#i literally love every track sorry this album is a package!!!!!

[here2bbtstrash]

ok y'all what are your top 10 songs on indigo let's hear them

[harmonicabisexuals]

7 and 23 for the musical asks game!

*shows up three days later with coffee* sorry i was busy and forgot about this ask lmao

7. do you prefer cds, streaming, or vinyl?

I actually have a very complex answer to this lol...I definitely always prefer physical media over streaming but I am also a hypocrite who loves the convenience and portability of streaming so I still have an apple music account and use it almost every day. That being said, there are some albums that are just MADE to be listened to on vinyl and I am very proud of my vintage vinyl collection and very sad I had to leave 98% of it at my parents house bc I just recently moved to Europe. (for example, one of my most unpopular opinions is that I actually like the wall of sound production on ATMP, but I also think it sounds so much better on my original press vinyl than it does on streaming, so that makes me wonder if the medium people are listening to 60s/70s albums on are influencing their opinions on them, particularly on their sound and production). On the other hand, I have mixed feelings about the current vinyl boom bc while buying physical media is always good, in my experience a lot of these new albums that often come out with multiple limited edition vinyls (ex. taylor swift) are 1) not produced in a way to sound the best on vinyl since everything is done digitally these days, and 2) the actual quality of vinyl presses has gone down SO much even in just the past 5 years that a lot of these new releases and even new presses of older albums just sound shitty or have skip problems right out of the package. Seriously, I started buying vinyl around 2014 and I never had these types of problems with brand new presses until the last 3 years or so. So in that case, now if I really like a new release album enough to buy a physical copy of it and I think the production style won't translate as well on vinyl and/or I don't trust the company that does the vinyl pressings for the artist I'll buy it on CD instead!

23. how did you discover your favorite artist?

It's impossible for me to choose a definitive favorite artist but I am deep into a Bob Dylan phase rn because my life is very stressful and uncertain atm and his whiny singing and blaring harmonica always relaxes me lmao. so I guess we'll go with that. I first discovered bob in high school when I listened to "like a rolling stone" and it literally altered my brain chemistry. so I always loved that song and a few others here and there but never really did a deep dive on him (I think I tried to listen to highway 61 revisited and blonde on blonde and didn't really Get It at the time) but about a year ago I started listening to Joan Baez and I fell in love with her and her bob covers, and I was like okay maybe I'll give him another shot and then weirdly enough I stumbled across "shelter from the storm" after rewatching jerry maguire dkfsjkdf and listened to all of blood on the tracks and the rest is history <3

Send me Music Asks! (I promise to actually respond this time)

[worldsover]

Dal Segno ft. Chuu

length ✦ 3570

genres ✧ music making; oral fixation; facefuck; subby!Chuu

✦✧✦✧✦✧

Composition is only fifty percent of the process, you've heard, but it's closer to ten for you. For the importance of a solid melody and chord progression with the right instruments and singer, a song becomes less than the sum of its parts with bad mixing because all that effort goes to waste when you can’t hear something, or when something is too loud, or when a certain je ne sais quoi is wrong. But you do know. You don't have to be a chef to be a food critic but it certainly helps. Avoid muddling the lows as it waters down the soup. Carve space in the highs to prevent too much salt from killing the taste buds. Have at most five sounds at a time or else the flavors clash. Focus on these basic techniques to guide you as repetition wears down your mind. Funny. Repetition legitimizes especially in music yet here you are fatigued by repetition as though you weren't down four cups of black coffee. Repetition legitimizes. “From the sign,” the translation reads. Notation, simply instructing a musician to return to a certain point in a piece. You recognize it as an intro song you wrote years ago.

Glass and foam separate the undersized room. Cheap ramen and dampness in the hot air contribute to the odor. You would keep the fan on, if it were worth the extra time filtering out faint noise from recordings. The only scent that keeps you sane is a slight strawberry flavor lingering in the room. Jiwoo. Your muse. A large clock holds both of its hands near one with the lack of natural light muddling whether it’s AM or PM. Studios were always underground man-caves whether they were discount rooms or the signature workspace of the biggest producers. Here you are in the former. Look down at the Macbook and all the wires, sliders, and knobs. Deep breath. “Take 63,” you say into the cheap control room microphone.

“Not good enough.”

“Again.”

“One more.”

Look up. Jiwoo sucks on a grape lollipop. You stare. Watching her fixated on getting all flavor out of the purple sweet derails your flow state. See, work had a rhythm. Listen, volume up, hotkey to copy this clip, volume down. The obvious innuendo sends you offbeat. That perky butt bending over to get a notebook filled with lyrics entrenches the folds of your brain. She didn’t have to wear that skirt. You’ve seen that skirt already and you wish she weren’t wearing it. Oh, you really wish she weren’t wearing that skirt. Guilt sets in. You’re a trusted coworker, she, a naive girl. It takes a while to find your groove again. Your stare has yet to cease until she finally returns the eye contact with candy still in mouth. Her pink tongue laps to secure all the sugar and red pillows engulf the ever-shrinking circle. Pop. Anyone else and it would be calculated action.

“Oppa." Her voice resounds in your monitor headphones. "I don’t know if these harmonies really make sense. Why did you write the second voice to cross down below the main line? Plus it goes so low."

“To be fair, you wrote both of those melodies and you said you wanted them in the same song. Tell me anywhere else they’d work.”

“Ugh, let’s figure this out later. Next song.“

Dozens of takes later and Jiwoo’s frustration causes her to make mistakes. Sometimes she even tries to start singing with the sucker in her mouth. For the character she plays, you know she’s a professional and that she can be better. Yet hours later, she still could not get the vocal runs right. Incomplete songs bloat your project folder: "Jiwoo - Mania", "Jiwoo - Look Closer", "Jiwoo - Untitled Idea 21". Just a small side project that the company approved during another ample period of break time between comebacks. That’s why the director didn’t even let you use the company’s facilities, instead opting to rent out this cheap closet of a studio. At least no one would be mad about the amount of time you spent recording together.

You shift seats from the leather office chair to the white lovechair, the only two pieces of furniture that fit comfortably in the room. Jiwoo follows suit and leaves the recording booth, really more of a phone booth in square footage, while she huffs and puffs on her candy.

“I’m tired, oppa,” she says.

“Me too, Jiwoo. May I remind you that I’m not getting paid extra for this. Are you gonna focus or what?” your voice just a few cents down, just a bit harsher.

“I, I’m sorry.” A lick anyway. Her meek tone disappears, “Ya! You know how good your royalties are gonna be. Sole producer and all that. Plus, here you are still doing all this work for me." Why were you working so hard on this? "You know, if you just taught me how to use Ableton-”

“Then I’d be out of a job.”

Jiwoo frowns, “Wow, selfish much? You could’ve joined me as a trainee.”

“Nah, no way. Fish dance better.”

“Shut up, oppa. You would’ve easily made it with your, um, musical talent.” She clamps down on the lollipop with her mouth.

“You good? What was that?”

“Let’s," she stands promptly, "get back to recording.”

Crack. Jiwoo bites down on the lollipop and throws the stick in the trash. In ten minutes, she nails the verse she spent hours trying to get right. It'd be really nice to know what catalyzed that rally. You'd ask but driving Jiwoo back to her dorm is quiet as usual.

✦✧✦✧✦✧

Make a good impression on someone, anyone, on your first day as a mixing engineer. That’s why you returned to the Blockberry Creative building with an extra bar of Melona in hand. A simple bribery. Light beamed down between two skyscrapers on a short girl with long hair and strands of bangs adorning her forehead. She stood outside the lobby, introducing herself to every passerby. You had to pinch her cheeks, the intrusive thought screamed.

She scurried up to you. “Hi! I’m Kim Jiwoo and I’m going to become an idol!”

