but somehow still hold a lot of meaning. For whatever reason, listening to this song has helped calm me down on multiple occasions this year and has helped me through a lot. 

02. Dark Red by Steve Lacy Wow this song is....amazing. The lyrics on this song hit hard for me and talk about dealing with anxiety in relationships, "What if she's fine / It's my mind that wrong." Steve's vocals are executed so well and I love the way the arrangement flows. There's a whole lot of amazing ideas packed into this three minute long song. This is going to be a bop for years to come. 

03. Lake by Flossy Clouds First of all, I want to say that this entire album is amazing. As a whole, it lives in a very special sonic world all on its own that I love to revisit, especially when I need to step back from the things running through my mind. This song in particular is a highlight that blends a borderline trap drumbeat with cycling acoustic guitars and emotional auto-harmonized vocals. Lyrically, like the last song, it touches on anxiety in relationships, but ends on a hopeful note, "But I remember when we're on the road / It doesn't matter where we go"

04. Footscray Station by Camp Cope Everything about this song is so special. The way this song unfolds rips my heart apart and makes me feel some kind of hard to pinpoint nostalgia. The lyrics are packed with such specific imagery that by the end of the song I feel like I've just finished reading someone's diary. Not to mention that the vocal delivery is so packed with emotion that it's hard to not hear this song without having tears in my eyes. 

05. Fault by Alex Napping Welcome to the heartbreak song with one of the best choruses of the year. It's a reflective song about feelings of guilt and blame in a relationship. The song builds a musical atmosphere that's painful and cathartic all at once. Not to mention, Alex's vocals are soaring on on this track, which elevates it to a whole other level. 

06. Makin' Excuses by Mister Heavenly Here's another song where it was hard for me to pick just one song from an album. Mister Heavenly is an indie supergroup composed of Honus Honus (the front person of Man Man), Nick Thorburn (the front person of Islands), and Joe Plummer (the drummer of The Shins). This song is a bop through and through. It has an infectious groove that bursts into pure sonic fun during the impossible-to-not-sing-along-to chorus. Lyrically it's about the hesitation that can come with starting a relationship. That feeling of not wanting to open yourself up completely and just be yourself with another person. On top of all this, the video is weirdly endearing and super creative. 

07. The Bus Song by Jay Som I can't say enough about how much I love this song and how much it means to me. The production on it is absolutely perfect, which is even more impressive when you consider that Melina Duterte wrote and recorded the whole album almost entirely by herself. The song is impeccably arranged and unfolds so perfectly. It's easily one of my favorite songs lyrically that I've heard in a long time, "Take time to figure it out / I'll be the one that sticks around" hits me so hard every single time I hear it. I've cried to this song more times than I'd like to admit, but it's also helped calm me down more times than I can count and I'm just so thankful that it exists. Also the music video might possibly be the most uplifting music video ever created. 

08. Divinity by Jelani Sei Before I go on, you all should buy this EP immediately. Trust me, it's so worth it. The first time I saw this band live I was absolutely blown away. I'd never listened to their recorded material before, but I was absolutely floored by their performance and immediately fell in love with their sound. Listening to this song on headphones is such a special experience. The production is just so creative and well executed. The actual arrangement is so groovy with so many moving parts, but that all fit together into a cohesive whole. I love this band with all my heart and can't wait for them to become huge because they truly deserve it. 

09. Gone by Queen Moo A staple of the Connecticut music scene, I've seen this band play live more than anyone else. On their sophomore album, Mean Well, they capture their own special brand of punk that twists and turns with an almost infinite amount of catchy hooks packed in. "Gone" is a highlight for me because it ebbs, flows, and builds so effortlessly both musically and lyrically. If you want a truly unique experience, treat yourself and dig into to this whole album. I promise it's worth it.

  10. Bronxville (Gasoline Fantasy) by False Priest Holy shit. This song should be a an alternative rock hit immediately. This should be blasting as you're flying down a desert highway with the setting sun as a backdrop. I'm gonna admit that I've listened to this song 10+ times in a row because it's so damn catchy. Everything is mixed perfectly with each instrument having just the right amount of punch. The lyrics deal with feelings of restlessness and that creeping feeling we all sometimes have of wanting to leave a situation, whether physically or emotionally, "A full tank of gasoline / Is really all you could need."

12. Interstate Vision by Lomelda The lyrics to this song capture something special that a lot of artists try and fail to bottle in a song. The chorus is simple, but with Hannah's vocal delivery it becomes extremely powerful, "Can you feel me now? Do you know me yet?" I feel a whole lot of random nostalgia while listening to this one. It's a magical song. 

13. Fit to Be Found by Harvey Trisdale This song is really special to me. It's the first single from my friend Jeremy's new band, who you might know as one of the songwriters in the band Furnsss (and his can't miss hit "Where Did My Pets Go?). We've been friends since 4th grade and he's one of the most talented musicians I know. Fit to Be Found is just ridiculously catchy and the dynamic builds throughout the song are perfect. Keep an eye out for the full album next year because it's going to blow you away. 

14. Jacuzzi by Cheem Bop bop bop bop this is a major bop. Cheem's sophomore LP, "Downhill," is definitely one of my favorite albums of the year. Short songs packed to the brim with an incredible amount of extremely well-executed musical ideas. The chorus of "Jacuzzi" is catchy as hell, there's an awesome musical breakdown, the two vocalists (Sam and Skye) have some amazing vocal interplay, and the production is spotless. Lyrically it hits hard because it touches on dealing with mental health while trying to maintain a relationship, "You don't even know, the pressure that keeps me so low / Hold me close, I'll float away if you let me go." 

15. Anywhere by Fuvk This song is from an album that's technically two EPs put together in one. These collections of songs are both heartbreaking. The production, especially when listened to on headphones, is all encompassing. Everything feels so close and painful words pour out over gently plucked guitars and instruments that pop in and out in these beautiful arrangements. "Anywhere" is the opener and it immediately sucks you in. It's best experienced while lying on your bed staring at the ceiling. 

16. Need to Feel Your Love by Sheer Mag How can you listen to this song without grooving to it? I love everything about this song. Hooky guitar parts, powerful vocal delivery, a sweet bass groove, and "toasty" production to tie it all together. I love the lyrics for this song because they talk about wanting, as the song title says, to actually feel the love of someone else they're interested in. Both of the people in the song have been hesitant about opening up to the possibility of truly loving again, "I've been holding back so much / But at what cost?" In the end though, the chorus rings out as a proclamation of being willing to try again after all. It's a triumphant and dangerously catchy song that stays on repeat every time I put it on. 

17. On Top by Hoops Is this a perfect dream pop song? Hell yeah it is. There's a real warmth to this production that brings the instrumental arrangement to the next level. First of all, "On Top" is ridiculously catchy, which as you can tell by now is something that I'm a sucker for. The real reason I love this song though is the lyrics because the chorus is essentially cheering you on through those hard days, "Keep your head up, you're doing fine / I know it's hard but you'll be alright." This sounds wildly cheesy, but when I'm having a bad day and I put this song on it really does help me to push through. Thanks, Hoops, for rooting for me.

[anothersievefistedfind]

Photo © LasVegas360.com, taken July 6, 2013

Fugazi, Huntridge Theater, Las Vegas, NV USA 3/05/99 (FLS #0904)

The Huntridge Theater in Las Vegas, Nevada is another venue to be added to the list of remarkable places Fugazi played over the years.

In fact, Fugazi played Las Vegas only two times, once in 1993 and then again as part of the 1999 West Coast tour, with both shows taking place at the 1000 cap Huntridge, also known as the Huntridge Performing Arts Theater, reportedly “a Streamline Moderne building located in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Huntridge opened October 10, 1944. The theater is said to have been the first non-segregated theater in Las Vegas. The building was designed by S. Charles Lee and is listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places. The Huntridge Theater closed on July 31, 2004.”

According to Las Vegas Weekly, on July 28, 1995, 

“[j]ust hours before the Circle Jerks are to play, the roof of the building collapses. Although a few employees were inside, there were no serious injuries. Despite this, the Circle Jerks contributed one of the most cherished memories to the Huntridge folklore when they play to a group of onlookers still hanging around. As lead singer Keith Morris would relate years later: ‘As soon as we got there, we were told that the roof had collapsed and the show was canceled. We didn’t have anywhere else to go, so we just set up our equipment in the parking lot and played for the 30 or 40 people who were still there.’ The result was an impromptu mosh pit that showed endlessly gyrating kids thrashing frantically on the outdoor pavement.”

Footage related to the event can be found here.

As to the Fugazi recording presented here, let me cut right to it. While this show is a fucking rush for the most part, there are a couple of reasons curbing the experience for me personally.

