#in dave grohl we trust

[foo-kitty]

💋

[starkwlkr]

the hamilton girls | lewis hamilton

based on dave grohl’s interviews about his daughters <33 he’s my favorite girl dad i can always trust dave grohl

Lewis Hamilton was many things. A Formula 1 driver, a seven time world champion, an idol, an inspiration to many young kids, but most of all, he was a husband and father to three girls. His family was everything to him. He enjoyed being a dad to his three precious girls.

Maeve was his oldest. She was born on a sunny day in 2013. Then came his second, Violet, born in 2017. Violet instantly became Maeve’s best friend. Lewis and Y/n were thankful that Maeve didn’t go through a jealous phase. Lastly, came their third girl, Gracie, born in early 2020.

The Hamilton girls would join their father in the paddock when they didn’t have school. Dressed in Mercedes merch, they walked hand in hand with their mother to the Mercedes garage. The entire team loved them, it was impossible not to.

“Dad! I really want lemonade!” Violet poked Lewis’ side until he payed attention to her.

“There’s no lemonade here. Have some water.” Lewis suggested, but Violet frowned. Lewis didn’t want his daughter to be upset so he directed the girls to Mercedes hospitality in hopes that someone could make the girls a lemonade. In the end, his three daughters ended up with their lemonade.

At one point, they even because Twitter famous whenever they were at the races. Violet had a habit of sleeping even before the race ended so when the camera showed Lewis celebrating his win, the camera panned over to Lewis’ family showing little Violet asleep with her mouth slightly open in her mom’s arms.

Maeve was half asleep, but she still made a heart with her hands. Gracie was with her grandma, but you were pretty sure she was asleep as well.

But when they weren’t attending races, the Hamilton girls were back in school. Whenever Lewis had time off, he would pick up the girls from school, giving you some time to yourself. He knew how the school pickup process was, what he didn’t know was how long it would take. When it was finally his time to park in front of the school, a teacher walked up making Lewis roll down the window.

The teacher was taken by surprise when she saw Lewis. “Um . . Who are you here to pick up, sir?”

“Maeve and Violet Hamilton.” He replied. Then the teacher nodded and walked back to the school. Seconds later, his two girls walked patiently towards their dad’s black Mercedes. Lewis could feel the other parents staring at him. It wasn’t everyday that Lewis Hamilton came to a children’s school.

Maeve opened the backseat door and climbed in along with Violet. They looked exhausted, probably from all the running they did during recess.

“How was school?” Lewis asked as he drove away.

“We went to the library today and I got a book. It’s about sports and your face is in it.” Violet said as she got the book out from her backpack.

“Really? What does it say?” Lewis questioned, curious as to what the book said. The girls weren’t really interested in formula 1, so he was confused as to why Violet even checked out the book.

“It says you won seven titles and then i stopped reading because I was bored. I only got it because I wanted to show you and mom that uncle Nico was in the book too.”

His girls always made him laugh. They could brighten up his day even if he was at his lowest. He was such a proud dad too, often bringing up his daughters during interviews and posting pictures of them on instagram. During his Jimmy Kimmel interview, he took any chance he got to talk about his family.

“And do your daughters understand that their dad is a seven time world champion?” Jimmy asked.

Lewis chuckled. “They don’t really care.” He said then the audience, along with Jimmy, laughed. “No, they know what I do for work, but when they were younger they thought I sold cars.”

“You sold cars? How did they come up with that?” Jimmy laughed.

“Their mum explained that I work with cars, that was all, so they assumed I sold cars because at home I have several. Then I think it was the Monaco Grand Prix where they finally got an understanding of what exactly I do. They watched the race and when it was over, I asked them what they thought of it and all I got was ‘I don’t know’ and that’s when my wife said that halfway through the race they asked her for her phone so they could watch their cartoons.” Lewis explained.

He remembers that day clearly. The girls weren’t interested in cars, they rather watch reruns of Gravity Falls. He wasn’t mad either, he was glad that they didn’t get frustrated and start causing chaos around the paddock.

Him mentioning his girls because a regular thing. During press conferences, he was often asked about his girls, more specifically if they would follow his footsteps into the world of F1.

“They don’t even care about the races.” Lewis said as the other drivers bursted out laughing. “My oldest, Maeve, she did have a phase where she liked cars, but she’s transitioned into learning about dinosaurs. She says she wants to be an paleontologist so I don’t have to worry about her.”

“Her birthday is coming up, no?” Max asked. “I’ll buy her one of those fossil kits. I think she’ll love it.”

“And what about your other daughter?”

“She falls asleep every time, I don’t think we will see her racing anytime soon. I’m telling you, they don’t care.” Lewis laughed.

“They don’t care about your world titles?” Charles asked smiling.

“They don’t care! To them, I’m just their dad. They’re like ‘daddy, I need my lemonade now’ it’s kinda funny actually. But I love my girls.”

The Hamilton girls loved their dad to death, it was clear, even if they didn’t care about his world titles or his reputation in F1. He was the best dad to them and that was all they cared about.

[morganbritton132]

Random but I work at a coffee shop in LA and Dave Grohl came in a couple months ago with such “just some guy” energy that only two of us recognized him. The rest of the team only realized he might be Someone when we saw that he’d left us a $150 tip. Best celebrity customer story. Anyways I think your EMTTS Eddie would be the type to leave crazy good tips for service workers especially if he thinks they’re having a bad day!

Thank you for confirming Dave Grohl’s ‘some guy’ energy and that he is a good tipper. This is one of the best cases to be vindicated on because I love him.

And you are absolutely correct!

Eddie would be an amazing tipper because even though he’s never really had a job outside of making music, Steve has had many customer service jobs and Eddie knows that they suck. He knows that customers can be unforgivingly rude and downright mean, and that some never consider that maybe the barista that they’re berating has a lot going on in their lives.

So, when Eddie emerges from an all-nighter in an LA studio at ass o’clock and rolls into the closest coffee shop the moment that they flip their sign to open, he is apologetic. And when he has a complicated order because he’s getting coffee for everybody and Gareth will literally shit himself to death if he has a drop of dairy, Eddie is even more apologetic, “Sorry, to start you day off on a shitty note, but I think I’m going to die if I don’t get caffeine.”

“You look like it,” The girl behind the counter says and then freezes. “I mean…”

But Eddie is already laughing, “No, no. Don’t take it back. I’ve seen my reflection, I know.”

“I didn’t mean-“

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Eddie grinned. “You are not paid enough to support my bruised ego. Trust me.”

He apologizes again because by the time his order is done, there’s a line behind him. Eddie pays and scribbles down an amount for the tip before dipping out. He doesn’t quite get out of the shop before he’s stopped by a fan and takes a quick picture.

The barista watches this happen, sees the tip, and then asks someone in the line, “Is that guy like, famous or something?”

[cowgurrrl]

ok what am I supposed to do now the one for the money, two for the show is done!!!?! I would love more lord while I go back a reread everything from the beginning!

If you’re taking requests maybe quick snapshots of the year apart? Not to get too personal but I have a crush and I’ve been stalking their social media but like in a chill way (or I’m trying to) I imagine reader and Joel both seeing each others accomplishments or posts or being tagged in things and just being happy for each other but also….the longing

A Soulmate Who Wasn't Meant to Be

Pairing: rockstar!joel miller x actress!reader

Author's note: this is so angsty i'm sorry

Summary: This ask

Warnings: angst, yearning, oh it's so sad

Joel Miller's New Album Set to Break Records

Everything We Know About Joel Miller's New Album Glass House

Glass House Expected to Go Platinum Before Next Month

What Songs on Joel Miller's New Album Are About Famous Actress Ex?

You almost text Joel about the headlines and theories flooding your timeline. Almost. You actually started typing out a message before reading the last message you sent him almost four months ago and quickly deleting it. You're happy for him. You really are. In the pictures from his album release party, he looked insanely happy, posing with Ellie and Sarah and hugging his musician friends in celebration. He even played one of his newest songs, "Love-in-idleness," at the party with only his acoustic guitar and that deep voice of his. You think you would know it's about you even if he didn't tell you about it before you left. Love-in-idleness is the flower used in A Midsummer Night's Dream to make a love potion to unite the couples. It's common knowledge, but Joel might be one of the only people in the world who knows how much that play means to you. The song quickly becomes one of your favorites, but you don't tell him.

You scroll through his social media unashamedly. Dave Grohl and half the world congratulates him on his album release. He's making the music he's always wanted to make. Sarah told you she got into UCLA, and Ellie is drawing again. He's happy. They all are. So, why do you feel so shitty? Neither of you has deleted the pictures of each other from your profiles. It feels like a staring contest, seeing who will hold the torch of your relationship longer. It doesn't help that people are screenshotting the pictures of you together to "add context" to Joel's lyrics. The one that makes you break down is a quick snapshot someone took of you leaning on him in Central Park when you were watching the guitarist with lyrics from "The Yellow Subway." 

She knows more than me. You better believe

That city couldn't hold her right, but then

I couldn't either.

