#interpol is my the world is on fire music

[ifuckinglovedinosaurssomuchjesus]

GODZILLA MOVIE MARATHON: Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla (1974)

Ah, the twenty year anniversary of the big guy himself, celebrated with the introduction of one his most enduring adversaries in the doppelganger automaton: Mechagodzilla!

Mechagodzilla is a great character and deserving of his spot in the "Big Five." His popularity comes from his versatility and his status as a mechanical, artificial monster, but that's not really explored in his first outing. Instead he's kind of just a generic space monster, the whole robot double aspect really only mattering for an obvious twist that is revealed at the end of the first act. After that, he's just another kaiju controlled by cartoonishly evil aliens set to invade earth.

I will say though, despite the trope being hopelessly tired by this point, this is probably the best alien invasion plot since Astro Monster. Mostly held up by the Interpol officer, who adds some mystery to the first half and executes some fun spy action once the climax hits. Don't get me wrong, you're still just sitting here waiting for the monsters to show up like almost every other Godzilla movie, but it'll keep your attention until then, which is more than a good chunk of the later Showa era can claim.

Luckily the monsters do show up pretty quickly, in fact the first fight is at the twenty minute mark, where we get to watch poor Anguirus get wrecked. That's another appeal of the movie, it's not like vs Gigan or Astro Monster where the monsters feel unconnected to the human drama, here the entire plot is about getting the statue MacGuffin to Okinawa before the aliens can steal it and the prophecy ends. Keeping the kaiju in the forefront narratively and adding a ticking clock keeps the story jugging forward and prevents that sort of meandering boredom some of the worst kaiju films suffer from.

King Caesar in the man of the hour in this film, the monster they need to awaken in order to save the world from the wrath of Mechagodzilla. The movie is hyping him up and he gets a whole musical number to announce his arrival... only for Mechagodzilla to absolutely slaughter him. It's great, genuinely so fun to watch the guy we've been hearing about cower behind a rock until Godzilla shows up to do most of the work. It makes him endearing! Like a big puppy way over his head.

Mechagodzilla is the real show stopper here, the movie does a great job establishing his power by having him beat Anguirus and match Godzilla. This might be the first beam clash in the franchise, with Mecha-G's eye laser and Goji's fire breath meeting in the middle to cause a massive explosion, knocking them both out. That's where this movie shines, the fights are so fucking fun. No stock footage or clunky old suits here, it's all so fresh and dynamic. Mechagodzilla stands out in the Showa roster because his specialty is the full frontal assault of explosive fury. He has missiles and lasers coming out of every orifice and joint. His fighting is so colorful and exciting, especially contrasted with Godzilla's more physical fighting style. Plus what a finisher! Godzilla rips his head clean off, no ambiguous falling into the ocean here, we got to watch a fatality.

Overall a really good movie that encapsulates everything that we love about the Showa era, with one of the best villain kaiju battle in the franchise. It's not quite the top of the list though, not hitting the highs of King Kong vs Godzilla or Godzilla vs Hedorah in my eyes, more matching the vibes of the last movie, so it'll get a similar 7/10 score from me.

[manysmallhands]

My Favourite Songs of 2023 part 4: 10 - 1

The final countdown! (synth melody plays)

Previous entries in the series can be found here, here and here.

10. Tyla - Water

Water sounds like nothing so much as the romance novel version of the last night on a Caribbean holiday; the twitchy afrobeat rhythms feel slightly mischievous while the vibes are relaxed and extremely seductive. There’s plenty of fun to be had singing along to the group chorus but it’s the innocent charm of Tyla’s performance that really carries the song. Though Tik Tok is not really known for producing lasting careers, I’d like to hope she’ll go a long way.

9. GAYLE - Butterflies

It’s fair to say that the abcdefu star has done little of note since her moment in the limelight but Butterflies is a surprise banger and might well be the best song on the already stacked Barbie soundtrack. Yes, it piggybacks on its pilfered Crazytown interpolation but GAYLE’s rapid fire vocal and fierce pop energy carry the day and make a good case for her working more often with this harder edged approach.

8. beabadoobee - The Way Things Go

Bea’s sweet-toothed multigenre world has crept up on me more as the year's gone on but she’s never sounded better than she does on her most recent single. Her farewell to a dying relationship is given life by a delicately resigned vocal and set to an orchestral swirl so otherworldly that it entirely rubbishes her claim to be “not far from the ordinary”. There’s even a bit of a Harriet Wheeler impression on the outro to get the indieheads all teary, proving that beabadoobee is truly a renaissance woman.

7. Tate McRae - Greedy

Always better when she ditches the sadgirl songs, Tate’s swipe at sleazy old men instead rides atop a wonderfully rolling rhythm and sports the kind of sticky hook that will still randomly pop up in yr head in 20 years time. This is played about once every half an hour on the radio at the moment and yet it's never made an unwelcome appearance, in fact it’s the song that I’d rather hear there more than anything else.

6. Doja Cat - Fuck The Girls

While her hits cast a softer tone on what has become a totemic and obsessive personal crusade, Fuck the Girls was perhaps the most strident assault yet in Doja’s ongoing war with her annoying online stans. While the battle itself is probably not that compelling, Doja’s take on it is furious and funny enough to hold my interest and the rattling breaks and twitchy stand-up bass provide a hauntingly austere framework from which to launch her barbs. Truth be told, it just goes incredibly hard: what more can you ask for?

5. Charli XCX/Sam Smith - In The City

In The City feels like Charli moving away from the Crash era, focused anew on 90s club culture and with that hard edged bass synth powering everything along. But more than anything, it’s a glorious shot of light, full of yearning and surprising melodic beauty, and with a happy ending out on the dance floor that - surprisingly for Charli - does not involve a car. And Sam Smith is good! Not bad like you think! Shut up over there!

4. Poppy - The Attic

The Attic represents the cleanest example of Poppy’s pivot back to pop this year, for once ditching the goth adornments and going full on euphoric drum n bass. For someone who’s music often creeps and lurches along, The Attic is a surprising blast of musical weightlessness, full of skittering rhythmic energy and flashing piano chords. The lyrics as ever tell a different (and far more uncomfortable) story but by once more casting aside the idea of what a Poppy song ought to be, she’s made something new that blew me away completely.

3. Mitski - My Love Mine All Mine

The surprise hit of a major artist’s career has always been a tricky area to navigate: for every Walk On The Wild Side there’s tended to be an equal and opposite My Dingaling. However, Mitski has managed to luck out here, with international success neatly falling into the lap of one of her very best singles. My Love Mine All Mine sounds like a sepia tinted 50s ballad, simple and elegant, with each flourish of piano or guitar cutting eerily through the song’s low-key veneer. And Mitski herself has never sounded better, the sombre warmth of her vocal seeming to express all the ambiguity that radiates from the heart of the song.

2. U.S. Girls - Tux

Sounding for all the world like a classic era disco 12” that Meg has just happened to find down the back of the sofa, Tux also profits from an extended lyrical metaphor that’s so complicated and yet catchy that you’ll be singing along to every word before you’ve figured out what any of it means. Rare is the album cycle where U.S. Girls don’t release a top tier single or two and Tux manages to continue that very long winning streak. 

1. Olivia Rodrigo - Vampire

I can’t honestly say that Olivia Rodrigo’s theatrical disco banger stands way above everything else here (do not let anyone tell you that 2023 has been a bad year for music) but Vampire still hits hard all these months on. It’s a song that’s full of breathtaking moments: from the doof doof of the bass drum at the end of the first chorus to the surging harmonies in the second; the full-on sound assault that hits halfway thru to the rousing final step into “the way you sold me for parts” at the end; each one feels like a gut punch and yet they just keep on coming. Despite having listened to it many many times since the middle of this year, it hasn't even started to get old yet and is still perfectly capable of stopping me in my tracks. I’ve already said plenty about Vampire before so I won’t drag this on for too long, but in a year that perhaps for the first time has been more pop than rock for me, It feels fitting to have a record sat atop of it that embodies the best parts of each without ever feeling strained or clumsy, from an artist who spent 2023 truly finding her voice.

And that's it! If anyone read these posts and/or found them at all interesting, thank you for your time and i hope you liked some of the songs! Below is a Spotify playlist of the whole 40 (Kweli/Madlib aside, which is Soundcloud only), followed by a few of the songs that i might have picked had i only given things a bit more thought. And i rounded it off with Cruel Summer by Taylor Swift, which though not really eligible for a best of 2023 round up, was so inextricably bound up with the year that it feels like it should have its place somewhere. Sayonara!

[coolmusiccentral]

Top 50 Albums of 2022

Happy New Year to all! Let's start 2023 with our selection of the best albums that 2022 had to offer, a list that focuses mostly on rock music and its various guises, from the sublime folk rock of Big Thief, to the majestic post-punk of Dry Cleaning, Fontaines D.C. or Horsegirl, from the ethereal indie pop of Beach House to the psychedelic sounds of The Black Angels and everything else in this vast and diverse musical biosphere.

Here are our Top 50 Albums of 2022 (plus a few more), accompanied by a playlist with some of the standout tracks from these excellent records:

Top 50 Albums

Dragon new warm mountain I believe in you - BIG THIEF

Stumpwork - DRY CLEANING

Skinty fia - FONTAINES D.C.

Versions of modern performance - HORSEGIRL

Once twice melody - BEACH HOUSE

Wilderness of mirrors - THE BLACK ANGELS

How do you burn? - THE AFGHAN WHIGS

Lucifer on the sofa - SPOON

Blue rev - ALVVAYS

Hellfire - BLACK MIDI

Wet Leg - WET LEG

The overload - YARD ACT

Loggerhead - WU-LU

Time bend and break the bower - SINEAD O' BRIEN

Cool it down - YEAH YEAH YEAHS

Endless rooms - ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER

Endure - SPECIAL INTEREST

A light for attracting attention - THE SMILE

Covers - CAT POWER

Fear of the dawn - JACK WHITE

Spencer gets it lit - JON SPENCER & THE HITMAKERS

When the wind forgets your name - BUILT TO SPILL

Tired of liberty - THE LOUNGE SOCIETY

Classic objects - JENNY HVAL

Anywhere but here - SORRY

Broken equipment - BODEGA

Reeling - THE MYSTERINES

Radiate like this - WARPAINT

Warm Chris - ALDOUS HARDING

Laurel hell - MITSKI

Waterslide, diving board, ladder to the sky - PORRIDGE RADIO

Everything was beautiful - SPIRITUALIZED

YTI⅃AƎЯ - BILL CALLAHAN

Pompeii - CATE LE BON

Labyrinthitis - DESTROYER

Mr. Morale & the big steppers - KENDRICK LAMAR

Fear fear - WORKING MEN'S CLUB

My other people - TV PRIEST

Big time - ANGEL OLSEN

We've been going about this all wrong - SHARON VAN ETTEN

Ants from up there - BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD

The car - ARCTIC MONKEYS

The boy named If - ELVIS COSTELLO & THE IMPOSTERS

Doggerel - PIXIES

Wild loneliness - SUPERCHUNK

Growing up - THE LINDA LINDAS

Heart under - JUST MUSTARD

The other side of make-believe - INTERPOL

Life is yours - FOALS

Topical dancer - CHARLOTTE ADIG��RY & BOLIS PUPUL

More recommendations: Oh death - GOAT, Expert in a dying field - THE BETHS, Sometimes, forever - SOCCER MOMMY, And in the darkness, hearts aglow - WEYES BLOOD, (watch my moves) - KURT VILE, Sonancy - LOOP, Most normal - GILLA BAND, God save the animals - ALEX G, Time skiffs - ANIMAL COLLECTIVE, Formentera - METRIC, We - ARCADE FIRE, Headful of sugar - SUNFLOWER BEAN, See through you - A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS, Black pearl - 50 FOOT WAVE, Ultraviolet battle hymns and true confessions - THE DREAM SYNDICATE, "Hello, hi" - TY SEGALL, Entering heaven alive - JACK WHITE, Dance fever - FLORENCE + THE MACHINE, This is what we do - LEFTFIELD, No thank you - LITTLE SIMZ, Tableau - THE ORIELLES, Reason in decline - ARCHERS OF LOAF, The Mars Volta - THE MARS VOLTA, Cheat codes - DANGER MOUSE & BLACK THOUGHT, Inner world peace - FRANKIE COSMOS, Here is everything - THE BIG MOON, The line is a curve - KAE TEMPEST, Fossora - BJÖRK, Asphalt meadows - DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE, Everything was forever - SEA POWER, Pre pleasure - JULIA JACKLIN, Fire doesn’t grow on trees - THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE, XI: Bleed here now - AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD, Angus tempus memoir - BLUE ORCHIDS, A foul form - OSEES

