#inspired by “turn me down” by julia jacklin!

[mitsies]

❊ turn me down - michael kaiser . . loving you might just be the unluckiest fate.

there is an ache in kaiser's chest that he can't get rid of.

it's been lingering for far too long to be normal. like a broken wire, sparks fly down his spine, burning from the inside. he's already tried writing it off as bad sleep. he's tried explaining it away as lifestyle, or certain foods, or other irrelevant factors. but no matter what he tries, this dull pain, it persists. it lives inside him; a parasite.

he feels it when the train slows to a stop. he feels it in his history lecture when his professor says something dull. he feels it on the football field when he really, really shouldn't. kaiser can't escape the sensation. it follows him like a shadow, like a bad omen, like a ghost.

and the only solution, he's found, is your touch.

this is discovered on a rain-soaked monday. the both of you had been taking cover in your apartment, and your roommates were all out. it hadn't been awkward, not at all. because before anything else, the both of you were friends. you'd met in a chemistry class a few months back. your friendship was new, and it was easy; it was even easier for him to fall for you.

maybe it had happened that night, when the two of you had shared your first kiss together. when you'd both agreed to be a little more than friends, but not much more. when he'd first touched you the way he wanted to. or maybe he'd fallen for you before that— back in the class, back to your first study session. or maybe it was sometime after. he doesn't know. he may never know. but as it stands, that's where he is; hopelessly, pathetically infatuated with you.

he thinks of it as something like a blessing. the way you talk to him makes him feel tethered and real. the way your hands trace familiar pathways down his back on late nights makes everything feel right. the way you care about him makes his whole body burn enough to forget the stupid ache in his chest.

you've always been hard to read. he can never quite tell what you're thinking, although he itches, burns, to have every single piece of you learned and memorised. is it just for fun to you? or is it more, like it is to him? do you think about him when he's not there like he thinks about you? does his touch make you feel okay for once, too? he hopes so. he needs it to be true, really. because there is something desperate about the way he loves you. like he's grasping at something that's always just out of reach. like you're the only cure for his pain. like you're the only good thing he has, like he can't let you be just a friend.

but that's all you are, really; just friends. nothing less but also nothing more. an unfortunate conundrum. and even more unfortunate is the fact that in his blindness, he'd neglected to account for the fact that friends-with-benefits was no kind of commitment, either.

the bar is muggy and crowded on friday nights, and tonight is no different. kaiser is usually by your side, but he's let himself get pulled away by some of your friend group for a game of pool. but when he's done, and searches for you, you aren't alone. there's a stranger seated in the barstool where he once was, making conversation with you— and you look amused. a hand is propping your head up and your body is tilted towards the stranger, and your eyes crinkle a little around the corner like they do when you find something funny, and kaiser is angry. his body aches, it burns. an ugly feeling melts into his bones, mixing not-too-well with the alcohol already in his system as he moves to where you're sitting.

maybe it's ego. maybe it's envy. or maybe, just maybe it's desperation, as he inserts himself between you and the man with a crooked grin in your direction. "everything okay here, darling?"

you might be hard to read at times, but there's no mistaking the venom that burns behind your eyes as you glare at him. it should hurt. but you're looking at him, so how bad could it be?

you feign a smile and play along, presumably to avoid embarrassment. "yes. yes, actually, more than okay. in fact, i'm ready to go now. mind paying my tab?"

he likes you when you're irritated. he likes you all the time. he'd pay your tab even if you didn't ask. kaiser can feel your anger swell as the man you were speaking to dismisses himself, and as he leads you out of the bar. but he can't be angry. not now, because you take his hand when it's offered. he knows it's to avoid a scene, but he'll pretend it's more than that. your hand in his sends warmth down his body in sparks, enough to make everything else disappear.

"what the hell was that?"

you're mad. he knew you'd be. but he loves you so he just smiles like an idiot.

the street outside the bar is mostly empty. no one is close enough to hear your conversation, and only a few bar hoppers remain, waiting for a cab or stumbling to their next destination. a streetlight shines down on you, turning you amber in its light. you look beautiful. you might've been waiting for him to respond, he's not sure; but when he doesn't, you keep going.

"kaiser, what is your problem?"

something about your saying his name snaps him out of his haze. oh. what was he doing?

"we agreed," you continue, "we're just friends. just friends. we're not anything, kaiser. we're nothing, got that?"

you're mad, you're so mad. and your words burn and sting, like whips on skin, like fire on flesh. he's silent. he doesn't have anything to say, now that the fog has lifted around his brain. you and him were nothing. he loves you like a godless man, but you and him are nothing.

"right," is all kaiser says. he lacks his usual conviction or confidence. he fears that you may be the only person who will ever be capable of reducing him to ashes. you cross your arms and stare at him with a sardonic, "yeah. right."

he loves you. he loves you like a saint, he loves you like you're all he has. and he realises, right there on the sidewalk in front of a dingy bar, that loving you does nothing but hurt.

he never ached the way he does now before he met you. he never burned with emotion too strong to contain. knowing you brought on the pain, and loving you made it worse, and being around you ruined him. this was not a blessing. this was a curse. your touch was not a cure as much as it was a cause.

it hurts to love you. it hurts to love you this much and get nothing back. he knows he shouldn't, now, he's realised that it'll only make things worse. he shouldn't. but he can't let you go, not now. he's addicted to the pain, he's addicted to the melancholy of it all. which is why he smiles. which is why he says, "can i take you home and make up for it, then?"

your face is unreadable, you're sure. and he'd never know how you were feeling at that very moment. because you're hard to read on purpose. because you're not ready for him to know. but that same pain, that same hurt; you feel it too. that same love. unrequited, in your eyes. nothing but trouble. that same love, that makes you smile back. that same love that makes you say, "it's the least you could do," as you take his hand and leave.

maybe one day one of you will have the courage to shut it down or open up. maybe one day, you'll both really end up as either something or nothing. maybe one day, the ache of love's burden will lift. but for now, the pendulum swings as one of you waits for the other to finally put them out of their misery, and turn them down.

flower chosen: yellow rose . . jealousy

❊ send a request! ❊ 5k masterlist ❊ event info ❊

[the-finch-address]

TDY - 🦀 ❄️ and THO - 🤔 🎶 explain at least 5 songs from the playlist

🦀 - A favourite piece of dialogue (The Dog Yard)

"Oh, I see, so you're the little delinquent who took out our phone line, huh?" She scoffs, impatiently tapping a finger against the mug, "Can I ask for a refill or will you burn the place down on your way to the kitchen?" "Havard!" Emily shoots her an expression that says 'watch it', "You leave him alone."

