#i was like 15 feet from phoebe bridgers

[highdefinitions]

boygenius.

[violcts]

𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐓 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐑 — a twenty-seven year old pop singer who's got more problems than she can count, penned by 𝓯𝓮𝓻𝓫 for 𝖓𝖊𝖕𝖔𝖋𝖒. INTRODUCTION   ,   PLAYLIST   &   PINTEREST.

𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐒

ashley   moore.     she/her.     cis   woman.      ›      spotted   at   the   met   steps   ,   violet   spencer   ,   most   likely   listening   to   bug   like   an   angel   by   mitski  with   their   airpods   pro   .   the   twenty-seven   year   old   gained   quite   a   reputation   ,   known   to   be   -underhanded   yet   +sturdy   to   anyone   who   knows   them   .   you'll   easily   spot   them   when   you   hear   about   red   velvet   notebook   that   carries   all   of   the   secrets   she   keeps   ,   screaming   at   the   bottom   of   a   swimming   pool   just   to   watch   the   bubbles   float   away    ,   a   glass   with   just   a   little   bit   of   whiskey   remaining   —   left   untouched   for   days   —   an improvement ,   screaming   and   crying   on   stage   ,   followed   by   good   fortune   by   viktor   &   rolf.   latest   nepoupdates   article   talks   about   rehab   era   for   america's   favorite   sad   girl   singer?   violet   spencer   seen   leaving   treatment   center   in   upstate   new   york!   ,   but   i   guess   any   reputation   is   good   reputation   .

𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐒

full name: violet marie spencer

nicknames: vio, v.

birthday: january 29, 1996

zodiac: aquarius

hometown: upper east side, new york & long island, new york

occupation: singer-songwriter

sexual orientation: bisexual

face claim: ashley moore

career claim: phoebe bridgers

𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒

REHAB ERA FOR AMERICA'S FAVORITE SAD GIRL SINGER? VIOLET SPENCER SEEN LEAVING TREATMENT CENTER IN UPSTATE NEW YORK — TMZ, 17 July 2023 VIOLET MOORE LOSES ALL FIVE GRAMMY AWARD NOMINATIONS: SEE LIST OF WINNERS ! — Vanity Fair, 4 February 2023 BREAKING: THREE KILLED IN ACCIDENT ON LONG ISLAND EXPRESSWAY — Metro New York, 1 December 2022 READ OUR REVIEW OF NEWEST ALBUM FROM INDIE PHENOM, VIOLET MOORE — Pitchfork, 15 September 2022 VIOLET MOORE CALLS IT QUITS WITH ACTOR BEAU — The Daily Mail, 18 March 2022

𝐑𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍

violet's six years old when she realizes that the world doesn't end at the long island expressway. her father takes her into town, to see the cranberries live, and it changes her entire world. she looks up at the woman onstage, and knows that's who she wants to be, one day. she gets a guitar for her birthday, just two months later, and the rest is history.

that's the pretty little story, tied up with a bow, that she'll tell any music magazine. it's not as if there's anyone to call her out on it, anymore. her family's dead, her life's a ruin - what's making herself a little more palatable to the masses, if it makes her feel better? the lying didn't start there, it never does, but the rewriting of history will follow her forever.

the truth - she went to that cranberries concert and fell asleep during it. her father didn't buy her a guitar until she was ten and she had to beg and plead for it. they didn't want her to be an artist - they wanted her to be a lawyer, just like them. just like her older sister.

but she's talented, blowing people away at talent shows with melancholy tones and whining songs that don't really stick. teen angst hits her hard, and she falls into listening to nirvana and paramore, anything emo enough to get her in tune with her emotions - and it's the only thing that makes her feel... real. once she starts recording music, she doesn't stop.

the new york indie scene is hard to navigate, but she's a bit smarter on her feet, a bit quicker than the others to pick up on things. she scores an opener gig, wanting to be the headliner one day. that gig leads to another, and before she knows what's hit her she's recording her first album. it all happens so, so fast. she doesn't know what to do with herself - her head spinning at the whiplash from being just one of guys, lugging her own equipment, to critical acclaim.

and she sells herself well, violet's good at twisting a story just a bit - to get you to believe in her. she's good at press, good at just... talking about herself. bubbly and fun, with a little bit of biting sarcasm that people seem to eat up.

somewhere along the way, she meets them. they're an actor, and they're beautiful, and she falls deeply in love. she tells the truth, for once in her life - the whole truth, to him. and it's easy to do - no embellishment, no perfect fairy tale. and maybe she should have told the fairy tale, because it all blows up spectacularly in her face, because she's too stupid to realize when someone's coming on to her - and he knows she lies, even if never once lied to him.

she blows up overnight, it feels like, with the release of her second album. and then she's on her own tour, and it's fucking lonely, and she gets lost. the drink is easy to get her mind off it - and things spiral so quickly from there. before she knows it, she's too drunk to stand up and sing at the funeral of her parents and sister. not that anyone could expect her to be normal enough to go on, but she did. she expected better.

it's the turning point, four months of her life sank into a treatment center to fix herself. it works, by some miracle - even if it's not great for press. the world has to be ready to meet the new and... slightly improved violet. even if she's not quite ready to return, terrified she'll go right back to those bad habits.

𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒

THE EX — they fell in love fast and hard, and violet knew that he was the only one for her. too bad she always fucks everything up, and that was no different with this. one night, plenty of drinks and a few well placed pick up lines from another man ruined everything. the truth was - he just couldn't trust her, she'd given him too many reasons not to. it's bitter - but i imagine the wound has healed a bit. with his career taking off, though, fans are beginning to question what happened - and neither of hem are really ready to face that. (taken by kahlil louis)

THE BANDMATES — getting out of rehab had her questioning everything, and leaning on her very best friends in the world. this group would be very boygenius-core, just three absolute best friends collaborating between their own albums and supporting each other wholeheartedly. (1/2 taken by luna dominguez-herrera)

PLATONIC — people who knew her pre-rehab, who liked her when she was partying ; people who only know who she is now, who might actually be very helpful in her recovery ; plenty of fairweather friends she's made in the industry, who she'd honestly love to try and connect with on a deeper level .

ROMANTIC — at the moment, she's as emotionally unavailable as it comes - to everyone except her ex, but she's not completely closed off from flings that are expected to mean absolutely nothing.

ANTAGONISTIC — people who think she's not quite deserving of what she has ; people she went on a twitter rant against during her "drinking all the time" days ; give this woman some haters!!!!

[parkitaco]

here to ask u about 15, 17, n 38 🫡👁👁

hi hi!!

15 - what do you think of when you hear the word “home”?

i think of the living room at my mom's house, with the electric fireplace in the corner and blankets on all the chairs and the disgusting green couch that smells like my brother's feet. i think of modern family playing on the television and all of us cramming our feet up on the ridiculously tiny coffee table. i think of the piano and the coffee mugs that are forever sitting on top of it. i think of chamomile tea and autumn

17 - name 3 things that make you happy

singing that song that's perfect for my vocal range and flows so effortlessly

loitering in a coffee house for entirely too much time and writing fanfic in an inconspicuous little google doc like a secret gaygent of fandom

"you've got kudos/comments" emails from ao3 in my inbox

38 - fave song at the moment?

oooh honestly i don't know?? i've been listening to midnights nonstop and maroon is one of my favorites off of that album but another big one for me at the moment is kyoto by phoebe bridgers

[daringyounggrayson]

end of the year review

thanks @hood-ex for tagging me <3

1. Song of the year?

I like a lot of music, but Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd feels fitting

2. Album of the year?

Manic by Halsey or Wonderful Wonderful by The Killers

3. Favorite musical artist / group you started listening to this year?

Phoebe Bridgers

4. Movie of the year?

I watched Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse a lot this year

5. TV show of the year?

maybe Derry Girls, that or Avatar: The Last Airbender. even though I didn’t see them for the first time this year, I rewatched them several times

6. Episode of tv or webisode that defined the year for you?

oh man idk, I’ll just say either Derry Girls season 1 episode 3 or 6

7. Favorite actor of the year?

I’m drawing a blank on this one

8. Game of the year?

encore! 