[wayblaze]

in no particular order, my top 10 favorite albums of all time:

1) turn on the bright lights - interpol (2002)

so yes I did just say in no particular order but this is absolutely my #1 favorite album of all time. this is just a masterfully constructed album, the flow from song to song is seamless in a vibes sense, and it's definitely better than the sum of its songs when listened to in order. honestly couldn't tell you what the album is about, bc I really think this is a sonic success more than anything else. interpol did not really receive widespread fame and acclaim the way similar bands of the era did, but this album has huge critical success nonetheless. it's really just a masterclass in writing a cohesive and exceptional album

2) yoshimi battles the pink robots - the flaming lips (2002)

now actually starting the no particular order, this awesome concepty-story album, coincidentally also from 2002. so I generally think it's true that a good album is better when it's listened to in order, but compared to the interpol album, I feel like each song on ybtpr stands alone a lot better. not to say the story of yoshimi and the pink robots isn't a good one, but each individual piece of music is also really good. the robot sounds and other effects in this one make it a really fun listen as well

3) the rise and fall of ziggy stardust and the spiders from mars - David Bowie (1972)

first off it is truly impossible to make a top 10 music list and not include David Bowie. this one I think beats out his other masterpieces because he's truly nailed the rise and fall. even just the opening song, five years, has such a great build that mirrors the whole album. it makes listening to Ziggy an immersive experience in a way that few artists can do

4) people who can eat people are the luckiest people in the world - ajj (2007)

moving away from rock albums, this is probably a controversial take but I think this is the best folk punk album out there. while it doesn't make the political and social statements that later ajj albums do, I think ajj's take on the world and what we owe the people around us and the importance of radical compassion is so beautiful. nothing makes me have more faith in my fellow man <3

5) in the aeroplane over the sea - neutral milk hotel (1998)

moving right back into non-controversial takes, up next is neutral milk hotels most famous and well loved album. this one is just an experience to listen to. absolutely insane lyrics and bizarre and discordant melodies make this one stand out to me as my favorite weird album. another band that has just nailed the album is better in order thing, especially with the way some songs will flow into each other

6) dengue fever presents electric cambodia - dengue fever, sinn sisamouth, ros serey sothea, pan ron (2010)

okay so this first off I think it's really important to clarify that dengue fever has remastered and compiled songs that were likely not to get any widespread reach, but the actual writer and singers of these are sinn sisamouth, ros serey sothea, and pan ron. sinn sisamouth was of the most prolific and successful singer-songwriters in cambodia in the 60s and 70s. he was pioneering an incredible blend of traditional cambodian sounds with the psychedelic rock music that was becoming very popular in the west for such an incredibly unique and beautiful sound. sinn sisamouth was killed during the cambodian genocide and between the khmer rouge efforts to keep cambodian works from spreading, writing non English songs, and just the passing of time, he never received the recognition and fame he deserved. this compilation barely scratches the surface, he wrote and recorded hundreds of songs that are getting released on Spotify genuinely monthly. absolutely check him out there's nothing else like it

7) funeral - arcade fire (2004)

this is an album that is definitely better listened to in order but omg are the songs themselves beautiful. I'm an especially big fan of neighborhood #1-4 and une annee sans lumiere. just beautiful piano and vocals but it still maintains the rock album vibe

8) hi this is flume (mixtape) - flume (2019)

moving starkly away from rock, up next is hi this is flume. I'm not nearly as big of an edm fan but this is just so fun to listen to. the songs all flow together in a way that feels like you're listening to a live dj, the featured artists are so awesome, and it just tickles my brain in such a good way

9) recomposed by max richter: vivaldi the four seasons - max richter (2014)

so this is definitively classical music. it's absolutely still recognizable as Vivaldi's four seasons but max richters spin is really what makes a classical album make the top 10. not only does he modernize the composition while still maintaining the source materials story and emotions, but the way he uses synthesizers and even like recordings of ambient noise it's just really cool and unique.

10) canyon candy - javelin (2011)

would be remiss not to include a country album but honestly this is way more an experimental conceptual album that happens to have a Western sound than anything. basically, the band found sound bites and snips from different and random vinyls and mixed all that together in the coolest sounding soundtracky western vibe. there's barely lyrics and it's only about 25 minutes long, but it really does manage to feel like a journey when you listen to it

[lovejustforaday]

2023 Year End List - #5

The Redshift Blues - Dispirited Spirits

Main genres: Art Rock, Progressive Rock, Midwest Emo

A decent sampling of: Space Rock, Post-Rock, Jazz Rock, Math Rock, Experimental Rock

Midwest Emo, and probably just Emo in general, really ain't usually my thing.

There's definitely some good and some great in nearly every scene, but I find this one in general to be saturated with overly indulgent projects that don't add up in the quality factor, and bands that just come off as harsh and grating. There's also a prominent few artists in this scene that give off the kind of Nice Guy™ energy that makes my skin crawl.

So if I'm completely being honest, I really just came across this record by chance, and decided to check it out almost purely because of the spectacularly awesome cover art and the equally awesome record title. To quote anime youtuber Hazel, that shit owns.

Dispirited Spirits is the moniker of Portuguese singer/songwriter/producer Indigo Dias, who was just 19 fricking years old when he made this record, and just typing that sentence out makes my head wanna explode. HOW??? HOOOOOOW???!?!?!?

What's even more, this is frigging fantastic by my own standards, and I'm not even someone who regularly enjoys a whole lot of Emo music. If there's any young newcomer who's gonna take the world of indie rock by storm, then it's gotta be this guy, right? If I was a betting man, I'd be putting my money on Dispirited Spirits.

Case in point, his latest project.

That is to say, The Redshift Blues is a stunning record that captures the awe and the angst of being that diminutive human being, bearing witness to the grandeur of the night sky which acts as the gateway to the unfathomably vast realm outside of our tiny little blue planet. Who needs expensive VR headsets to simulate floating freely through the endless sea of the cosmos, when you can just listen to this record, close your eyes, and get just about as close to the real deal as you're ever gonna have in your lifetime?

This album does a little bit of everything on the nerdier side of modern rock music - mostly a midwest emo/art rock/prog hybrid, with moments of post-rock, jazz-rock, and math rock all thrown in the mix. At the same time, this very much reinvents and kinda defies genre, clearly aiming to be its own singular thing.

Dias takes his lyrical inspiration from various astronomical phenomena on this record, the title itself being clever wordplay for the death of a relationship that invokes the universe's redshift or tendency towards expansion, causing objects to become more distant from each other over time. Some may find this dorky or try-hard or whatever, but I think the execution is mostly brilliant.

Anyhow, let's cut to the chase and hone in on my favourite tracks.

"Nine Clouds" swims through skies of glittering space dust, with gently gliding guitars that resonate in endless ripples through space and time. This track is impeccably cushiony; disorienting in the sense that it's as if I'm turning in random circles as the musical notes twist, soar, and plummet, but all the while I remain perfectly cradled in a bubble of warm nurturing light.

"Bring Down The Sky" is a journey through cosmological purgatory and back, with various trials of harsh emo power chords separated by periods of rest nestled between mellow psychedelic phaser pedals and flourishing harps. Also, kudos to whoever laid down the many different drum patterns on this track - really holds the whole thing together to give it some solid form and muscle.

"Methanol Fire" interpolates a samba-jazz beat into its hard-rocking midwest emo riffs, making it the grooviest and most rhythmic track on an otherwise sometimes very free-form record. Leisurely space jazz atmosphere interchanged with sad boys moshing in the nucleus of a supernova. These two major components blend together so seamlessly in a way I probably wouldn't have otherwise thought was possible.

The titular outro "The Redshift Blues" is hands down the real showstopper here, as well as the emotional lynchpin of the record. This ten minute opus is one part looming space ambience, one part post-rock epic poem, yet another part part solitary acoustic ballad, and one part cinematic orchestral elegy. The moment of that final line of the bridge where Dias utters "I'll find you in the stars" and everything comes forth in this really mind-blowing, unearthly harmonious sound swell - that moment just really gets to me. A simple instance of pure, raw, ephemeral beauty in the midst of a very chaotic composition.

There are a few sparring moments here or there where it meanders or overly indulges itself - mostly on "Saturnine Saturn Dreams" - But overall I'm mostly impressed at how much of this manages to come together in a way that comes off very natural. There's a lot of tight composition that's working over-time to make sure that this maintains its nearly amorphous structure.

So yeah, let me reiterate that I am mostly just mind-blown by this project. Dispirited Spirits is easily one of the most ambitious and unique artists in indie rock to have come onto the scene so far in this new-(ish) decade. The powerful cohesion of this project suggests that it came from an visionary who's far more seasoned than Indigo Dias would reasonably be at his young age.

The Redshift Blues brilliantly conveys the existential dread and angst that arises from existing in a world far larger than you could ever imagine, and how that impacts your ability to ever be fully in control of your life when there are so many external factors involved that are so much larger than you. Ultimately, it's a surrendering of the self to the inevitable impotence of being just one person, yet still the artist manages to find a shimmer of hope and humility in what is truly sublime about this world. That, I think, is the true Redshift Blues.

9/10

Highlights: "The Redshift Blues", "Nine Clouds", "Bring Down The Sky", "Methanol Fire"

[hongkongartman-mlee]

Causeway Bay: The Fascinating History Of ‘The Diamond Of Hong Kong’, From Coffee Farm To Simple And Innocent Residential Area With Warehouses In The 1950s, As Recollected By A Barrister David Lai

I do not keep a diary. I remember too little. When I was in a scene, I hardly paid it any mind. The memory of being with others is often offered by others to me as a lasting impression of their own. 

Causeway Bay (CWB) (銅鑼灣) is a very famous shopping district in Hong Kong. There is a big department store Sogo and what in front of it is the super busy pedestrian scramble crossing. Every minute, people in all directions inundate the entire intersection. The spectacular sight ‘Sogo Crossing’ is akin to the famous ‘Shibuya Crossing’ in Tokyo.

CWB means Copper Gong Bay. In 1916, the southern foothills of it were coffee plantations. There is still a cemetery by the nickname of ‘coffee plantation cemetery’ (咖啡園墳場). Its proper name is Mount Caroline Cemetery.