Ah, a trainee. You already knew she was destined to become one. Well, not literally, you weren’t in charge of that. But her overflowing charm was impossible to ignore. You had to tease her though, “Are you sure?”

“Hey! What would you know about that, mister?” she said.

You bit down on your mango. “Mister? First of all, I’m only a high school senior,” her lips rounded in surprise, “And second, I’m your new audio guy, and I know for a fact they’re debuting you girls in order of talent.”

“Woooow. Well, I’ll have you know, I have a great voice!” She certainly spoke lyrically.  “Wait a minute, I didn’t know they hired people that young.” You pointed at her. “Okay, I’m in high school too. But that’s different, idols start this age.”

“I guess. I’ve been making music ever since I was a kid, and they liked what I had,” you said and Jiwoo nodded in understanding.

She fluttered her eyebrows. “Sooo, is that mango ice cream for me? Oppa?” A little surprised she already called you that, but it sounded right.

“No, I have this unopened strawberry-” Jiwoo snatched the half-eaten cold treat from your hand, and started licking it. Trouble she would be.

You spent many recording sessions together, alone after all the other members left. She cozied up to you because her little musical snippets had to become full-fledged tracks and you helped her out every time.

Something changed over the years however. Your interactions became colder. It felt like you were the only one who she would respond to in a deeper voice. Jiwoo wouldn't pepper you with silly acts or mess around. Maybe she took you more seriously which is how you managed to make more songs together regardless. Then, you stood idly by and watched her debut. Who didn't love her? But when she was with you, you missed the playfulness, the ice cream and her riffing over your playful guitar strums. It turned less of a hobby and more of a job though you never regretted any second with Jiwoo regardless.

Under the Earth's largest natural satellite, you shared a simple meal in black bean noodles. She was still in her hippie outfit from the comeback, and you handed her your jacket since it was cold. You realized, there was something else there that you were too inexperienced to notice. Your bodies' radiation replace the chill in the air, a bubble with just the two of you eating on the grass in a park near your dorm. A cliche slurping on one noodle and Jiwoo pulled away. In embarrassment, like a damn anime character, she hiccuped. Good thing you didn't close your eyes when you leaned in.

“Wanna make an album together?” Jiwoo says.

“Sure.”

You threw away the noodles’ package and escorted her home. That was all you expected anyway. Fine.

✦✧✦✧✦✧

“That’s enough!”

Three goddamn weeks. It's been three goddamn weeks and you've barely made any progress.

Barge into the booth, slam the door shut and raise your tone, just below a shout, “I've had it up to here! You know how many of my songs have been mashed together in some unholy quest for your perfection? Just one unknown something is missing and either you start complaining or we move on to the next."

She backs up from the mic to the insulated wall but you continue, paying no heed to her, as you spout your piece to the artificially cold air, "You know how much time I’ve spent outside working on these songs? These are songs I’ve saved up over years. And you trash them like they’re nothing. How do you even manage to record LOONA tracks?”

Regret sinks in. This was your passion project as much as hers. Was it frustration from the recordings? Weeks of the same routine and it took until now for you to give in to your temper.

"It wouldn't even be that bad! If you could just one time, you could be cute or cheerful again with me, or,” Fuck. So stupid. You don’t have to take your friendships for granted like this. You’re lucky enough she treats you as much. “Hold on. Wait, I'm-"

Examine her face. It’s not sour and she hasn’t stormed out or even slapped you.

“No, no. You don’t have to say it. I’m. I’m sorry oppa.” She looks down. “I'm the one messing up after all." Her heartbeat a harsh snare drum. "And you. You're. Different. Looking at you always made me feel some, something funny. Not funny but? Ugh. I wish I could explain it.”

You hold in your confusion.

She blabbers on, “Like, are. Are you mad? I promise you, I,” A nervous breath, ”I like you. Okay?"

Your confusion grows like the length of your silence.

"I’m just acting how I really am with you. Do you want to maybe, I don't know, like," her voice decrescendos, "Um. Punish me?”

Your heart, your brain are deprived of blood as it all rushes down. Did you hear that right? Not an apology, not retribution, but a call to punishment? Misinterpreting her, the consequences would be dire but that damned demure tone for such an erotic request. Was Jiwoo the exact type of slut constructed in your mind? The one that made you feel sinful for even imagining. No, no, there's no way.

Too late. Jiwoo must have noticed the absurd bulge now. It had to be these Adidas pants today. Fuck it. Life can’t be lived fully without risk. Hopefully, the same switch turned in her mind. You remove all ire from your face and say in earnest, “Do you like games?"

She lights up a little. You sigh relieved.

"Let’s try…”, you say, ”Strip recording.” She lights up a little more, so you go on, ”If I mess up anything, the mix, the composition, the arrangement, I’ll take off a piece of clothing. Your choice. And every time you mess up-”

Jiwoo unbuttons her denim shorts and brings them down her tight legs.

“D- did I say now?”

However, with her resolve steeled, she continues pulling them. "So what? I did mess up, right?" she says coquettish. Deliberate the turn she makes when she bows down to remove the shorts from her legs, Jiwoo reveals a hint of her innie pussy on that same little ass that ran through your mind earlier. A small trace of her thighs glistens, the only thing reflecting the single lightbulb’s glow in the microphone’s abode. She turns back to face you. "Please. Punish me."

Step closer until Jiwoo backs up to the soundproofing. She’s an eighth note away from your face, flashing her beady eyes and a coy smile, ”Where's your underwear?" A little drop spills out onto the floor, "And why are you so wet, Jiwoo-ah?”

Red on her cheeks, like she only now realized her dishevelment in front of you. “You just… Something about you snapping at me. I don’t get it either. I knew you'd do it, some day, I wanted you to," she mumbles in her best efforts to answer you.

“Have you ever worn underwear to the recordings?”

Those efforts continue to fail.

"Oh, Kim Jiwoo. What do I do with you?" One of your hands grabs her cheek. The other crawls down her back to grab her cheek.

“Oppa… Do I have to say it?”

“I want to hear every." Smack. "Word." Smack. She slips a moan.

“Can you," she says, "can you use my mouth?”

You disguise your long pause as thought, teasing the bare skin of her ass with your exploratory fingers to bide time, but it's an expression of your shock. The interruption helps you come up with a more suitable punishment however.

“How about this then. Every time you mess up, you have to give me a blowjob. Call?”

“Call!” Once more, unprompted, she kneels down in front of you and claws away your track pants. You roll with the punches.

"Oppaa," with an pronounced pop and in a sing-songy rhythm, "I've always wanted to know, if your dick-" It certainly didn't need Jiwoo's dainty hands pulling on your boxers, as it would've sprang out on its own with how like diamond your cock is getting.

"Fuuuck," the first profanity you ever hear her utter, she lilts. "Please. Oppa. Fuck my face?"

After all she said, she could still surprise you. Bring your hips forward and just as you would've her pussy, tease Jiwoo’s lips with the head of your dick. She parts them open, starved, anxious.

Hold her by the chin. "Wait."

She freezes at the command. Again, like foreplay, rub her lips with that head making them turn redder and more plump. You sweep aside her bangs to see her begging eyes. More importantly, slide your dick up to her nude forehead to slap as a first act of retribution. “A-ah!” Jiwoo stutters as you slap her face with your manhood again and again. Bring your cock back down and she's already a mess without you even having entered her mouth. A little drool from her shut lips gently massages your balls while a bit of precum drools from your slit to meet those lips.

Jiwoo mumbles as best as she can with you holding her jaw shut and your dick on her lips, "Please. Please. Shove your dick in me. I need you in my mouth."

You squint your rough eyes to command her.