Despite the heartbreaking lyrics, you two look comfortable together— your head on his shoulder and his hand in yours. You cry in between scenes, ruining your makeup and having a mini-therapy session with your makeup artist, Saoirse, as a result. You don't post anything about his new album, but you put on a happy face and post snapshots from your time spent in Ireland thus far. Pitchers of Guinness, the Cliffs of Moher, stunningly green mornings, and a picture of you and the film crew hiding out in a tent while the rain comes down around you. Joel likes the photos but makes no other move to communicate with you.

You wonder if he's torturing himself in the same way you are. You wonder if he's waiting for a headline about you dating someone new like you are for him. You wonder if he's hurting the way you are. Selfishly, you hope he is because that means he still thinks of you. You also want him to hurt because he hurt you. You still love him, but you can't be the woman who crawls back to someone who can't trust her with things, like telling her the mother of his child is back in town. 

This is what's best. It's what needs to happen. You need to be here, working, and he needs to be there, being a dad and making music. It doesn't make it any easier or soothe the ache in your heart, but it's necessary. It's for your own good. Right? 

Right?

[fuckyeahvanhalen86-95]

Wolfgang Van Halen has revealed he'd like to collaborate with rock royalty Dave Grohl and Myles Kennedy.

In an interview with Help Musician's I Never Thought It Would Happen podcast, Van Halen talked about how, despite being a multi-instrumentalist, he still has a bucket list of collaborators.

“I would really love to collaborate with my really good friend – he sings for Alter Bridge and for Slash – Myles Kennedy,” he revealed. “I think he is a wonderful human being, and an incredibly talented singer and guitar player. So I would I would jump at an opportunity to collaborate with him for sure.”

“It'd also be fun to collaborate with one of my biggest inspirations, Dave Grohl. I'm basically ripping him off with Mammoth and the way that he started with Foo Fighters recording everything himself. I've kind of modeled the way Mammoth exists because of him. So if he didn't exist, I wouldn't.”

In the same interview, Van Halen also talked about the beauty of recording all instruments on the Mammoth WVH albums and the artist-producer trust that’s required, especially when recording to tape.

“My producer Michael Baskette and our engineer, Jef Moll, they're practically the other half of the band. I play all the instruments and write everything for Mammoth.”

“There's obvious frustration some days [when] you're not feeling it. But I think that's the wonderful thing about doing it yourself is that's like, if this isn't working, let's just do another thing and come back to it.”

He continued, “And so while I can fully focus on that, [they can focus on] the production aspect and the recording, the complications. We record to tape for drums and guitar because I use my father's studio 5150.”

“All the tape machines are there and ready to go. So it's like why don't we use it? But yeah, because of their high skill and my trust in them, there's really nothing to doubt or worry about when it comes to the production of Mammoth.”

Despite Van Halen very much steering the Mammoth WVH ship, the project's collaborative spirit extends to the live setup. “The fun duality of Mammoth is that I have a live band of really great friends and musicians to perform and reinterpret the music live, but also having my fun artistic expression in the studio.”

Mammoth WVH are touring extensively this year. The band recently supported Slash feat Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators in the UK and Europe. They kick off their US headline tour on May 4 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and are also touring with Metallica and Foo Fighters this summer.

[missmitchieg]

Luke was clearly badly hurt by the thought that 25 years on, Bobby had changed his name, took credit for all of Luke's music and seemingly forgot entirely that Luke, Alex and Reggie had ever existed in the first place. He was hurt by someone he thought was his friend and, knowing how being abandoned and forgotten felt, very much did not want to do that to Julie. So he didn't.

Like, when he talked about becoming a legend like Dave Grohl (who as far as I know from Wikipedia, had not done solo stuff at that point), it was always a "we", "us", and "our" thing. He's the lead and his friends are by his side with him and that's just how it is. He talked about Sunset Curve being in the Hall Of Fame. Never Luke Patterson, the solo artist.

Just take a look at the Now Or Never lyrics and it will reaffirm that.

Countdown 'till we blast open the top

But we don't get older, no Kept on climbing 'Till our stars collided

And all the times we fell behind

'Cause we're still rising Up right now And even if we Hit the ground We'll still fly Keep dreaming like we'll live forever

Clocks move faster 'Cause it's all we're after now

Won't stop climbing 'Cause this is our time, yeah

It was always going to be Sunset Curve rocking the charts and ruling the world together.

Until his, Alex, and Reggie's deaths. Then the four-piece band became a three-piece band.

We gotta get, we gotta get ready

Whoa, this band is back Whoa, this band is back

We gotta get, wanna get, we gotta get ready

Until joining Julie And The Phantoms. Then it was going to be the four of them rocking the charts together. I mean, just look at their lyrics.

Together I think that we can make it Come on let's run and

Rise through the night, you and I We will fight to shine together

Life is a risk but we will take it

We're no liars, so we say what we wanna say

So we push all our fears away

And you're a part of me

Been so long and now we're finally free

We're all bright now What a sight now Coming out like we're fireworks

Marching on proud Turn it up loud Cause now we know what we're worth

We know we can make it We're not falling down under

We come bouncing back We all got a second act, inside of us

I believe that we're just one dream Away from who we're meant to be That we're standing on the edge of Something big, something crazy Our best days are yet unknown That this moment is ours to own

'Cause we're standing on the edge of great

We all make mistakes But they're just stepping stones To take us where we wanna go It's never straight, no

Sometimes we gotta lean Lean on someone else To get a little help Until we find our way

So of course he was never going to say yes to Caleb's deal. Like, sure, taking the deal would mean fame, recognition and all that, but he only wanted that if he got it with his friends.

All of his friends.

That includes Julie now. So of course he was going to do everything to apologize to Julie after ditching the dance and hope to God they could regain her trust, and of course he was going to resist Caleb's enticing arguments and outright reject the man.

Because Julie's his friend. Julie, who he felt comfortable to just hand over Bright to, just hand over his entire journal to, just let her watch him sing his apology to his parents, all vulnerable actions, is his friend.

Because Caleb's not his friend. As much as Caleb tried to act like it whenever he talked to the guys during The Other Side Of Hollywood, he's not a friend. He's just some guy that's sparkly and puts on a flashy show.

All of this to say, Luke was just a teenage boy who wanted to play music with his friends.

[wiiildflowerrr]

Miss Vogue: 5 Minutes With 5SOS

'The Future

Ashton: "I'm looking to get a place of my own soon, now I'm 21. I think me and Luke might get a place together, and anyone else who wants to join! So that'll be really cool."

Their Favourite Things In London

Luke: "I always like to go to a pub. We went to a funny pub yesterday - it was called a gastropub but none of us were that sure what that means. They served snails."

Ideal Destinations

Calum: "Ashton and Luke really like travelling but Michael's always pretty happy at home. We're all away so much that sometimes just being in one place for a while is the best thing. I think we're going to get to go to Asia and South America on tour next summer though, which will be really cool."

The Most Famous Person In Their Phonebook

Michael: "Taylor Swift's blocked my number!"

Ashton: "Is that because you were texting her all the time?!"

Most Starstruck Moment

Luke: "We all have the same one - Dave Grohl. He's always been such a huge influence to us so when we met him that was literally insane."

Who They Text The Most

Luke: "Oprah!"

Ashton: "Luke managed to start a rumour a couple of years ago that he texted Oprah all the time and there was this media frenzy about what he was texting her about."

Luke: "Yeah and you guys will never know wheher it was true or not..."

Style Rules

Luke: "Never trust anyone who wears white pants!"

Ashton: "When we're on tour we have four wardrobes, four sets of drawers etc. But somehow everyone's stuff always ends up in Luke's wardrobe and then he claims it as his own."

Dream Date

Ashton: "The blue avatar! I'd love to go on a bow and arrow date with her.

Calum: "That was my first ever crush too!"

Michael: "Ariel - I'd take her for fish and chips."

Sounds Good Feels Good is out today.'

23 October 2015

[ridethehammett]

“𝖎 𝖜𝖆𝖓𝖙 𝖙𝖔 𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖞 𝖎𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖍𝖔𝖚𝖘𝖊 𝖋𝖔𝖗𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗, 𝖎 𝖉𝖔𝖓’𝖙 𝖜𝖆𝖓𝖙 𝖙𝖔 𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝖑𝖊𝖆𝖛𝖊”

welcome, lovely!

hi! my name is venus! here’s some things about me:

１８, ｐａｎｓｅｘｕａｌ, ｂｌａｃ k , a n y p r n s ! ★

𝔣𝔞𝔳𝔬𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔢 𝔤𝔢𝔫𝔯𝔢𝔰:

metal, k-pop, kr&b, krushclub, sigilkore, rock, grunge, vkei, you name it! (just not country don’t do that 🪳)

𝔣𝔞𝔳𝔬𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔢 𝔞𝔯𝔱𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔰:

metallica ★ ★ ★

megadeth

system of a down

korn ★

guns n’ roses

tyler, the creator ★

men i trust

temporex

sepultura

limp bizkit

strawberry switchblade

new order

type o negative ★

tokio hotel

+a bunch more, just ask me!