❄️ - Toughest aspect of my WIP (The Dog Yard)

Ohhhh my god the fighting. The fight scenes for sure. I know that's pretty ironic considering the entire wip is about a literal underground fighting ring but let me tell you, my ability to say, "Eh, I'll figure it out later" when starting a new wip far outweighs any other conscious thought.

🤔 - What's the inspiration behind my WIP (The Heir's Odium)

Oh man I genuinely have no idea. I don't often make connections between my wips and outside inspiration, the ideas come and I either act on them or I don't. Obviously, the idea comes from somewhere and is inspired by something, etc, because that's just the way brains work, but I can rarely make the connection myself. The Heir's Odium came to me 10 years ago when my life was going through some heavy changes, so there's really no way to tell what amalgamation of outside sources and life events contributed to its conception haha That being said......... I like dragons, so I wrote a book about dragons.

🎶 - WIP playlist (The Heir's Odium)

This wip, too, has several playlists and all of them are beefy. I haven't taken a fine-tooth comb through any of them since I put the story on hiatus to focus on other wips so I'm not going to link you to a whole playlist, so instead, I'll list the main theme for all 5 characters!

Vestiel: Eight (Sleeping at Last) / The Moon Will Sing (The Crane Wives) I can get away with listing two songs because he's the MC, right?

Both songs look at Vestiel's turbulent relationship with Andi, his pack, and himself. His ability to lead in Andi's shadow, as well as the decisions he makes (and the decisions made for him) play a big part in the plot and overall narration of the story. It's hard to go into details about this one without it turning into a twelve-page essay because I just-- I have so much love in my heart for this character. Honestly. But go check out the songs and they'll speak for themselves.

Andi: Second Chances (Imagine Dragons)

A big part of Andi's character is his guilt. He is shadowed by it, consumed by it for most of the story, but with no way to remedy it without making the situation a thousand times worse he chooses to just ignore it instead and pretend nothing happened in the first place. Obviously, this still makes things a thousand times worse. He figures it out eventually (with the help of both friends and enemies) but it's a bit of a slow-burn redemption.

Caprice: Throne (Saint Mesa)

Being the heir to an empire comes with its obvious perks, but when your own morals begin to conflict with the ruling party (ie. your mom), things can get heated pretty quick. That includes watching your family fall into a rabbit hole and doing everything in your power to not be caught by the ankle and dragged down with them. Throne says a lot about Capri's journey with his own bloodline, and the relationships, choices, and personal growth he makes along the way.

Tupelo: Devil's Resting Place (Laura Marling)

This song, too, is hard to describe without giving too much context. Tupelo has always carried as much responsibility as the leaders of their Pack, and they are careful to never take that for granted, but it's difficult to always do the right thing when you have that much weight on your shoulders. There's a number of actions taken under their name that haunt Tupelo, but nothing keeps them up at night like the thought of inevitable catastrophe becoming a product of their own hands.

Fannar-Haise: Comfort (Julia Jacklin)

Haise is the comfort character of the book, plain and simple. She is the grounding point for the traveling party, the one to keep everyone safe and sane. This effort, of course, carries with it the bad habit of not taking care of herself. She's quick to shrug off the hard times (externally, anyway) and consistently disregards her own troubles. Eventually, she does allow herself to seek (and accept) comfort, but it takes a lot of convincing to get there.

Signe: Cypress Queen (The Last Bison)

Alright, this one's a little harder to explain without giving away too many spoilers. Signe's existence in the book is vital, but she really doesn't show up that often— not until around book three. What little is known about her pertains mostly to her role in the Silence; she is the quiet leader, the one to keep her family (and eventually, Vestiel) afloat and out of trouble, no matter what it takes, but that kind of responsibility doesn't come without its fair share of troubles.

Thank you for the ask I love any excuse to talk about my OCs >:)

[shemakesmusic-uk]

Getting To Know...

Bestfriend.

Bestfriend was half-formed through a mutual friend and half-formed through Instagram DMs in 2018. The indie-pop duo is a culmination of two young artists, Stacy Kim and Kaelan Geoffrey, making music from thousands of miles apart; Stacy in the west, Kaelan in the east.

Through trial and error (and many gigabytes of .wav files sent back and forth), they’ve found their stride in dreamy, story-telling pop songs. Last month, Bestfriend released 'Hannah in the City,' a bittersweet indie pop bop about life's big what if's.

The duo's newest EP, places i’ve lived, which is out today, is a love letter to all of the experiences and people from Bestfriend’s young adult lives. Heavily inspired by storytelling songwriters like Lorde, The National, Big Thief and Julia Jacklin, with production inspired by Bleachers, FINNEAS, The 1975, Rina Sawayama.

We had a chat with the duo all about places i've lived, how the pandemic has impacted their creativity and what they have planned next. Read the Q&A below.

Hi guys! How have you been? How has the pandemic impacted you and your creativity?

Stacy: "I’ve actually found that it gave me an opportunity (with the knowledge that any aspect of the pandemic giving me an opportunity is a massive privilege) where I wasn’t spending any of my time doing Other Things anymore. I wasn’t seeing friends, I was working from home, and so these moments where I’d have ideas, I’d just be able to execute without worrying about time. Generally speaking, my creativity is mostly impacted by personal situations rather than extenuating world circumstances, so more than anything I just had the ability to execute better. Lots of time to reflect. Which sometimes wasn’t a happy thing, but hey!"

Kaelan: "Hey team! I’m doing alright. A cat asleep on my bed beside me, perfect temperature outside… very ready for Autumn. Frankly I think the pandemic had me lean right into my comfort food, per se, when it came to my listening habits. Not a lot of stretching myself. So I’d say in terms of creativity I’ve been drawing a lot from the music that made me."

You've just released your debut EP places i've lived. What was the inspiration behind the record and what does it mean to you?

S: "We have, and it’s very exciting and very scary. Kaelan and I are both people who very much have always had something to say. I won’t speak for him, but for me my whole life was just having thoughts and wanting to say things and materialize them into something, but sometimes you just can’t really do that, so I’d write them down and they’d go nowhere. So, in a way, places is going to be a collection and encapsulation of every experience Kaelan and I have ever had in our young adult lives. Which is to say, it means a lot to me."