Muffled still, "Oppa. Please. I. I need to taste you. You just, you're so thick and you're so long and cock is perfect and please I just-"  Loosen the grip on her chin to let her envelop the entire tip with her warm lips. "Mmmmm..." the moan resonates a saw wave and your stern resolve fades away on your first entrance into her face but it returns as her teeth rub against you. She quickly readjusts her jaw but it takes multiple attempts of you pulling out and her sucking you back until only silken lips hold your cock's head. Finally. A focused glint in her eyes. She endeavours to keep your tip in her mouth as long as possible.

You were mad at her earlier, weren't you?

Recall this anger and press yourself into her with all your hips' strength, working against the force of her lip's airtight suction. Saliva leaks to betray the seal. Jiwoo's prying tongue explores the underside of your cock but you reach an impasse while she's not even halfway down the shaft. You shove your dick deeper but to no avail and tears roll down her eyes joining the fluids coating her lips. Thus you exit back out. And back in you go to repeat and repeat and slowly increase your rate, becoming rough sex with her diligent mouth. All the positions you’ve imagined fucking her little pussy, you picture using her throat instead. Even in this compact studio, the couch, chair and desk would provide ample support for you to use her in many ways. The dirty thoughts inspire your speed right now. She slurps and gulps at every quick plunge but you realize her moans and rumbles aren't just incoherent reactions. You decelerate.

“Ah, ahhh, ahhhhhh… Ah’ve ahways- Hmph.” She slurs as she tries her hardest to communicate while her airway is blocked.

She slides up your cock to catch some air, “Thought about it- Mmm.”

“Your dick in my mouth and it’s just so pew, fect- Ahhh.” Jiwoo's lips let go gently then her tongue sticks out to lick up your cock and she shows off a trail of spit leading to your tip. A less patient man would’ve jerked himself off right there to grant her eyes and open mouth's unison request to feed on your cum.

Instead you retort, “You think you’ve earned it? Not even halfway down. Going nowhere, just like our recording sessions, huh?”

“Shut up!”

“Oof.” You’re already weak in the knees so Jiwoo's one handed shove sends your tailbone to the floor. Since you’re still dazed by her confounding strength, she takes initiative and kowtows her head into your lap to crawl down your cock with her tiny lips. Fondling your balls, Jiwoo starts from the furthest point she could muster on your shaft up to your cock head. Her tongue follows back and she starts playing under your tip to swirl that tongue around the most sensitive parts until it explores your slit. You buckle and groan. Jiwoo sucks and spits and sucks while she circles only the most minimal twisting motion of her lips on your head. This is the Jiwoo you know. Relentless. Only now your load is her magnus opus.

Her right hand strays downwards and her face on your dick blocks a full view but you can tell that hand is working as intensely as her mouth. As she strokes herself with more vigor, she starts humming a satisfied melody on your tip. In kind, your subtle grunts turn into full-bodied moans. You're a single measure away from your coda so you reach down and pull her off your cock by grabbing her neck.

You glare into her. “Desperate little girl, aren't you?”

Her breath is stilted and she's nearly shaking. “Please…” she sobs, ”You, you want it as bad as I do right?” Of course. “Won't you just cum for me?” Not now. Not when you have putty in your hands.

“You're making a mess. You can't take me all the way down. And I see that it’s not just your saliva coating the floor.” Point to the spot where she kneels, her drool joins a stain growing ever larger with a strand of juice from her pussy flowing as you continue to berate her. Then you point to her hand. Ha. “Were you playing with yourself using my pencil?”

“No… Wait!”

You back off. “Your top’s a mess too. Anyone can tell I just fucked your face.” You take off your black hoodie and give it to her. “I’ll see you tomorrow for our next session.”

“Wait, we didn’t book tomorrow, did we? Also, you can’t just leave me like this! Oppa!”

"I said, I'll see you tomorrow. I have to go,“ you remind her, ”Ha Rin’s picking you up. And give me back that pencil.”

She hands it to you, unable to meet your eyes despite hers lusting over your cock. You'll definitely use the alluring musk on it for later to save you from your self-induced blue balls. Exit the booth. Of course she barely waits to use your hoodie the same way since she doesn’t notice you lingering in the room. Instead of hiding the grey long sleeve that soaks her neck, your used sweatshirt covers Jiwoo’s face as her fingers make the mess on the floor larger.

✦✧✦✧✦✧

AFF, AO3

Swear to god I’m not just writing the cutest idols to write for. I mean maybe I am but also this answer from @nsfwtwicecatcher​ and all the subsequent pictures that I found of Chuu pouting inspired me. Also, this was a longer piece but I kept spinning my tires on it and decided to split it up, so look out for more.

✦✧✦✧✦✧

Fermata, the aforementioned sequel

[whoiwanttoday]

I am posting Olivia Rodrigo because she fucking deserves it. It's that simple, she's earned it by basically coming out of nowhere to be one of the biggest pop stars in the world (For proof I will point you to a headline I saw that said, "Olivia Rodrigo's Congressional District could be Reshaped!" which you might wonder how her music is going to do that. It won't, she has nothing to do with it, they just used her name to drive clicks). That sounds weird but like... look, more than a decade ago Disney loved pumping out singles for their stars and basically every star had to be an actress and a pop star and the songs were fucking terrible. I am sorry, a lot of you probably love the stuff but it was not good. That is not to say plenty of them didn't go on to make good stuff. Some even great. But the stuff Disney had it's hands in was just not good because it was never supposed to be. It was a packaged commodity meant to exploit a parasocial relationship with tweens. Good wasn't the point. So when I first heard about Drivers License I was kinda shocked that I really loved it. It was exactly the sort of lovelorn pop music I expect a teenager to make. It is in no way relatable to my life but 100% made me remember what it was like to be 16 and fucking miserable about a lot of stuff that doesn't matter to me even a little bit now. And there is a lot of drama surrounding the real meaning of the song and who it's about and I won't lie I sort of love that and that there were thinly veiled response songs to it. What I especially love is that they say success is the best revenge but this has shown that's half true. The best revenge is actually success and then those you are getting revenge on releases response tracks and they are garbage (I am sure these songs have their fans. I know the celebrities do. I have posted on in the past. The songs are bad though. Don't @ me). That's the best revenge. It's just that most of us never get that because literally not a one of my exes has ever released a response track. The best I have ever done is write some passive aggressive stories or psuedo diary entries that people sorta enjoyed. Like one got someone to tell me that I am a beautiful writer cause it was really angry but sort of funny at the end. And someone else who follows me here once read one and told me she really liked it cause it was petty as hell. So that means not only have no half assed dis tracks ever came my way but on top of that it turns out getting a comment or two on your passive aggressive Livejournal posts doesn't even count as success in most people's eyes. Oh well. Anyway, I liked Drivers License but I legitimacy would have guessed that came out before the pandemic if you asked me but uh.. it's just been a few months. Weird. I do remember reading a lot of think pieces about why is this song such a big deal and it was weird that none of them said, "Because it's a good break up song". Which seems like the obvious answer to me because there is a reason pop music is littered with break up songs and it's pretty basically about how she wanted to be able to drive so they could do things together and now she can and he's gone and like one of the cores of most breakups is that loss of a future, all the things you still wanted to do with that person that now you forever can't. They stole an imagined future from you and so on. It's not mature but that's kinda the point. Anyway, that was all a million years ago. Or 4 months. Time has no meaning still. So now, however many years later it has been, her album is out and there are more singles and they're all pretty good. The album is pretty good. I like it. I probably like Brutal best if I am being honest, it feels like it's pandering to me it's so up my alley. And she's earned it. Or not, I know enough about music nerds and popheads and pop music to know there are people who think this has all been orchestrated by Disney to manipulate us. It's possible but she still has written pretty good pop music. So big props to her, this is not a transition most people make very easily. Certainly not gracefully. So I am posting her. Today I want to fuck Olivia Rodrigo.