CWB was originally a bay located between North Point (北角) and Wan Chai (灣仔). The area has been chiefly reclaimed along the southern seashore of Victoria Harbour(維多利亞港). CWB of today is an area that was water a few hundred years ago. In 1841, the British colonial government sold a large plot of land, very near the typhoon shelter where thousands of fishermen lived, to the opium trader Jardine Matheson and they turned the area into godowns and factories.

My barrister friend David Lai (黎德誠) remembered, “In the 1950s when I was a child living there, Causeway Bay was not as busy as Central (中環) or Wan Chai (灣仔). The huge warehouses area was later demolished and turned into many stylish residential blocks with seaview balconies in the late 50s. These blocks now form the bustling shopping district of Paterson Street (百德新街), Great George Street (記利佐治街) and Kingston Street (京士頓街).”

David is quick-witted, helpful and sincere. His grandfather and father were grain trading merchant in Mainland China, Hong Kong and South Asia before World War II.  After the war, his father assisted in managing one of the first 5-star Chinese restaurant Café de Chine (大華大飯店) with a nightclub on the rooftop at the junction of Pedder Street (畢打街) and Queen’s Road Central (皇后大道中). He was a sporty and righteous young man. In the 70s, he was an Assistant Station Officer of the Hong Kong Fire Services Department, starting as a Probationary Inspector of the Royal Hong Kong Police and, as time went by, served as the Personal Assistant of the Commissioner of Police Raymon Anning (顏理國) and as the Head of Interpol Hong Kong before leaving the Force to join the private sector as top executive of local entities and regional head of multinational corporations. Fond of law and court trials, the secret urge of being a brave barrister crashed on him. He gave up his corporate’s top executive career and started afresh as a junior lawyer. Now, he is a busy barrister boxed up in his office helping people to look for justice especially over trust and commercial matters.

David sighed, “When I was a child, the northeast side of Causeway Bay was quiet as there were many warehouses including cold storage(The Dairy Farm Ice & Cold Storage Co) and ice factories. A typhoon shelter was outside the waterfront (it was later reclaimed to become Victoria Park (維多利亞公園), the biggest park in Hong Kong).

During the day, thousands of fishermen lived on boats in the shelter. At night, some boats hang up red lanterns and put up colourful paper festoons. They became seafood restaurants. Other boats became floating cabarets. The air was pervaded with singing, music of erhu and claps of the hands. The water shelter was also a ‘swimming pool’ for the kids. We caught small mussels, cockles and clams and later surrendered them to mother for cooking.”

I asked David, “What are your special memories about Causeway Bay in the 50s?” He smiled, “In the 50s, you could park your car anywhere in Causeway Bay. Now, there is hardly any place for one to stand or any space for a car to pass in the clamour of the crowded streets.”

David carried on, “In those days, funeral service at home was legal. The end of the ceremony was that coffin would be lowered with a rope from balcony to the street. Then, a funeral procession ensued. The deceased was carried by a van to the final resting place. Family members followed the vehicle on foot. Musicians played traditional Chinese farewell music and suonas (‘啲打’), gongs (鑼) and drums(鼓) were the common instruments. We, as kids, shared no sorrow but made fun of such events.” 

I explored history, “What made Causeway Bay a busy shopping district in the 60s?” David felt pity, “From 1958 to 1962, there was an economic and social campaign called ‘The Great Leap Forward (大躍進)’ in China. The campaign was to reconstruct the country from an agrarian economy into an industrialized society through extreme measures. But, the campaign failed and a famine was resulted. Refugees flocked to Hong Kong and Causeway Bay was suddenly flooded by thousands of homeless people strewing along, down and across the roads. I recall that they slept on the staircases and roofs of buildings, including our block. Even the Police could not stop such tramps. Some squatters took over empty roofs and built iron sheet houses. Other opportunistic flat owners subdivided their units into small cubicles and let them to refugees. The loss was that Causeway Bay became so beaten down that it stopped having the refined middle-class residential aura. The gain was that consensual interest of new immigrants in Causeway Bay made her a very densely-populated area. Gradually, old, elegant and spacious blocks without ground-level shops were pulled down. Tall, packed and multi-functional buildings with tiny dwellings, shops and workshops for tailors, goldsmiths and shoemakers replaced. The simple and innocent Causeway Bay in the 50s was gone. I told myself it was vital to be optimistic when the world seemed to have suddenly a very strange face!”

I listened with great enthusiasm, “Does it ring true that Causeway Bay was a lucky place with great ‘earth pulse’ feng shui?” David thought about it, “Not necessarily true. There are objective factors. Watching football matches was a popular pastime in those years. The Hong Kong Stadium (former name ‘Government Stadium’) there, opened in 1955, housed more than 20,000 audience members. So, every day, thousands of people went in and out of Causeway Bay. Besides, Causeway Bay was a new area and it was easier to accommodate the construction of huge cinemas. There were almost 10 in the district, the then mega movies like Ben-Hur (1959), The Longest Day (1962) and Zulu (1964) were shown in big cinemas like Roxy(樂聲) and Hoover(豪華).” I added, “When I was a small boy living in Wan Chai, my parents often took me to Causeway Bay to watch movies. They said Causeway Bay offered more varieties such as Hollywood, Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong movies.” 

David concluded, “In 1960, the first Japanese department store Daimaru (大丸) arrived in Hong Kong and it settled down in Causeway Bay. The shopping paradise selling Japanese trendy things attracted crowds after crowds. It is a regret that Daimaru, once hot, was no longer hot. It finally vanished in 1998! Surely, it contributed tremendously to the past prosperity of Causeway Bay.”  

We cannot get through a single day without changes around us. The present Causeway Bay was developed 70             years ago but can it survive the challenge of another 70 years? We yearn for the better changes. Whenever I walk around in Causeway Bay, I find new shops and restaurants. Sadly, it is also getting aged and dirty at the same time. Need for urban renewal is a pressing problem in Hong Kong. One has to endure bad traffic, air pollution and crowdedness in Causeway Bay now. We all look forward to more gentrification there, the transformation of a city neighbourhood from poor environment to higher-value surroundings particularly with more trees. The 2 eye-soaring filthy footbridges in Yee Wo Street are already the ‘monsters’, worth the urgency of rebuilding!

Maurice Lee

Chinese Version 中文版: https://www.patreon.com/posts/da-lu-shi-li-de-88472217?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

Causeway Bay in the 70s Acknowledgement – Pun Pun

Causeway Bay in the 70s Acknowledgement-老朋友

Yee Wo Street in Causeway Bay in 1962 Acknowledgement-知多一點點2

Typhoon Shelter in Causeway Bay since 1945 Acknowledgement-歴史時空3.0進級版

[gplewis]

not sure this can be organized

i’ll try to make a picture like you did for me: us dancing, fenced, birds not flying away yet (departure is the easiest thing; always a glistening hundred other squawks to attend, to feign fascination—but you, this fire, this shared language we push around with four hands and twenty fingers...this is the height, the place to stay as long as you can, before the rest of life drags us away, and of course we’ll both go our separate ways, and life will be better than ever, because we see with new eyes, a calmer and more sharpened inner voice ~ we can always meet back there, here, [every blinking cursor will remind me of you for a while]

now if the rest of this makes you think i'm mad, i'm really not, i'm happy for you and your growth, your life, your finesse and dark sweetness like bitter blackberry laced with vanilla or lavender, rosemary ...

the art (and stammering, stuttering, false starts, evasions, mental reaches, furious creation of stepping stones, running out to the horizon, dissolving into the sky) of being in and burnt by and getting over a crush, walking through the fire (I'm not too old, truth knows no age, the lust and aristocracy of passionate souls will never die, and hopefully we'll be 90 and won't forget this today, this summer, separation and anguish, glory and melting, the highs and lows, going to sleep, thinking of you—making it into just another posting, another 10-song night like i did for years and will keep doing; another brick in the beautiful mosaic fever of the artists of the world; i shall be worthy of being human

now cheating on her Franz Ferdinand - Cheating On You oh how I predate my future sins how I cite references to justify, to explain; Don DeLillo - Americana, the fever of a young male creative trying to totalize, make his heartthrob total, into a total art onscreen that (per Oscar Wilde's Preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray) would make critics disagree and create a diversity of conflicting reactions ~ then the artist is in accord with himself because it was his work that gave people new words and reasons to gather to declare the same old truth: we're fucked up

It is easy to say I love you, I might say more. We could talk tonight, as this crush, this spell we are both under due to each other and music and the pandemonium in the world (the European continent is dear to me, and North America strange and mysterious to you, and the secrets of our hearts connect us both through our bodies and minds, mouths and fingers (I already wrote more I didn't send

audio, sound, intimacy, being held there; these feelings I have (electromagnetic fluctuations in the unstable planet of my heart) will be notes for a novel, for theories, for Work, because that (along with Work and Work) are what life in the arts is about: disappearance into the form; becoming like everybody else through being completely yourself

I have so much I want to tell you. I went to bed last night thinking of kissing you, holding you, snuggling, these feelings are real and the possibilities of union are probably just as good as any two people who like the same music and have a similar sense of humor and are attracted to each other, which is something, it would be fun, I would love to see you if we were close, it wouldn't even be cheating on your long-term boyfriend and partner, a hug, I want to smell you, kiss you on the cheek, maybe the forehead too. I think we could talk on the phone tonight, fir today might be the last burning day of this crush

ichimural loved: No I In Threesome gplewis + ichimural https://www.smule.com/recording/interpol-no-i-in-threesome/2310094151_4424820988

it's amazing I then go to speak and possess all the finesse of music, a true poet, you're a mirror and a muse

[outoftowninac]

THE GAY WHITE WAY

1907 / 1908

The Gay White Way is a three act musical revue (review) with music by Ludwig Englander, and book and lyrics by Sydney Rosenfeld and James Clarence Harvey. It was originally produced by Sam and Lee Shubert, staged by R.H. Burnside with dances arranged by Ralph Post. 

“The story of ‘The Gay White Way’ concerns almost anything in general and hardly more than nothing in particular.” ~ Frederick Tragellia

The show was a revised and re-written version of the previous season’s hit Wine, Women and Song.

 Interpolated songs included: 

"Merry-Go-Round" by Louis A. Hirsch and E. Ray Goetz 

"Somebody's Been 'Round Here" by John W. Bratton and Paul West

"If You Must Make Eyes at Someone" by Leo Edwards and Matt Woodward 

"Dixie Dan" by Seymour Furth and Will D. Cobb 

"My Irish Gibson Girl" by Jean Schwartz and William Jerome

“Under the Matzos Tree” by Fred Fisher and Alexander Carr 

About the Title: Broadway was known as ‘the Great White Way’ because of the glare of its lighted marquees. At the time, electricity used in signage was new and eye catching. The words “great” and “gay” were then used interchangeably.  In the early part of the 20th century and previous, the word gay inferred frivolity, light-hearted fun, not homosexuality, as it does today. 

The revue satirized past and present Broadway hits and locations. Performers played such real-life Broadway luminaries as David Belasco, Alla Nazimova, Eddie Foy, Trixie Friganza (played by her own sister Bessie), Anna Held, Henry Anglin (portrayed by his own son J. Heron), and Margaret Anglin. 

"What Is the Gay White Way anyhow?" ~ a November 1908 newspaper article

The Gay White Way - meaning Broadway - is the greatest street In the world. It is a path of pleasure and a morgue of misery, a boisterous boulevard, a mainspring of mirth. Here are the definitions given by the stars and some of the principals of "The Gay White Way": 

Jefferson DeAngelis - The Gay White Way is a riot of roses and a ramble of remorse. 