Please take us through your songwriting/creative process.

S: "It generally starts with a phrase. Like, ‘Does It Matter?’ was based off of “I’d give anything to see you on a train”, ‘Last Bus in the A.M.’ was based off of Kaelan writing down “dead body smile”, and ‘Hannah in the City’ was based off of “you’d take me to the backyard, behind the Japanese maple tree”. From there, from those one phrases, I can usually think of an entire world behind it and write a song. Then I send it to Kaelan and he either flips it on its head production-wise and turns it into an LCD Soundsystem song from what initially sounded like, a Keaton Henson song, and we go from there."

What do you hope listeners will take away from your music?

S: "Pretty much the only thing we write for is to point directly at little emotions and feelings, to single them right out and say hey, yes, I have felt that, we have felt that. I think we’re mostly hoping anyone who checks the EP out will have some similar experiences."

Finally, what else is next for you? Any shows coming up?

K: "Well, places i’ve lived is the first of two sister EPs we’re releasing in this little series of letters and songs we’re writing. So you can extrapolate forward from that and assume we’re probably gonna be releasing a second EP in the near future. And it’s really great. I’m so proud of this whole thing."

S: "We’ll play shows someday, but not until all of the, well, everything that is going on right now blows over for good. We want to be absolutely chomping at the bit for our first show and not have anything bring it down a notch. It’s going to be so, so special."

places i’ve lived is out now.

Photo credit: Maxine Tamoto

[grimelords]

Finished writing my January playlist up a couple weeks ago and forgot to post it. Sometimes things are like that I suppose. A pretty good mix of all the songs I was very into two months ago.

Terrapin Station (Suite) - Grizzly Bear & The National: It's shocking to think that a 5 hour long Grateful Dead tribute album changed my life but it really did. It's so good all the way through which is a feat in itself and it's a great introduction to every side of a band that can sometimes feel culturally overwhelming to try to get into. This song is a highlight, veering over every kind of territory for 16 minutes but always maintaining the sort of precision of purpose I associate with Grizzly Bear.

New Year - Beach House: January baby! I've got tickets to see Beach House later this month and I'm excited because they really surprised me as an incredible live band last time I saw them, building their songs with a lot more dynamism than the sort of drum machine play alongs their albums are (which I love!!).

BAGDAD - Cap.7: Liturgia - Rosalia: I'm still working my way into fully appreciating how good this Rosalia album is. The Justin Timberlake melody is so beautifully repurposed and I absolutely love the church choir behind the 'junta las palmas y las separa' part. It's just a heartbreaking and beautiful song even if I did have to google translate it.

Signs Of Life - Arcade Fire: I've been thinking a bit about Everything Now and how it was received and weirdly it seems to have a lot of parallels with the Achtung Baby/Zooropa/Pop era of U2, 20 years before it. Well established megastar bands who turned from their extremely heartfelt authentic origins and explored the world of pop and commercialism with varying critical success. Everything Now doesn't feel old fashioned but it's kind of weird they're playing with a lot of the same ideas U2 were in their Pop-Mart era so long ago. Anyway this is one of their best songs ever I think. The disco instrumentation versus the paranoid lyrics is just great, the backing vocals especially.

Discotheque - U2: The vocals in this song are so interesting. There are at times upwards of three Bonos harmonising with each other. It creates an unsettling image of a world overrun with Bonos. I do however love the extremely strangled guitar sound in the breakdown. I sort of wish this song were longer, long as it is, because it really starts to build into something serious by the end but then it just fades out disappointingly.

Violent Shiver - Benjamin Booker: I love Benjamin Booker but he needs to take a lesson from this song and do some hot licks again. He doesn't do hot licks like this in barely any other songs! Benjamin Booker sounds like he's from an alternate timeline where rock n roll stayed black and this is where it's at now.

Dawn Of The Dead - Does It Offend You, Yeah?: Can you imagine naming your band 'Does It Offend You, Yeah?' in 2019? What a time to be alive 2008 was. I absolutely love the steel drums in the prechorus and the bass and 'ooh ah' in the chorus. The production is just so chunky throughout. This whole song is thick.

Golden Skans - Klaxons: Anyway speaking of the heady days of English 'new rave' Golden Skans is a masterpiece. It's also masterfully compact, it's over in 2 and a half minutes. Amazing.

Go Bang - Pnau: I really applaud Pnau for having the audacity to release Chameleon and Go Bang on the same album right after each other when they're essentially the same song. Close enough to be the same song but different enough that you're still completely hyped when either of them come on.

Say You See Why So - Eleventh He Reaches London: I found this extremely serious Perth screamo band a little while ago they're so good i'm surprised I'd never heard of them before. I love the style of just endless new sections on new sections with barely any repetition, it makes you feel crazy which is perfect for this music.

Why Write A Letter That You'll Never Send - The Drones: I don't really know what to say about this song other than imagine literally getting this email verbatim lol.

Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me - U2: Fully fucked up that one of the best U2 songs only got released on the Batman Forever soundtrack.

Dead Of Night - Orville Peck: I'm so glad Lana Del Rey has been around long enough now that she's inspired a second wave. I absolutely love the whole concept Orville Peck has going, masked gay cowboy is a criminally underexplored genre.

Trip The Mains - Methyl Ethyl: I can't believe Methyl Ethyl are onto their third album already. I love how dancey this is compared to their other stuff, and his voice is still completely blowing my mind.

Strange Days (1999) - Health: I've had the cover for this single as my lock screen for two months now. It's simply very good and such a direct distillation of Health's essence. They've simplified and moved closer to pop ideas on this album and I'm all for it, they sound like Purity Ring if Purity Ring exploded occasionally which sounds very good to me.

Milk Crisis - The Go! Team: I'm racist because I thought for a long time that this song was gibberish but it turns out it's actually just in Japanese.

Cream On Chrome - Ratatat: It's fucking sick that Ratatat have been able to not only survive but thrive for so long making music that sounds like the loading screen of a Dreamcast racing game.

Will The Circle Be Unbroken - The Staple Singers: This is maybe my favourite example of 60s stereo recordings making completely bizarre decisions. The drums and bass in this are panned extremely far left and the guitar far right, which has the nice effect of letting you take out your left headphone and listen to a very beautiful stripped back guitar and vocals only version.