9. Best month for you this year?

you know what, I was kind of killing it in march. I felt like I was on top of my honors project, I was offered two (2) jobs, one of which I was actually going to be paid for, and a few days after getting back from spring break, my school was going to shut down for a couple of weeks, maybe even a month (surely no longer, or so we fools thought)

things kind of went downhill after that :/ 

10. Something that made you cry this year?

hmm see the problem is I’m just a crier in general, happy or sad, I’ll cry. plus I think there was just a lot to cry about this year. one of the last thing that made me cry was thinking about war, specifically how civil war soldiers would carry photographs of their loved ones with them onto battle fields so that if they were wounded they would die surrounded by the faces of their family and friends

11. Something you want to do again next year?

go to more nature trails

12. Talk about a new friend you made this year

I made several this year on tumblr, and it’s been really fun talking with you guys! it’s definitely been a bright spot in my year

13. How was your birthday this year?

pretty good! it didn’t differ that much from how I usually celebrate, we just had a small get-together in my backyard instead of in the house and at separate tables really far apart

14. Favorite book you read this year?

ooh, probably The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

15. What’s a bad habit you picked up this year?

I kind of turned into a terrible student this last semester. like, 90% of my assignments were started the night before/day they were do. I stopped doing the readings for all of my classes, I stopped going to one of my classes altogether about halfway through, and I barely studied for anything. and yet I never faced a consequence, you know, aside from constantly feeling like I was going to die from Stress. 10/10 would not recommend, hopefully next semester is better

16. Post a picture from the beginning of the year

so this picture has a backstory! basically, at the beginning of covid we (my sisters and my cousin) were trying to estimate how long sidewalk squares were so we could make sure we were staying at least six feet apart. I have a picture of my cousin using herself as a measuring stick on a sidewalk square, and I decided to do one in our driveway. we didn’t really notice that it looked like I was about to be run over until we put it in the group chat lmao  

17. Post a picture from the end of the year

this is from christmas! since my family didn’t get together, we all put pictures of what we were having in the group chat. my sister took a picture of the table and then one of me holding this pull-apart garlic cheesy bread thing. please pay no mind to the kitchen behind me, there was a lot of cooking and baking going on

18. A memorable meal this year?

over the summer, my sister and I were feeling kind of bummed that we were going to miss out on the street fair. to get over it, we ended up making pizza pretzels and snow cones, which was both fun and delicious 👌

19. What’re you excited about for next year?

I’m going to graduate! maybe even move out!

20. What’s something you learned this year?

that I really want to go into health psychology, probably with a focus on the social aspects like mindsets and beliefs and how and in what ways they affect not only our behaviors but also how our bodies react to stressors

21. What’s something new about your place of residence (room, home, or general location) now vs the start of the year?

um over the summer we hung up a hammock in the backyard

22. Favorite place you visited this year?

I didn’t really go anywhere, but I did got to a pretty nice nature trail! 

23. If you could send a message to yourself back on the first day of the year, what would it be?

don’t bother trying to study for the GRE, you won’t take it this year and a bunch of programs might end up not requiring it

24. Did you keep any New Year’s Resolutions?

I don’t really make them so  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

25. Did you create any characters (in games, art, or writing) this year? Describe one.

nope, I just like to steal characters from DC

alright, I’ll tag @trichoglossus, @dustorange, @prismatic-et-al, @thychesters​, @renecdote, @vampirebuckley, @azarathianscribbles, @venser, @novelty--night, and anyone else who wants to do it! (and no pressure of course)

[eabhaalynn]

My 11 Songs of the Decade (because 10 would be boring and is overdone.)

Cigarette Daydreams – Cage the Elephant

The song… This is the closing song of Cage the Elephant’s 2013 album, Melophobia, and the third single released from this album. It describes the pain of someone’s search for their own identity through the musings of a parted lover.

For me… To this day, this is the song I cry to. This always has been me and my friend Iona’s song. It will forever be inseparable from the Ulster Museum and Botanic Gardens in Belfast, from rainy summer’s days and rants about our seemingly massive problems with GCSEs and girls from school. When she went abroad for her gap year, I couldn’t bear to listen to it. It’s another one of these songs that manages to articulate what it feels like to be young and thinking too much.

Key lyric…If we can find a reason, a reason to change Looking for the answer If you can find a reason, a reason to stay Standing in the pouring rain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvVJ0v6Vta8

Ribs – Lorde

The song… This is a deep house influenced electronica song that discusses Lorde’s stress over ageing. It was released on her debut album, Pure Heroine, in 2013. It begins ambiently and builds to become increasingly more frantic as the song progresses.

For me… Despite being released when I was a young teenager, this song was written when Lorde was sixteen or seventeen. It articulates exactly what it feels like to be that age, at that stage of life. I’m quite sure teenagers across the globe can relate to that. This song has been the soundtrack of my teenage years, the imagery is both relatable and accessible. Listening now, it gives me a sense of nostalgia, a yearning to be back where I was a year, or two or three years ago. Even now, it is the sound of being alone in a crowd. It is musically perfect, and a piece of exceptional songwriting.

Key lyric…This dream isn't feeling sweet We're reeling through the midnight streets And I've never felt more alone It feels so scary, getting old

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qaeoz_7cyE

Sign of the Times – Harry Styles

The song…  This is Harry Style’s debut single as a solo artist. It was released in early 2017 and appears on his self-titled debut album. It is a power ballad with eclectic influences from genres such as soft rock, indie rock, glam rock and psychedelic soul. It features Styles’ vocals alongside choral harmonies throughout. It is essentially about avoiding emotion during times of grief and hardship.

For me…This is the song of me leaving school (for the first time). Listening to it now coughs up all the feelings of relief, and yet uncertainty. Excitement, but also nerves. Summer 2017 was a turning point for me. I had had a terrible couple of years over my GCSEs, and overall, my second school was a far better place for me to be than my first one ever was. At the time though, I didn’t know this. Sure, how could I? This song helped me figure out my feelings, and make sense of feeling happy when I really didn’t know what I should have felt at all.

Key lyric…We don't talk enough, we should open up Before it's all too much Will we ever learn? We've been here before It's just what we know

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN4ooNx77u0

Ride – Lana Del Rey

The song… This song comes from Lana Del Rey’s third EP, Paradise, released in 2012. It served as the first single of this re-release. It is a ballad that includes, among other themes, parental problems, loneliness and alcohol misuse. Del Rey sings over a string drenched, piano driven melody.

For me… This is the song of every summer. It has never been an exceptionally happy song for me, but it is the embodiment of what it is to feel young and alive, if a little bit tired. The glamour of it, alongside the acknowledgement that everything isn’t perfect, but that they will be okay if you just go with the flow, was exactly what I needed at the time it was released. The blissful uncertainty of the summers of being 14 and 15, partnered with the irrelevance of the future, is exactly what this song will always be about for me.

Key lyric… Been trying hard not to get into trouble But I, I've got a war in my mind I just ride, just ride

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py_-3di1yx0

Don’t Delete the Kisses – Wolf Alice

The song… This is the second single from Wolf Alice’s second album, Visions of a Life. It is characterised as dream pop, synth pop, shoegaze and indie rock. Frontwoman Rowsell referred to it as “one of those, you know, ‘head out the window on a long drive’ kind of tunes.’