First off, Birthday Pony is one of few songs I never managed to get into. To see it pop up in any set list, and here even as set opener, kind of puts me off.

Also, while I love the song Instrument, and I think it actually can serve as a most suitable set closer because of its ominous build-up and cathartic qualities, it doesn’t quite pack the necessary punch this time, and leaves me a bit hanging.

Further, while the sound quality of the recording basically is top-notch in my book, the vocals and instrumentation crisp, clear and overall well-balanced, the mix only settles about a minute and a half into Cassavetes, which leaves the introductory remarks and first two songs somewhat flawed. Plus, later on in the set, most of the Arpeggiator instrumental is missing.

As such, I consider this particular recording really good, but not truly great. Also, as unfortunately is the case with the other 1999 recordings I have been listening to, the audience is hardly discernible other than in-between songs, which I generally consider a significant drawback compared to early Fugazi live recordings.

Still, aside from all of the above, this recording still offers a lot to enjoy once Break takes off. The band is firing on all cylinders, and delivers a flawless execution from beginning to end (note that Ian’s guitar play is off going into Waiting Room, but he recovers gracefully).

The order of the songs works really well in my opinion, at least as far as the main set is concerned. I feel the sense of direction falters somewhat after this, while the songs are still performed to a T in their own right.

Counting a total of 28 songs, this is one of the longest gigs of the 1999 West Coast leg of the tour, topped only by the stellar DV8 show in Seattle (29 songs). 

Enclosed here are songs taken off of Furniture EP (1), End Hits (9), Red Medicine (6), In on the Kill Taker (4), Steady Diet of Nothing (3), Repeater (3), Margin Walker (1) and 7 Songs (1). This includes, by 1999 standards, rare-ish live renderings of Caustic Acrostic, Lockdown, or Downed City.

The set list:

1. Intro 2. Birthday Pony 3. Cassavetes 4. Interlude 1 5. Break 6. Place Position 7. Interlude 2 8. Reclamation 9. Do You Like Me 10. Facet Squared 11. Caustic Acrostic 12. Interlude 3 13. Closed Captioned 14. Lockdown 15. Interlude 4 16. Waiting Room 17. Recap Modotti 18. Last Chance for a Slow Dance 19. Shut the Door 20. Turnover 21. Long Division 22. Target 23. Encore 1 24. Arpeggiator 25. By You 26. Interlude 5 27. Back to Base 28. Downed City 29. Interlude 6 30. Stacks 31. FD 32. Merchandise 33. Interlude 7 34. Number 5 35. Five Corporations 36. Fell, Destroyed 37. Instrument

[usgunn]

October 20, 2019

CLICK HERE for the October 20, 2019 playlist

I’ve been bad about annotating the playlist recently.  It takes a bit of time, which is not something I always have.  But, luckily, this week I managed.

1. Faust - “Jennifer” (1973)

From their fourth record, aptly titled Faust IV.  One of the great German krautrock purveyors.  Maybe their most “pop” moment?  Which, I mean, still isn’t very pop.  

2. Barbara Howard - “I Don’t Want Your Love” (1969)

Forgotten soul singer from Cincinatti, married to long-time Cincinatti civic leader Steve Reece.  This non-album single, along with a contemporaneous album, On the Rise, were recently reissued by Ohio label Colemine Records.

3. Funkadelic - “Standing on the Verge of Getting it On (Single Edit)” (1974)

I’m sure Mr. Clinton needs no introduction.  This is from the album of the same name, probably my favorite all around Funkadelic collection.  Luckily found a single edit so we don’t have to hear him ask someone to pee on him for the first minute of the song...

4. Black Eyes - “Deformative” (2003)

DC post-everything band with two drummers, two bassists, and one wild guitar player.  We saw this band open for Q And Not U at the Caledonia and it was awesome.  They imploded after their second album and that was it.

5. Fog - “Inflatable Ape, Pt. 3” (2007)

Andrew Broder is a Minneapolis dude who has never settled on a genre, which is probably a large part of why no one really knows who he is.  After a couple of murky lo-fi records he landed on Lex Records, an experimental hip-hop subsidiary of Warp Records, but his second record for them was, essentially, an indie-rock record.  This song comes from that album, Ditherer, one of the smartest, quirkiest albums of the early 2000′s.

6. The Mauskovic Dance Band - “Same Heads” (2019)

Wacky, genre-hopping band led by a Dutch drummer.  On Soundway Records.  Recent discovery, but I’m intrigued.

7. Jef Gilson - “Choro in Blue” (c. 1960?)

Gilson was a French jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, and unfortunately there’s not that much out there to read about him.  This song might be from 1960 and might have been featured in Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless?  Or possibly neither of those things are true.

8. Disconnection - “Bali Ha’i (Radio Mix)” (1982)

Weird, no-wavey take on a song from South Pacific.  Like, the Broadway musical.  Targeting a pretty specific market.  This came out on Y Records, the same label that put out the Tesco Bombers track from a few weeks ago.

9. Peggy Gou - “It Makes You Forget (Itgehane) - Edit” (2018)

South Korean-born, Berlin-based DJ and producer.  I first heard about her when she put out a DJ-Kicks mix earlier this year.  Her own catalog is fairly sparse, but this song in particular is a lot of fun.

10. Parsley Sound - “Spring’s Near” (2003)

UK band that released one album, the creatively named Parsley Sounds, and then disappeared.  I had never heard of them until Mac McCaughaun from Superchunk randomly tweeted about them the other day.  Weird, dreamy psych-pop that wouldn’t sound out of place next to Olivia Tremor Control--although this track is a little more electro and instrumental.

11. Tages - “One Day” (1967)

Before her passing in 2011 the legendary Trish Keenan from Broadcast created a mix, Trish’s Mind Bending Motorway Mix, full of obscure 60′s psych tracks that I, for one, had never heard.  Among them was a track by the Swedish band Tages, "You’re Too Incomprehensible.”  This is another track from the same album, Contrast.

12. Robert Lester Folsom - “Biding My Time” (1976)

Folsom was a South Georgia boy who grew up in Adel, Georgia, the county seat of Cook County, halfway between Moultrie and Valdosta.  He managed to get into home recording with a tape deck he bought from Sears, and after several years making home recordings, he made one full length record, Music and Dreams, at Lefevre Studios in Atlanta (which was on Ellsworth Industrial just down from Bone Garden Cantina).  Folsom serendipitously grew up next door in Adel to Don Fleming, who would go on to play guitar in Gumball and produce at least one stone-cold classic (Teenage Fanclub’s Bandwagonesque)--Folsom produced a record for Fleming’s first band, The Stroke Band, at Lefevre in 1978.

13. Eric Matthews - “Fried Out Broken Girl” (1995)

Matthews was (at least at the time) a Boston-based composer, arranger, and songwriter who had made a splash in the band Cardinal with Richard Davies from the Moles.  This is from his first solo album, which came out on Sub Pop as grunge was fading, and featured significant contributions from another 90′s pop auteur, Jason Falkner of Jellyfish and later of Beck’s band.

14. John Foxx - “Europe After the Rain” (1981)

Opening track from Foxx’s second solo album, The Garden.  Foxx previously fronted a pre-fame (or at least, pre-financial success) Ultravox.  His solo records are interesting, dramatic takes on new wave.  He’s most recently been collaborating with some of the Ghost Box Records crew.

15. Turning Shrines - “1/4 Circle Black” (1985)

Primarily the project of Boston-based Fred Giannelli, there must be a story here I don’t know.  This comes from his first EP, produced by Genesis P-Orridge of Throbbing Gristle, but the band otherwise didn’t do much else (they put out one album in 1988, which I randomly found at a record store in Charlotte a few years back, but that album is mostly atonal, strung-together pieces).

16. Julia Holter - “Sea Calls Me Home” (2015)

I feel a bit embarassed that I just don’t really get most of Julia Holter’s work, which is fiercely adventurous and avant-garde, but not exactly in a way that pulls me in.  So it’s more embarassing that my favorite work of hers is her 2015 album Have You In My Wilderness, her most direct set of songs by a country-mile, of which this song is an obvious highlight.

17. The Week That Was - “The Airport Line” (2008)

Well, I managed to get to Week 13 before putting any actual music from Field Music’s Brewis Brothers on the playlist (the Slug song from a couple weeks back, produced by them, doesn’t count).  While on a break between Field Music albums two and three, older brother Peter Brewis put out a record under the name and title The Week That Was, and it remains a highlight of the Brewis’s catalog.  Big, bold music in the vein of Japan or Kate Bush and laden with wonderful string and horn arrangements.  This track is a highlight, with a truly mesmerizing drum beat that I get lost in every time.