[luminois]

Hey i know this is gonna be so random, but what if u were an idol. How many people would be in your group and what would be your role? Like rapper, dancer, vocal, i wont say visual bc omg you are so gorgeous im dying. The pencil like lightstick got me thinking and ever since i woke up cant think of anything but u in your group and how would you look like? Would you keep your pretty dark hair or go with another color? :o also i bet your album would be just so pretty im dying inside now and trying to collect my thought bc my exams are in a few days but just cant exist without this knowledge im sorry im leaving 🥺❤️

OMG HI IM SO GLAD YOU ASKED 😚 i literally haven’t stopped thinking about this since yesterday but i didn’t want to be like cheeky and just start talking about what kind of idol i would be 🙈

anyways, i think the best number for groups isn’t too many members so probably a 5 or 7 people group, not an even number like 6 because i DESPISE when they put one person in the back and you can’t even see them because they have to make the choreo look good and symmetrical you know? it’s disrespectful to the person who’s basically hidden imo

as for roles i think i’d be a dancer?? i LOVE dancing in fact one of the things i miss the most from pre-covid life is going dancing in clubs 😭 ive been told i have natural rhythm so with training i think i could be a good dancer, so lead dancer (i wouldn’t say main because i don’t think i’d be able to make my own choreos and stuff, i’d be good at following choreos and adding my own details here and there but nothing more). also i would write songs for obvious reasons, but i SUCK at singing and i hate it so i’d probably be a rapper and write my own verses (i know nothing about producing tracks so i would be the one who writes the lyrics and someone else produces the song). i wonder if people would bash me and say i became a rapper just because i’m not a good vocalist 😭 and visual OOF you’re so sweet, idk if i’d be a visual, probably not because i’m too short and not skinny, plus my chubby cheeks said no❤️

also i’d totally be that one member that changes hair color every comeback and people wonder how they’re not bald yet lol i’ve had so many different hair styles and hair colors irl and i love trying new things with my hair, my philosophy is “it’s hair, it grows back” 🤷‍♀️ and concept wise i’m down for anything that is aesthetically pleasing but i don’t really like cutesy concepts so probably girl crush? NO WAIT maybe something very elegant and feminine, is there a word for that? like sexy but not SEXY sexy just feminine and aesthetic, like ethereal and stuff... but i also like the bad bitch energy, like red and black and all that........ maybe i could be in one of those groups that change concepts kinda often but not too often so we still have that main elegant/feminine vibe

ALSO idk if this is allowed but i would be 100% involved in the general aesthetic of everything from album packaging to outfits inspo and stuff. i sound like i’d be a leader but i REALLY don’t want to be the leader of a group because that’s a lot of responsibility, i would want to be one of the younger ones but not the maknae if that makes sense

THIS IS SO LONG OH MY GOD AHAKJWISJSKSNJS i swear im not this self centered i just like to daydream about this stuff a lot 🙈 thank you again for asking bub, i had fun thinking about this 💞

[tillidontneedfantasy]

‘Romance’ - Camila Cabello REVIEW: Shamelessly In Love

“You know it's been a long time coming,” Camila Cabello sings on the Grammy-nominated smash “Señorita” (which is the most-streamed song of 2019) featuring Shawn Mendes, their follow-up collaboration to “I Know What You Did Last Summer” from 2015. When she sings this line, it’s unclear who the ‘you’ is: Mendes or the audience. Shortly following the release of the track on June 21st, 2019, Cabello and Mendes were seen multiple times out together, displaying affection publicly that would suggest that they are not just friends...because, as she explains, “friends don’t know the way you taste.”

At the release of these stream of photos, many were quick to decide that this must be a stunt as a promotional ploy for the collaboration; but anyone even slightly invested in either one of the pop stars’ lives and music knew that it was, in fact, a long time coming. To any skeptics left, the timeline outlined (yet scattered) throughout Cabello’s second solo studio effort, Romance, should suffice as ample evidence that it’s the real deal, not that she needs to prove it, anyway.

Speaking of that timeline, the main takeaway from Romance’s story is this: men are idiots who don’t realize what they have until they can’t have it anymore. Unrequited love finally turned in favor just too little too late...until it’s not. As two sides of the same coin, “Should’ve Said It” and “Feel It Twice” showcase the two different internal reactions we women go through when someone we wanted for so long doesn’t want us until we’ve moved on with someone else: spite and sorrow. On one hand, she’s dismissive, and on the other, she’s remorseful. In the end, though, this tale has a happy ending, as she seizes the opportunity to finally be with the person she wanted “two years ago” despite the risk. The result? A full, shameless immersion into a world of unapologetic romance. 

STRONGEST TRACK(S): “Bad Kind of Butterflies,” “Living Proof”

Although unlike anything else Cabello has released thus far in her solo career, “Bad Kind of Butterflies” is a compelling and straightforward confessional to her partner that despite her love for him she wants another. “What do I lose if I don't choose and keep it to myself?” she ponders, before ultimately landing upon a decision: “Warning me it’s a mistake, I just know I gotta make it.” Camila deserves some credit here; few people possess this kind of bravery. Many times, people in this situation do keep it to themselves, and then either end up unhappy, live in regret, or make mistakes instead of making an honest choice that will hurt fewer people in the long run. The beautifully haunting production that builds as the song progresses literally gives you the type of bad butterflies she’s describing, as if you’re the one moments away from your possible doom, or maybe an exciting new beginning, or both. Making a choice to follow your heart might trigger an upheaval of your previously planned life-course, but it is never a mistake. Luckily for Cabello, it seemed to work out.

On “Living Proof,” the last pre-release and latest single, Camila indulges in the cliche of linking worship and sex; however, instead of playing as overdone and tired, it just works, mainly due to Cabello’s outstanding vocal arrangement throughout, especially the harmonies in the last chorus. The track is sonically soft and sweet, so hypnotizingly complemented by Cabello’s flawless execution of such a high register; aside from Ariana Grande, no other pop artist can make it seem so effortless. Although the omission of a choir for the bridge and/or outro might be seen by some as a wise choice to balance the cliches, I kind of wish she did it anyway, and her inclusion of one during her wonderful performance on the Ellen Degeneres Show makes a strong case for it too.

WEAKEST TRACK: “This Love”

Perhaps the waltz-like nature of "This Love” is supposed to mirror the dance that Cabello and the subject of this song are playing at, but it fails to do so. When hearing the instrumentals for this track, you are expecting a loving, romantic song. Instead, the listener hears yet again about the games being played by this man and the back and forth between them. The lyrics feel incongruent with the music, and though the track is not bad, it might leave the listener unsatisfied. 

THE IN-BETWEENS

There are plenty of other tracks to satiate the desire for pure romance, as promised. “Easy” and “Used To This” are two gorgeous tracks that perfectly encapsulate what it’s like to allow yourself to be loved when for so long you were unsure if it would ever happen the way you envisioned, making it very easy (no pun intended) to feel happy for Cabello (and Mendes), even so much so that you might find their love endearing enough to temporarily forget that Instagram video (you know the one) (sorry for making you remember it again). Cabello successfully experiments on the sultry “My Oh My” featuring DaBaby, which for some reason is a digital exclusive, and the dramatic and honest “Cry For Me,” which bluntly publicizes a sort of selfishness that most humans have felt but would deny, and gets better with each listen. Other tracks, however, such as “Liar” and “Feel It Twice” tire out quickly. 

BEST PROSPECTIVE SINGLE: “Should’ve Said It”

Cabello sounds most authentic and commanding when she infuses her Latina roots with her pop inclinations. “Should’ve Said It” is effective, unique, and showcases all of Camila’s strengths in a catchy package to which many girls around the globe can easily relate. As Cabello chastises her muse for not knowing what he had until it was gone, you can’t help but vehemently agree while tapping your feet. Can’t you feel it turning into a power anthem already?