For me… If ‘ribs’ is the sound of being seventeen, then surely this is the sound of falling in love. This song is the ultimate love song. I am absolutely convinced of it. It is greater than any one person as it is simply the sound of the feeling. I am very lucky that I actually was falling in love for the first time at the time this was released. I will always be indebted to Ellie Rowsell for being there to tell me in plain English how I was feeling. This song has defined every ‘lovey dovey’ mood I have been in for the last two and a half years. I’m sure most people of my age feel the same. It was written for the era we are living in and it is perfectly suited to it.

Key lyric…I see the signs of a lifetime, you 'til I die

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqxE-zppu30

Motion Sickness – Phoebe Bridgers

The song… This is the third single from Phoebe Bridger’s 2017 Debut album ‘Stranger in the Alps.’ It describes “being in love with someone who is super mean to you… like conflicted feelings.” Bridger’s stated to radio station KCRW that the song was written about fellow musician Ryan Adams.

For me… Admittedly, I discovered this song late in the decade. But it’s a song about feelings. Like, really hard feelings. This decade, and especially the latter half of it, threw up a lot of feelings, about a lot of things. I suppose this is fairly standard for most people approaching the end of their teenage years. It’s angsty, without being too bothered about anything. It’s raw and honest; articulating everything I’ve felt about everyone at one stage or another, and I’m equally, I’m sure it articulates enough people’s feelings about me.

Key lyric… You said when you met me you were bored And you, you were in a band when I was born

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sfYpolGCu8

A & E – Brand New Friend

The song… This illustrates the rise and fall of a relationship, and in doing so highlights the more melancholic acoustic side of Northern Irish indie pop group Brand New Friend. It was initially released in 2016 as the closing song of their debut EP, American Wives, but was remastered and re-released on their 2017 album Seatbelts for Airplanes.

For me… This is the song of the medicine application. Bearing in mind I know this band, and know that there is a well-developed meaning to the song that has nothing to do with me, this is the song that I have listened to, and seen live, countless times from the day I decided I wanted to be a doctor to the day I got into medical school and beyond. It is a rare and beautiful connection to have to a song like this, and one for which I am forever going to be grateful. Now, I can’t hear the song live without bawling my wee eyes out. I have come so far, and the band have too, and the song has been with us every step of the way. That truly means the world to me.

Key lyric… She wants to be a paramedic / Wants to save a strangers life / Now she wants to hold my hand / Does she know she’s saving mine?

https://open.spotify.com/track/5RmOfF1s5zW2B942H9OGXT?si=hsauA8iXQN6mXQnL8s0fBw

Brazil – Declan McKenna

The song… McKenna initially self-released this song in December 2014. It is critical of FIFA, of their awarding of the 2014 World Cup to Brazil without addressing the deep rooted and extensive poverty affecting the Nations people. It gained widespread media attention throughout the FIFA corruption scandal, before featuring on his debut album, ‘What do you think about the Car?’ in July 2017. It is an indie rock song that is driven by guitars and synths.

For me… This song was the sound of 2016 and 2017. It was released a while before this but I was fairly late jumping on the bandwagon. It’s a political song, speaking of the injustices behind FIFA and their 2014 World Cup in Brazil. As an angry little leftist, I have always appreciated this. I can only appreciate it more knowing that Declan McKenna himself was only fourteen when he wrote it. For me the song has many happy memories attached to it, from the long summer walks from my house to the nearest village to see my friends who were working as sailing instructors, to attending a tiny gig of Declan McKenna’s in the Oh Yeah Centre in Belfast and being about 6 feet from his face while he was 6 feet from the cusp of fame.

Key lyric…Because you've had your chances, yeah you've had enough I'm gonna burn your house down to spread peace and love

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duHjQ3BE6D8

Robbers – The 1975

The song… This is the sixth single from the 1975’s self-titled debut album. It was released as a single in May 2014. The song’s concept follows an ill-fated robbery, and was inspired in part by the 1993 film ‘True Romance.’ It is essentially about a relationship in which the partners are too focused on each other to notice the destruction they are each causing.

For me… This song is fairly definitive of my teenage years as a whole. The narrative of a toxic relationship that the writer could not, or would not leave, was one that I always managed to connect to, across all aspects of my life as a young teenager, encountering uncomfortable situations within school and with different people and groups of friends. Matty Healy was (and honestly still is) one of the biggest crushes I’ve ever had. I’ve now heard this song live three different times, at three completely different phases of my life. It is a song with so much meaning, and yet one that has grown and evolved with me throughout the decade.

Key lyric… Now everybody's dead And they're driving past my old school And he's got his gun, he's got his suit on She says, 'Babe, you look so cool'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iyy3YOpxL2k

Get Well Soon – Ariana Grande

The song… This is the final song on Grande’s 2017 album ‘Sweetener,’ it is a soul ballad with layered vocals, and is inspired by Grande’s personal anxiety and trauma following the May 2017 terrorist attack following her concert in Manchester. In memory of the 22 victims of this attack, there is a 40 second moment of silence at the end of the song.

For me… I am, and have been, a very anxious person for a very long time. This is something I have never really hid away from, but also never felt up to talking openly about. This song manages to describe the feelings associated with anxiety in a way I have never heard any mainstream musician attempt before. Ariana’s concert which was attacked in May 2017, that which inspired this song, immediately followed her concert that my father and sister had attended, and so the whole song and sequence of events is and always has been very close to home for me.

Key lyric…I'm too much in my head, did you notice? (Girl, what’s wrong with you? Come back down)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXU4P6j3TNY

She’s Thunderstorms – Arctic Monkeys

The song… This is the first song from the fourth studio album by arctic monkeys; Suck it and See, released in 2011. It originated when Alex Turner was looking for a new way of complimenting someone. It begins with an Eastern inspired riff and is fairly heavily guitar led, characteristic of this period in the Arctic Monkey’s discography

For me… I’d be lying if I said this isn’t one of my favourite songs of all time. I chose it for this list because it is my favourite song by the arctic monkeys, who are my favourite band. Its subject, Alexa Chung, basically leads the life I wish I had. Even more so at the time this song was written than now. I remember being twelve or thirteen and just wanting someone to write something like this for me. The sheer detail of the lyrics is beautiful and so captivating, they played a huge part in helping me find my love for music in an accessible way. I loved, and still do love, the relationship they had. I feel like it translated so well into his music, and into the popular culture that shaped my teenage years exceptionally well.  

Key lyric…Here is your host, sounds as if she's pretty close When the heat starts growing horns She's thunderstorms

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQSQnHh4rPE

[dadvans]

spotify :: 

1. the beginning after the end - stars (Will we wake in the morning And know what it was all for? | Up in our bedroom after the war) 2. neighborhood #1 - arcade fire (And if the snow buries my, my neighborhood | And if my parents are crying | Then I'll dig a tunnel from my window to yours) 3. king of carrot flowers pt. 1 - neutral milk hotel (And your mom would stick a fork right into daddy's shoulder | And dad would throw the garbage all across the floor | As we would lay and learn what each other's bodies were for) 4. so much it hurts - niki and the dove (What a fool was I to think that we were safe | From the thieves in the temple | And I go out by myself dancing | And when I come home late, I don't wanna go to bed | I just sit there by the phone – dead silent) 5. saturdays - twin shadow feat. HAIM (This might be the last fight | Every rope could fall right under her feet | And sink into the ocean | This will be your lost dreamWhen you open your eyes it's like | Nothing's real) 6. smoke signals - phoebe bridgers (I went with you up to | The place you grew up in | We spent a week in the cold | Just long enough to | "Walden" it with you) 7. i wish i was the moon - neko case (Last night I dreamt I'd forgotten my name | 'Cause I sold my soul | But I woke just the same | I'm so lonely | I wish I was the moon tonight) 8. slow show - the national (You know I dreamed about you | For twenty-nine years before I saw you | You know I dreamed about you | I missed you for, for twenty-nine years) 9. feel the lightning - dan deacon (I'm having visions, infinite visions | Of something new | You feel it changing, slowly the changing | About to break through) 10. help i’m alive - metric (Help I'm alive, my heart keeps beating like a hammer | Hard to be soft | Tough to be tender) 11. lover’s spit - broken social scene (All these people drinking lover's spit | They sit around and clean their face with it | And they listen to teeth to learn how to quit | Tied to a night they never metYou know it's time | That we grow old and do some shit) 12. you said something | pj harvey (We lean against railings | Describing the colors | And the smells of our homelands | Acting like lovers) 13. us - regina spektor (We wear our scarves just like a noose | But not 'cause we want eternal sleep | And though our parts are slightly used | New ones are slave labor you can keepWe're living in a den of thieves | Rummaging for answers in the pages | And it’s contagious) 14. in your eyes - peter gabriel (Love, I don't like to see so much pain | So much wasted and this moment keeps slipping away | I get so tired of working so hard for our survival | I look to the time with you to keep me awake and alive) 15. someday you will be loved - death cab for cutie (And the memories of me will seem more like bad dreams | Just a series of blurs like I never occurred | Someday you will be loved)