[thisisheavynews]

ROMEO AND JULIET Featuring Indie Rock Band The Family Crest

The Family Crest, The Den Theatre and Jacaranda Collective are happy to current the Chicago premiere of ROMEO AND JULIET: A Spectacular Retelling of The World’s Greatest Love Story, Shakespeare’s timeless story cinematically reimagined utilizing stay music carried out by indie rock darlings and NPR music favorites The Family Crest, whose distinctive and sweeping orchestral sound completely scores essentially the most well-known love story ever advised.

The solid consists of Alex Quiñones (Romeo), Halie Robinson (Juliet), Bailey Savage (Benvolio), Kade Cox(Mercutio), Dan Lin (Tybalt), Susan Fay (Nurse), Jess Ford (Friar Laurence), Terence Sims (Capulet), Ashlea Woodley (Lady Capulet), Gaby Labotka (Prince), Julie Brannen (Dancer), De’jah Jervai (Lady Montague, Dancer), Michael Gee (Montague, Dancer) and Manisha Mahaldar (Dancer).

Directed by Sam Bianchini with choreography by Julie Brannen, this progressive mixture of actors, dancers and stay music by The Family Crest will play a restricted three-show engagement from November 7 – 9, 2019 on The Den Theatre’s Heath Main Stage, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are at the moment accessible at www.thedentheatre.com, in particular person on the The Den field workplace or by calling (773) 697-3830.

Somewhere between a rock live performance and a basic Shakespearean play, ROMEO AND JULIET finds new life by enigmatic staging, partaking choreography and an emotionally expressive soundtrack. Treated as get together friends, the viewers is dropped into the center of this sensational epic in an immersive evening that seems like a music video come to life.

The night options favourite hits from The Family Crest, (a few of which may be heard of their iconic Tiny Desk live performance), mixed with never-before-heard tracks from their upcoming album, The War: Act II, which debuts in 2020. The grandiose, symphonic sounds of those classically educated musicians gives the inspiring soundtrack to the acquainted story and paints the image prefer it’s by no means been seen earlier than.

The collaboration between The Family Crest, The Den Theatre and Jacaranda Collective creates an excellent recipe for a particular occasion. They welcome you to hitch this unforgettable expertise.

Pictured: Kade Cox (Mercutio) in a publicity picture for The Family Crest, The Den Theatre and Jacaranda Collective’s world premiere of ROMEO AND JULIET: A Spectacular Retelling of The World’s Greatest Love Story. of Photo by Audrey Palumbo.

The manufacturing staff up to now consists of Emily Smith (scenic design), Alon Slotter (lighting design), Gaby Labotka (battle choreography) and Amanda Jean Grissom (stage supervisor).

PRODUCTION DETAILS:

Dates: Thursday, November 7, Friday, November eight and Saturday, November 9

Times: Doors open at 9 pm; present at 10pm

Tickets: $33. A restricted variety of VIP tickets can be found for $60 (VIP Tickets embrace premium mezzanine desk seats, a digital album of The Family Crest music from the present, together with three new tracks off the not-yet-released TheWar Part II, and a signed collectible poster). Tickets are at the moment accessible at www.thedentheatre.com, in particular person on the The Den field workplace or by calling (773) 697-3830.

Pictured: (left to proper) Ashlea Woodley (Lady Capulet) and Terence Sims (Capulet) in a publicity picture for The Family Crest, The Den Theatre and Jacaranda Collective’s world premiere of ROMEO AND JULIET: A Spectacular

About The Artists

The Family Crest (Music) The brainchild of composer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Liam McCormick, orchestral indie rock band The Family Crest was began as a recording undertaking in 2009 with co-founder John Seeterlin (bass) as a last launch earlier than bowing out of the business. Instead of leaving music, they had been impressed by their friends to got down to reinvent how a band could possibly be created, beginning The Family Crest with an audacious and daring imaginative and prescient of cultivating a musical group. “We always liked making music with people – getting a bunch of people together and singing. So we put ads everywhere,” says McCormick. “We posted on Craigslist, distributed flyers, and emailed old friends from school.” The consequence was higher than the unique duo imagined, with over 80 folks credited on their first recording and over 500 musicians credited all through their catalog.

Beyond the core band of McCormick and Seeterlin, Anthony Franceschi (drums), Laura Bergmann (flute, piano, percussion, vocals), Owen Sutter (violin) and George Samaan (trombone), over 500 “Extended Family” members take part on recordings, stay reveals and throughout the creative spectrum. Known for his or her jaw-dropping stay performances, The Family Crest has toured extensively domestically and internationally, garnering the assist of followers and the press alike. Bob Boilen of NPR’s “All Songs Considered” mentioned of The Family Crest, “Seeing is believing. Liam McCormick is a knockout singer, you simply must hear him live… There’s a decent chance you’re about to discover your favorite new band.”

The Family Crest has launched three full-length albums and three EPs, together with their critically-acclaimed breakout Beneath the Brine, which SPIN journal known as, “…a masterfully arranged epic… sharp strings, galloping percussion, and an ambition wide enough to swallow you whole.” Most lately, the band has been releasing items of their present musical idea album collection, The War. “The War represents the next version of The Family Crest,” says McCormick, and certainly, the album reveals a band extra in tune with its personal large-scale Baroque eclecticism. Jim Vorel of Paste Magazine described their first providing, The War: Prelude to War, as “A sound so big, it feels like it could collapse in on itself at any moment to form a black hole… One thing is certain: These guys are just as explosive as ever, and these songs are going to bring the house down in a live setting.” The War: Act I, the second installment within the idea collection led to comparable sentiments as EARMILK said, “The Family Crest deliver complex arrangements with such confidence that each varying sound produced is done with effortless intent and is never perceived as an afterthought… a stunning explosion of color and emotion and just another reason why I’m continually captivated by this group.” They are at the moment slated to launch the following chapter within the collection, The War: Act II in 2020.

Sam Bianchini (Director) is a director, actress, author and producer who has labored in LA, NYC and Chicago on each the stage and display. She started her skilled profession within the storefront Chicago theatre scene at 17, whereas acquiring her BFA in Acting from Roosevelt University’s CCPA, which formed her creative voice and provocative, clever and heartrending fashion. She went on to obtain her MFA in Acting from UCLA. Since then, Sam has been writing, appearing and producing immersive and awe-inspiring items of theatre and movie. A meticulous eye, consideration to rhythm, and musicality of emotion are essential staples of her distinctive route. Recently relocating residence to Chicago, Bianchini’s achieved voice and daring imaginative and prescient carry recent concepts and electrifying storytelling to the Chicago Theatre scene. Select West Coast credit: Romeo and Juliet (LA and SF), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Cherry Orchard, Down within the Face of God and Talking Blues (director). Select Chicago Credits: An Ideal Husband, Crumbs from the Table of Joy, The Nebraska Project, My Name is Rachel Corrie (director) and Mad Like Us (director). TV/Film: Chicago Fire, The Next Big Thing (movie), Lost Angeles (author). www.sambianchini.com

Pictured: Dan Lin (Tybalt) in a publicity picture for The Family Crest, The Den Theatre and Jacaranda Collective’s world premiere of ROMEO AND JULIET: A Spectacular Retelling of The World’s Greatest Love Story. of Photo by Audrey Palumbo.

About The Companies

Artistic Director Ryan Martin opened The Den Theatre in 2010 with a single theatre area. Seven years later, The Den boasts 5 intimate and distinctive theaters on two flooring starting from 50 – 200 seats, in addition to two further areas primarily used for courses and rehearsals. The Den can be outfitted with two bars enveloped by a endless discipline of lounge area for audiences and like-minded tradition hounds to drink, speak, learn, watch, assume, pay attention and stay. The Den is residence to 5 resident theatre firms together with First Floor Theater, Haven Theatre Company, The New Colony, Broken Nose Theatre and Firebrand Theatre. Hundreds of different firms from Chicago and past have additionally known as The Den residence, using its theaters, studio area and simply convertible cabaret area to accommodate a stream of programming, together with performs, musicals, movie screenings, classical and jazz performances, dance, improv and stand-up, seminars and talking engagements. For further data, go to www.thedentheatre.com.

Jacaranda Collective is a multi-media manufacturing firm shaped upon the precept of making artwork to discover each the battle and the great thing about existence, with out claiming one Truth. Just because the Moon isn’t seen in full, we acknowledge and rejoice all phases of Life, whereas permitting the viewers a secure area to navigate their very own private panorama. At Jacaranda, we aspire to encourage your perception in magic, and your potential to create it.