Angel From Montgomery - John Prine: I'm seeing John Prine next week and I'm very excited. He's approximately one million years old and seems to only now be getting the recognition he's deserved for decades.

(My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers - Merle Haggard: It's interesting thinking about the parts of American culture that don't really get exported to Australia. We got Johnny Cash and Hank Williams to a lesser extent but I hadn't really heard of Merle Haggard before this year which seems insane now that I've realised just how massive he was.

Debbie - Architecture In Helsinki: I have so much love for this vocal performance. Sitting in a weird half falsetto out of breath and just shrieking your way through it, mwah mwah I'm doing a chef's kiss right now.

Yandere - Yamantaka / / Sonic Titan: It's reassuring that the enthusiastic art nerd mindset of bands like The Red Paintings and The Sound Of Animals Fighting will never truly die. There should be more bands where they all have costumes and multi-movement songs songs telling an inscrutable story and a guy in the band whose whole job is just doing the lights.

Sweetness And Light (For Life Remix) - Itch-E & Scratch-E: My lifelong grudge against Paul Mac for enabling The Dissociatives and various other crimes will always be slightly tempered by how much this one song bangs.

Ontheway! - Earl Sweatshirt: I am such a big fan of this album. All the way through it feels like laying on the floor feels and it's addictive because of it. Every time I listen to it I just want to start it over again and lay the fuck down.

Mistake - Middle Kids: This song made me feel like a record producer in a movie or something when I first heard it because I got about one bar into the chorus and was absolutely smitten. It's just incredible.

Pressure To Party - Julia Jacklin: "I know where you live, I used to live there too" is maybe one of the best ever breakup album lines I've ever heard.

Our Shadows - Deantoni Parks: Deantoni Parks has a huge brain. The thing he does, where he sort of plays live mpc as part of a drumkit could be extremely naff and I'm sure there's a million guys on youtube doing it and making bad music, but he ain't one of them.. His take on it is so completely alien that the human element serves to bring it back to earth, all the disconnect that you would get from someone making a song like this on a laptop is metered out by a physical human body feeling every sound out personally and it's amazing.

Head To Toe In Morocco Leather - Muslimgauze: What's the word for being a weaboo except about the middle east and getting totally radicalised about it but never leaving England? Anyway Muslimgauze rocks and every six months or so I reread his wiki article and listen to his music exclusively for a couple of days before whatever that feeling is wears off again. I have a lot of respect for him but also suspect he may have just been a nut, which I respect as well.

In The Nervous Light Of Sunday - Circle Takes The Square: Very excited that Circle Takes The Square is on spotify now!!!

I'm In It - Kanye West: I heard that when they were recording this there was steam coming out of the horny meter that they have in the studio and then the glass broke on the horny meter and the needle started spinning around and around because the horny levels were so high.

Do Me A Favour - Arctic Monkeys: Alex Turner has two songwriting modes: incredibly tangible story songs and songs where he's just playing word association rhyming games and the craziest thing is both types are good. This is absolutely one of his best of the first kind I think​.

listen here

[fasterpussycatblog]

Queens of the Round Table : Angel Olsen - My Woman

Crikey, I haven’t written in so damn long. Getting caught up in work and life in general, I didn’t realise how much I’d neglected my baby (this silly blog).

I promised myself that when I came back, I would split the theme somewhat where subject matter is concerned. Still being obsessed with a good old female lead in anything (from film to music to any art form really) I wanted to write about something that I felt as deeply in love with as I do about film.

As it happens, whilst I was away I had amassed a rather large vinyl collection that if I’m being honest, is 99% femme. It seemed like a no brainer to link the two sumbitches up. Music for the first half of the week, movies for the second.

So the amateur at best writing doth continue.

Picking which artist and album to write about first was a challenge. 

Some of my collection is old release-date wise. Some came out last month. So I figured I’d pick an album that came out last year that probably blew me away more than any other release of 2016.

My Woman by Angel Olsen.

The only way to convey how much of a fucking juggernaut this woman is would be from a personal level. Because that’s where Angel reaches you : on a deeply personal level.

We’ve all had songs in our lifetime that have touched us deeply. The kind of sound that you’d be genuinely entitled to feel was written for you and you alone. Angel Olsen writes these songs seemingly as easy as we find breathing in. 

Being a punk rock fan, it’s safe to say that my musical kicks come from fast and loud. I’m never at my most alive than when I’m cranking some Bikini KIll or Lunachicks and bouncing around the joint mentally smashing the place up ;-)

So if I’m being honest, folk music had mostly bored me to tears. I guess I’m so used to the immediacy of being kicked in the face by sound that anything less sounded plodding in comparison.

I can’t lie. My new deep love for folky folk didn’t necessarily start with Olsen. I’d become completely enamoured with an artist called Julia Jacklin. All the songs on her Don’t Let The Kids Win album made me feel like I was in a dreamy state that I never wanted to leave. Comments sections, forum posts and respected music sites, when talking about Jacklin, would mention Angel. Every time. 

Whilst Julia has said herself that Olsen is who inspired her to start writing her own tracks, they both invariably invoke very different feelings when listened to. Different state, both destinations as beautiful as each other.

I was a bit sceptical at first. I was reading “if you like this you’ll love Angel Olsen” seemingly everywhere. A lot of times I feel like an outpouring like this usually leads to the artist being a somewhat watered down and/or accessible version of what you originally love.

Jesus wept on a bike was I wrong for believing my own bullshit theories whilst contemplating listening to Olsen.

This woman is an atheists version of what an angel on earth would be like. And I’m a sorry ass fool for even contemplating not listening to her.

Like probably most new converts to the Church of Angel, my introduction to her was through the single for this album Shut Up Kiss Me. A rocking pop song that is as infectious as it is adept at aurally kicking tail. I was obsessed with this song for weeks before I bought My Woman.

To say that this isn’t a representation of the albums tone as a whole is an understatement. As much as I adore this single, I don’t think a whole album of pop-rock anthems would have left me in the same ear paradise that My Woman as a whole would do.

After the intro song Intern draws to a close, the album spends the next 3 tracks in between uplifting positivity and multi-layered sadness. A lot of artists would kill to be able to capture the merging of these two very opposite feelings. Olsen meanders the line like a pulled over drunk attempting the walking sobriety test. She makes it seem effortless because when you hear herunique voice, it truly feels like she lives every word that escapes her mouth.

Make her a national treasure right now please murica.