𝔣𝔞𝔳𝔬𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔢 𝔭𝔢𝔬𝔭𝔩𝔢 🩶:

kirk hammett (my absolute fave!!)

sebastian bach

slash

dave grohl

jonathan davis

james hetfield

kurt cobain

sami yaffa

𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔰𝔱𝔰:

★ metal, goth stuff, analog horror, nintendo games, 80s/90s things, learning languages/about other countries, clothing, technology, bugs

don’t hesitate to message me! i hope we can become friends! my inbox is always open to everyone!!

[greensparty]

Talking with Michael Azerrad

One of my favorite music journalists of the early 90s is Michael Azerrad. He was writing for MTV News and Rolling Stone at the exact moment of the alt-rock revolution. His Rolling Stone cover story on Nirvana was an impressive look at the band just as Nevermind had dethroned Michael Jackson at #1 on the album charts a few weeks earlier. This lead to Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love asking Azerrad to write an official book about the band. Over the course of six months, he conducted over 25 hours of interviews with Cobain, Kris Novoselic and Dave Grohl. That book Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana was released in October 1993. I read that book when it came out and loved it. After Cobain's death in April 1994, this was considered by many to be one of the most comprehensive books about him and his band. Cobain himself even named it one of the best rock books he had ever read. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of this book, Harper Collins is releasing The Amplified Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana, in which Azerrad has revisited his book and expanded on it. I recently caught up with Mr. Azerrad via email to discuss his book.

Azerrad today

Me: In Oct. 1993, I was in high school and knee deep in Nirvana. At a time when I needed to read multiple books for school, I picked up Come As You Are and devoured it! In Utero has just been released and I was really into your deep dive in the band, which contained over 25 hours of interviews with Kurt Cobain alone. How did it feel to know that your book (not just Nirvana) has lasted way past 1993?

MA: Basically, I feel honored: honored by all the people around the world who have bought the book all these years, honored when Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana winds up on "best rock books" lists, and honored that the band trusted me to tell their story.

The thing is, there are many readers who were born well after Come as You Are first came out.  Which blows my mind — I never anticipated that.  In the '90s, when Nirvana existed, all kinds of things were different — so there's probably all kinds of stuff in the book that people who weren't around at the time don't understand, or want to know more about.  So, to a great degree, this new edition of the book, The Amplified Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana, is for them.  But it's also for people who *were* around then and are *still* trying to make sense of what happened.  And that very much includes me!

Me: In 2007, I attended a screening in NYC at the IFC Center of the documentary Kurt Cobain About a Son, a documentary based on your interview recordings and you did a Q&A. I wouldn’t say that we met, but I did get to ask you a question and you were very cool! Since that doc, there has been a number of documentaries including Brett Morgen’s Montage of Heck documentary as well. Could there be another doc of your recordings?

 MA: I remember that was a good Q&A — thanks for contributing to it!  We used all the best stuff in Kurt Cobain About a Son, so I don't think there will be a sequel or anything.  I recommend that anyone reading this interview should watch the movie and pay close attention to Kurt's words.

book cover

Me: What made you want to revisit your book from 1993?

MA: There's a thing about writers: as soon as we hit "send" on a piece or a book, we immediately start to have second thoughts or ideas for improvements.  For years, I thought about little things I'd change or "amplify" about Come as You Are.  Then the pandemic hit.  That was a golden opportunity to revisit the book and just jot down a few things I'd always wanted to expound on a bit.  So while everybody else was perfecting their sourdough recipe or learning Italian, I was annotating my own book.  And it turned out there was so much to say!  That's because Nirvana tapped into a lot of things that were happening in the '90s: not just music but politics, generational movements, drugs, and so on.  I think The Amplified Come as You Are makes some really interesting connections, fills in some context for the entire Nirvana phenomenon, and provides some insights into the members of the band, especially Kurt.

Azerrad with Frances Bean Cobain and Kurt Cobain in 1993

Me: Since Kurt Cobain’s passing in 1994 and the demise of the band, there have been a few footnotes in the bands history: some live and compilation releases (including 2021's Nevermind 30th anniversary edition), lawsuits (between Courtney Love and the band in the early '00s and more recently baby model Spencer Elden suing the band), and the band being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. Were you interested in exploring anything after 1994 for this Amplified edition?

MA: I didn't just disappear from Nirvana World after I finished writing the book — I stayed in touch with them almost to the end, traveled with them on the last US tour and things, so The Amplified Come as You Are has a lot to say about those experiences.  That last part was the hardest, because those things affected me very deeply.

Me: Beyond Nirvana, you also wrote Our Band Could Be Your Life, which profiled various bands that paved the way for Nirvana and the alt-rock movement in the 90s. Could there be an Amplified version of that book?

MA: Ha, wow, that would be an even bigger project.  I'll think about it!

For info on The Amplified Come As You Are

[independentartistbuzz]

Indie 5-0 with Stephen Jaymes

The Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter and punk poet Stephen Jaymes can only be described as Charles Bukowski ditching whiskey for psychedelic mushrooms while feverishly ingesting Rumi poetry and Phil Ochs records.

His newest single, the upbeat folk rock and punk infused single "Tokyo," is a rousing call to make the journey to a magical place that two people create together, even in the face of certain climate destruction. In a fun twist, "Tokyo" has nothing to do with the city.

We got to speak with Stephen Jaymes about his song, his career, and more!

What was the inspiration for your new song "Tokyo"? How did the idea for the song come about?

I do a lot of Dr. Seuss type singing with nonsense words and rhymes. Exercising the unconscious. I practice that kind of flow a lot, and I try to make a voice note of the best parts before they evaporate. I was in that kind of flow in my garden, thinking about the tiny gardens we make where we try to hide from what’s happening to the Earth. We failed at the big communal garden. That humanist dream is dying. So we retreat to our little gardens. The guitar riff popped into my head first, then the first line materialized and the lyrics kind of spontaneously coalesced into a story about improbable human love in a private garden against an apocalyptic backdrop. Tokyo might have been a temp word in the lyrics, but the word couldn’t be cut. It was the mysterious beating heart of the song’s rhythm, and it didn’t work without it. The song is about an emotional place, not the literal city, but if you can name your place Terebithia or any other made-up name, why can’t you can give it an existing name? The more I worked on it, the more a story developed in my mind about a future survivor who’s only heard the name from a world that existed before, so he appropriates it for a new one. Later I realized I also owe a debt to Joey Ramone, who liked to use Tokyo as a nonsense rhyme filler.   

Folk, punk, and other genres seem to intersect in your music. How do you approach blending different musical styles, and what role do these combinations play in expressing your artistic voice?

I grew up listening to the first wave of punk and New Wave, while at the same time listening to 60s folk records from the family crate. I found a lot in common between the two musical worlds, especially in the defiant attitude toward power structures and the representation of disenfranchised voices. Woody Guthrie was a total punk at heart, and so was Phil Ochs (who actually inspired a number of seminal punk bands). I think most of the artistically successful genre blenders are operating unconsciously. You have to trust that the right inspiration for the next chord or lyric will come like a remembered bird call, and that it will be authentic to your style. For me those bird calls could be The Boomtown Rats or Gordon Lightfoot. The critical, magical thing is that only the songwriter knows the bird calls they’re using. Once you mix them, they sound like something new. I recently saw a clip of Dave Grohl talking about how his Nirvana drumming was influenced by disco fills. That makes a lot of sense to me. We didn’t hear them that way at the time, because they blended with punk to help put the radio shine on grunge, and grunge was a mix of styles that sounded new.

What drew you to write music for a living? How would you describe your style?

I once thought I was an actor at heart, later I thought I was a psychiatrist, still later a novelist. It was a roundabout path and I had to wait a long time to figure myself out. I was always writing songs, but I believed absolutely that it was an internal game, like crosswords or golf (neither of which hook me like they do lots of people). It didn’t occur to me to share them for a long time. When it’s something you can’t stop doing, you don’t really have a choice in the matter. I’m a vicious critic of my own work, which is a curse and a blessing. A curse was I probably toiled in solitude for too long. One of the blessings of being such a sharp self-critic was noticing that I could procrastinate with production and mixing indefinitely to escape the writing work. For awhile I was trying to do it all, like Prince or Jeff Lynne. That’s how I do it now, but I couldn’t at first. So years ago I decided I wouldn’t record anything more than one vocal and one instrument (usually guitar, sometimes piano), and that forced me to do the harder work. Only in the last years have I gone back to full arrangements and multi-instrument production. I finally feel like I can create the sounds I want to without getting lost in the orchestration or making the songwriting suffer - without losing the personal style that’s evident in the stripped down version of the song. 

If you could collaborate with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be and why?

Oh man. It’s hard to give one answer. I’ll cheat and give two. For alive people, I think it would have to be Questlove. His work with D’Angelo blows my mind. It does for my brain what ASMR does for others. He’s a skilled and wildly experienced collaborator. I don’t know what it would sound like, but I know it would be rare and it would challenge every reluctant part of me. As for my dead heroes, it would have to be Harry Nilsson, before he worked with Lennon and ruptured his vocal cords. The Nilsson who wrote Good Old Desk. I sing along to my favorite songs, and I think our voices blend nicely. I also have a fantasy that I could have kept him more on track. I definitely would have warned him of the harrowing disappointment awaiting anyone trying to reform gun laws in America, as he tried to do after Lennon was shot. Harry needed a medication that wasn’t alcohol and I would have liked to help him find it. 