Jacaranda Collective burst onto the Chicago theatre scene earlier this spring with their knockout manufacturing of My Name is Rachel Corrie, produced at The Den Theatre. The firm arrives as a passionate and provocative addition to Chicago’s storefront phases. Spearheaded by creative director Sam Bianchini and affiliate creative director Halie Robinson, Jacaranda combines huge, energetic imaginative and prescient and placing storytelling with precision and care. Bianchini and Robinson got down to make theatre that could be a present to the viewers. For further data, go to www.jacarandacollective.com.

Pictured: Bailey Savage (Benvolio) in a publicity picture for The Family Crest, The Den Theatre and Jacaranda Collective’s world premiere of ROMEO AND JULIET: A Spectacular Retelling of The World’s Greatest Love Story. of Photo by Audrey Palumbo.

from Heavy News https://thisisheavynews.com/romeo-and-juliet-featuring-indie-rock-band-the-family-crest/

[swimintothesound]

Heartache, Optimism, and Pop-Punk: How The Upsides Changed My Outlook On Life

The best creations are born of pain. A sad consolation prize for the inflicted, the result of life experience and raw suffering. As listeners, we judge music based on how much life and “realness” bleed through it, but we also don’t experience anything in a vacuum. Art is tainted by our own memories and experiences. It’s the reason that two nearly-identical albums can feel so different. It’s the reason you enjoy A while I prefer B. Memory is where it all comes into play, and it’s what we add to art as humans. In experiencing art we inject a bit of our own story in the listening process and add on to the creation in whatever way we can.

This is how our tastes, perspectives, and very personalities are formed: through interaction with both art and the world around us. While a positive experience, association, or context can improve our perception of an album, the inverse can also ruin something that’s otherwise objectively good. Think about any album, movie, or TV show that you used to recover from a breakup. Hell, think about a restaurant that once gave you food poisoning. Whether it’s well-founded or not, there’s probably a negative association and personal bias at play skewing your opinion.

I’m of the school of thought that traditionally “great” music starts as something you don’t necessarily love on the first listen, but becomes better over time. Music with depth and complexity that reveals itself with each subsequent spin. Challenging its consumer to be better. Most of my favorite albums were records that I didn’t think much of (or simply didn’t like) upon first listen, but gradually kept burrowing their way further into my brain.

And while memories often retroactively color our impressions of art, sometimes there are also individual works that are able to overcome our own mental hang-ups. Art that’s so strong it’s able to break through our negative associations and emerge from the other side, still enjoyable.

This combination of growth over time and overcoming an uphill battle of negative associations is one of the reasons that The Wonder Years’ second album The Upsides is one of my favorite records of all time.

From a South Philly Basement

Before I get into weird personal history: some quick background info on the band. Founded in 2005, The Wonder Years are a pop-punk act from Lansdale, Pennsylvania. Following two years of singles, split and EPs the band released their debut album Get Stoked on It! In 2007. Taking queues from the early 2000’s easycore scene, the band’s first record was a keyboard-heavy form of biting pop-punk. Get Stoked is problematic, but also very symptomatic of the year it was made. It’s not a bad record, but it bears very few resemblances to the rest of the band’s work and has been retconned by the band for good reason.

The biggest point against Get Stoked on It! Is that most of the songs were written about generic late-2000’s pop cultural buzzwords. You got a track about a ninja, one about a cowboy, one about zombies, and much more! This is in direct conflict with the band’s later hyper-earnest heart-on-sleeve meditations that pulled from real life experiences and heartfelt emotions (as opposed to funny songs about astronauts). There are still some tracks like "Racing Trains" and "When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong" that foreshadow some of the band’s future stylistic leanings, but as a whole, the record is much more underdeveloped and juvenile than their later work.

The band would later go on to “decanonize” this release, publicly stating their distaste for it both in interviews and even referencing it in future songs. When a remastered version of the album came out in 2012, lead singer Daniel Campbell said “If you like the record, enjoy the new mixes. If you hate the record, I’m on your side” which is something I’ve seen very few bands do.

Within two years of their first album, original member and keyboardist Mikey Kelly left the band. His departure essentially represented a “soft reboot” for the band which allowed the remaining members to pivot the group’s sound and take their next album into a more “honest” direction. A year after Kelly’s departure the band released their sophomore album The Upsides in 2010, and my life would change forever.

B-rate Version of Me

In 2011 I went through a horrible breakup. It was my first real relationship, and it hit me as hard as you could imagine a 17-year-old being hit. I’d recently got my driver’s license, started my first job, and I was embarking on my final year of high school, so overall it was a turbulent time of change for me. One night midway through February I was spurred to purchase a digital copy of The Upsides on a whim based on a Tweet made by Amazon Music. This is something I never do, but I had just gotten off a shift at my job and wanted to fill the void with blind consumerism. The album was on sale for $5, so even for a cheap 17-year-old, there’s not much to lose at that price. I can’t even remember if I even previewed the album, but for whatever reason, that tweet was well-crafted enough to spur me into a purchase right then and there. I was in the mood for something new.

I downloaded the album, loaded it onto my iPod, hit play, and sunk into it.

I don’t know how well I’ll be able to articulate the particular brand of slacker malaise I was engaging in at this time, but most waking hours that weren’t spent school were spent in my room playing video games listening to podcasts and music. I was pretty much distracting all my senses and escaping from reality as much as humanly possible without the use of drugs or alcohol. I wasn’t depressed, but I was in a state. Nothing really cheered me up, so it was more of an ongoing war of attrition with my own brain.

I credit The Upsides with single-handedly lifting me out of this post-dump funk and getting me back to feeling like myself. With years of reflection, I was being far more dramatic than I’m giving myself credit for, but I guess that’s kinda the point of being seventeen. It wasn’t the end of the world, but it felt like it… until this album came along.

A Pop-Punk Oddessy

Upsides begins with a bait and switch. Most pop-punk detractors dislike the genre for pretty specific (and valid) reasons. Maybe they don’t like the genre’s propensity for bitter lovesick lyrics, or they’re turned off by the whiny vocals, but in most cases, they probably have a cartoonishly-exaggerated version of the scene in their head. Thanks to the genre’s explosion in popularity during the mid-90’s, most people just think the music consists solely of whiny Blink 182-types when that’s not the case. While there certainly is no shortage of nasally lovesick songs, that sound isn’t representative of the entire genre.

For better or worse, Upsides begins with exactly what people would expect from the genre. Within the first seconds of the album’s opening track “My Last Semester” a nasally slightly-filtered Campbell sings over a twinkling electric guitar “I’m not sad anymore / I’m just tired of this place.” Within 15 seconds the singing ceases and the guitar strings sustain. An electric whir emerges from the back of the mix and quickly overwhelms the held guitar notes. Suddenly the entire song, album, and band spin to life, energizing the track with a cacophony of brash drum strikes, a biting guitar riff, and a driving bassline. Campbell, now singing at the top of his lung repeats the first lyrics with an angry vitriolic twist, and with that, Upsides has officially begun.

Those first lines of the album sound stereotypical (great, another white dude talking about how sad he is) but upon closer inspection, they’re actually a beautifully-constructed phrase that flips the listener’s expectations on their head by talking about the futility of those sad feelings. It’s a notion that’s devoid of nostalgia, firmly present, and anxiously self-aware. This specific idea of not letting sadness win is a recurring theme throughout the album that the band circles back to frequently. The mantra comes full-circle on the album’s star-studded closer and is even developed further on subsequent releases. But in this first song, the singer articulates this concept by listing all the reasons he could be sad, but then explains that he opted to find the silver lining in his situation: his music. Campbell would go on to address this later in an interview explaining:

“I thought that I had kind of beaten my issues, but when you struggle with depression or anxiety, you never really win. You always carry it with you and the point I learned isn’t to win. The point is to keep fighting. It turned out that ‘I’m not sad anymore’ wasn’t a victory speech. It was a battle cry.”

The opening line pulls double duty by acting as the album’s thesis statement while also serving as the band’s new mission statement. This represents a far tonal shift from what we last heard on Get Stoked. They’re not the same group of 18-year-olds who were singing about pirates and zombies three years ago. They elude to this with the meta line “college hit those dudes like a ton of bricks.” The band did a lot of growing up since we’ve last heard from them, and they are guided by a new creative north star.

Art Imitates Life

The foundation that the band began to flesh out with this record (and would expand upon over the course of a trilogy of albums) is a style of hyper-intricate, self-referential, and pop-culture-obsessed rock that depicts the good and bad sides of a life well-lived. Early on the band used the term “realist pop-punk” when describing the sound of their artistic rebirth. Call it what you want, but it’s still one one of the most refreshingly honest and true approaches to music I’ve ever heard, and it was an absolute revelation to me at seventeen.