So it’s a great start then. What happens next would be potential turned to failure in lesser hands : the album slows down. And only gets slower until it’s end. 

A classic album takes you on a journey. Whether it’s emotionally or musically. Sometimes both. It would build you up and bring you down before building you back up even better than before. Making a whole album progressively get slower would be like an epic race between some of the best athletes in the world then halfway through they all agree to just fuck it and walk the rest of the way. Or something like that. I digress.

But this is where Miss Olsen grabs you by the mams/balls (mammary balls?) and takes you not on a conventional music journey, but a journey all her own. And the ride is gorgeous.

The entirety of My Woman is with full band. The layers don’t lessen any as the album moves along. But it feels like Angel opens up her very soul more as it it progresses. Thus, it would be easy to think that, as the album slows down, and the songs get more personal, the whole thing has just been stripped down to just a voice.

And that’s what makes My Woman such a modern masterpiece and why I would fall head over heels for folk music.

There are some wonderful riffs on this. Wicked bass. Awesome drumming. But it’s all about the voice here. Her lungs emit such enigmatic beauty that they are an instrument all their own. And seeing her perform these songs live on KEXP or the Tiny Desk Concerts, you can see her in a trance. Truly experiencing every note that comes out.

So I love a good aural kick in the face with my music. 3 billion miles an hour driving punk rock to the mammary balls. But my God has Angel Olsen shown me that,, the most beautiful experience to the ears and heart is a single, solitary, cherished voice.

Thank you for your time xxx  

[onestowatch]

There’s A Tuesday Is Turning a Close Friendship Into an Indie Pop Dream [Q&A]

From national high school competitions to New Zealand’s premier festival, Rhythm & Vines, There’s A Tuesday has come a long way. Fresh off their debut performance at the festival, Haylee Clarke sat down with one of the hottest indie bands in New Zealand.

After meeting at a high school party at 16, Minnie and Nat began jamming together in Minnie’s house. “I took this like hour long drive to Minnie’s house, I thought it was gonna be so awkward,” recounts Nat about the very earliest formation of There’s A Tuesday. Immediately, chemistry clicked and the two quickly formed a duo. Later they would enter a national competition, the Smokefree Rockquest, resulting in them winning not only in their local city of Christchurch but the NZ title.

Minnie and Nat decided to recruit some extra band members, bringing in Gus (the host of the party they met at) on bass and Joel on drums. “While it was fun playing as a duo it’s so much more fun playing with these guys,” Minnie recalls. The band quickly picked up momentum as a four-piece and caught the eye of the country's best. Notably, indie icons Mako Road extended an invitation to join the fellow South Islanders on their sold-out nationwide tour.

With an organic friendship, There’s A Tuesday are still living life like any fresh-out of-high-schoolers would. That’s outside of playing the biggest festivals in the country, of course. “Mum still cooks dinner for us,” Nat shares “She’s a flute player, she’s joined the Christchurch choir so she’s always coming to all our gigs.” This extended support system has allowed the group to shoot for the stars.. “Playing back-to-back festivals feels pretty cool,” says a chuffed looking Gus. “Even just travelling around the country with these guys playing all these shows really says something” Nat adds on. Being friends first and bandmates second proves There’s A Tuesday aren’t overthinking things and are enjoying every second of the ride.

Describing their sound as indie-folk-dream-pop, the group take inspiration from the likes of Phoebe Bridgers, The 1975, and Julia Jacklin. The group's first single “Pinata Head” was unlike most debut releases, as they recorded it at Auckland’s iconic Roundhead studios with Six60 bassist Chris Mac. “It was a huge deal for us, up in the big smoke!” says Minnie. The group flew up specifically for the recording session, and the flight was definitely worth it as “Pinata Head” reached number 13 on the New Zealand music charts.

Since then they’ve gone onto release their debut EP Dance With Me Before We Cry, a seven-track collection of a variety of moods. Minnie and Nat alternate on vocals, giving a fresh sound to their songs. There aren’t two tracks that sound the same, ranging from dancey up-beat bops like “Amsterdam” to the more mellow “Sound of the Stars.”

Following in the footsteps of many other great indie bands from New Zealand’s South Island, There’s A Tuesday has made a quick impact around the country, engaging punters with their unique flair on stage. A feat made all the more incredible, considering they’re barely even old enough to attend the festivals they’re playing.

Listen to Dance With Me Before We Cry below:

[haylightsmagazine-blog]

HAYLIGHTS HIGHLIGHTS: 2018 EDITION

1. IDLES - “Danny Nedelko”: Haylights Magazine’s very unofficial ~*~Band of 2018~*~ award goes to none other than IDLES. Don’t be fooled by Joe Talbot’s growling vocals and the brash chaos of their songs—underneath it all, IDLES’ much-needed-in-2018 “positivity punk” (thx for coining this, NME) is centered on ideologies of unity, compassion and tolerance. From the pro-immigration anthem, “Danny Nedelko”, to the giant middle finger to toxic masculinity that’s “Samaritans”, IDLES’ songs are a refreshing return to punk music with a message.

2. Vundabar - “Acetone”: If we had to describe our idea of a perfect band, we’d say “Vundabar” and leave it at that. This Boston-based three piece truly lives up to their name (meaning wonderful in German), with crunchy, math rock-esque guitar work, smart lyrics and tite af drumming, all grounded by undeniably poppy melodies. Indie dreamboi Brandon Hagen lays it all out on the line on Smell Smoke—the most personal of Vundabar’s 3 LPs—and we just can’t wait for its follow-up.

3. Amyl and The Sniffers - “Some Mutts Can’t Be Muzzled”: From The Chats to Mini Skirt, Australia’s seemingly mullet-infested punk scene is truly where it’s at, and Amyl and The Sniffers are a standout among standouts. Led by the badass that is Amy Taylor, this band has a knack for knocking out bratty, face-melting tunes like “Some Mutts Can’t Be Muzzled”. Woof woof!

4. Ty Segall - “Every 1’s a Winner”: Ty Segall’s output is often hard to keep up with, but he is forever our Indie King who never disappoints. On his 2018 album, Freedom’s Goblin, his 10th solo record in 10 years, Segall owns Hot Chocolate’s “Every 1’s a Winner” so hard you’ll forget that he didn’t even write it himself. You could cut that thick ass fuzz guitar with a knife.