Do you have messages that you like to get across in your music, if so please tell us about them?

I guess I do, but I don’t think about the message when I’m writing a song. I can’t see the forest for the trees when I’m writing, but if I find the heart of the song each time, the trees always make up a healthy forest when I come up and look from a distance. As to what that forest looks like, I’m not in touch with that when I’m writing a song. I’m never thinking about getting across a message. Each time it feels a lot more like, what message is this song getting across to me? How can I not obscure it? I look at my songs together and notice the trends after the fact. My songs talk about the predicament of having to know yourself in a world where really knowing yourself is very rare and uncomfortable. I think they promote the idea that truly loving another human being is the only way out of that predicament and the only way to find freedom. Chief Inspector, my first single of the summer, was very Jungian, an introspective mystery. Tokyo looks outward, inviting the listener to dance and find love even when everything is disintegrating. My next single, Virus Vaccine, is an exploration of how that dance can still go wrong even with the best intentions. Maybe the overall message is keep your eyes open - you are witnessing something as terrifying as the face of God and it’s occurring in your own lifetime. You have to ask why. Turning away is not an option.

[leonbloder]

The Stone Gets Rolled Away

The new Foo Fighters album was released last week, and I have listened to it at least eight times already and can't stop listening to it.  

It's the first album the band has released since the tragic death of its drummer Taylor Hawkins over a year ago, and not surprisingly, it's filled with themes of loss and rebirth, questions about the meaning of life, and dealing with grief.

In the song "Under You," Dave Grohl, the lead singer and songwriter of the band, penned these words, obviously reflecting on the death of his best friend, Hawkins:

There are times that I need someoneThere are times I feel like no oneSometimes I just don't know what to doThere are days I can't rememberThere are days that last foreverSomeday I'll come out from under you

Then Grohl wrote this beautiful line:

Someone said I'll never see your face againPart of me just can't believe it's true...

I love all of that so much.  This song expresses such sadness and loss but also a turn toward new life, resurrection, and something more on the other side of this reality.

The other day I was reading a poem by Mary Oliver (if you have yet to read any of her work, you should), where she was reflecting on the floating specter of an alligator in a lake.  

She saw it as a metaphor for death as part of the circle of life---a looming dread that waits for us all.  The sight of the alligator floating like a dark Grim Reaper under the water sparked these feelings within her, but then she wrote this:

Then I remember. Death comes before the rolling away of the stone.  

I'm unsure about you, but that line just lights me up.  We will face grief and loss in this life.  We will see dreams die, hopes dashed, and expectations unmet, and we will lose people we love.  

But we should always remember that the stone gets rolled away.  There is more on the other side of whatever loss we are facing.  

We will also see the faces of those we've loved and lost.  When we transcend this reality and step into God's reality, there will be so much more that we will know and understand.  And our loved ones are there, not merely waiting for us but expecting us.  

I choose to trust in this hope.  If someone spiritual but not religious like Dave Grohl can hold on to that hope, the least I can do is do the same.  

May you find encouragement and peace today in this knowledge.  May you know that the stone gets rolled away, and the sun rises anew.  May you trust that there is more--so much more.  

And may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always. Amen.  

[tulaladd]

世界最遅tulaladd2020best DL list

年間ベストを始めて以来、初の事態。

なんと9か月遅れのポスト。あと3か月で次の年ベスの発表時期じゃないですか…唯一にして最大の理由が、もちろんあるにはある。

暗夜行路のような唄声が車内から眺める某庁舎前の雪景色と甘酸っぱい感情を喚起させるRY Xや、このリストには登場しない自分用に作ったプレイリスト（日本語ラップ編、シティーポップ編）をひとりで何度も諳んじては胸を焦がした。それらの音楽が本来持つ資質にプラスして思い出補正でランクインした作品がいくつかある（最たるものがサントラ部門かな）。そんな変化があった2020年でした。

それを除けば、音楽ライフは基本的に前年を踏襲。つまり引き続きapple music依存型で、DIG活動もほほ休止（荷物の山に埋もれたタンテをセッティングし直せるまともな精神状態じゃなかった…）。落第生の体たらくをここ何年も続けてるわけです。とはいえ昨年と比べれば、リスト入り作品の数が格段に増えた＝それなりに楽しい音楽生活が営めていたのも事実。その充実を支えたものがアルゴリズムって点がものすごく納得はいかないけれど。（毎年書いてるけど、手当たり次第サブスクを横断する中で「もう一度聴きたい」と思えたものが以下のDLリスト。感覚的には昨年より緩い5枚に1枚。それでも昨年比3倍の約250枚！）

いつまで延命できるか分からないローカルラジオを継続できたのもラッキーだった。相変わらずみんなとあーだこーだ言いながらいろんな曲を聴く時間が音楽ライフを豊かにしてくれました。感謝。過去最高に音楽への熱が薄いテキストになっちゃうけど、9か月遅れだと致し方なしか。

三ツ星評価のうち、エル・ミシェルズ・アフェアのシングルはラジオの一戸くんレコメン、今年も熱量が持続しているサウスロンドン・ジャズ・シーンのマンスール・ブラウンEPはおなじみWOZNIAK星くんのオススメ、ほかにも人から教わってお気に入りになった作品が少なくないのは、サブスクじゃ届かないリアルの強みが感じられて、そこだけは希望があるのかな。

特筆するとすれば、Bartosz KruczynskiのEARTH TRAX以来追い続けてきたリズムセクション・インターナショナルが、旬のサウスロンドン・シーンと地下ハウス/テクノ・シーンのメルティング・ポットだったことが分かって興味が再燃させられた個人的な事件。そのセンセーションのグラウンド・ゼロにあたるTHE COLOURS THAT RISEの発見が今年No.1の成果かな。

唯一職場で音楽談義ができるために相互レコメンに特化したLINEを展開中のT氏に教えられたエディ・チャコンのアルバム、そのエディの復活劇を手掛け、若林恵さん経由でずっぽりハマったソランジュ『A Seat At The Table』の禅的ミニマリズのデザイナーでもあることが事後に発覚したジョン・キャロル・カービーの2人は、今年ならではの幸福な時間の中で何度も繰り返し聴いた一生の思い出確定盤。ジョンなんか3カテゴリーに分かれてのランクインだもんな。　

さて2021年。あと3か月しかない。今年はやる？やらない？いろいろ越えるべきものが多くすぎてそれ以前の問題かもしれないなけど。

【TECHNO / HOUSE / (NU)DISCO / ELECTRONICS】 ★★★THE COLOURS THAT RISE / Grey Doubt ★★THE COLOURS THAT RISE / 2020 EP（2017） ★★THEO PARRISH / Wuddaji ★★Machinedrum / A View of U ★Kuniyuki Takahashi / Flying Music EP ★Oneohtrix Point Never / Magic Oneohtrix Point Never ★VLADISLAV DELAY / Rakka ★LUKE SLATER / berghain fünfzehn ★Jayda G / Both of Us / Are U Down EP ★TSHA / Flowers EP ★DISCLOSURE / Energy ★DARKSTAR / Civic Jams ★Chari Chari / We Hear the Last Decades Dreaming ★HUNEE / Boiler Room : an hour with HUNEE（DJ Mix） ★Autechre / SIGN Arca / @@@@@ BURIAL / Chemz FOUR TET / Sixteen Oceans JAMES BLAKE / Before EP GLOBAL COMMUNICATION / Transmissions Sampler JOHN FRUSCIANTE / Maya TRICKFINGER / She Smiles Because She Presses the Button EP TRICKFINGER / Look Down, See Us EP 60 Miles / Swamp 2 Sea EP EARTH TRAX / LP1 EARTH TRAX / LP2 BIG YAWN / No! HIATT dB / Palimpsest EP GL / You Read My Mind DJ SOFA / Elsewhere Junior I - a Collection of Cosmic Children’s Song Mr President / One Night feat.Celia Kameni & Cindy Pooch J.A.K.A.M. / ASTRAL DUB WORX Inner Science / Made パソコン音楽クラブ / Ambience EP LOCUSSOLUS / Locussolus（Expanded） Various Artists / South DAN KYE / Small Moments OFF THE MEDS / Off The Meds BASSO / Proper Sunburn - Forgotten Sunscreen Applied By Basso（2019） Copenema / Dexia a Musica Tocar（2019） Seahawks / Eyes of the Moon（2019） Jayda G / Significant Changes（2019） MMM / Que Barbaro（2013）