                                                            ***

Even in her Fifth Harmony days, Cabello exhibited an unprecedented stage presence. Her first solo album, Camila, proved her star and staying power. There are many ways in which she has leveled up since, as displayed throughout Romance: her vocal range and control are much stronger and cleaner, she has trialed new musical styles that surprisingly suit her, and the production on almost every song is intriguing enough to make you want to listen again. However, the album feels lyrically lackluster; maybe this is because Camila proved to be a great lyricist with her debut, and the quality of writing on this album seems to match its predecessor rather than exceed it. That is not to say that great lyricism implies Shakespearean prose; sometimes, simplicity works just as successfully, if not even more so, as it allows for accessibility. The closing track of Romance, “First Man,” is an example of Cabello’s moving utilization of such simplicity. On an album that can feel repetitive at times considering its subject matter, an ode to the love Cabello shares with her father comes a bit out of left field, a refreshing final pull at the heartstrings. Mentions of jackets for cold weather and making it home safe remind us all that love- whether it is romantic, platonic, or familial- is loudest through the little things. Camila is clearly full of love, and if she continues to build on her ability to tap into it and express it honestly, the sky will be her limit. Grade: 3.5/5

DISCLAIMER - REVIEWER’S BIAS: I never cared for Fifth Harmony much when they were together, so Camila was not really on my radar until she was suddenly on everyone’s with her hit “Havana.” I remember watching her perform it on some awards show and being absolutely blown away by her stage presence. I knew she would be opening for Taylor Swift’s reputation Stadium Tour, and since I of course was attending I decided to listen to Camila shortly after its release, and I was surprised at how much I liked it! Although I enjoy this album very much, I was expecting a bit more from Romance; none of the songs have felt as special as “Consequences” or “Something’s Gotta Give” or “Havana” from her debut, and although I don’t think an artist should ever try to replicate past success or follow formulas that they think might get them there, I feel like that extra punch I was expecting from this album is missing. I still think she did a great job though- I was completely blown away by her vocals and the production, and I am excited to see where her career takes her.

[wombtangclanaz]

“Not everyone can be Russ”

So I’m not really sure where to start a whole ass blog but since my rants are constantly triggered by random content I see, I'm gonna stick to what I know and not try to psych myself out and delay this blog further. So we’ll jump right in. I have to shoutout Kato on the Track for always validating the things I think I'm learning on my own, and for packaging those lessons into words that make sense and that I can share with others. If you’re not familiar with Kato, Dame Mec, DJ Pain, Sound Advice, Music Entrepreneur Club and so many other local platforms/people of the sort, you really playin yourself,  PERIODT. These guys really care about layin it out for you in a meaningful way which takes a lot of work. so WATCH AND LISTEN.  So, between yesterday and today, Kato posted a few short videos talking about the subjects we are about to explore. Until I can figure out how to attach said videos, go watch them on IG @katoproducer. The one posted today is titled “Not everyone can be Russ” and I feel that on SUCH a spiritual level. If you’re familiar with Russ at all, you can probably kinda guess what this is about. For those not familiar, Russ is a rapper/song writer/producer/author etc etc etc. who has gained some big recognition for his blueprint as an “independent” artist. I personally don't really listen to Russ or closely follow his career, however his relevance in the industry is undeniable. if you watch any interview with Russ, its clear he's garnered fame by figuring out how to be an independent powerhouse, more or less. (Admittedly, the technical “BUSINESS” side of the industry is still something I lack a lot of knowledge in cause it involves politics that can be annoying, however I'm always tryna find people to teach me more things. If this is you, tap inwardly) But basically, the point Kato is trying to make is that its not necessarily better to be doing EVERYTHING yourself with zero out-sourcing/collaboration. We see this A LOT on applications for Tucson Hip Hop Festival (shoutout THHF fam I love you guys) It seems like young artists are quick to tell us about how they rap AND PRODUCER/WRITE/RECORD/ENGINEER all their own music in their closet. it seems to be a point made to try to impress, when really it can be a red flag. This might be just my opinion, however I have a lot of conversations about this with the mentors I keep close to me and they seem to share my sentiments. The problem with doing EVERYTHING yourself is that it can quickly create a “master of none” situation. The beautiful part of todays music industry is that the technology to do the basic things yourself and is mostly free and at your fingertips. Every kid with an iphone5 can make a rap song. This is one of the reasons that hip hip is one of the most popular genres in the world right now. With popularity comes intense levels of over-saturation. You have to focus your talents and efforts and TIME. If you’re a rapper SLASH producer, ask yourself which one you're more passionate about, which one would be devastating to leave behind? Now, this doesn't mean you’re forever disqualified from making beats in the future or trying your hand at rapping. I think a big factor in a hip hop career these days is TIMING. Take note that Russ released 11 albums and 87 singles CONSECUATIVELY AND FREE OF CHARGE before he really got meaningful recognition with Soundcloud. Not to mention the fact that producers and DJ’s are more recognized and showcased as separate entities, locally and nationally. A big reason is the fact that social media made branding so easy and mostly free. Now, if you’re someone who just likes to experiment and create music and try your hand at rapping, DO NOT LET ME DISCOURAGE YOU. Everyones gotta figure things out, its important that you’re exploring and creating DESPITE everything. Consistency is key. Do not let me dictate your dreams. HOWEVER, if you're looking to take the next step and actually pursue a career, this is advice you may want to take to heart. It sounds counter-intuitive but the best way to gain success as an INDEPENDENT artist is COLLABORATION WITH YOUR PEERS. Another point Kato makes is how up-and-coming rappers are immediately trying to work with artists or entities 3-4 steps ahead of them. Theres many rappers who try to afford themselves the PRIVILEGE of skipping necessary steps in their career. Most notably the LOCAL step. I see so many rappers following this romanticized narrative of being an INDEPENDANT artist, fuck a label got it out the dirt do it all on my own yadda yadda, but are so quick to bash or dismiss their local scene that they have yet to even explore, all the while on social media spamming every single major record label and tagging every legendary rapper they can think of in every single irrelevant thing they post. I can't make any sense of that honestly. I CONSTANTLYYYYYYY have kids reaching out to me sayin they wanna legitimize their local scene, PUT ON for their city, put their state ON THE MAP, help build their community, PUSH THE CULTURE, be socially active and change lives etc etc etc. and have never been to a SINGLE local event (even as a supporter), can't name a SINGLE leader or influential person in their hip hop community or a SINGLE local rapper they admire(who aren't just one of their homies).  I LOVE that energy and passion. but without the KNOWLEDGE of what's going on around you, and the people laying down the roadwork for you, you look low-key disrespectful and very under informed. I mean, this is quite literally the bane of my existence. If you're involved in organizing shows or events or platforms on any level, you know how many people will hit you up to be on every single show/festival but HAVE not and WILL not ever attend or support otherwise. I'm sorry but there's no other way around it. I can speak for the whole state when I say that there are locally conscience artists that quite literally “put on” for their community every weekend and have for years and years. if you message me on IG for coverage on my platform and we have 2 mutual friends, THATS A HUGE RED FLAG. There are many experienced and talented people around you who want nothing more than to provide opportunities and support to pass the torch to the next generation. Its okay to reach out for support and ask for help as long as you’re worthy of it. Dame Mec always says that if you’re reaching out to someone ASKING for something (no matter how small) you gotta make sure you’re working JUST as hard or ALMOST as hard as the people you’re reaching out to. “CLOUT” does not exist if you’re actually worthy of the support, it just comes and it lasts longer. Building in your local scene can really boost the longevity of your career and helps you find “success” in unexpected places. And maybe i’m the one romanticizing now, but asking for something should not be your first contact with said person. Your local networking, knowledge and SUPPORT OF OTHERS should not come solely from YOUR OWN desire for success, wealth or influence. It should come from your utter love and uncompromising passion for HIP HOP and every avenue of culture that goes along with it. You should already be attending hip hop events and having hip hop experiences, not because you decide you're a rapper one day, but because its the thing you enjoy the most and absolutely cannot see your life without it. Sometimes I let myself get annoyed by the lack of knowledge and lack of willingness to learn that I see plaguing hip hop today and I always remember what one of my homies/mentors always says when I wanna talk shit; “their heart just isn't in it” (Pike obvi) and that's just so damn true. If your heart isn't in it, everyone around you is gonna figure that out way before you do. Don't let your ego ruin your career before you even have one