Bonus Tracks: Sprawl II - Arcade Fire, Baby We’ll Be Fine - The National, Blinding Lights - The Weeknd, Breathing Underwater - Metric

[welshdragonrawr]

For the “let’s get personal asks”.... all of them?? Please?? I’ll do anything 🙈 ~🍑

Anythiiiiing? That’s a mighty offer. I’ll try to keep these short and simple cuz there’s so many and poor moots will end up suffering a long post on their dash. But if anyone wants a long-winded elaboration on anything, feel free to ask.

1: 6 of the songs you listen to most? This Is Me Trying by Taylor Swift, Landslide by Stevie Nicks, In the End by Linkin Park, Perfect Places by Lorde, Funeral by Phoebe Bridgers, Wasteland Baby by Hozier

2: If you could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be? Sarah Paulson

3: Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 23, give me line 17.However. Kits is glowering at me. I’m only too aware that...

4: What do you think about most? Life

5: What does your latest text message from someone else say? Your latest [redacted] phone bill is ready. Check it out in your [redacted] account

6: Do you sleep with or without clothes on? With 

7: What’s your strangest talent? Writing? It’s my only talent

8: Girls… (finish the sentence); Boys… (finish the sentence) Girls are incredible. Boys are alright.

9: Ever had a poem or song written about you? Yes

10: When is the last time you played the air guitar? About a month ago

11: Do you have any strange phobias? So many, not sure if they’re full-blown phobias tho

12: Ever stuck a foreign object up your nose? No

13: What’s your religion? What’s the name for respecting aspects of a lot but not following one specifically?

14: If you are outside, what are you most likely doing? Walking?

15: Do you prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it? Behind

16: Simple but extremely complex. Favorite band? Fleetwood Mac

17: What was the last lie you told? I haven’t got you anything yet

18: Do you believe in karma? Yes

19: What does your URL mean? I used to live in Wales and I’m too stubborn/attached to change it

20: What is your greatest weakness; your greatest strength? Insecurity/Loyalty

21: Who is your celebrity crush? Sarah Paulson

22: Have you ever gone skinny dipping? No

23: How do you vent your anger? Writing

24: Do you have a collection of anything? Books

25: Do you prefer talking on the phone or video chatting online? Neither Phone I think

26: Are you happy with the person you’ve become? Yes and No

27: What’s a sound you hate; sound you love? Metal scratching glass/Sarah Paulson’s voice

28: What’s your biggest “what if”? What if I had never gotten seriously ill when I did

29: Do you believe in ghosts? How about aliens? Yes and Yes

30: Stick your right arm out; what do you touch first? Do the same with your left arm. Phone/Blanket

31: Smell the air. What do you smell? Jacket potatoes cooking

32: What’s the worst place you have ever been to? [Redacted] Hospital

33: Choose: East Coast or West Coast? East?

34: Most attractive singer of your opposite gender? Hozier?

35: To you, what is the meaning of life? To make the most of the miraculous fact we’re here at all 

36: Define Art. Truth, Beauty, Horror and History 

37: Do you believe in luck? Yes

38: What’s the weather like right now? Grey and overcast

39: What time is it? 1pm

40: Do you drive? If so, have you ever crashed? No, so no

41: What was the last book you read? Thin Air by Michelle Paver

42: Do you like the smell of gasoline? No

43: Do you have any nicknames? So many

44: What was the last film you saw? The Princess Diaries

45: What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had? Just cuts and bruises so far luckily

46: Have you ever caught a butterfly? Yes

47: Do you have any obsessions right now? Sarah Paulson

48: What’s your sexual orientation? Lesbian

49: Ever had a rumour spread about you? Yes

50: Do you believe in magic? Sometimes

51: Do you tend to hold grudges against people who have done you wrong? Sometimes

52: What is your astrological sign? Scorpio

53: Do you save money or spend it? Save

54: What’s the last thing you purchased? Car accessories for a xmas present

55: Love or lust? Love

56: In a relationship? ‘It’s complicated’

57: How many relationships have you had? 3 I think?

58: Can you touch your nose with your tongue? Yes

59: Where were you yesterday? At home

60: Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you? Flowers

61: Are you wearing socks right now? No

62: What’s your favourite animal? Otter

63: What is your secret weapon to get someone to like you? Kindness

64: Where is your best friend? Too far away

65: Give me your top 5 favourite blogs on Tumblr. @serawalkerwrites, @sisterxwinters, @grilledcheeseandguavajelly, @thefandomlesbian, @awildgothappeared

66: What is your heritage? Not much

67: What were you doing last night at 12AM? Reading in bed

68: What do you think is Satan’s last name? Why don’t you ask him?

69: Be honest. Ever gotten yourself off? Yes

70: Are you the kind of friend you would want to have as a friend? Yes

71: You are walking down the street on your way to work. There is a dog drowning in the canal on the side of the street. Your boss has told you if you are late one more time you get fired. What do you do? Help the dog

72: You are at the doctor’s office and she has just informed you that you have approximately one month to live. a) Do you tell anyone/everyone you are going to die? b) What do you do with your remaining days? c) Would you be afraid? a) certain people b) visit my loved ones c) yes

73: You can only have one of these things; trust or love. 

74: What’s a song that always makes you happy when you hear it? Shake it Out by Florence and the Machine

75: What are the last four digits in your cell phone number? [Redacted]

76: In your opinion, what makes a great relationship? Communication, Kindness and Care

77: How can I win your heart? Be Kind

78: Can insanity bring on more creativity? Sometimes

79: What is the single best decision you have made in your life so far? Deciding to message the ones who’ve become my closest friends

80: What size shoes do you wear? 5 (european size)

81: What would you want to be written on your tombstone? Don’t really know, probably something literary

82: What is your favourite word? Fernweh

83: Give me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word; heart. Loved ones

84: What is a saying you say a lot? Keep on keeping on

85: What’s the last song you listened to? This Is Me Trying by Taylor Swift

86: Basic question; what’s your favourite colour/colours? Purple/Red/Blue

87: What is your current desktop picture? Drunk Princess Leia (cover art from Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher)

88: If you could press a button and make anyone in the world instantaneously explode, who would it be? He who shall not be named

89: What would be a question you’d be afraid to tell the truth on? What are you truly afraid of?

90: One night you wake up because you heard a noise. You turn on the light to find that you are surrounded by MUMMIES. The mummies aren’t really doing anything, they’re just standing around your bed. What do you do? Go back to sleep probably

91: You accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and what’s even cooler is that they endow you with the super-power of your choice! What is that power? Telekinesis?