Blanche Ring - The Gay White Way is a condition of minds and contradiction of  theories. 

Alexander Carr - The Gay White Way is the only place where every chorus girl owns an automobile.

Maude Raymond - The Gay White Way is the street on which, if you leave it for season, you will return singing "Somebody's Been Around Here Since I’ve Been Gone.”

Laura Guerite - The Gay White Way is a continuous Tiddly Om Pom. It is a hash of happiness and a goulash of gaiety. 

Frank Doane - The Gay White Way is nothing more than a gigantic lemon squeezer, and many a lemon it has squeezed.  

The production had its world premiere in Philadelphia on September 23, 1907. 

Scenes took place in the Tenderloin, an entertainment and red-light district in the heart of Manhattan during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The area originally ran from 24th Street to 42nd Street and from Fifth Avenue to Seventh Avenue. In 1960, a Broadway musical titled Tenderloin was set in the district during the 1890s. 

The Gay White Way opened on Broadway at the Casino Theatre (1404 Broadway at 39th Street) on October 7, 1907. It was the follow-up to a previous musical revue titled Wine, Women, and Song. 

About the Venue: The Casino Theatre was  built in 1882 for light musicals and operetta, but showed mostly vaudeville starting in 1892.  A 1905 fire necessitated much reconstruction. In February of 1930, the theatre was demolished to make room for the expanding garment district.  

A sign outside the Casino lists Jefferson DeAngelis, who played George Dane in the show. 

Another sign outside the Casino indicates that Alexander Carr was appearing. He played Montgomery Bernstein Brewster.  

[Thanks to the Stuff Nobody Cares About blog for the close-up images]

“A musical comedy stew filled with everything these theatrical cooks, Messrs. Sydney Rosenfeld and Ludwig Englander, could put in it. But one of these men, in cutting up the ingredients, must have dropped in a lemon or two. While the first helping tasted good to a large audience, the second and third act helpings needed large doses of Worcestershire sauce, and then it wasn’t altogether as palatable as had been expected from a peep in advance at the menu before the curtain went up.” 

On October 16th it was reported that changes were afoot at The Gay White Way.

This song is not listed as part of opening night, but was probably inserted after the show opened. Featured performer Alex Carr was its author and originator. 

On October 26th, a gun misfired onstage injuring Blanche Ring. 

On November 18th, a US Senator’s ex-wife joined the cast. Claire Oddie performed under her maiden name of Claire MacDonald. Her ex-husband Tasker Oddie became the 12th Governor of Nevada in 1911 and was one of those who signed the charter for the new city of Las Vegas. 

The Gay White Way closed on January 4, 1908 after 105 performances. It began a limited tour in Philadelphia, where it first opened. 

On May 29, 1908, The Gay White Way finally played The Gay Wooden Way, appearing at Nixon’s Apollo Theatre in Atlantic City NJ.  Original stars Jefferson DeAngelis, Blanche Ring, and Alexander Carr were still performing in the show. The show they performed, however, looked very different than the one that opened in nearby Philadelphia in late September 1907. 

[blondrichclosetwitch]

36 Friday

11:36 pictures of you

12:36 made up dreams built tonspill—Hard to believe

That after all this time

That after all this I'm still me

Don't let that stop you

Tell them anyway

And you can make it up

As you go

I'm already gone now

You were outside, just waiting

I'm already nothing

You just noticed me fading

It takes a lot to make me crazy

And a lot is always going on

1:36 all my friends lcd—-“that’s how it starts… We go back to your house, we check the charts and start to figure it out.”

it comes apart the way it does in bad films except in parts when the moral kicks in.

2:36 country honk Rolling Stones— “I played a divorcée in New York City.”

3:36 soul survivor Rolling Stones—I just drown

By the time my feet' s on the ground (River reference)

3:36 acquainted The Weeknd—Mama called me cryin', cryin', cryin', cryin'

436 The dreaming moon the magnetic fields— we were young and in love in a burning town but the fire went out I’m alone again now.

(Shortly there after this point the song at 4:44 was Porcelina of the vast oceans. These lines were highlighted: “with gods in their creations, with filth and disease Porcelina, she waits for me there. Hidden thoughts and alibis. My secret thoughts come alive without a care in this whole world, without a care in this life.”

Now I have never paid attention to the lyrics before but this song played a lot in 2017. After these lyrics I looked at Stella and said “this is about him and Blond, isn’t it.” and at that point… The music completely changed on its own, as if I was asking Siri to do something ((I’ve never used Siri ever))and it started playing “they just can’t stop it” (games people play). And then at 5:40 hearing voices by galaxy 500 played. Followed by liability and a punch up at a wedding at 5:55. Let the record show I did not show up at the wedding.)

5:36 pyramids Frank Ocean “got your girl working for me.”

636 the new Interpol—“I know I’ve spent some time lying.”

(Worth mentioning that lawyers guns and money played at 6:38, followed by Chloe in the afternoon at 6:41… this playlist is 10,000 songs long.)

736 Sleight of hand silver scooter—I don’t remember this one.

836 if loving you is wrong I don’t wanna be right Rod Stewart—Your mama and daddy say it's a shame

936 and I’ve seen a bloody of Montreal—“How can I function man in the face of all this butchery?

My mind is exploding with sappy murders

“they Really poison my sexuality.”

(Worth mentioning that “I AM YOUR LEADER” played at 9:38)

1036 talk tonight oasis—well, someone is talkin.

1036 the end the doors —“the end of laughter and soft lies.”

[machinations-ii]

Debut Album of The Strokes' Is This It and Interpol's Turn on the Bright Lights.

TURN ON THE BRIGHT LIGHTS

New York City was in transition in 2002, the devastation of 9/11 still lingered but a new sense of goodwill and compassion flowed through the city with dozens of bands reanimating a faded glory that had come to define the Giuliani era. Arriving after several well-regarded EPS that honed Interpol's Sonic and sartorial sense, it's possible no album captured this moment as vividly as their debut turn on the bright lights. Interpol took shape at NYU in the late 1990s where the band formed partially as a result of mutual fashion appreciation. Frontman Paul banks had come across bassist Carlos dangler in their dorm wearing skin tight black clothing and a giant crucifix. Meanwhile guitarist daniel kessler had already gotten to know Dengler in a world war 1 class after approaching him with a compliment about his shoes, and the trio eventually found replacement drummer Sam Fogerino while he was working in a used clothing store. Soon after coming together, the group started to jam at Funkadelic studios, PDA was already in embryonic form by then. After hustling in the NYC circuit and recording here and there, a chance meeting with Emma Pollock of the Delgado's led to the release of an Interpol EP in 2000 on the esteemed chemical underground label. On the heels of the EP success and in the midst of the post strokes gold rush in New York City, Interpol scored a deal with Matador Records then home to bands like Belen Sebastian, yo a tango, and pavement. Chris Lombardi of Matador claimed that he was most impressed by the business-like manner with which the band conducted themselves the suits first and foremost. Interpol decided to record turn on the bright lights at producer Peter Quedas's home studio in Bridgeport Connecticut to avoid all of the temptations New York City had to offer a hot young band while Cadis has gone on to produce the national, Frightened Rabbit, and Yan C, his most recent credit prior to turn on the bright lights was engineering the get up kids on a wire. Sessions were contentious Carlos D had wanted more keyboards, more nights on the town, and the title of the record to be celebrated baselines of the future. If banks had his way, PDA wouldn't have even made the record. However Quedas protested and told him that's their hit single, which it was. Quedas was not enthused with the new, until the final mix which had him in tears. But for all the seriousness and grandeur of turn on the bright lights moments of humor abounded. The spoken intro of Stella was a diver and she was always down; was recorded while banks was ad-libbing with ice in his mouth “this one called Stella was a diver she's always down”. Anchored by Carlos D and Fogerino’s hulking rhythm section, Banks created it in New York City recognizable to its citizens but in cryptic indelible lyrics. “The subway was a porno”, “relationships were a bracelet” and “they had 200 couches for you to sleep” when it all felt like too much. Beginning with a crowd stoking instrumental that would foreshadow runs opening for U2 and the Cure, turn on the bright lights resulted in music of unusually sweeping and grandiose gestures that felt foreign to rock music in general at the time but especially to indie rock. It's hard to imagine the transition towards the post-punk bombast of Arcade Fire, The Killers, and the National without Interpol opening the lane first. While local papers would occasionally snark at them as fashion victims and post-punk dilettante, critical acclaim for turn on the bright lights was overwhelmingly positive. The brilliance of turn on the bright lights is all the more apparent 19 years later a beacon that continues to shine radiantly during its city's darkest moments. IS THIS IT

Fueled by hype that was extraordinary even by the standards of the British press, The Strokes became instant superstars in the UK long before their fellow Americans heard “is this it” thirty-six stylish lo-Fi down-and-dirty minutes of unwholesome Downton Blues that evoke The Velvet Underground, The Ramones, television, and countless others who will firm New York City as the epicenter of punk rock cool, the strokes debut was already in stores in the UK for months before its eventual American release mere weeks after the September 11th attacks. Is this it subsequently took on an unintended resonance and became a sentimental document of a New York City that would no longer exist after Rudolph Giuliani, gentrification, and the war on terror. The Strokes may not have saved rock and roll themselves but The Libertines, Franz Ferdinand, Interpol, the killers, and the Arctic Monkeys likely wouldn't exist without “is this it”. while several members of The Strokes have been playing together since high school in a project called “just pipe” the band truly took shape after guitarist Albert Hammond jr. joined the group he and singer Julian Casablancas attended the same Swiss boarding school and reconnected after Hammond returned to New York City and serendipitously moved across the street from Elite Model Management which just so happened to be owned by Casablancas’ father. Contrary to the stereotype of The Strokes as a prefab overnight success, the group struggled throughout the late 90s playing to empty rooms before their demo got the attention of Rough Trade ANR man Jeff Travis, nor were they predator naturally cool from the start. before The Strokes first gig Hammond claims the band was so nervous they watched the Eddie Murphy movie Bowfinger to calm themselves. Preliminary sessions for is this it were recorded with Gil Norton best known for his work with the Pixies but also Foo Fighters “ultra slick the color in the shape” for the album itself The Strokes would reunite with Gordon Raphael who previously produced the modern age EP. The unorthodox production of “is this it” was the result of Raphael using a minimal number of microphones and following Casablancas says requests to have it sound like your favorite blue jeans not totally destroyed but worn in comfortable. According to Raphael an A&R guy named Steve obelisk II held is this it most unprofessional sounding music that he has never heard. The strokes declined the invitation from MTV to play alongside the vines in the hives at the 2002 Video Music Awards. The band didn't want to be lumped in to quote the new rock revolution it consisted of mostly bands with the word the and a plural noun in their names. Casablancas told MTV I'm not going to do a band off with them and strokes manager Ryan gentle said “that was pretty much the last time we were played on MTV”. The infamous bare-bottom on the international release of is this it is that of photographer Colin lanes girlfriend, however concerns about whether conservative chain stores like Target and Walmart would carry the record but The Strokes to switch to the American cover shot of a subatomic particle in a bubble chamber Casablancas is rumored to have liked it even more than the original. A more crucial alteration from the international version involves the removal of its own, New York City cops all involved agreed that a chorus of New York City cops they ain't that smart would be considered in poor taste after 9/11 even if the song was written years previous by removing the song from the US release of is this it there's not a single song in a Strokes album that has mentioned New York City by name. Well The Strokes achieved a level of popularity rivaled by few American bands in the 21st century is this it was considered a commercial disappointment in its time it peaked only at number 33 on Billboard while lead single last night topped out at number five of the modern rock chart with some day stalling at Number 17. Long story short, these two albums (and arguably two of the best rock albums of all time) had left a dent in my

life for it defined my teenage years when I had nothing, lost, and frustrated with my life. It reminded me the melancholic time that I had in the past. So I'll leave you guys with a lyrics from each album and try to find the song that corresponds to it :). "I have 7 faces, and I know which one to wear" "Soma is what they would take when hard times opened their eyes and saw pain in a new way"

[dustedmagazine]

For Those I Love — For Those I Love (September Recordings)

There’s the Ireland you know. Leprechauns and pan flutes and weathered Celtic crosses and Joyce and Beckett and U2 and Aer Lingus and wistful stories of Charles Parnell and corned beef and cabbage and Kerrygold butter and potatoes, endless potatoes except in the famine, and Guinness and Jameson and names like Sean and Brian and Roisin and Siobhan and hurling and faded IRA murals and St. Patrick driving all the snakes out and Grian Chatten’s fuckin’ diddly-diddly-aye and a great green sweeping countryside washing out to the ocean.