There’s beauty in simplicity, and sometimes real life is more compelling than anything you could ever make up. TWY’s music doesn’t revolve around sweeping epics, chasing material goods, or even the other, it’s all music that’s firmly told from one perspective and all bears the insecurities and imperfections that come with it. The focus of the music varies from song to song, but this singular perspective allows for a cohesive vision that the listener can simultaneously empathize with, and project themselves onto.

Throughout The Upsides, singer Dan “Soupy” Campbell flexes his now-well honed writing ability, making it obvious he’d time between albums studying and working on his craft. One of the most under-appreciated aspects of his style is his acute ability to write minuscule details. Small observations and references that add a layer of specificity that makes the album feel more realized and lived-in. Each line adds onto the story that the listener is building in their head until an entire narrative is formed around the character. You’re fleshing out your own universe built on the language of the album and developing a one-of-a-kind relationship with its narrator.

Sometimes The Upsides tackles big psychological issues like post-college listlessness, relationship dynamics, and even death. At other times they zoom down to view life on a macro level and vignette the little scenes that happen in life like a broken down car or going on a midnight pretzel run to the stand behind your house. Sometimes it’s funny and biting social commentary on the Westboro Baptist Church or the shitty fist-pumping people you meet at parties. It’s an album that encapsulates the life of a post-college 20-something from every possible dimension.

To me, the quintessential song on the album is the Deluxe Edition’s penultimate track “Logan Circle: A New Hope.” The song is a stripped-down reworking of the album’s second track “Logan Circle” that echoes many of the original track’s sentiments but also serves as an incremental update on the life of Campbell. “A New Hope” is redone in a slower, more pensive approach that allows the lyrics and instrumentation to shine through and glisten to their full potential, highlighting both the brilliance of the lyrics and the proficiency of the band members.

The first verse of the original “Logan Circle” contains a lyric that hooked me for the rest of the album: “We just can't blame the seasons / The Blue Man Group won't cure depression.” The line resonated with me originally because it’s an obvious Arrested Development reference, but it also doubles as a bit of life advice about optimism and outlook. This all circles back to the cliched idea that this album is something I needed to hear at the time. I wasn’t hopeless, but I needed something hopeful. I needed to be told how to handle these feelings I’d never felt before. I needed to be told how to combat them and move on with my life, and that’s exactly what The Upsides did for me. It was musical therapy.

Emergence

Though I didn’t consider it at the time, I’ve only recently come to realize that pop-punk has been the genre that I’ve listened to for the longest in my life. It’s partly a byproduct of when I was growing up (thanks, mid-90’s) but also it just happened to be one of the first genres that I really explored. As a result, there was something comforting about sinking back into the genre after spending some time away from it. I feel like It’s cheesy to admit an album about not feeling sad helped me stop feeling sad, but Upsides was instrumental in my emergence from sadness in the wake of this first relationship.

It wasn’t just the optimistic messages, it’s that the songs found the optimistic messages in the face of everything else. Feelings of sadness are not invalid, but with enough distance, you realize that there’s no reason for them, there’s nothing to be gained from them, only energy wasted. It was a realistic portrayal of exactly how I was feeling then. And more on-the-nose, the album’s breakup song “Melrose Diner” served as both a validation of my feelings and a cautionary tale about becoming the shitty, bitter ex.

My love for The Upsides grew exponentially with each listen, and within a year it became my most listened-to album of all time, a title that it still retains to this day. In fact, my love for Upsides grew with each subsequent album that the band released as future songs would call back to lyrics contained within their earlier works. By fall of 2011, I’d begun my first term of college and the band had released their third album Suburbia I've Given You All and Now I'm Nothing.

The Upsides marked the beginning of a three album “trilogy” that depict the arc of Campbell’s struggles with anxiety and depression, and with the trilogy’s conclusion in 2013, the band cemented themselves as my favorite act of all time. With three releases that were all equally impeccable, I’ve now spent roughly 12 days of my life listening to the band’s various releases, a number I wouldn’t take back if you paid me.

At the end of the day, The Upsides is one of a handful of albums that changed my life, and there’s no higher praise I can hoist upon it than that. It’s a well-crafted and powerfully intricate release that rewards close listens and spawned its own mythology. It engages the listener in a way that few other pieces of art do. There are lots of albums in my life where I can point to a clearly-defined “before” and “after” period, but Upsides is an album that changed my entire way of being. It shifted my world one step towards a more positive existence, and I can’t thank the band enough for that. It’s a radical powerhouse of a record that I still listen to nearly every week, and I can’t fathom my life in a world without it. It’s a beautiful creation, and the world is a more beautiful place for it.

Thank you for everything, Upsides.

[albumtalks]

Review: Bearpark - What Goes On In Our Souffles

Artist: Bearpark Album: What Goes On In Our Souffles Release: Jul 14, 2017 (UK) / Jul 17, 2017 (International) Label: Independent Genre: Garage/Indie Rock Length: 42:20 Track Listing:

Household Appliances Are Of Poor Quality (2:19)

What Goes On (Inside Our Souffles) (5:20)

Various Colored Threads (3:15)

Choke Them Out With Virtues (2:21)

Helpin' My Uncle Like a Bastard (6:01)

Clever Librarian (feat. Tupac) (4:47)

Looking For Snacks (0:43)

NATO - No Action, Talk Only (8:26)

Exclamation of Disappointed Surprise (4:10)

Outbreak of Salmonella Every Five Minutes (6:08)

When talking about the new renaissance of Garage Rock-inspired Indie Pop, pioneer trio Bearpark is always one of the first names on anyone's lips, and that's why it shouldn't be surprising that their first full-length album in nearly 16 years has been a hot topic lately. After their constant streams of EPs and singles stopped in 2005 they hadn't been heard from, aside from a brief stint touring with Florence + The Machine and Garbage in 2013. Yet suddenly, fans got a tantalizing social media post announcing a tentative "July 2017" release date, it quickly hit "Trending Worldwide" on Twitter and was the talk of music media for weeks. But without a single word of update from the band or label fan enthusiasm quickly turned to confusion. Was the long-awaited new Bearpark album some kind of bizarre prank? Well, sixteen long months of waiting later, and we finally have an answer. But the question still hanging in the air is a big one: Is it worth the wait?

The answer is a resounding "ehh" sound, and utter befuddlement. Bearpark have chosen to eschew all labels and make something so vastly unlike their previous material that it's hard to even feel right calling it a Bearpark album at all. Especially confusing is how all the elements are present in spades (in particular the raspy, desperate yells of lead singer Brian Humphreys and the unhinged solos of guitarist Reynolds Johansson) but somehow it sounds like another band altogether composed these songs and Bearpark is simply covering them.

Household Appliances kicks the album off with a promising garage-rock riff that sounds like an outtake from Bearpark's debut album, and a vocal line that kicks off almost immediately with a direct delivery reminiscent of They Might Be Giants. But in its short 2-minute runtime it doesn't express much of an idea and sputters to a stop before going anywhere interesting, leading directly into the fast-paced drums that open title track What Goes On. Of course by now this song (and album's only single to date) has seen its fair share of radio play, and it isn't a bit surprising considering the generally infectious rhythm and some of the most coherent and memorable lyrics of the band's catalogue. The deviation from the band's less radio-friendly roots is actually welcome, although the addition of an (uncredited) keyboardist feels entirely forced.

The album lumbers on after that with three completely forgettable songs, the mid-tempo rocker Various Colored Threads and the slow, sappy acoustic duo of Choke Them Out With Virtues and Helpin' My Uncle Like a Bastard, which are so unnecessarily similar in tempo and composition that I was, on first listen, completely unaware they weren't a single, overlong track. Luckily the last minute of Helpin' picks up the tempo and adds some layered synths to liven things up, but it's much too little too late, not to mention completely out of place.

Clever Librarian (feat. Tupac) comes plodding in after as a solid example of the cover-band sound the band has taken for this album, with a composition that weaves back and forth between sounding like a folksy new Mumford & Sons track and a swaggering-but-forgettable Rolling Stones B-side. It's not a bad track but you'll probably find yourself reaching for a copy of Sticky Fingers to play instead. Showing the band's bizarre sense of humor, rapper Tupac is entirely absent from the track despite its name, but short interlude/skit Looking For Snacks makes a note of this discrepancy as the track features the sound of drummer Phil Veer seemingly rummaging through a refrigerator while talking to his agent on the phone, asking "Can we get Tupac to guest on the album?" before learning, to his dismay, that the artist in question is long dead.