[soraenun-archive]

[putting my hands in front of your eyes] guess who it is? me, your one and only bestie :D as always, i'm so glad that my messages cheer you up, even a little. it's always a pleasure talking to you so the feeling is mutual ;) <3

insomnia sure doesn't want to leave the both of us alone huh? 😌 guess we'll have to suffer... *crying*

i mean joy, irene and yeri already had it a week before the comeback so i don't think they'll catch it again this time. but yeah, it's better she takes all the time she needs to recover fully rather than rushing her to come back on stage. health is the number 1 priority. oh? i didn't know about it. i don't wanna get my hopes up because sm is known to deceive the fans but i really hope they get at least another comeback this year. this would be amazing. fingers crossed :)

don't worry, even nctzens don't have the time to catch up with all the content they put out. and, the majority of nctzens i know only focus on either one member or sub-unit and aren't interested in others. so, it's totally understandable. yeah, the choreography is amazing. especially the buffering part. so cute! and yeah, i agree with you on fire alarm lol. this song is a good beginning for the album in the sense that when you listened to it, you're definitely awake and can focus on the other songs lmao we're definitely besties because those two songs are also my favourites out of the album. i mean, who wouldn't like such great songs?

question of the day: what are your favourite rv b-sides? i don't think i asked you about it before. i hope so ^^

[you just received a new package and you decide to open it. said package is a teddy bear. when you press its right paw a message is said to you ] hey shannon, ily and i hope you're taking care mwah

from 🐘 anon

my bestie!!! hi!!!! replying to this a little late sorry about that i've been a little out of it 😫 but i'm doing okay i prommy! i hope you have been okay as well!💕

ohhh yeah you’re right!! i totally forgot about them already having it! yeah i think joy said it during a press interview but they said they plan to release many albums/have many comebacks this year and that they want to be queens of every season not just summer! but you’re right you can’t really trust sm too much but i hope that it’s true!

omg really? we truly are besties <3 and we also have amazing taste! those songs are just so good!! but i really liked the whole album! the live stages have been so good too and i'm excited to watch their studio choom performance later when i have the time!

oooh there’s literally so many i don’t even know where to start! i don’t really listen to besides much in general to be honest because i listen to so many different groups i usually just stick to the title tracks or like i usually just listen to an album once and then never again (unless it's zion.t of course) but red velvet don’t really have any bad songs so all their bsides are great! but just to name a few i really like look, oh boy, sunny side up and actually just the whole reve festival finale album in general!!

🧸💗💕💞💓 aww thank u for the teddy bear it’s so cute <3 i hope you’re well and having a lovely day bestie 💖

[minblush]

don't worry i feel the same way!! i was so looking forward to gayo's because of the song covers, and they didn't this time :( i mean i still appreciate the performances they gave us, they did a great job, but i am kind of sad too. it's just so exciting seeing them take on another groups style

yeah of course they still worked hard and delivered some amazing performances skdjkasd, but also despite different instrumentals and stuff, it’s still all performances we’ve seen many times before except for the short intros skdjakd but yeah i agree

Anonymous said:I was upset they haven’t done any special stages too :( I always look forward to them and enjoy them the most. ahh I just can’t get used to the change

we literally got so many legendary performances from these year end things that i still think about all the time, it’s a bit sad yeah dakjsd i liked these performances but also like, i doubt anyone will remember them or look for them two years from now on unlike the previous stages

Anonymous said:I totally feel ya.. I was really excited to see some solo stages nd im just dissapointed. Because they equally worked hard for all the performances they put out as a group, as rap line, vocal line. But each member cud have done smething solo for atleast a few seconds, just like Tae today. Donno wat bighit is upto but i dearly hope they don’t go with usual kpop popular grp paths.

i mean they had those short intros like jimin and hobi did, but yeah for the most part… :( honestly i think it’s a combination of them being really busy and also being so big now they just don’t have to do these stages anymore? cause for groups the special stages are a way to promote themselves and create buzz for the general public, so maybe bighit feels with all the massive exposure they now got in korea, that they don’t have to make the boys learn 6 new choreos over a month anymore? on one hand good cause they won’t be as exhausted, but i feel like there is still room for some special stuff… but also i want to ask you, is there really anything anymore that makes you think like they aren’t proceeding like other groups? what sets them apart anymore? tbh

Anonymous said:yoongi didnt write his part in mic drop? i dont know a lot of things about them omg do u mind spilling more tea? if u dont want to its okay i know u could get hate :( but i would rly like to know more about it

no he didn’t write it, rapline hasn’t written a lot of their parts in the last album sadly, you can just check the credits on albums if you want to see! that info is out there. and about tea, i really meant it like, there are things i also wish i didn’t know? so i’m not going to pass them on, sorry ;-;

Anonymous said:I think that’s why a lot of fans coming from HYYH era and even WINGS felt a bit let down with this album. My worry is that as they get bigger, they’ll eventually become what they had tried NOT to become which is another overly produced Kpop boy band with tons of external producers, composers etc. If Sea and the Outro (tho I didn’t like this outro) hadn’t been on this album, I’d have honestly started to lose faith in Bangtan’s sound moving forward. I rlly hope their next album is different (2/2)

ah sorry i didn’t get the first part? but i get what you’re saying because i’ve shared the same sentiment and talked about it a lot when the album came out. honestly i feel like they kinda reached the point you’re talking about with that album, external producers, less involvement from members, less substance lyrics wise. and honestly.. i wouldn’t hold my breath for any improvement? because yoongi said himself in the billboard interview, that they definitely do not want to ruffle any feathers with their -social criticism- that they want to bring people together instead, so with that we’ll just get very vague things and messages like -love yoursef- from now on, and considering the more personal lyrics had been hidden and kind of treated as just something for fans and not the real album material as well, like that just confirms it for me? so i just hope the songs will be bops, i hope bighit will stop media playing and exaggerating so i don’t have to feel all jaded, and i will just look forward to their mixtapes, solo work, hidden tracks where they will be able to express themselves more.. cause from how bighit had been acting and what has been said, i doubt we’ll go back to how things used to be anymore? but i’m also a huge pessimist sorry dakjsd i would love to be wrong

Anonymous said:hi i agree so much with what you said re: the boys involvement like… in the summer package how namjoon said yoongi writes what ~200 songs a year?? and looking at the credits for ly:h and how he had barely involvement it just breaks my heart that yoongi (and namjoon and hoseok and god knows whom else) are probably working so hard writing an dproducing and ur telling me not one of those songs was included… as oppose to prior albums… in favor of (imo djghdjfg) subpar tracks god its upsetting

Anonymous said:and as a follow on like… i cant help but feel sad that an album they barely contirbuted to is winning them all these accolades compared to the albums they were heavily involved in like.. idk how they feel about it but 2 me thats…. yikes

i think it’s unfair i believe their material would be better received anyway, like are you telling me yoongi didn’t make songs that are better than what the chainsmokers did? -.- idk i feel like bighit is making a mistake by trying to make the boys as universally appealing as possible when their underdog and difference from other kpop groups was what made a lot of people check them out in the first place… i get they can’t really act antiestablishment at his point even for show since they go around advertising even banks and mcdonalds and stuff, but how was her as an album at least, any different from what other groups do now? like seventeen or even exo musically, ykwim? lots of group throw in  a few writing credits in every now and then now for more credibility, but is that enough with bangtan? is that fair to them as artists? when in the past it was so different? 3: and yeah i’m so proud and happy for them but i also wish wings for example had been rewarded this way cause that was really the peak for the boys as musicians and as a group that is above the general kpop formula ;-; 

[weirdwariii]

My Top 20 Albums of 2017 Part 2: 10 - 1

10. Alvvays - Antisocialites: What a delightful album. Like, I should just leave it at that, because I’m not sure what else I want to say about it. This is just the kind of indie pop-rock album that felt plentiful and unavoidable 10 years ago, but doesn’t show up as much anymore. But I don’t think its noteworthy just because it’s filling a niche. It’s just an effortlessly tight album. It sounds good, the vocals are great, the songs are amazing. There’s hints of some interesting inspirations sprinkled throughout (someone was listening to Stereolab…), and I just can’t get enough of it. I wouldn’t be surprised if, in the longrun, this album has some more longevity than most of the other albums on this list.