Then there’s the other Ireland, the real one the tourism board doesn’t touch.

The one in the study that showed 49% of women reported being sexually assaulted or harassed, that 31% of adults experienced sexual harassment, that 15% have admitted to being raped at some point. Sex offenses on the rise, residential burglaries on the rise, public drunkenness on the rise, and all of that was before the pandemic. And somebody has to make up that 5.16% unemployment. For a nation it takes five hours to drive one end of the other in, there’s more than enough of the roughest stuff to make hard hearts of the softest souls — and it’s that Ireland, lacerated and flush with those scraping by to the tune of everyday strains, which serves as the backdrop to David Balfe’s nine-track therapy session and debut full-length under the For Those I Love name.

The entire project is fueled by the suicide of Balfe’s best friend. It helps to know that Balfe’s friend in question also happened to be one of Ireland’s most celebrated young poets and performers, Paul Curran. Before his passing in 2018, the songwriter and vocalist from post-punk band Burnt Out was an outspoken advocate of working class youth identity and the forces conspiring against it. “Dear James,” to take the band’s best example (and one that gets namechecked on For Those I Love), was itself a true story about a teen’s public suicide in the early 2000s. “The pressure of merit, valid work, social status and identity” were at the root of Curran’s art. It’s no different with Balfe: Every one of these songs is shot through with local flavor shedding light on similar experiences, most of them painful.

Some of what you hear on For Those I Love cropped up in cruder, briefer forms across the 47-minute mixtape/hodgepodge Into a World That Doesn’t Understand It, Unless You’re From It posted to Bandcamp in August ahead of “For Those I Love” the single — if nothing else, David’s certainly made his intentions clear — which arrived fully formed both musically and visually the following month. So proves the rest: Written and recorded out back at night in his mom’s shed in Donaghmede north of Dublin’s city center, For Those I Love is a wonderfully open-hearted portrayal of young Ireland akin to contemporaries Fontaines D.C. or the Murder Capital.

The method by which he conveys that perspective, however, shares almost nothing in common with those bands. Indeed, the most jarring aspect of For Those I Love might be the music itself: Balfe talks his way through stories and rarely rises above a quiet flooded monotone of weighty thoughts that runs itself dry irrespective of the track beneath it, which often strikes an optimistic note, a positive tone, an upbeat figure. He’s already been slapped with the “Irish Streets” billing, but his homespun productions are a little richer than Mike Skinner’s and wouldn’t sound out of place at an EDM festival or a Night Slugs party a decade ago, full of post-Burial long synth decays, atmospheric vocal samples and house rhythms as the bedrock for his eulogies.

Take “You Stayed / To Live,” which resembles a Caribou castaway as Balfe describes stealing and setting fire to a couch (possibly the one from the “Dear James” video), then veers into a digression about their younger years hanging at each other’s houses, playing in a band and how fire reminds him of Curran now. “To Have You” is similar, assuming the dynamics of a big room build-up with huge piano strikes, thumping kick drum and, improbably, a sample of Bread’s “Everything I Own”; Balfe’s vocals, meanwhile, wrestle with the instrumentation. It’s not always clear exactly what he’s saying (and not just because of the brogue), but you get the point, understand the message.

“Top Scheme” is comfortably the shortest song on the record at less than three minutes, but it’s also the most aggressive. Balfe notches up the intensity by giving the state a proper goodnight/fuck off flip of the fingers. “How can we not feel this rage / When the therapy costs more than half your wage / And you’re turfed back out the same that very day?” Though he doesn’t always go for the throat of the system outright, it permeates all his and his ilk’s tortured actions.

Balfe is at his best when the beats match the gravitas of the subject matter. “The Shape of You” is a raw heartbeat where the music perfectly matches a lighter tale of wasted youth waking up to a Belgian hospital and the joking romp it took to get him back home; its extended outro, better even than the occasional recorded interstitials between tracks, serves as a space to collect yourself. Along with “Birthday / The Pain” (whose Finn remix, it’s worth noting, eclipses the original in its ebullience), it might be the most uplifting song here. The latter is an ode to surviving a world fraught with violence, but it’s the unexpected brass sample that slides in like a herald announcing love’s arrival that really catches you out.

Yet for all of that, there is still no better song to explain what For Those I Love is about than the title-track. It was a smart move to close the album with “Leave Me Not Love,” which interpolates the opener and brings things full circle, but the wordplay at work as Balfe elevates Curran’s memory to nigh holy status remains the album’s best. You can feel the anguish in his own muted way as he runs back through face guards, grief and knaves talking tunes and poems with too much weight for his age. You’d be hard-pressed to find a more open wound in music over the past year.

There have been times when I’ve, say, longed for a good crumb cake and my mom has commented on how it was one of my grandfather’s favorites, or I catch myself watching thermite welding videos on YouTube a little too long and remember I’m my father’s son. A person isn’t just who they are, it’s what they pass on to the rest of us, the little quirks and the stories we tell ourselves to remember who we’ve lost and who we’re losing. Both are inevitable. “I have a love and it’s full of pain” go the last lines of For Those I Love, but I say they’re indistinguishable, that you couldn’t know the grace of one without the other’s suffering. That’s how you know it’ll never fade. Tell all your friends, I’d say.

Patrick Masterson

[youcanblogifyouwantto]

Biff’s Year in Music

2020 what can I say… I feel like this meme summed up the first half of it pretty well.

https://cheezburger.com/12209157/ant-man-meme-gives-a-recap-of-all-the-horrors-of-2020-so-far

Then to top it off this last week my son developed a spontaneous pneumothorax which basically is a collapsing of his lung for no apparent reason other than he is a tall thin white adolescent. To make matters worse he is 18 and COVID is raging in all the hospitals.  Thankfully my wife is an RN and should have been a lawyer as she was able to argue her way into staying with him.  Good thing she did because one the doctors fucked up so bad she gave him another Pneumothorax by turning a valve a wrong way.  Needless to say it has been a very rough year and especially rough week for me and my family.  Music has been and always will be the only constant positive release for me.  2020 had some great music and being home for almost an entire year now has led to a lot of music consumption.  The only other thing I did almost as much as listen to music was drink and cook food to match what I was drinking.  I’ve always loved beer and wine and dabbled in Whiskey but this year was the year of the cocktail for me.  I would discover a new alcohol type and then plan crazy elaborate dinners that cocktail would either be an aperitif of digestif for. Fun yes, healthy? …That is yet to be determined. I did take up running again to counter the amount I was drinking and eating and I would say that I have consistently worked out more this year than any other year so my liver might be fucked but my heart and lungs are strong.

So to start it off, this year saw releases from some of my all-time favorite musicians that I found nice and good even but never clicked or haven’t yet.  I had been eagerly anticipating Matt Berninger’s solo release all year and I dig it but strangely not enough to return to it unless I purposely tell myself to.  The same goes for Bright Eyes, Real Estate, Sylavan Esso, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever minus Cars in Space (I played the shit out of that song), Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Car Seat Headrest, Dirty Projectors, Sufjan Stevens, Laura Marling (on first listen I thought easy top for the year then Fiona Apple came out and I haven’t returned to Laura Marling since), Damien Jurado, Jason Isbell, Neil Young (Homegrown had a special place in my heart for a month but again haven’t returned since August), Future Islands, Kevin Morby, and Busta Rhymes. All of these albums I do not hate or even dislike in fact some I liked a lot at first but just didn’t have staying power.  The following list are albums I loved that some stayed all year in rotation. Not in particular order but kinda like a Coachella poster if it’s near the top it’s one of my favorites of the year. I can be very longwinded on paper and very brief in person so I will try my antisocial tendencies to describe these albums. I will say for the most part the albums that hit this year are like comfort food music for my soul.

Waxahatchee  - St. Cloud – Home, comfort, introspective

Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher – Witty, production, great voice

Run The Jewels – RTJ4  - best running album ever. My favorite from these guys and best rap album I’ve heard in a while.

Jeff Tweedy – Love is the King. Maybe blasphemy but I like better than Warm. Perfect example of music comfort food. His biography is great too and so is the Summer teeth deluxe reissue.

Fleet Foxes – Shore – Beautiful, peaceful everything I needed from them and more. Side note Helplessness Blues was the first album review I ever wrote for ATR and I’m so glad I found those guys! Thank you for continuing the tradition.

Jeff Rosenstock – NO DREAM There was some good punk rock this year but this was the best also great running music. Rosenstock is now my go to for punk

Taylor Swift- Folk Lore- Story Telling, Sweater music, more music comfort food. And now Evermore continues the greatness. Dorothea might be my favorite track from both records. If you would have told me a Taylor Swift album would be in my tops for the year a couple of years ago I would have laughed you out of my face and now she has two albums in my tops. 2020 is one crazy year!

The Avalanches- We Will Always Love You- I’ve loved every single and was waiting for this to drop before posting this.  Well Worth the wait. I like it better than the Gorillaz release and that is saying a lot. It’s hard to have this many spot on features and keep a cohesive vibe! Johnny Marr meets MGMT is another need more of this collab.

Loma  - Don’t Shy Away- If 2020 could be articulated through music disorienting but also working from home has some perks. Good balance of weird and comfort

Adrienne Leckner – Songs- She writes great songs and performs them immaculately

Muzz- ST – The last show I went to before shutdown was Morrissey with Interpol opening and I forgot how much I love Bank’s voice.  This album is highly underrated in my opinion especially Evergreen.

Gorillaz –Song Machine – Best since Demon Days and Robert Smith/Damon Albarn Collab was never anything I thought I needed but now want more of. When Tony Allen died I went through a deep Tony Allen dive that was quite enjoyable. Great Drummer!

Dinner party – ST – The title explains it better than I can

Against All Logic – 2017-2019 – Kelly Lee Owens and this were the only electronica to stay all year both great running albums and If you can’t do it good do it hard is worth the price of admission alone

Hamilton Leithhauser- The Loves of your life- I love this man and I loved the walkmen. I feel he for me is like Frank Sinatra was for my mom. Not as sweet as a voice but can sing the hell out of a song.

Walter Martin – The world at Night- Another Walkmen member, this is another comfort food album it just feels right in my soul

Ka – Descendants Of Cain – Criminally underrated for too long this dude paints lyrical mood pictures like GZA.