【HIPHOP / R&B / BEATS / FUNK】 ★★★EDDIE CHACON / Outside（Laraaji Remix） ★★EDDIE CHACON / Pleasure, Joy and Happiness ★★Lil Narnia / Pain Extract ★★VHOOR / Baile & Sauce ★AG CLUB / Halfway Off the Porch ★MAC MILLER / Circles ★THUNDRCAT / It Is What It Is ★WILMA ARCHER / A Western Circular ★OXP, ONRA & POMRAD / Swing Convention ★DJ KRUSH / TRICKSTER ★BENEDEK / Bene’s World（2017） JOHN CARROLL KIRBY / High feat.Eddie Chacon & Nailah Hunter THE WEEKND / After Hours DRAKE / Dark Lane Demo Tapes POP SMOKE / Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon IVAN AVE / DOUBLE GOODBYES MOSES SUMNEY / græ PETER COTTON TALE / CATCH NNAMDI / BRAT Yves Tumor / Heaven Ta a Toutured Mind Teebs / Ardour（10th Anniversary Edition） Wajatta / Don’t Let Get You Down Lapalux / Esrevoinma EP Kutmah / New Appliance THE HELIOCENTRICS / Telemetric Sounds VULFPECK / The Joy of Music, The Job of   Real Estate JOHN CARROLL KIRBY / Lazzara（2019） Various Artists / Kutmah presents : Sketchbook Radio Archives, Vol.1（2018） Invisibl Skratch Piklz / The 13th Foor（2016） D-STYLES / Phantazagorea（2002）

【JAZZ（the New Chapter） / WORLD】 ★★★MANSUR BROWN / Tesuto ★★★JOHN CARROLL KIRBY / My Garden ★★KAMASI WASHINGTON / Harmony of Difference EP（2017） ★JOHN CARROLL KIRBY / Love Theme ★MANSUR BROWN / Shiroi ★JEFF PARKER / Suite for Max Brown ★CHICAGO UNDERGROUND QUARTET / Good Days ★TOM MISCH & YUSSEF DAYES / What Kinda Music ★KAMAAL WILLIAMS / Wu Hen ★ROB MAZUREK & EXPLODING STAR ORCHESTRA / Dimentional Stardust: ★ORLANDO LE FLEMING / Romantic Funk : The Unfamiliar ★SAM WILKES / WILKES（2019） ★YUSSEF KAMAAL / Black Focus（2016） ★ZSOFIA BOROS / Local Objects（2016） JYOTI & GEORGIA ANNE MULDROW / Mama, You Can Bet! BUTCHER BROWN / #KingButch BRAXTON COOK / Fire Sign PAT METHENY / From This Place Fabiano do Nascimento / Preludio SAM GENDEL / Satin Doll SAM GENDEL / Pass If Music（2018） SAM WILKES / Live on the Green（2019） BRANDON COLEMAN / Resistance（2018） KIEFER / Superbloom（2019） 鈴木良雄 / モーニング・ピクチャー（1984） 鈴木良雄 / ウイングス（1987） JOHN EBERSON, BJ0RNAR ANDRESEN, PAAL NILSSEN-LOVE / Mind the Gap（2001）

【（INDIE）ROCK / （INDIE） POP / SSW】 ★★★EL MICHELS AFFAIR / Reasons feat.Bobby Oroza ★★EL MICHELS AFFAIR / Adult Themes ★★THE FLAMING LIPS / American Head ★★SUFJAN STEVENS / The Ascension ★★FLEET FOXES / Shore ★★COLDPLAY / Everyday Life（2019） ★★RY X / Unfurl（2019） ★★THE WAR ON DRUGS / Lost in the Dream（2014） ★PHOEBE BRIDGERS / Copycat Killer feat. ROB MOOSE - EP ★Mk.gee / A Museum of Contradiction ★PEEL DREAM MAGAZINE / Agitprop Alterna ★BLAKE MILLS / Mutable Set ★THE STROKES / The New Abnormal ★CHS / Jungle Sauna（2019） ★KINDNESS / Something Like A War（2019） ★〝Blue〟Gene Tyranny & Peter Gordon / Trust In Rock（2019） ★STATE RIVER WIDENING / Early Music（2003） BIBIO / Sleep On The Wing Jonsi / Shiver JEFF TWEEDY / Love Is The King REAL ESTATE / The Main Thing ANIMAL COLLECTIVE / Bridge to Quite LITTLE DRAGON / New Me . Same us JAGA JAZZIST / Pyramid TAME IMPAlA  / The Slow Rush TRAVIS / 10 Songs SORRY / 925 JOSEPH OF MERCURY / WAVE Ⅱ Khruangbin / Mordechai Various Artists / Hiding From the Landlord HOWLING / Colure DEVENDRA BANHART / Ma（2019） LANA DEL REY / Norman Fucking Rockwell（2019） DAVE GROHL / Play（2018） CRITERIA / En Garde（2003）

【PUNK / HEAVEY / EXTREAM】 ★★envy / The Fallen Crimson ★★lang / There is no reply, but sweet wind blew（2018） ★envy / LAST WISH（Live at Liquidroom Tokyo） ★SLIFT / UMMON ★HORSE LORDS / The Common Task ★coriky / coriky ★Sans Visage, Look at moment / Split Single ★Sans Visage / moments（2017） ★LIGHTNING BOIL / Sonic Citadel（2019） ★Harvey Milk / Courtesy and Good Will Toward Men（2006） DEFTONES / Ohms Converge / Endless Arrow JESU / Terminus JESU / Never JESU / Ascension（Delux） KRUELTY / A Dying Truth XIBALBA / Anos En Infierno Various Artists / Speedy Wunderground Year 4（2019） RUSSIAN CIRCLE / Russian Circle Audiotree Far Out（2019） EARTH / Live at Third Man Records（2017） THE ARMED / Only Love（2018） THE ARMED / Untitled（2015）

【AMBIENT / NEW AGE / DRONE / MINIMAL MUSIC / EXPERIMENTAL】 ★★JOHN CARROLL KIRBY / Conflict ★★Dukes of Chutney / Hazel  ★HEATHERED PEARLS / Cast ★SAM PREKOP / Comma BING & RUTH / Species FRANKIE REYES / Originalitos IAN WILLIAM CRAIG / Red Sun Through Smoke WINDY & CARL / Allegiance and Conviction JONNY NASH & SUZANNE KRAFT / A Heart So White JOHN CARROLL KIRBY / Tuscany（2019） JOHN CARROLL KIRBY / Meditation In Music（2018） JOHN CARROLL KIRBY / Travel（2017） ALEXANDER RISHAUG / Shadow of Events（2011） 【CLASSIC / OST】 ★LUDWIG GORANSSON / Tenet OST ★JOHN WILLIAMS / Double Trouble ※from OST of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban（2004） DUSTIN O'HALLORAN / Ammonite OST KAMASI WASHINGTON / Becoming（Music from the Netflix Original Documentary） DUSTIN O'HALLORAN / Lumiere（2011） BETH GIBBONS, The Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra & Krzysztof Penderecki / Henryk Gorecki: Symphony No.3（2019） ANTONI WIT, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra(Katowice) & Polish Choir of Krakow / Henryk Gorecki: Symphony No.2（2001） ZSOFIA BOROS / Local Objects（2016） 【DOMESTIC（without HIPHOP）】 ★★★METAFIVE / 環境と心理 ★★GEZAN / 狂（KLUE） ★★downy / 第七作品集「無題」 ★★岡村靖幸 / 操 ★★崎山蒼志 / ソフト　※FEVER LIVE ver. on YouTube ★★SILENT POETS / dawn（2018） ★WOZNIAK / Vegetable Home Run ★Ai Aso / The Faintest Hint ★jan and naomi / YES ★mei ehara / Ampersands ★ディーン・フジオカ / Neo Dimension ★LUNA SEA / Make a vow ★坂本慎太郎 / 好きっていう気持ち / おぼろげナイトクラブ ★Cuushe / Waken ★sassya- / 脊髄（2019） ★小袋成彬 / Piercing（2019） ★She Her Her Hers / stereochrome（2014） WOZNIAK / Lost WOZNIAK / Double Face mouse on the keys / Arche 5kai / Untitled #2 KAN SANO / Susanna Ovall / Ovall（2019） mabanua / Blurred（2018） D.A.N. / Aechma ふさえ / そのまま 相馬智行 & 鳴海徹朗 / 春の闇 jan and naomi / Neutrino 王舟 / Pulchra Ondo 春ねむり / LOVETHEISM 井出健介と母船 / Contact From Exne Kedy And The Poltergeists（エクスネ・ケディと騒がしい幽霊からのコンタクト） 吉田一郎不可触世界 / えぴせし 岡田拓郎 / Morning Sun blgtz / Feature EP Coff / Tiny Music（2019） 【DOMESTIC（HIPHOP）】 ★★DJ CHARI & DJ TATSUKI / GOLDEN ROUTE ★★Weny Dacillo / Hapitable Hotel ★Hideyoshi / Dead End Adventure ★GG UJIHARA / WEAKNESS EP（2018） ★DJ CHARI & DJ TATSUKI / Time feat.Yo-Sea & KEIJU（2019） ★GG UJIHARA / WEAKNESS EP（2018） KOHH / worst KEIJU / T.A.T.O. Sauce81 / S8100 MARTER / Weltraumasthetik 2020 Normcore Boyz / MEDIAGE なみちえ / 毎日来日 徳利 / REVOLUTION starscream & Page Hiiragi / Ghost(s) DJ CHARI / GAME（2019） YOUNG HASTLE & GG UJIHARA / YOUNG UJIHARA EP（2019） Weny Dacillo / AMPM EP（2017）

[silveredsound]

11 please from memes list, 3 gigs you loved

hello! Thank you!! <3<3 I know I rabbit on about gigs a bit, and probably spoke about old!work thing a lot before so I will try to think of ones not there.

Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins did a show at Oxford Arts Factory in 2017 and it was like a 'secret show' aka industry bullshite but the way they actually brought it - the way everyone went with them - the chemistry those two have with each other. It was like seeing a band that had been gigging around for three years and their debut had just dropped and yeah, they never match that first album cos they've spent all their lives till now making it but this! this is the moment they are on fire.

In a different life I went to see Tim Rodgers with an ex finace at a club in Canberra and I think it changed him a little bit and it was sort of magic being there to see someone learn something new.

I always mention this one but - Florence in the Opera House forecourt the day of the Paris attacks in 2015. We lit the building in the French flag and we all sang for the dead, for ourselves, for live performance art, for trusting.

[tisthenightofthewitch]

THE 20 GREATEST GHOST SONGS – RANKED - KERRANG!

From Opus Eponymous to Prequelle, we rank the greatest compositions from Ghost

Words: Sam Law

Photo: Tom Barnes 

Undoubtedly the breakout band in heavy music over the past decade, it’s been a wild ride for Swedish creeps Ghost. Melding elements of hard rock, doom, classic metal, psychedelia and outright guitar-pop – then daubing on the corpsepaint – their combination of deceptively digestible sound, occultist ethos and anti-ecumenical aesthetic has captured the imagination of music fans and sling-shotted their live ‘rituals’ into arenas on both sides of the Atlantic.

Of course, mysterious mainman Tobias Forge (aka Papa Emeritus I-IV, aka Cardinal Copia) has had his struggles. In 2013, the band was forced to temporarily rebrand as Ghost B.C. for legal reasons in the U.S. The initially intriguing, fluid anonymity of his bandmates’ Nameless Ghoul personas (even Dave Grohl apparently once donned the cowl) became a sticking point, too, as the collective sued Tobias in 2017, failing in their suit but also dispelling some of the precious mystique.

That Tobias has endured – not just surviving, but flamboyantly thriving in the heightened spotlight – feels like proof his band are here to stay. New music is eagerly anticipated in the not-so-distant future but, for now, we rank the 20 tracks on which Ghost have built their unholy empire thus far…

20. MUMMY DUST (MELIORA, 2015)

‘I was carried on a wolf’s back, to corrupt humanity / I will pummel it with opulence, with corpulence and greed!’ Arriving on a wave of staccato percussion, spiked with gnarls of riffage and flashes of synth, this pounding cut from 2015’s Meliora – named after the insubstantial detritus of years past – plays out as one of Ghost’s most compelling indictments of the avarice of mankind. Although its creeping instrumentation, growled baritone and choral climax don’t exactly show the Swedes at their most inventive, Mummy Dust has been elevated massively in the live arena, with Papa leaning into the lurching malevolence before showering the audience with ‘money’. In Ghost we trust.

19. WITCH IMAGE (PREQUELLE, 2018)

Ghost might have traversed a full spectrum from gouging metal via classic rock to shimmering guitar-pop thus far, but the further their sound has strayed into the light, the harder the lyrics have drilled down into darkness. It’s never been truer than on this underrated ditty from Prequelle. A textbook three-and-a-half-minutes built of sweet acoustic and rich electric guitars surging towards its massive chorus, you can practically taste the relish as Tobias ladles the syrup onto some of his darkest words. ‘While you sleep in earthly delight, someone’s flesh is rotting tonight / Like no other to you, what you’ve done you can not undo…’

18. CON CLAVI CON DIO (OPUS EPONYMOUS, 2010)

After the baroque organ intro of Deus Culpa, it’s the throbbing bassline of Con Clavi Con Dio that truly pulls back the sacristy drapes on Ghost’s compelling debut. Translating crudely as ‘With Nails, With God’, the title Con Clavi Con Dio is actually an attempt at clever wordplay, drawing comparisons with the nails of crucifixion and the conclave of bishops at the head of the church as Tobias sings, ‘Our conjuration sings infernal psalms and smear the smudge in bleeding palms.’ Theological musing aside, it’s the dark swirl of sound here that truly draws the listener in, with gauzy layers of guitar, synth and vocals – not to mention the devilish tritone interval – building into a towering cathedral of subversion.

17. FAITH (PREQUELLE, 2018)

No relation to the oft-covered George Michael classic, the fourth single from 2018’s Prequelle feels like a defiant statement of the band’s arena-straddling prowess twelve years in. Powered by snarling six-strings and pounding drums – custom engineered to get tens of thousands of fists pumping – it’s seething proof that this band’s heaviest sounds are still among their best. At the same time, we get a furious flash of the man behind the mask as Tobias takes aim at his ex-Nameless Ghouls with some serious lyrical barbs: ‘The Luddites shun the diabolical, a fecal trail across the land / Although it stinks, feels and looks identical / And a pack of fools can take the stand.’ Oooft.

16. PER ASPERA AD INFERNI (INFESTISSUMAM, 2013)

Riffing on the popular Latin phrase ‘Per aspera ad astra’ (‘Through hardship to the stars’), Per Aspera Ad Infini literally translates as ‘Through Hardships To Hell.’ Its churning sound diabolically matches up. Layering on riffage that calls to mind the epic doom of heroes like Candlemass, marching-beat percussion and a lyrical treatment revolving around that title chanted as a mantra, there is sinisterness throughout. Its defining quality, however, is the fragility and despair Tobias manages to summon as he begs with ecstatic fervour, ‘Oh Satan, devour us all / Hear our desperate call.’

15. SECULAR HAZE (INFESTISSUMAM, 2013)

The lead single from 2013’s sophomore LP Infestissumam immediately built on the spooky foundations laid by Opus Eponymous with broader pantomime atmospherics and – on its live premiere in Linköping, Sweden, where Papa Emeritus II was unveiled – the first branches of their expanded mythos. A carnivalesque organ sets the tone of mischievous eeriness before the pendulous musicality hits full swing with Papa inviting us in: ‘You know that the fog is here omnipresent when the disease sees no cure / You know that the fog is here omnipresent when the intents remain obscure – forevermore!’ As if their mainstream-invading intent wasn’t clear enough, its single release even came with a B-side cover of ABBA’s I’m A Marionette featuring Dave Grohl on drums!

14. SEE THE LIGHT (PREQUELLE, 2018)

Another barely-veiled reference to Tobias’ struggles with ex-bandmates, See The Light is also one of his band’s most shamelessly uplifting compositions. Feeling like a positivist ’80s anthem – shot through with a little venom – its tinkling keys, soaring synths and understated, rumbling riffage propel an effortlessly memorable message about transcending the ill-will of one’s antagonists. Sing it together: ‘Every day that you feed me with hate, I grow stronger!’

13. DEUS IN ABSENTIA (MELIORA, 2015)

Riding on the metronomic beat of their Monstrance Clock, the closer on Ghost’s third album (translated from Latin as ‘In The Absence Of God’) is an extravagant exercise in arch theatrics. Benefiting from Klas Åhlund’s grandiose production, Tobias comes across as both demon and angel, extending his dark invitation: ‘The world is on fire, and you are here to stay and burn with me / A funeral pyre, and we are here to revel forever.’ Concluding with a hymn-like Latin chorus, it feels like the ultimate corruptive culmination: a musical sacrament truly touching only to those in the know.

12. STAND BY HIM (OPUS EPONYMOUS, 2010)

The track that started it all. Inspired by that irresistible lead riff – stumbled upon while practising for another band – Tobias foresaw a deep, dark well of potential waiting to be tapped and threw himself in headlong. Although Stand By Him’s schlocky lyrics feel gleefully on-the-chin nowadays (‘The Devil’s power is the greatest one / When His’ and Hers’ holiest shuns the sun / A temptress smitten by the blackest force / A vicar bitten blind in intercourse’), they paved the way for everything that followed. On top of that, its soaring ‘It is the night of the witch…’ chorus line even rivals that of Donovan’s Season Of The Witch (an obvious influence) for sheer spellbinding catchiness.

11. GHULEH/ZOMBIE QUEEN (INFESTISSUMAM, 2013)

One of the less immediate tracks on Ghost’s second album was also its most important. A staggering, seven-and-a-half minute opus that unfolds from its sorrowing piano line and Papa’s desiccated hiss through a swaggering midsection to a conclusion full of proggy bombast; this was proof of the untold breadth and depth of their vision and sound. Pushing from their basis in ’80s classic rock through the looser sounds of the ’70s and right into ’60s psychedelia, this ode to the titular zombie queen (‘Up from the stinking dirt she rises, ghastly pale / Shape-shifting soon but now she’s rigid, stiff and stale’) feels like Tobias’ first real attempt to stretch his (cursed black) wings and remains amongst their most rewarding compositions.