92: You can re-live any point of time in your life. The time-span can only be a half-hour, though. What half-hour of your past would you like to experience again? Some time with my Aunt

93: You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be? Onset of chronic illness

94: You have the opportunity to sleep with the music-celebrity of your choice. Who would it be? Florence Welch

95: You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go? Florida for reasons

96: Do you have any relatives in jail? No

97: Have you ever thrown up in the car? Yes

98: Ever been on a plane? Yes

99: If the whole world were listening to you right now, what would you say? Be kind to one another. This world is a shitshow right now. Choose to be a good plot twist in it.

That was long, so congrats to anyone who actually sat through/read all that.

[ineffablebffs]

1. Blue Lips by Regina Spektor

He stumbled into faith and thought

This is all there is

The pictures in his mind awoke

And began to breathe

2. Like the Dawn by The Oh Hellos

And like the dawn

You woke the world inside of me

You were the brightest shade

of sun when I saw you

I'm lost

and you will surely be the death of me

But how could I have known?

3. Road Regrets by Dan Mangan

So I've gotten used to coffee sweats

Still getting used to road regrets

Hell, I took you up on all your threats

To leave

4. Sleepover by Hayley Kiyoko

You wanna be friends forever?

I can think of something better

I'm just feeling low, feeling low

Sleeping here right next to me

But will you ever mess with me?

No

But at least I got you in my head

5. Keep You On My Side by CHVRCHES

Every human touch will be replayed

Without restraint

Within our veins

We bide our time, stay afloat

Keepin' the dying light exposed

I never asked to know, never lied

So I could keep you on my side

6. Oh Girl You're the Devil by Mika

Crazy kids in the wild

On the run for the county line

Shotgun for a tongue and says

Just what she likes

7. New Fears by Lights

'Cause I have these new fears

I carry with me

So you can feel stronger

You can know peace

8. Savior Complex by Phoebe Bridgers

'Cause I'm too tired

To have a pissing contest

All the bad dreams that you hide

Show me yours, I'll show you mine

9. No Place in Heaven by Mika

For every love I had to hide

And every tear I ever cried

I'm down on my knees

I'm begging you please

There's no place in Heaven for someone like me

10. Sunlight by Hozier

I had been lost to you, sunlight

Flew like a moth to you, sunlight

(Oh the tale's the same

Told before and told again

A soul that's born in cold and rain

Knows sunlight, sunlight, sunlight)

11. The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out to Get Us! by Sufjan Stevens

I can't explain the state that I'm in

The state of my heart

He was my best friend

Into the car, from the back seat

Oh, admiration in falling asleep

(My friend is gone, he ran away

I can tell you, I love him each day)

12. A Case of You by Joni Mitchell

Oh you're in my blood like holy wine

You taste so bitter and so sweet

('Cause part of you

pours out of me)

13. All This and Heaven Too by Florence and the Machine

And I would give all this and Heaven too

I would give it all, if only for a moment

That I could just understand the meaning of the word you see

14. Promiseland by Mika

How could you break my heart?

Already played my part

I kept my promise, man

Show me the Promiseland

(Lived like you told me how

Look at me now)

15. How Much More by Stars

How much more am I supposed to take

How much more am I supposed to break

You ask for time and time takes you away

I'm alone and you're a, you're a man

I need you closer to me

(You came to me so hopeless

I fell)

16. Love Will Tear Us Apart (cover) by Fall Out Boy

Do you cry out in your sleep?

All my feelings exposed

Care to taste in my mouth

As desperation takes hold?

Is it something so good

Just can't function no more?

17. The Only Thing by Sufjan Stevens

Do I care if I survive this?

Bury the dead where they're found

In a veil of great surprises

I wonder, did you love me at all?

(Should I tear my heart out now?

Everything I feel returns to you somehow

I wanna save you from your sorrow)

18. I Have Made Mistakes by The Oh Hellos

Oh, my heart, I cannot face him now

And we both know how badly I

How badly I have let you down

19. Strawberry Blond by Mitski

I love everybody because I love you

I don’t need the city, and I don’t need proof

All I need, darling, is a life in your shape

I picture it, soft, and I ache

20. Video Games (cover) by Trixie Mattel

It's you, it's you, it's all for you

Everything I do

I tell you all the time

Heaven is a place on earth with you

Tell me all the things you wanna do

I heard that you like the bad girls

Honey, is that true?

~BONUS TRASH TRACK~

21. Walk Through Hell by Say Anything

Now I've walked through Hell for you

What's an adventurer to do

But rest these feet at home with you?

[headbandsandflats]

Hi! Would love to know some totally random things about you while simultaneously providing the distraction you crave! How about ... 4, 15, 28, 49, 58 & 93 ?? Thanks!! 💕

4. how did your elementary school teachers describe you?

This will shock anyone who has seen this blog, but TALKATIVE.  Like, so chatty that if they moved my seat away from a friend I would just end up talking with the people by my new seat.  My 6th grade teacher, who I adored, also rightfully noted that I am much more focused when I know what to expect.  Some days she would put a schedule of our day on the chalkboard and some days she wouldn’t and I was definitely more together when our day was laid out for us.  I wouldn’t say I’m great at following a schedule, but I like to know what’s coming.

15. favorite book you read as a school assignment?

The Giver (also Bridge to Terabithia, Our Town, and To Kill a Mockingbird - because why would I give one answer when I can give several).

28. five songs to describe you?

THIS IS SO HARD (I love music so much but sometimes I feel like I don’t have as straightforward a relationship with it as other people do).  I don’t know if these describe me as much as I relate to them, but it’s the best way I know how to answer it.

Funeral - Phoebe Bridgers 

Keep It Loose, Keep It Tight - Amos Lee

Far Away - Ingrid Michaelson

Shake It Out - Florence + The Machine

If We Were Vampires - Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

49. what saying or quote do you live by?

Worry less about the person you once were, or the person you dream you will someday be.  Worry about the person you are now.  Or don’t even worry!  Just be that person.  Be the best version of that person you can be.  - Welcome to Night Vale

Everything is copy - Nora Ephron 

58. four talents you’re proud of having?

I don’t know if I even have four talents to speak of, let alone four that I’m proud of?!  Um...I’m sometimes funny (is that a talent?!), I’m fairly well-written professionally (don’t hold this dumpster fire against me), I’m pretty good at trivia, and I can pick things up with my feet.  (I don’t actually think any of these are talents, or even skills, sorry!) 

93. nicknames?

Lots of family nicknames, but my nephew calls me Kiki, the same thing my brother called me when he was first talking and couldn’t say my whole name, and as much as I hated it when it came from my brother and then stuck around on and off for over 20 years, I love hearing it in my nephew’s sweet little voice.

Thank you!

weird asks

[avaliveradio]

Tulum's 'Time Changes' aims to melt modern and vintage into a sweetly serene soundscape

Artist: Tulum

New Release: Time Changes

Genre: indie

Sounds like: Dizzy, Big Thief

Located in: Denver, Colorado U.S.A

We are Tulum, a duo from Denver, Colorado made up of Travis Keys and Rylee Zobel. Travis is 19 and Rylee is 16. We aim to make music that accurately represents how we feel at any moment in time. From a lyrical, musical and production perspective..

We want each song to take the listener on a journey within that sonic environment.

We aim for pure vocals and a mix of production/instrumentation that melts modern and vintage into a sweetly serene soundscape.

Tulum likes exploring ambient sounds, and dreamier soundscapes as well as more traditional techniques too. Incorporating more bass in our mixes and having a full sound is a big deal to us, and we like to embellish it with vintage tones.

Our musical influences both range from classical music, jazz, and most types of modern music. Our biggest shared influence is Mac Demarco. Time Changes is about the evolution of relationships. Sometimes they work out and sometimes they do not. And one has to deal with the fact that moving on has to happen no matter how painful it might be.