Perfume Genius – Set My Heart On Fire Immediately – Beautiful Authentic Elegant

Fiona Apple – Fetch The Bolt Cutters  - Lyrically and sonically slays me. You have to like spoken word and weird rhythm texture but she nails both of those.

Bonny Light Horseman- ST – Great folk indie I just knew this was an album for me on first listen

Rose city band - Summerlong – Best new discovery, feeds my jam band meets indie soul

Strokes - The New Abnormal – I don’t know why this didn’t get more love? I loved it and The Adults are Talking is top five best Strokes songs.

Pinegrove- Marigold – More indie comfort food music

Bartees Strange – Live Forever – Second best new discovery. This dude is all over the place but in a good way. If you like this check out his singles where he covers many National songs.

Kelly Lee Owens – Inner Song- My Friend Antony described this better than I can at the current moment. Inner songs indeed.

The Killers – Imploding the Mirage- Most surprised album of the year, I’ve never been a big Killers fan but this one just wrapped it hooks inside me and didn’t let go all year

Young Jesus – Welcome to Conceptual Beach- Avant-garde or experimental music stretches me in ways that are very good for my soul and this one was such an album

My Morning Jacket – Waterfall II – Took a trip up to Humboldt in Early August and this was the soundtrack of the trip. Very much needed social distance return to nature vacation.

Hum- Inlet – I rocked out to this many a summer early fall evening sitting on my dock fishing and drinking beer.

Haim- Women in Music Pt. III – Best Haim yet and yes they are maturing into great song writers

Nation of Language- Introduction, Presence – Third best new discovery.. My friend Spencer at Shadows and Noise (a blog I’ve contributed to on occasion) accurately describes this album nicely. My wife loves Depeche Mode, New Order, and Erasure so this album is a new version of that genre that she and I can love together.

Coriky- ST – Half of Fugazi with a female drummer that sounds like classic Sleater Kinney in fact Fugazi meets Sleater Kinney is how I would describe this and that can’t be wrong!

EP’s Singles

James Blake- Before (Great marriage of his old and new)

Kruangbin & Leon Bridges- Texas Sun

Local Natives – Sour Lemon

Radio Dept – The Absence of Birds

Leon Bridges – Sweeter

Tom Berlin – Projections

Father John Misty – To S/ To R

Rostam- Unfold you

 Mank is one of the only great movies of 2020!

[windupnamazu]

PLAYLIST » Lunya Lanya

CHARACTER PROFILE – MUSIC EDITION  ♪

For many of us music is a source of inspiration for our characters, so I want to know what songs inspire and/or relate to your muse! Chose between 10-15 songs, compile them into an album and tag some friends to share the beat!

wayward daughter

Amsterdam - Imagine Dragons I'm sorry, mother / I'm sorry, I let you down Well, these days I'm fine / No these days I tend to lie

Who Do You Love - Marianas Trench I miss the way that you saw me / Or maybe the way I saw myself But I came back to you broken / And I've been away too long 

Shelter - Porter Robinson & Madeon Oh it's a long way forward, trust in me / I'll give them shelter, like you've done for me And I know I'm not alone, you'll be watching over us

the warrior of light! our weapon of light!

I of the Storm - Of Monsters and Men Are you really gonna need me when I'm gone?  I fear you won't / I fear you don't

Weight of the World - J’Nique Nicole I wish that someway, somehow / That I could save every one of us But the truth is that I'm only one girl

Two - Sleeping At Last And maybe one day I will get around to fixing myself too

Still Feel - Half Alive I am not a slave, can't be contained So pick me from the dark and pull me from the grave 

Battle Scars - Paradise Fears We've got a little room to grow / Better days are near Hope is so much stronger than fear

the star by which i chart my course

Gone, Gone, Gone - Phillip Phillips You would never sleep alone I’ll love you long after you're gone

The Last of the Real Ones - Fall Out Boy I know this whole damn city thinks it needs you But not as much as I do

Set Me On Fire - Bella Ferraro Fearlessly in love / With all of your ways Shoot an arrow through my heart / With your loving embrace

do you know who you are?

Connection - OneRepublic If there's so many people here, then why am I so lonely?

Constellations - The Oh Hellos Every good intention, every good intention Is interpolation, a line we drew in the array

I’m Alright - Mother Mother You're not a monster, just a human And you made a few mistakes

You Are The Moon - The Hush Sound Darkness, darkness everywhere, do you feel all alone? The subtle grace of gravity, the heavy weight of stone 

[slams the door open, breathing heavily] ive been working on lunyas playlist for MONTHS, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—

tagged by: @to-the-voiceless​!! thank you cyan!!!

tagging: e-everyone! i... might do a post like gatheredfates’ and ask people to like it if they want me to tag them in things eventually nsdnsdnf. at this point theres so many people i want to tag that i feel enormous guilt at the thought of accidentally leaving someone out

im not going to pretend i have a diverse or good taste in music snddndfng i listen to the same two songs over and over and one is probably from a homestuck amv from 2015 while the other is kpop. im your secret kpop mutual. im sorry. obligatory textwall beneath the cut

wayward daughter has songs for lunya’s family. she was a runaway, and shes never really been able to let go of the guilt for that and the things she did to survive in ul’dah. she does return home eventually, and i think who do you love has a homecoming vibe to it. maybe. i dont know anything. shelter is a song meant for kichirou, more than anything. he literally gave shelter to lunya in her ul’dah days, and when he gave his life for her in the calamity. it was his death that propelled her to do good as an adventurer.

the warrior of light! our weapon of light! is... probably obvious? have you ever met a wol that didnt have ptsd. i tried to arrange them so i of the storm and weight of the world, songs that reflect lunyas initially low self-esteem and the sheer pressure on her come before still feel, which i consider her shadowbringers theme, the expansion ive shoved all her character development in For Reasons. sleeping at last did a whole set of songs based on the enneagram types, and lunyas is two. the song fits her very well. it sounds like a love song - but its also a cry for help from people who give and give and never take. battle scars is upbeat and hopeful, and shows the best parts of the warrior of light - the champion of the common people, the hope of eorzea.

the star by which i chart my course is. do i have to say this. its my mini playlist for lunya/raha. gone gone gone is BASICALLY their theme song, it’s where i got their ship tag from, i might just cry right now. the last of the real ones is pretty aggressive for a romance playlist? but who cares when it fits the angst side of their relationship so well (and i could go on about it a little more but i dont have the tIME). set me on fire doesnt really have any deep meaning in regards to their lore - besides i guess raha being an archer before??? but... its a very Them song.

do you know who you are? has songs that reflect lunya for lunya - not her parents’ daughter, not eorzea’s champion, not g’raha tia’s inspiration - Just Lunya. its also the category i put all the leftovers in. lunya isnt great at letting people in, and connection calls to that and her searching for a purpose in her arr days. constellations and you are the moon are both songs with celestial themes, and also more meaning that i cant really go into its six am, but i can say that you are the moon is linked to lunya loathing her white hair after the calamity. im alright is an anthem for recovery, and its one that lunya really deserves, honestly. boy i wish i didnt try to keep writing this at six am so i could pop it into my queue

[elizabethemerald]

Stealing a Jule’s Heart: Chap 2

Museum Date

Please reblog if you like!

AO3

Julia stood looking at the painting before her. She knew she should be patrolling the area for Carmen Sandiego, but this was one of her favorite pieces. She fidgeted idly with her long blue dress. She wasn't used to dressing so fancy. 

Tonight was the grand gala at the Louvre. Wealthy art lovers from all over France, and all over the world were gathered to admire the collection. There were so many people here that security was strained to their limit protecting the pieces. Which attracted master art thieves. Julia felt someone join her in looking at the painting. 

"Beautiful," a woman's voice said. 

"Yes, this is one of my favorite paintings." Julia said, then turned to face the newcomer. "How do you always find me, Ms. Sandiego?"

Carmen Sandiego could only be described as breathtaking in her red dress. Her red hair was carefully tied up in an elegant bun and she carried a small red clutch. The woman in red turned to the painting as if noticing it for the first time. 

"I just go to my favorite work of art, and somehow I find you there." Carmen said. Julia turned back to the painting. Despite her best efforts a hint of color was rising in her cheeks. That was the second time Carmen said something like that. Julia doubted she was actually talking about the art work. 

Julia watched Carmen turn to survey the room as the orchestra's song ended. There was some light clapping and several folks moved around the dance floor. As the next song started Carmen offered her a gloved hand. 

"May I have this dance?" Ms. Sandiego asked with a warm smile. Julia hesitated before taking the hand. She had been tasked with stopping the thief from taking anything. Surely Carmen couldn't steal anything if Julia was holding onto her? They walked together to the dance floor. 

"Do you mind if we talk privately?" The woman in red asked. She tapped her finger on the neckline of her dress. Julia could tell without checking that her comms were blocked. ACME really needed to update their systems so this stopped happening. 

Carmen grasped Julia's waist and begin spinning on the dance floor. Julia could feel multiple eyes on her as they danced together. Her dance partner didn't seem worried. 

"I love that dress. Blue really is your color!" Carmen said. 

"Personally I would prefer one of my suits. I've never been one for dresses." 

Carmen smiled. "I always prefer to be in my coat and hat, but we all have to play our parts tonight don't we?"

Julia was quiet for a moment, her face growing serious. "You must know you are being watched."

"Of course I am." Carmen said, while she continued guiding Julia around the dance floor. She would occasionally glance over the other woman's shoulder. "I see the Louvre security. Multiple members of Interpol. Several ACME agents and of course a few VILE operatives. Not to mention a few free agents. And they all have their eyes on me. "

Julia's surprise grew with each group Carmen listed. She was observant. Also Julia was surprised Carmen knew about the ACME agency. 

"Wait, VILE operatives? You aren't with them?" Julia needed confirmation of her theory. 

"Not any more." There was a hint of bitterness in her voice. "Not that your boss will ever believe that. Or your uh, travel partner."

They both turned their heads at the sound of a distant crash. Across the room Julia could see Chase wiping himself off. It looked like the inspector had tripped over one of the wait staff. The waiter was helping to wipe him down and gently ushering him away from the dance floor. 

“Tonight everyone has their eyes on me.” Carmen said turning them away from Chase. “The infamous thief Carmen Sandiego is here at the Louvre Gala. She chooses to dance with a former Interpol agent. What could we be whispering about here?" 

The song ended as the two women held each other close. Julia couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed that their dance was over. Still she stepped back from the woman in red. 

“That was a very pleasant dance Ms. Sandiego. But you are still a criminal, and it is my duty to bring you in. Will you accompany me willingly?” Julia held out her hand. Carmen looked around the dance floor in a panic as the next song started playing. Julia was vaguely aware of multiple people moving towards them in her periphery, but she refused to take her eyes off Carmen. 

“How about one more dance?” Carmen took Julia’s hand and held her waist. Julia couldn’t keep a small blush from rising on her face.  

“One more dance couldn’t hurt.” Julia said. Carmen smiled warmly at her and lead them into their dance. This song was more energetic than the last, with the dancing couple breaking apart and rejoining again and again. Julia allowed herself to relax and pretend. Maybe this was just a date between her and the beautiful woman in front of her. Maybe they weren’t on opposite sides of the law. Maybe this song could last forever, just the two of them twirling together. 