The first and only genuinely guitar-driven track on the album, NATO - No Action, Talk Only, launches into gear immediately with a rare instance of the band utilizing multiple guitars as guest axeman Tommy Filbilt (from sister band Wisconsin & Southern and Post-Grunge supergroup Bottom Rock) starts the track by rampaging a searing solo atop a beating drum line and driving arena-rock riff. It could be either a lost Scorpions or KISS classic for the first 45 seconds but NATO instead slows into a middle-fast-paced rhythm and starts to take on more of that depression-laden Bearpark sound just in time for the vocals to kick in. The song doesn't let a traditional structure hold it down, instead ditching “verse-chorus-repeat” in favor of a campfire-story-esque lyrical structure as Humphreys aggressively belts out a tale of a soldier's love that blossoms and tragically withers. A true highlight of the album, but its extended length sometimes feels unnecessary as Johansson and Filbilt's dueling guitar interplay drags on solely for the sake of time without leaving behind any memorable moments. NATO winds up being a high point for the album that could really shine with a producer who knows when to cut a track to size.

The last two tracks of the album immediately put the brakes on any hopes you might have had about the band's return to their rock-heavy style, however, as they instead present a muddy synth-heavy sound that strays much farther from the Bearpark we know than ever before. Instrumental track Exclamation of Disappointed Surprise starts with a heartbeat sound that maintains to the finish, gradually being smothered under increasingly dense electronic orchestration and a winding guitar line that doesn't seem to know where it wants to go. Under other circumstances this might be a fascinating experimental jam session but it leads seamlessly into the overly-synthetic Outbreak of Salmonella Every Five Minutes, which adds auto-tune (yikes) and a drum machine to the mix to fully push the album out of a rock mindset.

If you came into the album looking for a sequel Bearpark's last few albums you'll probably be disappointed, but for new fans or a music aficionado looking for something unique it might just scratch an itch. Unfortunately it just couldn't capture me the way their older music did, and I see myself skipping all of Souffles the next time I spin their discography.

~Richard M.

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 14th April 2019 (Khalid, BLACKPINK, Jonas Brothers)

The BBC page I usually use for this show was an absolute mess with so many incorrect placements when it first debuted, so I’m glad they changed it.

Top 10

For what I believe is its seventh freaking week, somehow, Lewis Capaldi once again fends away competition with “Someone You Loved” still sits at the number-one spot.

Also, we have another whopping increase in positions this week right at number-two, where thanks to Billboard being racist, apparently, and a remix being released, “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X, now featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, now places, up 37 spots from last week. It’s Lil Nas X’s first top 10 and top five hit in the UK, as well as Cyrus’ third top 40 and second top 10 and top five hit over here, becoming his first hit in more than 20 years since 1992’s “Achy Breaky Heart” and “Could’ve Been Me”.

At number-three, down one spot off of the debut last week, we have “bad guy” by Billie Eilish.

Thanks to the immense boost for “Old Town Road”, Calvin Harris and Rag ‘n’ Bone Man are down one spot to number-three with “Giant”.

The biggest boost of last week, “Piece of Your Heart” by MEDUZA and Goodboys is up five to number-five, becoming both artists’ first ever top five hit over here in the UK.

At number-six is Tom Walker, with “Just You and I”, which is down only two positions from last week, but the BBC page says it’s “down 21”, and as much as I wish it was, it’s sadly still here in the top 40.

Jonas Brothers are down two spaces to number-seven with “Sucker”.

Dave’s “Location” featuring Burna Boy is down only a single spot to number-eight.

Thanks to the release of his album Free Spirit over the weekend (I’ve heard it, it’s actually pretty good for a relatively sleepy album of pop tunes), “Talk” by Khalid with production from Disclosure re-peaks up seven spaces to number-nine.

Also after album hype dies down, Billie Eilish’s “bury a friend” is down four spots to #10, rounding off our top 10.

Climbers

We just have two notable climbers this week, those being “MONOPOLY” by Ariana Grande and Victoria Monét boosting up 17 spaces to #23 since it didn’t have a full tracking week last time, as well as “Swervin” by A Boogie wit da Hoodie featuring 6ix9ine moving up five to #29, for some reason.

Fallers

We have a few more here, but much less than last week, with Ariana Grande’s “break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored” finally starting its exit, down six spaces to #15, perhaps due to streaming cuts but maybe just the start of a natural decrease. Naturally off of the return last week, “wish you were gay” by Billie Eilish is down eight spots to #21, while “Keisha & Becky” by Russ splash and Tion Wayne continues its fall down five spaces to #30, as does “Murder on My Mind” by YNW Melly down five positions to #35. Finally, “Streatham” by Dave unfortunately but understandably is barely clinging onto the top 40 chart as it drops seven spaces to #40.

Dropouts & Returning Entries

First of all, “Better Man” by Westlife prematurely drops off from the #26 spot it had last week, but I’m still shocked by how their success in 2019 is actually lasting much longer than I thought. I guess boy-band nostalgia is hitting recently with Backstreet Boys and the Jonas Brothers, but I didn’t think it reflected on the UK boy-band scene from the early 2000s as much. Other than that, “Thotiana” by Blueface has its streaming numbers cut off as it drops out from #28, and other drop-outs include “Please Me” by Cardi B and Bruno Mars from #32 and finally “High Hopes” by Panic! at the Disco from #37, as well as “7 rings” by Ariana Grande from #38. There are no returning entries so it’s time for the main attraction.

NEW ARRIVALS

#39 – “Cool” – Jonas Brothers

Produced by Ryan Tedder and Zach Skelton – Peaked at #23 in Scotland and #27 in the US

The Jonas Brothers are back... again, I guess. I wasn’t a fan of “Sucker” and it’s safe to say I didn’t expect much at all from a follow-up single. It was going to be cookie-cutter and boring, with weightless production... but I didn’t expect what we got in the end, which is about Nick and Joe Jonas just being so damn cool... which they’re not, really, are they? At least if they are, we don’t know because not only can I not tell Jonas from the other Jonas, but these lyrics for their fifth UK Top 40 hit do not give me any reason for me to believe that they are cool in any way. If every little thing you do is cool, then please break from your painful falsetto chorus and lay down some facts about you that are cool, instead of saying you “feel like Post Malone when you get home” and that you’re waiting like Game of Thrones... what? Listen, not only is the vocal mixing shaky and the guitar solo one of the worst I think I’ve ever heard, mostly because you can both barely hear it but also because it has no strength or punch that guitar solos are supposed to have, it’s not ethereal either, it’s just a waste of studio time. The immature subject matter and forced references to current pop culture moments are what to expect of Jonas Brothers, surely, but when they were teenagers making music for Disney films, that was okay. When you’re adults who have all made attempts to distance yourself from that cutesy image and have made rough, sexier music in the past, this doesn’t work. I hope that this Jonas Brothers comeback ends up a fluke, and also that Post Malone feels embarrassed he brought this song onto the world, because you just know they thought of that one line after hearing Post’s Jonas reference in HIS hit “Better Now”, and built an awfully rushed song around it.

#36 – “Let Me Down Slowly” – Alec Benjamin featuring Alessia Cara

Produced by Sir Nolan and Aaron Z – Peaked at #1 in the Czech Republic and #79 in the US

So this is rising star Alec Benjamin’s breakout hit, with a remix and/or duet version from Alessia Cara, who was in Benjamin’s place a few years ago, however she’s since disappeared from off the face of the Earth, so we’re left with this collaboration between the two that might actually be pretty damn good. I love the smooth guitar melody that is backed up by a nice bass and cloudy backing vocals acting like synths behind Benjamin’s almost childish voice that makes his high-pitched hook feel perhaps naive, which is helpful since it is a ballad about wanting a break-up, albeit expected from Benjamin, to be a slow process instead of immediate or emotionally intense, as Benjamin just wants to have some sympathy, but both feel like they’re not as invulnerable as they felt when they first got together, losing their “dignity and grace”, with Alessia Cara’s vocals sounding as great as she did on her three other UK Top 40 hits on this mellow beat that is dramatic but not too melodramatic this time, instead having a pretty slow-build up with the climax being Benjamin repeating one line, “And I can’t stop myself from falling”, as the strings and synths get louder, representing his desperate frustration. Yeah, I like this – I wasn’t necessarily amazed as I’m still not into Alec Benjamin’s vocal tone really, but it’s pretty good, and I can definitely see this being Benjamin’s first hit.