5. Flasher - “Pressure”: Flasher is one of our favorite music discoveries of 2018. If you told us this song was released 35 years ago, we’d have no reason not to believe it. The entire album, Constant Image, features banger after banger, complete with slick riffs and 80s-style percussive accents.

6. Post Animal - “Ralphie”: We are absolute hoes for Joe Keery.

7. Grapetooth - “Violent”: It’s difficult to dislike this Chicago duo made up of Twin Peaks guitarist/vocalist Clay Frankel and producer Chris Bailoni (aka Home-sick). “Violent” is a danceable, new wave-inspired cut from this weirdo-pop act’s self-titled debut album released in November via Polyvinyl Records.

8. Tanners - “Holy Water”: We don’t often describe songs as bops here, but this is truly a BOP if we ever heard one. The track is beautifully produced, with Tanners’ reverb-flooded soprano on full display over twinkling synths and a groovy bass tone reminiscent of that on Tame Impala’s 2015 album, Currents.

9. Julia Jacklin - “Head Alone”: We could listen to Julia Jacklin’s sweet voice and intricate lyrics all day long. The slow-building “Head Alone” is a perfect example of her impeccable ability to mix quiet, reflective moments with louder electrified hooks. Based off this song and prior single “Body”, Jacklin’s upcoming album Crushing (due out 2/22) will be well worth the 3+ year wait since 2016′s Don’t Let The Kids Win.

10. Shame - “Lampoon”: It took us a while to come around to Shame, but there’s no denying that “Lampoon” is an absolute mood, lads. “I’m so needy/I’m so greedy/I’m so hungry/Won’t you feed me”…literally us LOL! Plus that post-punk talk-sing thing always sounds better with a British accent.

11. Mitski - “Nobody”: Yes, we know we are very late to the Mitski train, but we’re finally on board and chugging right along. Choo choo, bitches! Be The Cowboy is well-deserving of its many accolades and we still can’t get enough of the disjointed, disco-tinged pop nugget, “Nobody”.

12. Soccer Mommy - “Your Dog”: “Your Dog” is one of Sophie Allison aka Soccer Mommy’s most lyrically-biting tracks, making it one of our favorite indie moments of 2018.

13. Slow Pulp - “Preoccupied”: Simply dreamy. Keep an eye out in 2019 for this Chicago by way of Madison, WI four piece. They’ve been busy following up their Ep2 with a handful of deliciously melodic, slow-burning singles that have us extremely excited for a full-length album.

14. David Thomas Jones - “In Springtime”: Like Haylights Magazine, some of the most revolutionary ideas were originally intended to be jokes. Adding to this list is "In Springtime” from longtime Noël Wells collaborator, David Thomas Jones. “I was randomly playing the guitar part to what turned into this song,” Jones recently told Substream Magazine. “My producer started singing in falsetto. We thought it was funny in the moment and laid it down.”

15. Japanese Breakfast - “Road Head (Recorded Live at Spotify Studios NYC)”: Finally, we can’t have a year-end list without including in some capacity our Indie Queen Japanese Breakfast. So please enjoy this 2018 live rendition of “Road Head”, which is just as captivating as the recorded version from the 2017 masterpiece Soft Sounds from Another Planet.

There you have it, folks! Go ahead and amp up your indie cred by saving the entire playlist to your Spotify. You’ll thank us later when we probably run into each other at Pitch4k Fest 2k19.

-Team Haylights

[therandombanjo]

Songs From 2018 (one per artist)

Another mixed bag of stuff i either enjoyed a lot, thought was excellent or interesting (regardless of taste… sort of), emerging artists to maybe look out for, and generally music that for whatever reason connected with me in some way, including the odd earworm i just couldn’t shake. Hope you enjoy some of this too and find something new to be taken by. There’s a spotify playlist (below) for easier listening but for the music that wasn’t on there, i’ve posted links next to them so do check them out! Spotify:

(As ever…. as i don’t tumblr or blog or anything (besides this list), this won’t be seen by many (if any?) people so if you like it or think it’s of any worth in any way, please do share this along)

In Alphabetical order:

The 1975 - Love It If We Made It

700 Bliss - Ring The Alarm         (Moor Mother & DJ Haram collab)  

Advance Base - Your Dog      (Owen Ashworth is a longtime favourite and always love what he puts out. Such a gifted lyricist and such an empathetic deliverer, just always cutting deep, just always sounding uniquely him. The records & artists he’s putting out on his Orindal footprint are really impressive too - Julie Byrne, Gia Margaret, Dear Nora - so do keep an eye out on those releases)

Aidan Moffat & RM Hubbert - Quantum Theory Love Song

Alasdair Roberts w/ Amble Skuse & David McGuiness - a. The Fair Flower of Northumberland b. Johnny O’the Brine (One of my favourite records this year, a quietly inventive old folk beaut from one of my favourite singers on earth. Included two as a. exemplifies his singing that i love so much and b. better highlights the inventiveness of the record)

Alison Cotton - All Is Quiet At The Ancient Theatre

Amen Dunes - Miki Dora

Anderson .Paak - 6 Summers

Angelique Kidjo - Once In A Lifetime        (From her complete re-imagining of the Talking Heads classic Remain In Light record, with all her Benin spirit infused)

Anna & Elizabeth - Mother In The Graveyard

Anna Calvi - As A Man

Aphex Twin - T69 Collapse

Aqueduct Ensemble - Cut Grass I

Arctic Monkeys - Four Out Of Five        

Armand Hammer - Alternate Side Parking       (Elucid & Billy Woods)

Arp - Reading a Wave

audiobooks - Call of Duty Free

Barry Walker - Late Heavy Bombardment

Beach House - Dive

Ben Vince - What I Can See     ft. Micachu

Big Red Machine - Forest Green          (Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) & Aaron Dessner (The National) project. I’m likely never not gonna be into Justin’s work, he’s always stretching himself with virtually no regard to expectation and always finding interesting and new spaces)

Birds Of Passage - Another Thousand Eyes

Black Midi - bmbmbm      (Heard about them non-stop all year, about being this incredible live band, and all teenagers, so been intrigued for quite some time. Virtually no online presence, remaining somewhat mysterious, and only a couple of pieces to go by, but curious to see what’s coming from them) https://soundcloud.com/speedywunderground/sw024-black-midi-bmbmbm

Blocks & Escher - One Touch     

Blood Orange - Saint

Bodega - Name Escape

Bonny Doon - I Am Here (I Am Alive)       