10. RITUAL (OPUS EPONYMOUS, 2010)

Anyone who remembers Ghost’s ethereal emergence from the shadows likely does so with this earworm writhing in the back of their mind. Combining the slick melodies and wry fatalism of prime Blue Öyster Cult with the crunchiness of Pentagram and Saint Vitus – soothing organs and a driving bassline pulling away – they had the musical formula nailed. It was the imagery contained therein, however (all ‘bedouins and nomads’, fallen angels and ‘smells of dead human sacrifices from the altar bed’) that captured the imaginations of a congregation ravenous for a fresh take on ancient evil. Here, the doors to the sanctum were truly open.

9. YEAR ZERO (INFESTISSUMAM, 2013)

Tying into the Ghost B.C. renaming necessitated by their Stateside legal wranglings (the year zero being the pivotal point between the B.C. and A.D. timelines), Infestissumam’s sixth track developed into one of the greatest showcases of their dark majesty. Opening with a powerful Gregorian chant (‘Belial, Behemoth, Beelzebub, Asmodeus, Satanas, Lucifer’) calling to mind Jerry Goldsmith’s legendary soundtrack to The Omen, Ave Satana, the direct riffage and bludgeoning choruses that follow hammer home a sense of sheer monstrosity. Typically, the Year Zero concept is subverted, with Forge (and, reportedly, guitarist Martin Persner) picturing an ancient antagonist far predating biblical times: ‘Since dawn of time the fate of man is that of lice, equal as parasites and moving without eyes / A day of reckoning when penance is to burn, count down together now and say the words that you will learn.’

8. MIASMA (PREQUELLE, 2018)

Just when you think you’ve got Ghost figured out, they pull something like this. The first of Prequelle’s two extended instrumentals feels like showboating from an outfit whose legitimacy some fans had dared question following the acrimonious departure of so many players. Rearing into view as an expansively primitive space-rock soundscape, layering up into an ’80s prog epic, then exploding in a kaleidoscopic whirlwind of synths, Michael Jackson riffs and the best metal saxophone this side of Norway’s Shining, it was proof that Tobias’ vision would not be dictated solely by his own crooning King Diamond fixation and that it, frankly, knew no bounds.

7. ELIZABETH (OPUS EPONYMOUS, 2010)

Four years since their formation, Elizabeth felt like the break Ghost had been waiting for. Released on 7” vinyl (with the less-ear-catching Death Knell on B-side), the Mercyful Fate comparisons were immediate, with many seeing the sense of eerie grandeur and kitsch luridity at play as directly descended from the great Danes’ 1987 classic Devil Eyes. An ode to infamous Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Bathory – alleged serial killer and bloodbather – sees Papa getting his teeth sunk in lyrically: ‘Her pact with Satan, her disposal of mankind / Her acts of cruelty and her lust for blood makes her one of us!’ The fine balance between sensuality and sin has yet to be bettered.

6. RATS (PREQUELLE, 2018)

The lead single from 2018’s Prequelle feels like a bridge between the (relative) heaviness of the band’s past and the unfettered theatricality of the album that was about to follow. Powered by a straightforward riff and piercing organs, dazzling solos and a rogue harpsichord, its introduction of the Black Death concept in which the album would wallow (refracting contemporary grievances through the filthy lens of the 14th century bubonic plague) felt both atmospherically appropriate and deliciously alive. The Scandi-pop ‘oooh-aahs’ in the chorus remain one of the band’s most gleefully irreverent touches, too. And the question of whether ‘them filthy rodents still coming for your souls’ is reference to Tobias’ old bandmates has provided rich fuel to keep the metal gossip mill turning.

5. MONSTRANCE CLOCK (INFESTISSUMAM, 2013)

In the Roman Catholic church, the monstrance is an (often ornate) receptacle in which the consecrated communion host is displayed for veneration. A monstrance clock was an aesthetically-similar Renaissance-era timekeeping device capable of displaying date, time and a wealth of other celestial information, often used in church rituals. We suspect that Ghost just liked the faintly cheeky sound of the phrase when quickly spoken. Still, the song they wrought from that initial giggle is utterly unforgettable. Deliberately paced and overflowing with evangelical zeal, a slow build flourishes into a splendiferous closing chorus that’s turned many an arena into a church of the Dark Lord: ‘Come together, together as one / Come together for Lucifer’s son!’

4. DANCE MACABRE (PREQUELLE, 2018)

If Rats was pandering somewhat to the existing fanbase, Dance Macabre was the other side of the coin. A shamelessly retro ’80s-style power ballad that’s as light on overt Satanic references as it is heavy on the cheese, some fans saw it as a form of selling-out: a dilution of devilish imagery in service of greater American radio-rock appeal. Perhaps they had a point. From its fist-pumping percussion and effervescent guitar solo to that ‘wanna, be wit chu’ chorus hook, however, it’s executed with enough committed precision and knowing panache to stand on its own terms, and a whole legion of new fans couldn’t help be swept along through the gateway and on to far darker delights. Tobias’ explanation that this is a soundtrack for people living like there’s no tomorrow – as many literally did during the plague – adds an extra dimension. Best experienced with the gleefuly vampiric music video.

3. CIRICE (MELIORA, 2015)

It’s strange how things work out sometimes. Originally conceived with producer Klas Åhlund as a nine-minute instrumental deep cut, Cirice was chopped down and reworked into Meliora’s irresistible lead single – becoming the song that really kickstarted Ghost’s stratospheric ascent. An insidious opening combusts into an infernal crescendo before lurching into the band’s most bludgeoning riff to date. All the while, Papa’s beguiling vocals reach out, full of dark romance, for new converts to their corrupted congregation. 2016’s GRAMMY for Best Metal Performance felt like just reward for such inspired work. The Roboshobo-directed music video – featuring a school talent show that’s almost as horrific as the ones we remember – is another stone cold standout.

2. SQUARE HAMMER (POPESTAR, 2016)

Following the unprecedented success of Meliora, Ghost found themselves suddenly commanding crowds far larger – and more diverse – than they’d seen before. Most of the ingredients for these grander live rituals were already in place, but they lacked the barn-burner early in their set to get these massive rooms onside. Dropped as the standalone original track on the Popestar covers EP, Square Hammer gave them just that. Abstractly melding the cultist themes of Satanism and Freemasonry, the concept of selling one’s soul – ‘ready to swear right here, right now, before the devil’ – was hardly new, but the outright pop energy of those surging synths and that exuberant chorus clearly signalled that the game had changed.

1. HE IS (MELIORA, 2015)

If Ghost’s diabolical mission statement is to make the Luciferian ideals more palatable to the masses, then He Is must be their masterpiece. So perfectly camouflaged – with twanging acoustic guitars and reverberating vocals that could’ve been nicked from the golden age of AOR – is their message, that they could drop this at any Christian rock festival and only the most switched-on devotees would know the difference. Openly indebted to giants like Kansas and Journey (and less openly to more recent occult acoustic acts like Ancient VVisdom), there’s a burning light to the sound. The use of divine-sounding Latin (‘Nostro Dispater, nostr’alma mater’) to identify the titular ‘He’ as the dark lord of the underworld is just another characteristically twisted masterstroke. Kneel at their altar.

All rights owned by Kerrang!

What do you guys think? 

Personally there’s a few I’d replace and Ritual is always my NO.1. 

[avaliveradio]

Greg Hoy 'Move Along' is a mantra to keep going even when life is a drag

This song is written in the throes of the pandemic, 'Move Along' is a mantra to keep going even when life is a drag.

'Move Along' was the first song written for the album 'Cacophony'. We were stuck in quarantine last spring. The Dolly Parton biography was on television. She is one of my idols. She talks about writing 'one or a few songs every day.' So that night, my goal was to write a song a day. I did that for a week, and most of them were terrible, but 'Move Along' was the piece I wrote that particular night after being inspired by Dolly. It's about how life unfolds and how we do our best to ride the chaos while we are here.

We are excitedly booking a 3-week midwest tour for the fall to prepare a new EP for release.

Artist: Greg Hoy

New Release: Move Along

Genre: Rock, Americana, AltRock, Singer-Songwriter

Sounds like: : Tom Petty, Pixies, Wilco, Elvis Costello, Wallflowers, Foo Fighters

Located in: : San Francisco, CA

About the Artist

Greg Hoy is many things. He's a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, a recording producer, a recording engineer, something of a marketing guru, a jingle and sound composer and producer, a 'people engineer' in the tech world, an art director, and a label owner. But when you boil it all down — he's really just a guy in a band.

"Music is in everything I do. Helping companies hiring people is just like putting a band together. I've been fortunate that both sides of my brain work in tandem," the California-based artist says with a good-natured laugh.

With his 2020 tour cancelled due to... well, you know what, Greg managed to coax East Bay, California's Tiny Telephone studio owner John Vanderslice into letting he and his band social distance to make 'Cacophony' - an 11 song cycle now out on gold vinyl - written and recorded in just two weeks. The lyrically output was heavy: birth, death, pandemics, and fires. But that fast and furious creative drive is what propels him to create.