#33 – “Kill this Love” – BLACKPINK

Produced by Teddy, R.Tee, 24 and Bekuh BOOM – Peaked at #1 in Malaysia and #41 in the US

“Kill this Love” is the most recent single and EP from K-pop girl group and now international starlets BLACKPINK, and it’s probably the song that explains what I think of K-pop as a whole. While I don’t mind the horns that are often present that can often sound like very cheap, FL Studio default plug-in loops, and K-pop as a whole often feels very behind Western pop, this in particular sounding like 2014 EDM, specifically the trap genre (Not trap-rap, I should add). Most of the BLACKPINK girls aren’t necessarily bad at flowing and they all have charisma, with the singers sounding okay but there’s no real flow here, and that’s one of my main issues with the genre. It can feel very hodge-podge and slapdash a lot of the time, without much effort put into actual structure or forming some kind of natural build-up into the drop. Whatever part the song gets to, none of it stays long enough to really be familiar or even catchy, and that’s the part of K-pop I love – how there are so many bloody hooks in one song, but this song is lacking in both those hooks and really any notable melodies, mostly because it doesn’t give any of them room to breathe. All in all, much like “IDOL” by BTS the year before, BLACKPINK’s second UK Top 40 hit is more of a mess than it is an effective hit single, and I think this’ll drop out quickly after the initial wrath of K-pop stans racking up YouTube views comes to a halt. Sorry, guys, but I’m not a fan.

#32 – “My Bad” – Khalid

Produced by D’Mile – Peaked at #10 in New Zealand and #55 in the US

Now I personally quite liked Khalid’s new album Free Spirit, even though I know for a fact a lot of people didn’t. While Khalid’s brand of “sleepy music” personally appeals to me as it feels much more genuine and well-crafted than most other pop or R&B that’s coming out right now, I understand how it may seem too cloudy or lacking of substance, and this song in particular is not one of my favourites, and while not the worst on the album, exemplifies what I think everyone is seeing as Khalid’s weak points. While Khalid sounds nice here, he just sounds “nice” and it’s not enough to really make up for the really janky beat with some drums and a guitar that really feel like they should switch places in the mix, and the 808s hitting like a truck on innocent civilians. The song itself is about Khalid feeling bad about ignoring a text from his significant other and accepting all the blame, but if that really hurts your relationship that much, then I’m not sure about the shaky state of your relationship to begin with and it feels like just a bit odd of a subject matter to take this seriously, with the bridge essentially just being Khalid vocally riffing for 30 seconds. This is pretty boring and disappointing from Khalid’s 11th UK Top 40 hit – he has much better on the album, specifically “Bad Luck”, “Right Back”, “Don’t Pretend” with SAFE, “Self”, “Heaven” and “Twenty One”.

#25 – “All Day and Night” – Jax Jones, Martin Solveig and Madison Beer

Produced by Jax Jones and Martin Solveig – Peaked at #10 in Belgium

Of course the highest new arrival is from a bunch of EDM DJs featuring a female vocalist making what is probably going to be some vaguely tropical or vaguely deep poppy house music, because that’s all the EDM we get on the charts. I’m not saying none of it is good, though, in fact, I’m a fan of a lot of electronic dance music, ESPECIALLY house, so a lot of it I actually like to some extent or can at least see the appeal in. This is the first single from currently buzzing DJs Jax Jones’ and Martin Solveig’s upcoming collaborative studio album Europa, featuring vocals from underrated pop singer Madison Beer. Honestly, this really isn’t of note, its base synth melody sounds like a Wii Shop Channel loop and while I love Beer’s voice I’m not entirely sure if the mixing is doing her wonders here, and the build-up to the drop is basically nonexistent, with just a few clattering synths coming in pretty much out of the blue, with a generic big room house drop, which is what I expected but there’s no real groove to back it up. It’s not funky like Jax Jones’ other stuff and it’s not really fun at all, which if you haven’t figured out EDM is supposed to be. Overall, it’s a bit of a dated, minimalist bore that barely even lasts two minutes before growing old.

Conclusion

I see a new branch of Summer hits debuting here, actually, and I’ll be interested in seeing how all of these songs go after their debut, all of which are in the bottom half so they all have that risk factor – they could grow and become bonafide smashes or they could get caught in the shuffle, but even in the songs I don’t like (which to be fair is most of them) I see possible hits. Worst of the Week is definitely going to the Jonas Brothers for “Cool”, though, and even though I don’t hate “All Day and Night”, I don’t like it, and Jax Jones, Martin Solveig and Madison Beer are sadly getting the Dishonourable Mention. None of the other songs really show up as highlights except the Best of the Week, which is going to Alec Benjamin and Alessia Cara for “Let Me Down Slowly”. I really see that one succeed. Follow me on Twitter @cactusinthebank for more pop music ramblings and Top 20 rankings, and I’ll see you next week!

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[imascientistofmusic]