9. Thundercat - Drunk: Let me start here: I picked up this album on vinyl this year, and it’s one of the coolest looking packages to come out this year; great cover art, lots of art inside, and...the album spread across three 10” discs. To get through the album on vinyl you need the steadfastness to flip three different discs after each side, and to put away each disc and replace it with the next at least twice. That’s a lot of commitment for any album, and the very thought of listening to this album on vinyl exhausts me (considering that my turntable is located on the opposite side of the room from my couch). With that said, I’m pleased to announce that I love this album, despite its presentation. I feel like this is the third year in a row that Thundercat has felt like an important part of important music (see also: To Pimp a Butterfly, You’re Dead! and The Epic), and its good to see that its own name on the cover of his work this year. This is an album that feels uniquely his, and somehow makes a song about watching anime in Japan seem as much of an artistic accomplishment as making the best yacht rock song in 30 years with the help of Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins. The entire album is an equal parts quirky and soulful trip and hints that future albums could be even quirkier and more soulful. Just, like, listen to it digitally.

8. Rolling Blackout Coastal Fever - French Press EP: So what does this say: For a 6-song EP, these songs must be exceptional if it was better than all those other albums? Or that, as an EP, there’s less of a chance to be bored with it by the end? Well, for what it's worth, this is the only EP on the list, so it clearly did something right. Honestly, if this was at LP length and was 10 songs at the same quality as the 6 presented here, this would probably rank even higher. As is, this is just a breezy and effortless set of indie rock songs from a new band that sounds like they’ve been around 10 years longer than they really have. There isn’t a moment that goes to waste, and I’m always left wanting more at the end - a quality that even some of my favorite albums this year didn’t have. I sincerely hope there’s a full length on the horizon, and that it makes good on the promises hinted at here.

7. Oh Sees - Orc: Sometimes there’s just the perfect album at the perfect time. Maybe its a band that you’re finally getting into as they put out a new album, or maybe it's an album that just seems to mesh with the kind of music you’ve been into lately. Maybe it's an album that just resonates with how you’re feeling in that moment.  Sometimes it's all of the above, as was the case here. I finally got into Thee Oh Sees last year, absorbing their two albums in my quest for more music that was in the same vein as Ty Segall’s Emotional Mugger. Between these albums, and King Gizzard’s 2017 output (we’ll come back to that), I was 100% on board the fuzzed out psych-garage-punk bandwagon, and that's when this album fell into my lap. I just love everything about this album. It’s raw, it’s weird, it’s loud, it has the most epic drum solo I’ve heard all year on it. My garage-rock sensibilities were spoiled silly this year, and this album played a huge part in that.

6. Japandroids - Near to the Wild Heart of Life: I read a review earlier this year for this album, and I’m kind of paraphrasing from memory, but it essentially said: “In a trying year like 2017, you’d think a band like Japandroids would have more to say on that, rather than making more fun punk music.” And that literally made me love the album even more. The best response to the darkness of our world, as it turns out, was to remind you of what it looks when you make it to the light at the end of the tunnel. The band doesn’t necessarily do anything they haven’t done before - there are few risks or moments that would sound completely out of place on an earlier album. But they really are great fucking songs. The title track is, hands down, the best song that was released this year. Yeah, maybe this didn’t call our orange meat puppet a buffoon or anything, but it sure as hell will be playing on my headphones on the day that we wave goodbye.

5. Washed Out - Mister Mellow: As we approached the end of 2016 and with the mostly unknown, but likely dark, void of 2017 looming ahead, I vowed to make art more important in my life. It needed to be an escape just as much as a response. And when I felt overwhelmed by the news cycle, or when the inspiration I needed just wasn’t there, Mister Mellow was. Between the “visual album” aspect of this project (that I strongly urge you to check out) and the music itself, it completely fit in with my aesthetic as artist and never failed in giving me a little pep talk. It's not a long album, nor is it an especially deep one. But in terms of style and just being a pool of strangeness to get lost in, this album never let me down. It might not be an explicit reaction to 2017 in itself, but it definitely aided me in creating my own.

4.Tyler the Creator - Flower Boy (or probably, Scum Fuck Flower Boy): The genesis of Odd Future was a weird time for me as an aging fan of music. On one hand, here was this collective of talented young rappers churning out a near-constant stream of albums for free - a concept that was novel and exciting to follow. On the other, between fast-paced Twitter stream-of-thought and community in-jokes, Odd Future definitely felt like the exact moment that I felt like I was an old man who didn’t get what the kids were listening to. And through that, I followed Tyler from afar. He’s a funny guy who you’ve been able to watch mature, year by year, to someone who feels very much like a spokesperson for a generation (am I crazy for thinking this??). This album feels like his most personal, self-aware, and world-aware album in his career, and there’s a quality in the production and the songs worthy of that awareness.  I recognize the lack of hip hop music in my list this year, and that’s a very fair observation. My only excuse (and it is just an excuse) is that Flower Boy was just that hard to beat, for me.  I listened to this album a lot this year, and I found myself relating to some of Tyler’s own personal revelations.  

3. Father John Misty - Pure Comedy: Earlier this year, speaking to a friend of mine about this album, I was voicing my displeasure: “The album is just far too long and says far too much. I just feel like I’ll never have the energy to slog through the whole damn thing.” But, again, 2017. The world needed protest music, or at the very least, music that seemed to understand the world we now lived in. So I slogged through Pure Comedy and...it wasn’t a slog at all. Okay, sure. It’s long. It takes its time. But Josh Tillman GETS it. Its a bad, and darkly amusing, world out there, and he’s here to let loose about it. The album only got better through the year, with every single listen. Even the 13 minute “Leaving LA” centerpiece feels wholey essential, acting as almost an origin story for FJM as much as it's a state-of-the-union on Josh’s personal life. This album didn’t just grow on me this year, it came to feel absolutely essential.

2. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Flying Microtonal Banana, Murder of the Universe, Sketches of Brunswick East, Polygondwanaland: Not only did it not seem right to pick just one album of the 4 (at the time of my writing this) albums released by KG&TLW this year, but it felt like there was a larger picture here that needed to be recognized. King Gizzard promised 5 albums this year, and of the 4 we got, not a single one disappointed. Not a single one felt like a weak link to me. Not a single one felt like a misstep or seemed inessential. In a year where albums from some of my favorite bands bounced off of me after a listen or two (sorry, Grizzly Bear), this one band somehow made 4 albums that I cared about and kept coming back to. Flying Microtonal Banana and Murder of the Universe were both instantly loveable. They feel right into the same psych-rock wormhole that Oh Sees had me traveling through - especially the latter, with its story-driven sections and spoken words just hit the spot in every way possible. Sketches didn’t resonate with me at first, admittedly, perhaps because of its vast difference in sound from Murder - but I came around on it quickly, and its jazz-leaning pop would actually become the second most listened to of the 4 albums (with Murder being 1st). Polygondwanaland, finally, felt like a singles compilation - a complete set of tracks that, while feeling a little disconnected from each other thematically, shows off everything the band is capable of as well as hinting at what could be on the horizon. I honestly can’t say enough good things about this band, nor can I recall the last time that a band’s entire aesthetic just resonated with me so much. And to bring such a great quantity of music (with equal amount quality) to the table was just...perfect.  Or, y’know, close to perfect. Because these albums are only #2 on the list.