Bruce - Elo

Capitol K - Fennel Dance

Cat Power - Stay

Channel Tres - Controller

Chris Carter - Cernubicua

Christina Vantzou - Some Limited and Waning Memory

Christine & the Queens - 5 Dollars

Colter Wall - Wild Dogs

Cool Maritime - Mossage

Cornelia Murr - Man On My Mind

Courtney Marie Andrews - May Your Kindness Remain

Damien Jurado - The Last Great Washington State

Daniel Avery - Slow Fade

Daughters - Long Road, No Turns

David Thomas Broughton - Drifting Snow       (An old, unreleased recording lying around, brought out as a seasonal single, and i think it’s beautiful. My favourite live performer, and i would encourage anyone who sees this to check him out both on record and if he's ever in a town near you.) https://davidthomasbroughton.bandcamp.com/track/drifting-snow-seasonal-single

The Dead Tongues - Pale November Dew

Dear Nora - Simulation Feels       (12 years away, and back after renewed interest in their re-issued Mountain Rock LP last year courtesy of Owen Ashworth’s (Advance Base) Orindal Records)

Deux Trois - Roy

DJ Koze - Muddy Funster     ft. Kurt Wagner       (It’s probably fair that “Pick Up” is the best song on the record, but I’m a sucker for Kurt so liked this one a lot too)

Dolphin Midwives - Mirror

Doug Paisley - Drinking With a Friend

Drinks - Real Outside

Durand Jones & The Indications - Don’t You Know

Earl Sweatshirt - Nowhere2go

Earth Eater - Inclined

Emily Fairlight - Body Below      

Empress Of - When I’m With Him

Eric Chenaux - Wild Moon      (Most likely my favourite record from this year, if not any it feels right now. I’m fully begulied by it. Fair play to you if you recognize the sounds you hear as a guitar!)

Erin Rae - Bad Mind      

Erland Cooper - Solan Goose

Ezra Furman - Suck The Blood From My Wound

Fatoumata Diawara - Kanou Dan Yen

Field Report - Every Time

Flasher - Who’s Got Time?

Frog Eyes - Pay For Hire

Fucked Up - a. Normal People or b. Came Down Wrong   ft. Jennifer Castle & J Mascis

Gabe Gurnsey - Ultra Clear Sound

Georgia Anne Muldrow - Blam

Gia Margaret - Groceries     (Wonderful debut on Orindal)

Glenn Jones - The Giant Who Ate Himself

Grouper - Driving

Hailu Mergia - Tizita

Haley Heynderickx - Oom Sha La La

Hatchie - Sure

Helena Hauff - Hyper-Intelligent Genetically Enriched Cyborg

Hen Ogledd - Etheldreda       (The great Richard Dawson’s experimental group, connecting the ancient/medieval with the present in a way that definitely rewards with more listens)

Hermit & The Recluse - Sirens       (New project from the rapper Ka, who continues to fascinate, with producer Animoss. This time the concept record combining his personal street stories with Greek mythology, with Orpheus vs The Sirens)

Hilary Woods - Kith

Homeboy Sandman & Edan - #NeverUseTheInternetAgain       (Nice to hear Edan once again after so long, and especially with a favourite of mine in Homeboy Sandman)

Ian William Craig - Discovered In Flat

Idles - Danny Nedelko         (Probably my favourite song of the year, and one of the most beautiful, impassioned & dearly needed statements of love & community we need right now. The video moved me to damned tears, it’s so beautiful)

The Innocence Mission - Green Bus

Institute of Landscape Architecture - Melting Landscapes       (field recordings documenting Alpine glaciers and their changing landscape) https://landscapearchitecture.bandcamp.com/releases

James Blake - If The Car Beside You Moves Ahead

Janelle Monáe - Make Me Feel

Jean Grae & Quelle Chris - Gold Purple Orange

Jeff Tweedy - I Know What It’s Like

Jennifer Castle - Tomorrow’s Mourning

Jenny Hval - Sleep

Jeremy Dutcher - Mehcinut

Jerry David DiCicca - Watermelon

Jessica Pratt - This Time Around         (Massive fan of Jessica and this is without doubt one of my absolute favourite songs this year)

JFDR - My Work (String Version/Live)

John Prine - Summer’s End

Jon Hopkins - Emerald Rush

Joseph Shabason - Forest Run       (From his 2nd record, Anne, a touching record on his mother’s Parkinson’s Disease featuring interviews with her over his ambient, sax-effected work)

JPEGMAFIA - 1539 N. Calvert

Julia Holter - I Shall Love 2

Julia Jacklin - Head Alone

Kacey Musgraves - Slow Burn       (I was late to this record, but i may have listened to it more than any other come December-time.)

Kadhja Bonet - Delphine

Kamasi Washington - Fists of Fury

Kathryn Joseph - From When I Wake The Want Is

Kelsey Lu - Shades Of Blue

Khruangbin - Maria También

Kim Petras - Heart To Break       (There’s actually a chance this is my favourite song of the year)

Kurt Vile - Bassackwards

Lambchop - The December-ish You

Landless - The Trees They Grow Tall

Laura Cannell & André Bosman - Golden Lanes At Dusk

Laurence Pike - Life Hacks

Leikeli47 - Girl Blunt

Let’s Eat Grandma - Falling Into Me

Lisa O’Neil - Factory Girl [trad]        

Lizzo - Boys

Lonnie Holley - I Woke Up In A Fucked-Up America

Louis Cole - Real Life     ft. Brad Mehldau      

Low - Quorum

Lucinda Chua - Whatever It Takes      (experimental cellist & composer who, as well as making expansive, looped soundscapes, also writes and sings in an equally spellbinding fashion)

Lucy Dacus - Night Shift

LUMP - May I Be The Light        (Laura Marling & Tuung’s Mike Lindsay collab)

Maarja Nuut & Ruum - Kuud Kuulama

Maggie Rogers - Fallingwater

Makaya McCraven - Butterss’s

Malibu Ken - Acid King           (Aesop Rock & Tobacco collab)

Marie Davidson - Work It         

Marisa Anderson - Cloud Corner

Mary Lattimore - It Feels Like Floating

Maxine Funke - a. Boy On The Bow or b. One Step a. https://maxinefunke1.bandcamp.com/track/boy-on-the-bow b. https://maxinefunke1.bandcamp.com/track/one-step

Mich Cota - Kijà/Care                (Two-spirit Canadian Algonquin artist who, after seeing her supporting Baby Dee at Cafe Oto very recently, had me excited for the bangers to come!)