This song is very significant for both of us. It was written during quarantine, and it was the first song we wrote together. We wrote the whole thing over facetime after a few days of talking, and then decided to make an album. As far as influences for this whole album we both had a few: Rylee listed a few as being Alice Phoebe Lou, Haley Heynderickx and Beabadoobee. Some of Travis’ influences for this album and its production are: Salad Days by Mac Demarco, Blonde by Frank Ocean, 6 Feet Beneath The Moon by King Krule, Timeline by Mild High Club, Stranger in the Alps by Phoebe Bridgers and Abbey Road by the Beatles. As far as instrumentation in specific for this album, it is guitar based. We have one song with strings. But everything else is guitar, bass, drums and vocals.

‘Time Changes’ is our first release, and our first time ever making music together.

It's very much an experimental album. Its necessary for this process to happen so we can move on to the next one and make something even better. For the next album, we want It to be much more cohesive and have more of a story type/thematic progression and full album flow. We want to have better writing, better recording techniques, and overall better production. Again, this song (Time Changes) was/is a big milestone for us because it was the first song we wrote.The album is also titled Time Changes. (influences listed in previous question)

Right now we are really trying to plan ways to give back.

One example is free shows. We are trying to figure out how to make free, drive in COVID safe shows. Also, once we get the resources we would like to do giveaways to anyone that has supported. We would also love to offer help to anyone working on their own projects. Separately, we are working on a new album. Recording has already begun.

About the Artist…

My name is Rylee Zobel, I’m 16 years old and I live in Boulder, Colorado.I’ve been singing my whole life, and started writing my own music when I turned 15 after I got my guitar the previous christmas. A few months into quarantine, Travis and I started talking about music, and it eventually turned into us writing the song “Time Changes” completely remotely over Facetime. We then decided to make an album together, writing and recording in his basement(super professional stuff.) The majority of the songs I had previously written, so we used those and wrote “Song 2” and “Time Changes” together. The theme of the album is about the progression of relationships, people, and the world as a collective over time. I guess it's sort of a coming of age album. This is the first album I’ve worked on, and I can hopefully speak for both of us by saying it’s turned out really well and we’re proud of it. it’s quite an emotional series of songs, all of which are super personal to me. My hope is that others get as much joy out of listening to it as we did making it. I think I want to keep making music, regardless of the outcome or amount of plays this album gets. My name is Travis.Keys, I am 19 and from Denver Colorado. I first picked up drums in 1st grade and had lessons until 3rd grade and then had off/on lessons in middle school. I picked up upright in 4th grade and I have been playing since. I am classically trained and my highschool Orchestra is ranked 6th in the country (Michael played bass with me as well). I was the first chair as well. I am also trained in Jazz and my main instrument is Electric Bass and I am planning on going to school for Commercial Electric Bass. I don't consider myself a jazzer or classical guy, but I appreciate it alot and it garners a larger and more expansive/usable application of music theory and skill. But I prefer “commercial music”.

My favorite artist is Mac Demarco. I met Rylee through a friend/band member (Dakota) from Boulder because I used to live there. I went to Boulder highschool during freshman year and moved to Denver for my sophomore year. As Rylee stated, we worked on this project remotely starting in very late April and finished writing and recording in July. I tracked Bass on everything and Guitar on Song 2 (rhythm) and Mr. Grizzly Bear (electric guitar). Rylee tracked all other rhythm guitar tracks and vocals. Dakota played drums and Michael played lead guitar on all the tracks. I played in a couple bands with Dakota and Michael was in one of those bands (deepak, we have an album released that Michael produced). We still play together and Dakota and I are going to college together (Belmont, Nashville TN) (but who knows what that's going to look like now because of COVID). We recorded everything in my basement and pretty much borrowed all of the gear we used.

Everything we've done for this project has been done by us. Including production, which I have and will be doing for the rest of this project. My goal in life is to be able to create and make my own music or make music with others in a creative project like this. I am not a fan of session artistry solely for the purpose of serving and not being able to create my own music or music with people I love to make music with. I don't want to be stuck in a situation like that or a situation where I am not being able to access the art side of music and I am strictly doing skill oriented things. So getting signed to a label or finding independent success for a project like this and being able to provide for myself is my ultimate goal in life and I will work harder than anyone else for that and hopefully that is evident in what we have done with this project. 

Featured on :

Listen on Podcast:

Featuring todays newest singles for December 2020.

Listen to Tulum’s Full Album…



Social Media: Instagrams-  Tulum: https://www.instagram.com/tulummakesmusic Rylee: https://www.instagram.com/zyleerobel  Travis: https://www.instagram.com/_.travis Twitter:  Tulum:https://twitter.com/TulumMusic Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHU_4Wn06hYSiX43BRfEgsA/featured Music: https://soundcloud.com/user-416806437. (Sound Cloud for 3/7 tracks)  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7fQ9KevqFuI0bLd9ac9C59 (artist page) https://open.spotify.com/album/1DcdaAbZrnIujOI7Z6Rfc5 (album)  https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/tulum/time-changes (pre save link for album)

Reviews:

Ryan Boyce wrote:  

“This song is outstanding. I dig this so much.” 

Jacqueline Jax wrote: 

“I love discovering new creators. This singer has a lovely sound with cool new vibe.“

Soundflower wrote: “Hi, nice song! Pretty vocals! the whole rhythm sounds amazing too."

TUCANHITS wrote:

“Wow, nice song. Chill vibes and a intimate vocal. Wrapping my head on this.”

Indie Music Spin wrote:

“Thank you for sending me this song. After several listens I would like to say that I am particularly fond of the vocals and the songwriting is very good, I’ll keep a watch on this one and consider it. “

American Pride magazine wrote:

“"Thanks for submitting, nice vocals. Very pretty and easy to listen to. Much enjoyed. “

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[fieldsofplay]

Top Albums of 2019

Top Albums of 2019.

25.  William Tyler – Goes West

For those of you reading along, I want to thank you for sticking with this blog for basically an entire decade at this point. Jeez, where does the time* go? To that end, I’m gonna put out a decade list sometime next week, so to keep my sanity somewhat in check, this years tops list is going to be a little more abbreviated than usual. A few less records, a few less words, but still the same self indulgence you’ve come to know and expect.  To that end, William Tyler.  Tied for my favorite cover art with IGOR.  This is beautiful finger-picked cosmic acoustic guitar music with some nice flourishes added by Brad Cook and the usual suspects.  Perfect for fall days.  I accidentally heckled him at a concert about the Andy Griffith show, but I was only trying to say he shouldn’t be ashamed about liking that program.  The shame still haunts me, much like this music. *A fictional social construct

24.  Floating Points – Crush

Now I’m not going to sit here and pretend to know much about electronic music.  I don’t know the deep history, I don’t know the technical lingo, but like pornography, I know it when I hear it.  Much has been made about the impact opening for the XX and being limited to minimal gear while doing so had on Sam Shephard, and I’ll admit the differences from Elaenia is palpable.  Where that album felt minimal, Crush is maximal, bursting with colors and ideas, not unlike the beautiful painting that adorns its cover.  I never quite knew what the phrase Intelligent Dance Music was supposed to mean, but to me, that’s precisely what this is. You could dance to “LesAlpx” if you wanted, or you could just throw it on headphones and drift away to its unceasing pulse. Find you a man who can do both.

23.  Nerija – Blume

Let me be the first to tell you that jazz is back! Centering largely in London, there is thrilling music being made by the likes of Sons of Kemet, The Comet is Coming, and this year, by Nerija. Breathing new life into a long moribund form (at least until Kendrick Lamar started featuring jazz musicians on his albums), Blume literally does just that, unfurling jazz from a long dormancy.  While I’m not normally a fan of the guitar in jazz, here it keeps the whole thing moving forward, as the horns swirl around in a supportive role and the percussion cooks.  “Riverfest” is the best exemplar, as the guitar chimes with joy while the cymbal-crashes enliven the vibe.