1.  Priests - Nothing Feels Natural: Nothing Feels Natural was one of the first (if not the actual first) albums I fell in love with in 2017, and it felt like the album that all others would be measured against. And, for the most part, this album always felt like the best. There were times when other albums felt more important in a moment (Murder of the Universe and Flower Boy both immediately come to mind), but when the buzz wore off a little, I was always happy to come back to Nothing Feels Natural. Here, Priests nail both a cohesive sound, yet its done through an assortment of genres. The surf-rock of “JJ” (another contender for year’s best song), the spoken word punk of “No Big Bang” and the new wave of “Suck” all seem to be at contrast with each other on paper, but the entire album flows together effortlessly. The band is tight as hell, and for as much as I want to call them “punk” there just isn’t a lot of the discordant noise I’d associate with that label on this album. There’s a Spoon-esque attention to production on this album - everything feels planned and well thought-out and there’s barely any wasted moments. Musically, I think the album holds its own against almost any other that I’ve listened to this year. Yet, I don’t even think its the music that even puts it here in the top spot - that’d be the lyrics. You’re probably as sick of hearing about the influence 2017’s politics had on music as I am sick of writing about it, so I’ll try and condense it a little...but you get the idea. For songs written prior to the year, they certainly hit all the right spots for the issues that mattered in 2017: Identity. Feminism. Consumerism. Culture. Even if it would’ve been the right album at any time, it still felt especially poignant this year, and the fact that it sounds so great only propelled it the very top.

And that’s it. That was my favorite music of this year. All done. The end. Onwards to whatever black hole of despair 2018 will be.

[just-some-other-reviews]

So, leave me a week of kpop album reviews. After that, I’ll come back with drama reviews. I just need time to write them.

So, last month (March) I had no albums to buy (well, I had no albums when I wanted to do my purchase, and I didn’t want to drag my order for too long), so I decided to investigate the site I usually buy albums from to find out the new groups with the lower sales on their first albums.  Even if there aren’t a lot of people following this series, I really wanted to put these reviews out and maybe encourage some to purchase these albums. I’ll introduce this order of new albums with low sales by Varisty’s album. I talked about Varsity a bit jokingly earlier (you know, about my birth date and the fact that Damon was the only person that I shared it with), but I listened to their songs and now I have their album...

There’s a small story around my purchase of this album. Originally, it was the one who gave me the idea of finding new groups with low sales and give a try to their albums in the goal of discovering them. But, when I passed my order on Ktown4u, I completely forgot to put Varsity’s album in it. When I noticed it, I was like “Dammit, I really wanted that album” so I decided to buy it anyway. The only problem is that the shipping price for a single album on Ktown4u is really high, so I went around the Internet to find it at a lower place and ended up purchasing it from Catchop CD and had a greater experience than the last time I bought an album from them. My album came super quickly (even a bit earlier than it was announced), the envelop was in really good shape and everything was perfect. So, now, I officially say that I like Catchop CD as much as Ktown4u. Varsity U & I, Date ended up costing me 14.48$ (CAD) without shipping fees.

I’ll start by doing a simple introduction to group because they are rookies. They deserve an introduction. Varsity is a twelve members group under Global K Center (GKC) Entertainment and In Hi Media. They have seven Korean members (Bullet/JoonWoo, Kid/JunHoe, XiWeol/MinSeok, Seungbo, RiHo/SeungWook, YunHo and Dawon... By the way, I am the only confused that they have a Damon and Dawon in the same team and didn’t think of giving another stage name than Damon to Bao Han...) and five Chinese members that I’ll literally massacre their names by not putting all the accents because... I don’t want to get a Chinese keyboard on my computer just for that... If I want to write in Chinese some day, I’ll download it... (Manny/Dong Cheng, Anthony, JaeBin/Deng Bin, Xin/Xin Yu and Damon/Bao Han). They debuted in January of 2017 (since then they only appeared on Mix Nine, well Manny, SeungBo and Kid passed the audition that I didn’t watch fully because these auditions of already debuted groups give me bad feels when I know only a part of them pass...) with U R my Only One (which is the title track of their first mini album), and, since then have released two other MV (Hole in One and 지금 나올래). Their youngest member is a 2001′s liner and their oldest members are two 95′s liners, which means that they aren’t babies (I know I’m not the only one feeling bad about liking idols younger than me).

The album contains a total of 6 songs, but only 5 full-length ones. Varsity (the first song) is an intro of around one minute. For the rest of the songs, I’m in love with Varsity. They have a fresh electro boyish vibe (I don’t know what I’m saying). I only listened to their three tracks with a MV before purchasing the albums (I decided to keep a certain mystery about all those albums before purchasing them because I wanted to discover the artists once I would make the purchase), and ended being gladly surprised by the two songs who didn’t have a MV. I mean, Rollin is probably the one I like the least on the album, but the four other songs are really good and catchy. The main reason why I purchased this album was because of 지금 나올래, but the other songs really grow on me, even U R My Only One, which I was a bit hesitant about at the start.

The packaging of the album is weird to say the least, but after seeing what kind of shit Woollim does sometimes, I kind of grew used to weird packaging. The album is put in a sleeve jacket, which is really soft, but it didn’t get damaged yet, so I’m hoping it will stay that way. And inside there’s the album... So far nothing seems too strange, right? But once you take the album out, everything falls out. The album has three pannels and the photobook and photocards are only slid into it, so if you stand up while taking it out, there’s nothing to protect the photocards and photobook. The shots of the photobook are quite standard and the boys are amazing (and as handsome as every kpop idols, girls included), but it’s quite thin. You also get two photocards with the album... And sorry for my ignorance, but there’s so many boys in this group that I’ll try to guess which photocards I got, but I’m unsure about the result (there are only two or three members I can identify because they have really distinctive features or roles in the group, like Damon and Manny if you want to know the truth... I’m pitiful...)... So, I’m quite sure that the one with the glasses is Anthony, since he wrote his name in Latin alphabet on the other side and he’s clearly a visual because he has not a lot of lines (he’s the one opening Hole in One if I’m not mistaken). The other photocard is another thing... Like, I’m not even sure it’s signed... I’m sorry for my limited knowledge of Korean. I can read the letters, but the words don’t make a lot of sense... Well, I’m like nearly 100% sure he didn’t sign... Ah... My life is complicated... But from my researches... I believe it’s Xin, another Chinese member of the group? Like, he’s the one whose facial features match the more with the photocard, also some identified that photocard as him, so I’ll say it’s him... But damn, he has a messy calligraphy. (like there were some letters I was really unsure about, but I’m quite sure I managed to translate what he put there).

So in the end, was it worth it? I mean, aside from the fact that it encourages the new “generation” of kpop idol, the songs on the album are really good. The packaging is a bit messy, but you get what you paid for. You have cool shots and photocards. I know I didn’t discuss about it, but esthetically speaking their album is really pretty. The cover is amazing and the album looks good on a shelf. It’s quite small also, so it doesn’t take a lot of place. If everything I’ve said can’t convince you that it’s a good album (by the way, I’m hyped while I write this review, but I’m afraid that my love for this album won’t show, so...) then pass it, you’ll just miss a good album in my opinion. For me it was worth it.