Michael Nau - Funny Wind

Milo - Stet

Miss Red - Dagga

Mitski - Nobody

Moses Sumney - Rank and File

Moulay Ahmed El Hassani - Yak Ennas Mlklil Darou Labas 

Mount Eerie - Tintin In Tibet      

Mountain Man - Rang Tang Ring Toon      (8 years since their last record, and so good to hear their harmonies once again. Ever as beautiful and transportive, but this time more wiser. It’s a really lovely record and such a needed balm)

Nap Eyes - Every Time The Feeling

Nathan Bowles - Now If You Remember          (Didn’t know this was a cover, originally by Julie Tippetts, but it lodged itself in my head pretty good. Aquarium Drunkard rightly suggested an album or two back that, if Banjo Futurism is a thing then Nathan Bowles would likely be leading the pack. The remainder of this record definitely reflects that)

Nathan Salsburg - Impossible Air

The Necks - Body https://thenecksau.bandcamp.com/album/body

Neko Case - Hell-On

Nils Frahm - My Friend The Forest

Noname - Ace       ft. Saba & Smino

Nostrum Grocers - ‘98 gewehr         (Milo & Elucid collab)

Oliver Coates - A Church

The Orielles - Bobbi’s Second World

The Other Years - Red-Tailed Hawk

Ought - Desire

Our Native Daughters - Mama’s Cryin’ Long      (New group project with Rhiannon Giddens, of Carolina Chocolate Drops, inspired by New World slave narratives and reclaiming/restoring black women’s stories)

Panda Bear - Dolphin

Parquet Courts - Wide Awake

Penelope Trappes - Burn On

Peter Broderick - Words Of Love       (An unreleased Arthur Russell song Peter got to record after befriending friends and family of the great man. Part of a free album Peter released of Arthur Russell covers at Christmas featuring one other unreleased song. Do check it, it’s lovely)

Phosphorescent - Christmas Down Under        (I could pick many from this record, but the sci-fi-like presence in the vocals gives it a strangeness and position i really loved)

Preoccupations - Espionage

Pusha T - Come Back Baby

Richard Swift - Broken Finger Blues        (Such a dear and sad loss. I actually included this song a few years ago when Aquarium Drunkard featured it, so feel like i should select a different one from this most-recent record.... but dammit if it doesn’t highlight the very best of Swift’s talents).

Richmond Fontaine - Horses In Las Vegas https://richmondfontaine.bandcamp.com/track/horses-in-las-vegas

Robby Hecht & Caroline Spence - Over You

Rocheman - Parades I & II        (Caught/discovered Rocheman supporting Jenny Hval earlier this year in a church, and was really into it so I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes from here)

Rosali - I Wanna Know

Rosalía - Pienso en Tu Mirá

Rosanne Cash - She Remembers Everything

Roy Montgomery - Outsider Love Ballad No. 1   ft. Katie Von Schleicher

Saba - Life

Sam Gendel & Sam Wilkes - BOA

Sam Lee & Peter Wiegold - Rambling Boys

Sandro Perri - In Another Life 

Sarah Davachi - Third Hour

Sarah Louise - Bowman’s Root

The Scorpios - Mashena

The Sea & Cake - Any Day

Seabuckthorn - Disentangled

Seán Mac Erlaine - Cotter’s Dream

Serpentwithfeet - Bless Ur Heart

Shad - Magic    ft. Lido Pimienta

Shannon & The Clams - The Boy

Shit & Shine - You Were Very High

Sidi Touré - Djirbi Mardjie

Sidney Gish - I Eat Salads Now

Snail Mail - Heat Wave

SOB x RBE - Paid In Full

Soccer Mommy - Your Dog

Sons of Kemet - My Queen Is Harriet Tubman

Sophie Hunger - I Opened A Bar

Sophie Hutchings - Repose

Sorry GIrls - Waking Up

Sourakata Koita - Ha-Madi     (I don’t usually include too many - if any - reissues, but i love kora music and this record, “en Hollande” (’84), was a great discovery this year)

Stella Donnelly - Boys Will Be Boys      (I was sure i had this in last year’s list when it was a single, but appears not so including it now with the album release).

Steven A. Clark - Feel This Way

Suuns - Make it Real

Swamp Dogg - Answer Me, My Love

Szun Waves - Constellation

Terje Isungset - Blue Horizon     ft. Maria Skranes   (all the music is played by intruments made of ice)

Theo Alexander - Matter of Balance

Tierra Whack - Black Nails or Hungry Hippo      (A record of 15 one-minute tracks, full of ideas and all kinds of fun. Check out the “Whack World” short film for the record) 

Tim Hecker - Keyed Out

Tinashe - Throw A Fit     (Came across this song randomly via a Youtube video of dancer Jojo Gomez, and the attitude of it all just kind of thrilled me)

Tirzah - Gladly

Toby Hay - Bears Dance

Tom Demac & Real Lies - White Flowers

Tomberlin - Seventeen

Tracey Thorn - Queen

Tracyanne & Danny - It Can’t Be Love Unless It Hurts    (I think, actually, that Jacqueline off the record would edge my choice here, but i needed a little more Tracyanne (Camera Obscura) in here to highlight the two of them)

Tropical Fuck Storm - You Let My Tyres Down     (Aussie band made up of various Aussie bands, most recognizably Gareth Liddiard of The Drones, with an excellent debut record “A Laughing Death In Meatspace” that along with their name fits the music on this record. It’s acerbic, feral, sardonic, and plain great)

Ty Segall - Every 1′s A Winner        (Just an absolute killer Hot Chocolate cover, of all things!)

Ursula K. Le Guin & Todd Barton - Heron Dance

Valee - Womp Womp     ft. Jeremih

Valotihkuu - Walking Through Dew Drops On The Lawn

Vera Sola - Small Minds

Vince Staples - FUN!

Virginia Wing - The Second Shift

Witch Project - Manifest

Womans Hour - Don’t Speak       (So great to hear them finally return)

Wooden Shjips - Red Line

Y La Bamba - Mujeres

Yo La Tengo - a. You Are Here and b. Ashes

Yoshinori Hayashi - Overflow

Zilla With Her Eyes Shut - Whatever It Is