22.  Florist – Emily Alone

A tale as old time (song as old as rhyme): member of ambient-electronic band puts out solo acoustic album, about the sadness of moving to LA and finding oneself.  No one is reinventing the wheel here, but I can’t help but feel little touches of Florist’s electronic full-band output in Emily Sprague’s solo record—the way the words repeat, subtly, but building meaning with each little phrasal repetition. Plus, the ocean is a recurring image, and dear lord do I miss the sea. If you want to listen a sad girl sing sad songs accompanied by acoustic guitar, you aren’t going to do better than Emily Alone this year.

21.  Kevin Morby – Oh My God

Possibly the best Kevin Morby record?  No one else would say that, but I will.  If so, why is it so far down the list? Well, when you consistently put out amazing records year-after-year it becomes difficult for any individual album to make an imprint on the “culture.” I think “Seven Devils” is possibly his finest tune.

20.  Sacred Paws – Run Around the Sun

My friend David turned me on to this band right before I was about to embark on a road trip up north in the middle of the summer, and let me tell you, that was the perfect time to first experience Run Around the Sun.  Noodly guitars burst out of every seam on this record, as bubblegum lyrics tie the whole shebang together.  If you ever wondered what the Shangri-las would sound like if Johnny Marr played lead guitar, I give you Sacred Paws.

19.  Jamila Woods – Legacy! Legacy!  

On Legacy! Legacy! Woods takes the R&B of the excellent Heavn and applies a jazzier sheen, to excellent results.  One need look no further than the track titles (“Frida,” “Miles,” “Basquiat,” “Baldwin,” “Sun Ra” etc.) to see that Woods is consciously engaging with the titans of history, and here, while she doesn’t exactly reach the heights of those innovators, she certainly begins to carve out a legacy of her own as one of the best voices in a currently thriving R&B scene.

18.  Mt. Eerie & Julie Doiron – Lost Wisdom, Pt. 2

On Lost Wisdom, Pt. 2 Phil Elverum (of The Microphones) and Julie Doiron (of Eric’s Trip) recapture the magic they bottled on the first Lost Wisdom back in 2008.  It is hard to imagine sparer music than this, but the duo make so much of a pair of voices and few plucked guitar or banjo lines.  As with all of his music of late (for obvious reasons), loss hangs all over Elverum’s output, but here, the loss is more mood and less of a literal presence (with the exception of the blistering “Widows”).  Few songs I can think of capture a single, specifically odd phenomenon quite like “When I Walk Out of the Museum.”

17.  DIIV – Deceiver

As capital-G guitar music recedes further into irrelevance, it’s good to still have a band like DIIV kicking around, who make shoegaze like it’s still 1991.  And it’s a good thing they are still making their beautiful walls of feedback, as heroine has repeatedly knocked this band off the rails of what appeared to be a very promising career.  This is ominous, portentous music, that swirls with white noise and black despair.  Shoegaze is premised on making beauty out of the squall of overdriven electric guitars, and DIIV make beauty of the squall of 21st century opiate addiction.

16.  Earl Sweatshirt – Feet of Clay

Earl continues the excellent experimentation of Some Rap Songs in the (slightly) more structured Feet of Clay.  Whereas Some Rap Songs felt like fragments, the tracks on Feet of Clay (almost) feel like “songs” proper.  Earl continues to quickly sweep the ground out from underneath you, whether it’s in the form of oddly woozy backing tracks that can’t really be called “beats” or the sub 2-minute run times, but he seems to pack slightly more structure into those abbreviated entrants, even if there are a lot less of them than there were on Some Rap Songs.  Right now no one is pushing the boundaries of hip-hop like Earl, and each new release, even if the total run time is under 15 minutes, is a thrilling event.

15.  Better Oblivion Community Center – S/T

Yes, last year I had Boygenius as my number one record, but if I’m being frank, and I am, this is the better collaborative album put out by Phoebe Bridgers.  At first blush a record between the up-and-coming Bridgers and the largely has-been Conor Oberst seems like a desperate grab at continued relevance by the latter, but having seen them live, I must admit the pairing makes perfect sense.  The energy between the two is infectious, and while they share a common fascination with emo, they really draw the best out of each other.  Bridgers plays the Emmylou Harris role from I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning to perfection, and Oberst plays the Kenny Rodgers in “Islands in the Stream.”  For a period I could not turn on Radio K without hearing a song from this album, which is strange because, as a college radio station, every hour is usually completely different.

14.  Chromatics – Closer to Grey

In a certain way, Chromatics are victims of their own tendency towards self-mythologizing.  Their last two official albums were absolutely perfect slices of Italo-Disco, equal parts late night ennui and seething dancefloor longing.  There was way more guitar on those albums than most anyone would appreciate on first glance, and yet Ruth Radelet’s smoky vocals were unquestionably the star.  In the interim Johnny Jewel (the mastermind behind the band and basically everything on Italians Do it Better) famously destroyed all the copies of the long teased Dear Tommy after a near death experience, provided essential music to Twin Peaks: The Return (which included multiple Chromatics performances at the dear Road House), and then suddenly dropped Closer to Grey out of the sky, with neither warning nor fanfare.  This record is everything you would want a Chromatics record to be, but perhaps that is part of the reason it didn’t really make a major impression. It felt a little Chromatics-by-the-numbers, right down to the cover of “The Sound of Silence” to open it up.  I absolutely love this album, and if it weren’t for the incredible quality of albums put out this year, it would certainly be a top-10 or top-5 in any other year (hell, in the terrible-for-music 2018 it would have been number one by a mile).  Perhaps the biggest frustration is just how fucking good “Light as a Feather” is.  It hints at a version of Chromatics influenced by Portishead, and now that’s all I want more of.

13.  Thom Yorke – ANIMA

Doubt it if you will, you sneering youngsters, but Thom Yorke and his more well-known band are currently making some of the best music of their careers.  Just as A Moon Shaped Pool was a much needed return to form after the completely forgettable King of Limbs, with ANIMA Yorke gets back to what made The Eraser so compelling all the way back in 2006.  While a fondness for Aphex Twin is no longer at all exceptional in rock music in 2019, it was in 2006, and with ANIMA, Yorke gets back to the creepy, clicky, paranoid distrust of modern consumer culture that is solidly his wheelhouse.  Bonus points for using Netflix and a pairing with PTA to make America care about a long form music video again in 2019.

12.  Black Marble – Bigger than Life

I would call black Marble my favorite new band of the year, but the thing is, they aren’t new, just new to me.  Bigger than Life is their third record, and first for Sacred Bones (whose distinctive album art is what first caught my eye).  Because their music is comprised solely of arpeggiated synths, melodic bass, and clinking drum machines, overlaid with melancholicly narrow vocals, it is easy to accuse Black Marble of being a little same-y.  However, if you, like me, worship at the temple of New Order, than this is the band for you.  I have lived with their three extant albums the last couple months (the second, It’s Immaterial, being my favorite), and in reality, this is really the only music I want to listen to.

11.  Big Thief – U.F.O.F. / Two Hands

If you’re reading this than you likely already know how much I love Big Thief, and you might be a little surprised that one, if not both, of the records they put out this year is not sitting atop this list based on how much I’ve professed my love for this band over the course of 2019.  So here’s the thing, the highs on both of these albums--“U.F.O.F.” “Not”--are better than anything else anyone has done this year, but to my ear both records suffer from a flew blah-ish passages that prevent either album, on its own, from achieving top status.  However, if you borrow a few tracks here (Cattails, Contact) and a few tracks there (Shoulders, Two Hands) and made one album out of the highlights of both sessions, you would unquestionably have the album of the year.  That Big Thief gave us two records brimming with amazing folk rock ideas is a blessing.