At one point during the song when Carmen spun away from her, Julia found herself dancing with a tall, dark Frenchman. His ears were pierced and he wore a black suit with purple accents. He looked decidedly uncomfortable to be dancing with her. He didn’t make eye contact with her the entire time they danced and at one point she barely heard him whisper, “Sorry Topo.” Why was he apologizing to a mole?

As Julia danced with the Frenchman, waiting for the break in the song she could see that Carmen was dancing with a platinum blonde. The blonde had large glasses on that seemed to glow green. Neither woman seemed happy with their dance partner. In truth it looked more like they were fighting in time to the music than dancing. 

After what felt like an agonizingly long moment the dancers split from their current partners to rejoin their original ones. Julia smiled at once again being in Carmen’s arms, but the smile dropped as she took in the woman in red’s appearance. 

Carmen had a red mark on her face like she had been hit and her hair was starting to come out of it’s bun. The worst was the slash across her chest. Four bloody lines ripped through the neckline of her dress. Julia could see the frayed wires hanging out of the dress. She suddenly realized she could hear Chase and the Chief talking in her ear again. What ever had been blocking her coms had been destroyed. 

“Carmen what happened?” Julia put her hands near the cuts. The woman in red winced but smiled. 

“Tigress was able to cut my signal blocker.” Then Carmen turned and smirked at the blonde. She held up a small object with a trigger. “But I was able to get this.”

“Bait and Switch!” The blonde screamed in rage as Ms. Sandiego pulled the trigger on the object. The lights in the Louvre immediately shut down. Amid the panicked screams, cries of rage, and shouted orders, Julia wrapped her arms around her dance partner. Carmen couldn’t steal anything if Julia was holding onto her. 

In the dark Julia felt a hand on her chin. Her face was lifted up and a kiss was pressed against her lips. She melted into the kiss. Even in the dark, with the chaos around them, this was everything she had wanted for months. Carmen pulled back and whispered Julia’s name into the dark.

The lights were only off for a few seconds, when the room was suddenly illuminated again. Julia was a little surprised to see that it was in fact Carmen she was still holding onto. The blonde and the Frenchman were both stunned to find the lights back on as they tried to break the protective glass covering on one of the pieces. They looked at the approaching guards and ran for the entrance. A few other would be thieves followed them out, with varying levels of success in their escape. 

“There was only going to be one moment, where they could have stolen something and gotten away with it. That wasn’t it.” Carmen said with a smile. Then she stepped back from Julia, their hands lingering together, before she pulled out her grappling gun, fired it at the sky light and was gone. 

Multiple guards rushed past and around Julia, but she was breathless from the kiss. And she felt a small folded piece of paper placed in her hand. She glanced at it, then slipped it away. She and other ACME agents had work to do. 

[musichead84]

Seen as of 2019:

Festivals:

ACL - 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018

Bonnaroo - 2012, 2013

Coachella - 2010, 2014

Float Fest - 2014

Index Fest - 2013, 2014

Lollapalooza - 2006, 2009, 2011

Wakarusa - 2015

Fun Fun Fun Fest - 2014, 2015

35 Denton - 2016

Untapped Fort Worth Festival - 2016

Untapped Dallas Festival - 2016

Edgefest - 2017 (many more than this year’s…)

Old 97′s County Fair - 2018

A’s

Aerosmith (Dallas)

Afghan Whigs (Liberty Lunch, Antone’s, ACL 12, Coachella 14)

Alkaline Trio (Austin)

Aloha (Dallas)

Andrew Bird (Lolla 09)

All 4 One (Austin)

Animal Collective (Lolla 09)

Arcade Fire x3 (ACL 07, Lolla 06, Coachella 14)

Arctic Monkeys x 2 (Lolla 09, ACL, Edgefest 22)

Adair (Dallas)

American Eyes ( Dallas )

As I Lay Dying ( Dallas )

Atreyu ( Dallas )

Atoms for Peace  (Coachella 10)

Allison Moorer (Austin)

Aubra Mae (Dallas)

A Perfect Circle (Lolla 11, Verizon Theatre)

AfroJack (Lolla 11)

Atmosphere (Lolla 11)

Alton Brown (Chef - Frisco) - Barnes & Noble

AVICII (ACL 12)

Atlas Genius (Edgefest23)

Airborne Toxic Event (Edgefest23)

AWOLNation x2 (Edgefest23, EF2015)

Annie Clark (Dallas)

A Day to Remember (Edgefest 23)

Alt-J (Roo 13)

The Avett Brothers (Summer Cut 2)

Austra (Granada Theater)

Alice in Chains (Gexa Pavilion)

Antemasque (FFFfest 15)

Alvvays (FFFfest 15)

American Werewolves (Three Links - Dallas)

At the Drive In (Red7, Trees, Club Dada, Southside Ballroom)

Aaron Lewis (Billy Bob’s)

American Aquarium (The Statler Ballroom)

B’s

Badfish x 6 (Dallas, Wildflower Fest)

Beck x 3 (Dallas, Coachella 14, ACL 14)

Ben Harper x 2 (Lolla 09, Austin, Waka 2015)

Big Head Todd & the Monsters (ATX, House of Blues - Dallas)

Black Crowes (Dallas)

Blind Melon (Dallas)

Bloc Party (Lolla 06, Dallas)

Blood Brothers (dallas)

Blue October (Austin, Dallas)

Burden Brothers (Austin, Dallas)

Broke (Dallas)

Band of Horses (Lolla 09)

Bassnectar (Lolla09, ACL12)

Ben Folds (chicago)

Beach House (coachella10)

Ben Gibbard (dallas)

Bert Kreischer - (comedian) Addison Improv (2), Irvine Improv

Black Lips (Lolla 11)

Bruno Mars (Lolla 11)

Busy P (Lolla11)

Black Keys (Dallas, Edgefest, ACL12)

Bush (Edgefest23)

Bjork (Roo13)

Big Gigantic (BreakwayFest)

Bear Mountain (Dallas)

Born & Raised (Dallas)

Bastille (Coachella 14)

Bush (Edgefest, Toyota Music Factory)

Blackberry Smoke (ACL14)

Bouncing Souls (Dallas)

Broken Gold (Dallas)

Ben Howard (Dallas)

Blue, the misfit (Dallas)

Brutal Juice (Dallas)

Best Coast (Dallas)

Bully (Dallas)

Bobby Patterson (HG6)

Black Fire Pistol (HG6)

Belle & Sebastian (Summer Cut ‘15)

Broncho (FFFfest 15)

Big Freedia (FFFfest 15, The Bomb Factory)

Bottle Rockets  (2018 Old 97′s County Fair)

Bombay Bicycle Club (coachella 14)

Built to Spill (Granada Theater, Untapped 16)

Breaking Benjamin (Gexa)

Blink 182 (Edgefest 2017)

Brandi Carlile (ACL 2018)

Brock Hampton (ACL 2018)

Blood Orange (ACL 2018 Bowling for Soup (Wildflower Fest 2019)

C’s

Cage the Elephant (Coachella 10, Frisco, Lolla09/11, Edgefest 22, Coachella 14)

Christina Aguilera (Tx State Fair 1998)

Chevelle (Dallas, Ft Worth, Edgefest 2017)

Coal Chamber(killeen)

Coheed & Cambria (Austin, Coachella10, Lolla06, Dallas)

Cody Shaw & The Rhythm Boys (Hank’s)

ColdWarKids (Lolla06, ACL)

Common (Lolla09)

Cross Canadian Ragweed (austin)

The Confession

Collective Soul (dallas)

Carolyn Wonderland (austin)

The Cush (denton)

Cee-Lo Green (Lolla11)

Chico Trujillo (Lolla11)

City & Colour (Lolla11, Roo12, Dallas - Granada Theater)

The Chain Gang of 1974 (Lolla11, Dallas - Granada Theater)

Carina Round (Austin)

Charlie Murphy (Dallas - Addison Improv)

Christopher Titus (Dallas - Addison Improv)

Civil Twilight (Edgefest22)

Cake (Edgefest22)

Chris Lake (El Paso)

Capital Cities (Edgefest23)

Crizzly (BreakawayFest)

CHVRCHES (Dallas, Coachella 14, ACL 14)

Commotion  (Dallas)

Courtney Barnett (FFFFest 6)

Chance the Rapper (Waka15)

Carrie Brownstein (Dallas)

Craig Finn (Trees)

Chris Stapleton (Dallas, ACL 16)

Cheap Trick (FFFfest 15)

Chromeo (FFFfest 15)

Calvin Harris (Coachella 14)

The Cult (Toyota Music Factory)

Camila Cabello (ACL 2018)

D’s

Dead Sara (Edgefest22)

Damian Marley (Lolla11)

Death From Above 1979 (Lolla11)

Daughtry (addison,dallas,frisco)

Dashboard Confessional (ACL05)

Death Cab For Cutie (Lolla 06, EF 15)

Decemberists (Lolla 09, Dallas)

Deftones (Dallas, Lolla 11, Edgefest23, ACL 2018)

Devotchka (Dallas - HOB, Indexfest 2)

Delta Spirit (Lolla11)

Drive-by Truckers (dallas)

Destiny’s Child (Tx State Fair 1998)

Dredg (dallas)

Death in the Family (dallas)

Dead Weather (coachella10, ACL09)

Depeche Mode (chicago)

Dirty Heads x 3 (Austin - Stubb’s, Dallas, Waka15)

Dwight Yokam (Grand Prairie - Lonestar Park)

The Drums (Lolla11)

The DA (El Paso - Tricky Falls)

D'Angelo (Roo 12)

Deadmau5 (El Paso, Dallas)

Dim Locator (Hailey’s - Denton)

Danny Avila (BreakwayFest)

Dave Chappell (Dallas - Oddball Comedy Tour)

Dirty River Boys (McKinney - Hanks)

Dum Dum Girls (Fun Fun Fun Fest 6)

David Ramirez (Kessler Theater, Untapped 16)

Dark Rooms x 3 (Dallas, Denton)

Doug Benson (FFFfest 15)

Dag nasty (FFFfest 15)

Dillion Francis (Coachella 14)

Disturbed (Gexa)

DJ Sober (The Best of Big D 16)

Dalton Domino (The Statler Ballroom)

David Byrne (ACL 2018)

Dead Flowers (The Rustic)

The Doobie Brothers (Dallas)

E’s

The Expendables (austin)

Eminem (Lolla 11, ACL 14)

Explosions in the Sky (Lolla 11, Breakaway Fest)

Empire of the Sun (Breakway Fest)

El-P (indexfest2)

Erykah Badu (Dallas)

Eric Andre (FFFfest 15)

Esme Patterson (The Rustic)

Erika Wennerstron (2018 Old 97′s County Fair, The Rustic)

F’s

Finger Eleven (dallas)

Fleet Foxes (Lolla 09)

Foo Fighters (Dallas, Lolla 11)

Foster the People (Lolla 11, Coachella 14)

Frank Black (Austin)

Funeral for a Friend (Dallas)

For Felix (Dallas)

Franz Ferdinand (Austin)

Frank Turner (Dallas, Coachella 14)

Fuel (Mayflower Fest)

Friendly Fires (Lolla 11)

Flogging Molly (Lolla 11, Roo 12)

Fitz & the Tantrums (Lolla 11 - met them, HOB - Dallas - met them, Roo 12, Edgefest 23, Wildflower Fest 2019)

Foxy Shazam (Edgefest 22)

Florence & the Machines (ACL 12)

Frightened Rabbit (Dallas)

Flash Gordon (Edgefest 23)

Flight of the Concords (Dallas)