When you do more, you do more. So, maybe, it's the collective inertia of all his projects that propels Greg's prolific output? Somehow, between wearing so many hats — including tirelessly touring the nation in a vintage Airstream on the Limited Mileage tour throughout 2019 — he made time to write and a record a refreshingly eclectic, 22-song double-vinyl self-titled concept album released as the self-titled Greg Hoy & The Boys.

His last 2019 release, Enjoy the View, was recorded mostly live by audio legend Steve Albini (Nirvana, Pixies, PJ Harvey) in Chicago & mixed in Oregon by the equally amazing Sylvia Massy (Tool, Johnny Cash, Tom Petty, Red Hot Chili Peppers). Clocking in at just under 20 minutes, the band pushed the limits as a meaty 3 piece. The result is an immediately hooky slab of caffeinated, propulsive, plug-in-and-play rock n roll.

To date, the restless creative has issued over 30 albums under various monikers, including The Royal Panics, Greg Hoy ("no boys" for intimate releases), Greg Hoy & The Boys, and Twice As Bright. Mostly these days, he fires up Greg Hoy & The Boys, a loose collective of friends and trusted musicians that includes boys and girls.

Greg's vibrantly diverse output harkens back to the bedroom 4-track visionary aesthetic of 1990s indie-rock, as epitomized by Guided By Voices and its fearless leader Bob Pollard. When you distill it all down, Greg plays retro rock n' roll meticulously crafted from the timeless essentials of infectious melodies paired with undeniable grooves. Yet, within this focused path, Greg issues diverse albums aligned in spirit with such singular artists as Jack White, Dave Grohl, Neil Young, Queens Of The Stone Age, Cake, The Jam, The Who, The Beatles... "All the 'the something' bands," Greg playfully adds.

Catch Greg out in the wild in 2021.

(Bio by Lorne Behrman)

LINKS:  https://open.spotify.com/track/3khWcvwS8w2dZAh7uJ9LfM?si=4b62a992b1c94451 https://www.instagram.com/thegreghoy https://twitter.com/thegreghoy https://www.facebook.com/greghoyandtheboys https://thegreghoy.com/

Featured on these Playlists:

🔥Release Radar New Music Playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2JOBcgSYgGmV2g27N1CUXx?si=PQFpAPUbQ0m4ByZEbtBtLg

🔥JAX DAILY Morning Coffee Playlist:

  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7pEY8BiSj6sLLSHAoOo9k0?si=IrwIjmHVRN2vswRyw_P6gA

🔥Songwriter Gold https://open.spotify.com/playlist/68x51bTCMLuLi4o6vqwGfh?si=hXz5kG-rTN-bGkZBJuPm9g

🔥SUMMER SINGLES Fresh Indie Music Finds https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7oQCpI2xEN2RaGWLcRGQJX?si=o93Tf3RwSH2HLg4B57qAVw

🔥Road Trip Best Indie Folk 2020 Music Playlist - Indie / Pop / Folk / Rock https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1PLd9drToDxT0rUcGWGpZ9?si=FvfbaXtcQ1-HJyHf3h59oA

[cilldaracailin]

So I went for a job interview today for a promotion within the childcare service that I work in. I have only ever worked in a room with the children but since we were back to work after lockdown, I have been in the office as a debute supervisor. A job came up for a debute manager and I decided I would go for it (God loves a trier right?....)

So I thought the interview went terrible when it came to answering questions about office work - (I was literally thrown in the deep end  after lockdown and was kinda floating rather than swimming a lot of the time, along with doing what I could and was shown to do as well as helping out the manager in the second service in the town) - I really didn’t have a great answer for those questions and actually said I don’t know a few times but gave as good an answer as I could from my ten years experience for the others. Went home thinking there is no chance I got that job, especially when the supervisor went for the job too.

Got back to work all the girls were asking how it was. I was like ‘meh it was alright, don’t think I got it’ and I was prepared to go back to my Pre-School room as the supervisor is back tomorrow.

Then was told an hour later by my manager that I GOT THE BLOODY JOB!

I am still in shock. I am now a Debute Manager of the creche I work in as of tomorrow and I am shitting it a little. (Or maybe a lot).

The work I need to do, is what I have been doing since I came back to work after lockdown with some more things so I know I can do it but still there is always that niggle of doubt. But me *points to herself* a debute manager. Never thought I would ever have a manager with my name!

Childcare is the only thing I have ever been good at or ever felt I did well and it feels like that yeah maybe I am doing it right and doing a good job and should finally believe in myself and what I can do.

In honour of this new found revelation (Still in shock) I am going to post some of my favourite pictures I have taken or have from over the last few years so make me smile and hopefully you all too.

(Might take a few posts as Tumblr limits to ten pictures a post.... and I have a lot!)

This is the Island of Baru of the coast of Colombia in South America. Beautiful Caribbean beach with clear beach water and golden sand.

Not that you would know, but trust when I say, that is me paragliding off the Andes in Colombia.

One of those attempts at an arty picture from inside a church in a beautiful little town called Villa De Leyva in Colombia.

One of my favourite pictures of me and my dog Lilah. Came in after a crappy night out with friends and it was like she knew and gave me a hug.

When dreams can actually come true. I have loved dolphins since I was a kid and said that I wanted to be a dolphin therapist but I was always told it wasn’t a thing. Well in 2015 I proved it was a thing and went to study to become a dolphin therapist. That’s me in the water with a beautiful dolphin called Misha. It so specialised though so almost impossible to work in the field but I did it anyway.

More dolphin pictures. Me and Misha have the craic in the water.

So this was the time I bought a tunnel and going to train my dog to be one of the show dogs that could do amazing agility skills. I trained Lilah to go through the tunnel but that was where it stopped ‘cos she kept getting stuck! hahaha!

Another one of those claw machine wins.....

This is Lahinch Beach in Co. Clare in Ireland. Surfers paradise and a stunning beach. Ireland is so beautiful in the sun.

That time I finally got to meet the lads from Busted and be what’s called the OMFG Zone for their concert. Its basically a much more peaceful mosh pit right in front of the stage in it’s own circular section. Best gig and I ain’t ashamed to admit to my love of Busted. A lot my fanfiction as a teenager were based on Busted.

That chocolate biscuit cake that comes out every Christmas covered in malteasers.... Yum!

Those second place white chocolate chip cookies! (If you read Robyn and Taron you know what I am talking about...)

That one time another dream came true and I meet Ariel and told her that I was a dolphin therapist and had a conversation about the ocean. My ultimate and favourite Disney Princess.

That one time I made a sugar cookie Christmas tree....

That time “The Beast from the East” came. Storm Emma covered the place with snow for five days. There were eight foot snow drifts along the road I live on.

When The Beach Boys came to Dublin and my parents and I went to see them and it was amazing! Such nostalgia!

I know most people won’t get this reference if you are not Irish but this a tea cosy I knitted based on a children’s television character called Bosco who lived in a box. Huge part of my childhood.

I ice Christmas cakes every year and this was one of my favourite designs, hand pipped on without a mistake. It’s such a cute tree!

That time I paid €100 to go and see Hugh Jackman in concert and I was front and centre of the stage and it was bloody amazing!

The circus theme caked I made with the girls from Pre-School for our Circus themed Graduation last year. Inside was a red and white cake with butter cream and was amazing! So proud of our fondant work!

That time last year when another dream came through and I got to go and see Winter and Hope and PJ in Clearwater Florida and sat in front of the glass windows for ages just staring at them.

Sunsets in Clearwater Florida. I don’t think it needs anything else said.

That time I got to dress as Elsa for work for Halloween and loved every minute of it! ;)

When I got to sing Somebody to Love with my amazing SuSo Gospel choir in the church in my home town.

Carne Beach Co. Wexford where I spent nearly ever summer as a kid and it was amazing! Again, Ireland is stunning in the sun.

When I got to go and see The Foo Fighters (again) in a place called Slane in Co. Meath. It’s a castle with huge ground where concerts are held every year and this gig was amazing. Apart from the horrible weather. It bucketed down with rain but I was prepared with layers, wellies, a giant warm coat and many ponchos. (This was before Dave Grohl fell off the stage in Germany and broke his leg).

The Eiffel Tower at night.

I don’t have a caption for this one. It speaks for it’s self and it I love everything about it.

“How do you get a Pikachu on a bus? You Pokémon...” (Sorry not sorry, it makes me laugh every time!)

Another one of those claw machine wins. A giant rainbow unicorn!

The Christmas tree in the lobby of The Plaza Hotel in NYC. Stunning! (As is the afternoon tea! ;) )

One of favourite pictures that I took in New York at Christmas last year. A beautifully lit tree and the Empire State building in the background.

And last but not least, this beautiful, humble and wonderful person. I can’t take any credit for this picture but I had to put one in and it is definitely one of my favourites.

And that is them all! They all fitted. Just felt like sharing some picture love while I was still taking in my great news. Hopefully I will be ok in my new position and not bitten off more than I can chew! :)

xxx