10.  Sharon Van Etten – Remind Me Tomorrow

Hey, do you remember Sharon Van Etten put out an amazing record in 2019? I bet you don’t.  The culture moves so fast these days that albums from January might as well have been released five years ago, and it seems to me like this record slipped off a few peoples’ radars as the year progressed, which is a shame, considering how damn good it is (her best imho).  There are few runs on an album I’ve enjoyed more this year than “Jupiter 4’s” electro-throb into “Seventeen’s” Springsteen chug into “Malibu’s” comedown.  Bonus points for being my dear friend Hadley’s downstairs neighbor for all those years.  Ah Brooklyn, how I miss thee.

9.  Black Midi – Schlagenheim

Yes, that most reliable of music-critic tropes: the hot young band from London.  Black Midi made waves with a legendary youtube video of their live show, and having seen it in person, let me tell you, even that now infamous video doesn’t do them justice.  Much like its gobldy-gook made up title, Schlagenheim is an amalgamation of strands of music that don’t really fit together but somehow they pull off with aplomb.  At times they play with the hardcore fury of Minor Threat, while at others the proggy interconnectivity of Rush at their most arena-rockish, all with a weird dash of David Byrne wiry energy holding it all together.  If they come to your town, go see them, just don’t stand in the front unless you want to be swept into the maelstrom.

8.  Helado Negro – This is How You Smile

Did you love Little Joy (the Strokes sideproject) but wish it was occasionally electronic and periodically in Spanish? If so, I give you Helado Negro. This is the prettiest record of the year; it never goes above a certain emotional register / decibel range, but it inhabits the spectrum in which it lives like a ghost in its occasional electronic flourishes.  This is a record for someone with a long drive with something to think about. “Seen my Aura” is simultaneously funky and restrained, acoustic and electronic, and emblematic of the joys of This is How You Smile.

7.  Sturgill Simpson – Sound & Fury

Each of Sturgill Simpson’s last three records have been fundamentally different from one another, and each has been excellent, which is almost impossible to accomplish.  Metamodern Sounds in Country Music introduced many, like myself, to a new voice in an often overlooked medium, A Sailor’s Guide to Earth dusted off the horns from Elvis’s stax-era and romped around, and now with Sound & Fury Sturgill looks to the outlaw tradition (and ZZ freakin Top) he’s so-often been associated with, but rarely resembled, to crank out an incredible record that is far more “rock” than it is “country.” Throw on a heaping of 80’s-era Springsteen synths and you have the recipe for a record that makes me very, very happy.  The two halves of “Make Art not Friends” have little business coexisting within a single track (the first half sounds like Tangerine Dream, the second half Arcade Fire) and yet it is precisely in this tenuous cohabitation that Sturgill has produced his best record to date.

6.  Vampire Weekend – Father of the Bride

Vampire Weekend started out their career being accused of stealing from Graceland and ended up becoming Paul Simon.  Funny how that works out sometimes.  Modern Vampires of the City has become, next to Sound of Silver, the definitive record about life in New York during my era (2005-2016).  On the follow up, the band, newly shorn of Rostam Batmanglij (whose solo record is also phenomenal, even though he’s maybe one of the worst performers I’ve ever seen), decamped to California, and Father of the Bride revels in both the California sun and a well earned sense of accomplishment.  “Hold You Now” is my favorite song of the year, it is simply stunning.

5.  Bill Callahan – Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest

There is a bit of theme developing here at the top of the list: established artists putting out arguably their best work deep into storied careers, and no one on this list is deeper into a more storied oeuvre than Bill Callahan.  Between Smog and under his own name, Callahan has been releasing consistently great albums since 1992, and to me, Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest is his finest work to date.  Having found domestic bliss, so the press materials state, Callahan is content to sit back and let that world-weary baritone spin out all the comforts of a well-worn chair near a fire in a hearth.  This is the type of record that gives you hope that happiness isn’t the exclusive provenance of the young.

4.  Purple Mountains – Purple Mountains

If I were to really sit and write out all of my thoughts about David Berman this blurb would probably be 10 pages long, at least, so rather than spill a bunch of digital ink lamenting the loss of a true inspiration, I’ll just try and stick to the album itself, which is almost impossible now in the wake of his suicide shortly after its release.  Even on first blush this was a difficult hang, clearly the product of someone who lost their wife to a series of poor decisions / mental difficulties, and who hadn’t come to terms with it.  Understandably so.  Berman remains endlessly quotable, right up to the very end, and “we’re just drinking margaritas at the mall” remains emblematic of his ability to compress the tedium of middle american misery into a single haunting, yet, hilarious, image.  While “Nights that Won’t Happen” lives on as his suicide note directly to the fans (“The dead know what they’re doing when they leave this world behind” ; “all the suffering gets done by the ones we leave behind”), and it is hauntingly beautiful, it still makes me cry every time I hear it. As does most of this record. So the song I’ll carry on with me, and can still actually listen to, is “Snow is Falling in Manhattan.” Just a beautiful song from a beautiful man.  

3.  Tyler, the Creator – IGOR

I really don’t have the words (well, clearly I have some) to express just how impressed I am by the arc of Tyler’s career.  The one-time shock-rap flash in the critical pan quickly turned into forgettable homophobe who perfectly fit a description of Eminem’s fan base I once heard: kids who call their mom a bitch to their face.  The first startling change came with Flower Boy, which came right on the heels of his step out of the closet.  Flower Boy is a really great record, but it still largely sounded like Tyler, just a more mature version who stopped saying cringe worthy shit.  IGOR is something entirely different.  I honestly don’t even know what to call it. It’s not a rap record, and there are honestly entire tracks on it where I’m not sure what it is he does on them, but my god, this thing is incredible.  It’s basically a Parliament album for the end of the world, and if the earth is going to burn down around us, we might as well dance our way out, which is precisely the party Tyler has orchestrated here.  I cannot wait to see what he does next.

2.  Angel Olsen – All Mirrors

All Mirrors isn’t just clearly Angel Olsen’s best album by a clear margin, it is the best pop album made by anyone in sometime.  Just like black clothes make anyone a little slimmer, orchestration can make any pop song sound symphonic, but most pop acts don’t have the power of Angel Olson’s voice to match the bombast of the string section and percussion.  It feels like the term Beatlesesque has started to fade from the critical lexicon, but this music is truly akin to the orchestral richness of “I am the Walrus” or “A Day in the Life.”  People celebrate Lana del Ray for her torch songs (and I really liked Norman Fucking Rockwell, even if it didn’t quite make this list in a stacked year) but no one carries a torch like Angel Olsen.  I was initially reticent to catch her live show this tour, it was on a weeknight, it was cold, I had to go downtown, I’d seen her a couple times already, yadda yadda yadda, but I knew deep down I really wanted to see if she could recreate the power of these songs on stage (the inverse of how that equation usually goes).  Reader: she did.

1.  (Sandy) Alex G – House of Sugar

House of Sugar may not be quite as experimental as IGOR, or as pop-perfect as All Mirrors, but it takes those two impulses and melds them together into what is my favorite album of the year, even if strictly speaking it may not be the “best” as measured against the other entrants in this top 3.  “Hope” was actually a “hit” song on the local college radio station, and understandably so; it sounds like Elliott Smith and tells a comprehensible story about a friend who died from an overdose.  But “Hope” is jut one facet of House of Sugar, which is a veritable hall of musical mirrors.  “Walk Away” is hypnotic in its repetitions, “In My Arms” is a legit straightforward acoustic love song, “Sugar” sounds like The Knife (no joke), “Sugarhouse” could have been on The River, and while I already said “Hold You Now” is my favorite song of the year, “Gretel” has something to say about that.  I saw a show right when this album came out, and as the band left the stage for the final time the soundguy cued up “Gretel” not, I’m guessing, because the band requested it, but because it rules and he just wanted to share it with everyone as they receded into night.