Im a huge fucking nerd

final LYRICS FOR ENDOLPHINS AND MC FOUCAULT EP Welcome to Kirby’s Memeland (MILLIPEDES FOR THE MOLEMEN) Got it so hot y'all give me standing ovations while I'm spamming the squat[1] like my whole family's Croatian if my dad's Jackie Chan[2] am I Hispanic or Asian? please understaånd this equation ()[3] me no panic just blazing at any random location i’m your romantic liaison killa Beys in formation[4] the doctor's[5] now handling patients I put the wots in tarnations[6] I put the spots on dalmatians I move the block with my cadence Now time just stops when i say shit But the beat goes on cause i made it Alex Strong[7] in the paint and Singing So Long[8] to fake friends We can roll out the Save ends[9] Y'all kittens tryin my patience I need to find an oasis Pass me that blunt and i'll face it Why y'all stuntin so basic? Im kinda something like LASIK[10] take your quirk and erase it[11] If there's something to say then I'm Malcolm Little and Dakin[12] Welcome to Kirbys Memeland[13] Im a giant herbing with green hands[14] Defiantly serving up steamed hams[15] Yo shuhei hold up i got remands[16] Misery[17] in the moment Missouri in the mornings[18] Mysteries in the motions Miss her seas in this ocean[19] (oh shit) ALL AT ONCE (HOW HARD JAMES HARDIN GOES WHEN HE GOES HARD IN THE PAINT) One day i’ll kill all the white men take back the land we’re missin[20] Im Diego's street art and they're banksy's vandalisms[21] Like the second coming of yeezus[22] and he's risen Built a religion for giant robots[23] called it animism[24] My flow is so fucking preposterous Patrol the land rarer than rhinoceroses[25] Get your heads out the sand yall lookin like ostriches Didn't kill the cat[26] but we checked it into hospice I know yr feeling that and baby one i got this My boys swing the bats like my last name was ausmus[27] Best rappers who aren't black you know i top the list prophets foretold my path (my birth) it was an (heavenly) auspice Imagine how hard james hardin[28] goes when he goes hard in the paint Well i go harder than that On my level you ain't I'm smart as The Bat[29] I'm like double your rank I just started to rap But the devil remains In the details im valued retail theyre resale[30] i'll continue my never ending quest to impress you[31] I’m obsessed with the things that pens do Allah bless this mess because i swear i intend to Decompress and recollect about fucked things that friends[32] do Parenthetically my memes are better than y’all’s Im aesthetically[33] hiding in vectors too small Interjecting my dreams while dissenting all leans[34] Exquisitely dining on minds here at the end of all things [35] We bout those movers and shakers We bustin loose of the matrix[36] I get my fruit at bodegas Im bound to move to NEW VEGAS[37] Matthew McConaughey (HARRY AND THE HUMAN CENTIPEDES) Another space time anomaly[38] An Interstellar[39] odyssey Alright alright alright Im Mathew McConaughey Im unfuckingstoppable the impossible possible The whole world's my hospital not a gd thing is inoperable[40] Credentials are laudable Essentially i got it all Took a look at the d And then called an audible[41] Obliterate any Obstacle Precipitate like waterfalls Instigate a kinder cause Evicerate a haunted ghoul[42] When i fucks with physics the laws get more lax my words carry weight like the world's biggest snorlax[43] Come at me son yr gonna need more VATS[44] carried this town[45] for So Long[46] im getting a sore back their love for me like a tree to the Lorax[47] My lyrics paint pictures so i call them a Rorschach[48] my bones are telling me bad weathers on the forecast a storm is rolling in this is the calm before that Past five centuries all of them regrettable[49] Just like entropy i am inevitable[50] I was meant to leave my head it was full Fundamentally i'm so far ahead of these fools Down five hennessy's trying just to deaden this pulse[51] Iron sentry's lining the edge of the mall[52] 100% dying to dismantle this wall[53] Johnny five empathy no disassemble this bot[54] Quintessentially im X at the head of this school[55] Intermittently you slept in my bed it was cool incidentally we had sex in the end of the pool Human centipede[56] that ass it was my edible[57] G.O.A.T. (NIETZSCHE DIDN’T KILL GOD, I DID) Like JD[58] I’m the GOAT[59] Billy[60] hashtag Swag[61]gert[62] Worlds most accurate fact checking rapper This is a game to me Chutes and ladders[63] Here's where the bangers[64] be girl you know i had ‘er My flow the yangtze[65] i spit venom black adders[66] Opposite of banksy[67] or some bullshit “all lives matter”[68] Fuck the president[69] that dude cant get any badder[70] Cooking up some poppy tea[71] mix it up like cake batter HEY DON'T LOOK AWAY DON'T LET IT GROW ON YOU IT'S NOT OK Engrave the following on my headstone: “They[72] died getting head stoned peepin Tombstone[73] While eatin a tombstone pizza[74]" I’ve gone full blown nietzsche[75] said hello to the abyss "it was good to meet ya"[76] Behind this mask's a terrifying creature[77] Who would gladly cook you up and eat ya Every track i’m on mc foucault's the feature Threat level dragon[78] when im hittin the road again Like shang tsun out here looking for some souls to bend[79] Other rappers words are last years memes im so over them Like neil in the 80s its the weight of the world im shoulderin'[80] Tho ive been there once couldnt tell you where denver starts and boulder ends[81] Rockin california fishes like them pennsylvania colder pens[82] I spit fire like dylon[83] and i left the studio smolderin Sitch is Dire like sylons you used to know as older friends[84] Minds expired with prions[85] when i take theirs skulls and open em Im entirely high on the spirit taking time up and folding it[86] unlike battery acid im so hella caustic[87] Such flattering assets with a tongue so toxic Made saturn's rings spin on a cosmic cross stitch My staggering spit it god agnostic[88] [1] “Why do Slavs squat?” is a satirical catchphrase associated with imageboards and forums discussing Eastern European people and cultures http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/why-do-slavs-squat-slav-squat [2] My dad and jackie chan are aging to look like the same person [3] I use medical marijuana to treat anxiety [4] Beyonce - Formation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDZJPJV__bQ [5] My initials are DRB and so many folks call me Doctor or Doctor B [6] “What in Tarnation?” is a rhetorical question meaning “what in damnation?”, which is often associated with Americans living in the Southern United States expressing incredulous bewilderment. http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/what-in-tarnation [7] Drummer of Endolphins and one of the progenitors of this particular beat [8] So Long is my queerpop band SoLongNaota.Bandcamp.com [9] A saving throw in D&D http://dnd4.wikia.com/wiki/Saving_throw [10] Corrective laser eye surgery [11] Boku No Hero Academia character Shota Aizawa “eraser head” who’s special power is erasing others’ special powers http://bokunoheroacademia.wikia.com/wiki/Shota_Aizawa [12] Church of The Three Cats is at the corner of Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little) and Dakin in Lansing, Michigan [13] Gamboy title Kirby’s Dreamland but with memes [14] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Giant but with Weed [15] Simpsons shitpost classic http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/steamed-hams [16] Once I beat magic the gathering hall of famer Shuhei Nakamura in a Grand Prix with a timely remand [17] The first Endolphins release was called North of Misery as a nod to their being in Iowa [18] In 2015 I toured with Endolphins and had two amazing mornings in St Louis, s/o to KPAX and calcifer [19] Sometimes you meet someone who forever changes the way you think about things like water, and then you drown in thoughts never actually able to grasp anything completely again [20] im native as fuck http://www.corteidh.or.cr/tablas/24777.pdf [21] Artist Diego Rivera vs Banksy [22] Kanye West's ego messiah and eponymous album [23] giant robot anime trope for example: neon genesis evangelion, flcl, gundam... [24] Animism but with Anime https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animism [25] Rhino’s are near extinct everywhere https://www.savetherhino.org/rhino_info/rhino_population_figures [26] Slang for giving a person with a vagina multiple orgasms [27] Detroit Tigers skipper Brad Ausmus [28] James Hardin is a professional basketball Superstar [29] Comic book protagonist Batman [30] Price you get for selling an item new (retail) vs used (resale) [31] A certain person who since i have met has inspired most of my creative endeavors [32] See directly above [33] in a way that gives pleasure through beauty [34] biases [35] Comic book character Galactus, Eater of Worlds https://marvel.com/universe/Galactus [36] 1999 science fiction film The Matrix [37] 2010 video game Fallout: New Vegas [38] My favorite Star Trek trope [39] My favorite Matthew McConaughey film [40] See note #5 [41] In american football a quarterback will notice something about the defense and change the play at the line of scrimmage, this is called an audible [42] These are hearthstone cards [43] Snorlax is a very large and heavy pokemon that can only be moved by playing a special flute [44] Vault-tec assisted targeting system in Fallout video game franchise, the more skill points one has the more they can do in combat before an enemy reacts [45] I have been a pillar of the diy community in lansing michigan for 20 years [46] So Long Naota/Collective see note #8 [47] Dr Seuss character who is the protector of nature [48] The Rorschach test is a psychological test in which subjects' perceptions of inkblots are recorded and then analyzed using psychological interpretation, complex algorithms, or both. [49] Since Europeans have arrived on the shores of North and South America they have brought only misery and genocide [50] The second law of thermodynamics requires that, in general, the total entropy of any system can't decrease other than by increasing the entropy of some other system. Hence, in a system isolated from its environment, the entropy of that system tends not to decrease. [51] Drinking is a mostly self destructive behavior for myself and I tend to only do it when i wish to self harm [52] Episode 3 of the 1997 anime Beserk [53] Fuck borders fuck walls freedom is not possible when they exist [54] 1986 film Short Circuit about a robot that gains sentience and learns of death the term for which is dissassemble [55] Professor Xavier from the X-Men comics who runs a school for Mutants [56] 2009 Dutch body horror film Human Centipede tells the story of people sewn mouth to ass [57] Analingus [58] The Mountain Goats frontman John Darnielle or JD aka thrashkitten member of the sooper swag project [59] GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) is a term used in hip hop to talk about the best rappers ever [60] A billy is a male goat [61] #swag is a song by rapper GMCFOSHO who is a friend of mine [62] Jimmy Swaggert was a televangelist who was defrocked for multiple prostitution scandals [63] Chutes and Ladders is a metaphor for life. As such, it is arguably the most philosophical of all children's board games. Based on the ancient Indian game Snakes and Ladders. The historic version had root in morality lessons, where a player's progression up the board represented a life journey complicated by virtues (ladders) and vices (snakes). [64] Banger is a term for a particularly moving composition [65] The Yangtze is the longest river in Asia and the third-longest in the world. The river is the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. [66] A venomous snake that lives in europe and east asia, also a nod to the lyric earlier about chutes and ladders (snakes and ladders) [67] “Some have criticised the "obviousness" of Banksy's work, and accused it of being "anarchy-lite" geared towards a middle class "hipster" audience.” [68] A slogan used to silence the #blacklivesmatter movement [69] Donald Trump [70] 1998 Arcade game Bad Dudes vs Dragon Ninja later ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System known widely for its intro cut scene in which the protagonists are asked if they are bad enough dudes to save the president [71] Poppy tea is any herbal tea infusion brewed from poppy straw or seeds of several species of poppy. For the purpose of the tea, dried pods are more commonly used than the pods of the live flower. The walls of the dried pods contain opiate alkaloids, primarily consisting of morphine. [72] I am non-binary and use they/them pronouns [73] 1993 Western Tombstone starring kurt russel and val kilmer [74] Very cheap frozen pizzas of dubious quality [75] Nietzsche claimed the death of God would eventually lead to the loss of any universal perspective on things, and along with it any coherent sense of objective truth [76] Nietzsche once said: “Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you.” [77] Nietzsche also said: “All great things must first wear terrifying and monstrous masks in order to inscribe themselves on the hearts of humanity.” [78] 2015 Anime and Manga One Punch Man’s shout out to Neon Genesis Evangelion describing a monster that is a threat to multiple cities [79] 1992 Arcade Fighing game Mortal Combat’s main villain who stole people's souls [80] Neil Young's sleeper Weight of The World from his amazing foray into new wave on his criminally unheralded album Landing on Water [81] I visited colorado for the first time on tour with Endolphins and tho enjoyable it was mostly mountains and urban sprawl and legal weed [82] The 2016 battle for Lord Stanley’s cup between NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins and [83] Chappell show sketch about Dylon who thought he was the GOAT because “dylon spit hot fire” [84] Battlestar Galactica plot twist [85]Kuru is a very rare, incurable neurodegenerative disorder that was prevalent among the Fore people of Papua New Guinea. Kuru is caused by the transmission of abnormally folded prion proteins, which leads to symptoms such as tremors, loss of coordination, and neurodegeneration. Most people who develop it are cannibals [86] The quantum physics theory of time travel [87] Acids are corrosive and bases are caustic [88] God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it? — Nietzsche, The Gay Science, Section 125,