Fatboy Slim (Coachella 14)

Foxygen (Index Fest 3, Fun Fun Fun Fest 6)

First Aid Kit (Fun Fun Fun Fest 6)

Flying Lotus (Fun Fun Fun Fest 6)

FKA Twigs (Trees - Dallas)

Future Islands (Index Fest 3, FFFFest15)

Fantastic Negrito (Summer Cut '15)

FRONTERA BUGALÚ - Gas Monkey

Father John Misty (Dallas)

G’s

The Gaslight Anthem x 3 (Lolla06,Edgefest23,Dallas)

Gin Blossoms (Addison, Wildflower Fest 2018)

Gnarls Barkley x 2 (Lolla06,dallas)

Gomez (Lolla 09)

Gossip (coachella10)

Greeley Estates (dallas)

The Gourds (austin)

Goo Goo Dolls (Dallas / Wildflower Fest 2018)

Grace Potter & the Nocturnals x 2 (lolla11, Summer Cut 2)

Grouplove (Lolla 11, Stubb’s, Roo 12, Coachella 14)

Garbage (Edgefest 22)

Girl Talk x 3 (indexfest 2, Fun Fun Fun Fest 6, EF 15)

The Growlers (Waka 15)

Glass Animals (Waka 15)

Galactic (Waka 15)

Gogol Bordello (FFFfest 15, Untapped Dallas 16)

Grimes (FFFfest 15)

Greg Dulli (Kessler Theater Dallas)

Grupo Fantasma (Untapped 16)

Glorietta (Kessler - Dallas)

The Guess Who (Wildflower Fest 2019)

H’s

Heartless Bastards x 11 (Austin, Lolla 09, Dallas, Denton - met twice, smoked with Jesse, and took pics with them)

Hole (Edgefest)

Hockey (Coachella 10)

The Hope Trust x 2 (Dallas, Denton)

The Holler Time (Denton)

Haim (Roo13)

Harland Williams (Comedian - Addison Improv)

Hozier (EF15)

Hayes Carll (Untapped 16)

I’s

Incubus (x3)(dallas)

Interpol (dallas)

DJ Irene (killeen)

Ishi (Dallas)

Israel Nash (Summer Cut '15)

I’m With Her (Ryman Auditorium)

J’s

Jay-Z (Coachella 10)

Jane’s Addiction (Lolla09,Dallas)

Jeff Klein (austin)

Jim Ward (Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth)

Jimmy Eat World (Dallas, Wildflower Fest 2018)

Johnny Cooper (Mckinney - Hank’s)

John Hiatt (Stubbs, HOB Dallas)

Jerry Lee Lewis (Richardson - Wildflower Fest 11)

Jim Jefferies x 3 (Comedian - Dallas)

Jim Breuer (Comedian - Dallas)

Jarrod Gorbel (Dallas)

James Vandervelde (austin)

Jack White (ACL12)

Japandroid (Roo13)

Jack Johnson (Roo13)

Juicy J (BreakwayFest)

Jenny Lewis (Dallas)

J Mascis (Fun Fun Fun Fest 6)

Jessica Lea Mayfield (Dallas)

Jack Kerowax (Dallas)

Jamie xx (GvB V)

Joey Bada$$ (FFFfest 15)

Jason Isbell (Southside Ballroom Dallas, Dallas)

Jason Aldean (Gexa Energy Pavilion)

Jaime Wyatt (2018 Old 97′s County Fair)

Jibe (Gas Monkey Live!)

Justice (ACL 2018)

Judah & The Lion (Wildflower Fest 2019)

Jason Bonham (Toyota Music Pavilion)

K’s

Kansas (Norfolk, VA - my very first concert!)

KISS (Frisco)

Kaskade (Lolla 09)

Killers x 2 (Austin, Dallas)

Kings of Leon x 3 (Lolla 09, Dallas)

Kid Cudi (Lolla 11, Coachella 14)

Killer Mike (indexfest2)

Kevin Devine (Dallas - Rustic)

Kopecky (Waka 15)Kaela Sinclair (Dallas)

Kurt Vile (Red Rocks Amphitheater)

Kacey Musgraves (ACL 16)

Kaleo (Untapped Dallas 16)

K-Flay (Dos Equis Pavilion)

Khalid (ACL 2018)

L’s

The Lusitania (Austin)

Lennon (killeen)

LCD Soundsystem (Coachella 10, ACL 16, The Bomb Factory)

Local Natives (Coachella10, Lolla11, Roo13, ACL 16)

Los Lonely Boys (Austin)

The Lumineers (ACL12, Dallas)

Lil Twist (BreakwayFest)

Lower Dens (GvB V, Club Dada Dallas)

L-P (Index Fest 2)

Lindi Ortega (Denton)

Lucero (Southside Ballroom, The Rusticx3)

L7 (FFFfest 15, Granada Theater Dallas)

Le Bucherettes (Dallas)

Lord Huron  (2018 Old 97′s County Fair)

Lifehouse (Wildflower Fest 2018)

Lukas Nelson (The Rustic)

M’s

MC Flipside (2001 - Killeen)

MGMT (coachella 10, coachella 14)

mewithoutYou (dallas)

Modest Mouse (ACL 05, Dallas, Fun Fun Fun Fest 6, Edgefest '15)

Metric (Lolla11,Edgefest11,ACL12)

Muse (dallas,Edgefest10,Lolla11)

My Morning Jacket (austin)

Millionaire (dallas)

Matisyahu (Lolla06, Dallas)(Met outside of Granada Theater, have autograph)

Manchester Orchestra (Lolla 09/11, Dallas - Rustic, ACL 2018)

Mogwai (Lolla 11)

Mexicans At Night (El Paso - Tricky Falls)

M83 (ACL 12)

Major Lazer (Roo 12, ACL 14, Waka 15)

Mariachi El Bronx (Roo 12)

Matt&Kim (Summer Cut 2, Roo 13, BreakwayFest '13)

MsMr (Dallas - HOB, Coachella 14)

Midlake (Dallas)

Macy Gray (Waka 15)

Ms. Lauryn Hill (FFFfest 15)

Midnight Stroll (Trees Dallas)

Miike Snow (ACL 16)

Mumford & Sons (ACL 16)

Marilyn Manson (Dos Equis Pavilion)

The Mavericks  (2018 Old 97′s County Fair)

Mad Mexicans (Gas Monkey Live!)

Metallica (ACL 18)

Margo Price (The Rustic)

Mipso (Ryman Auditorium)

N’s

Nas (Lolla11, Roo13)

The Naked & Famous (Lolla 11, dallas)

The National (Dallas - HOB, Southside Ballroom, Roo 13, ACL 18)

Neko Case (Lolla 09)

North Mississippi Allstars (Austin - Stubb’s)

Neon Trees (Edgefest 22, Wildflower Fest 2019)

Neil Young & Crazy Horse (ACL 12)

The Neighbourhood (Edgefest 23)

Nahko & Medicine for the People (Waka 15)

New Politics (Edgefest 15)

Neon Indian (FFFfest 15)

NOFX (FFFfest 15)

The Nixons (Edgefest 2017)

NIN (Las Vegas - The Joint x2)

NALGADAS - Gas Monkey

Nelly (ACL 2018)

O’s

Old 97’s (Austin, HG6, 2018 Old 97′s County Fair)

Owen Pallett (Dallas)

Of Monsters & Men (Roo 13)

Other Lives (Dallas)

The Offspring (Edgefest 2017)

Oil Boom (HG6)

Olivia Chaney (Dallas)

ODESZA (FFFfest 15, ACL 2018, Dallas)

Orville Peck (Southside Ballroom)

P’s

Paul Green’s School of Rock All-Stars – Austin, TX

Pavement (Dallas)

Portugal. The Man (Coachella 10, Lolla 11, Roo 13, Dallas - Granada Theater)

Paramore (Dallas, Edgefest 23)

Pearl Jam (ACL 09/14, Dallas - AAC)

Pepper (Dallas - Granada Theater)

Pixies (ACL 2005)

Placebo (Edgefest)

Pelican (Edgefest)

Phoenix (Coachella 10, Edgefest 21, Edgefest 23)

Passion Pit (coachella 10, dallas)

Pat Green (frisco)

Pretty Lights (Lolla11)

Puscifer (Austin - Long Center, Bonnaroo 2012)

Phish (Bonnaroo 2012 )

Pauly Shore (Edgefest 23)

Purity Ring (Roo13)

Paul McCartney (Roo13)

Phantogram (ACL14)

Paws (Dallas)

Parquet Courts (FFFfest 15)

Peaches (FFFfest 15)

Patricio (Coachella 14)

Pete Yorn (ACL 16)

Prayers (Verizon Theatre)

Paul Cauthen  (2018 Old 97′s County Fair)

Peter Frampton (Toyota Music Factory)

Q’s

Queens of the Stone Age (ACL, Dallas)

?uestlove (Roo12)

The Quaker City Night Hawks x 2 (Dallas)

Quintron & Miss Pussy Cat (Dallas)

R’s

Ratatat (Lolla 11)

Rancid (Dallas - Gypsy Ballroom)

Red Hot Chili Peppers (Lolla 06, Dallas - AAC, Roo 12)

Rilo Kiley (Dallas)

Rise Against (Dallas)

The Receiving End of Sirens (Dallas)

The Record Hop (Denton)

Ramesh (Dallas)

The Roots (Roo 12, ACL 12, Waka 15)

Radiohead (Roo 12, Lolla 11)

Rodrigo & Gabriela & C.U.B.A. (Roo 12)

Robert Delong (Edgefest 23)

Ra Ra Riot (BreakwayFest)

The Replacements (with Billy Jo Armstrong @ Coachella14, ACL14)

Riothorse Royale (Dallas)

Roosevelt (FFFfest 15)

Ride (FFFfest 15)

Robert Plant (Bomb Factory Dallas)

Ryan Adams (Red Rocks Amphitheater, The Pavilion - Irving)

Roger Waters (American Airlines Center)

S’s

Street Sweeper Social Club (Coachella 10)

She & Him (Coachella 10)

Santigold (Lolla 09)

Say Anything (Edgefest)

Seven Mary Three x 11 (Dallas, Waco, Wildflower Fest - have Giti’s autograph)

Silverchair (How the Edge Stole Xmas)

Silversun Pickups (Lolla 09, Dallas)

Sleepercar (Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth)

Snoop Dogg (Lolla 09)

Sparta x 15 (Mohawk, Austin, Lolla 09, Dallas, Tricky Falls, Barracuda, Gas Monkey)

Spoon x 4 (Austin, ACL 14, HOB Dallas, HG 6, Wildflower Fest 18)

Staind (Dallas)

Steve Earle (ACL 07, Dallas, ACL 12)

STP (austin, Edgefest, Toyota Music Factory)

Silverstein (Dallas)

Santigold (Lolla 09)

The Smashup (Dallas)

Story of the Year (Dallas)

Street Drum Corps (Dallas)

Sublime w/ Rome (Dallas)

Switchfoot x 3 (Dallas, Edgefest 22, Wildflower Fest 2018)

Skrillex (Lolla 11, ACL 12, Roo 12)

Sarah Jaffe x 4 (Indexfest 2, Dallas, Summer Cut '15)

Shaky Graves (Dallas - Granada Theater, Kessler Theater, HG6, ACL 2018)

Sam Lao (Dallas)

STS9 (Waka15)

Slightly Stoopid (Waka 15)

Sphynx (HG6)

Sealion (HG6)

Saul Williams (Dallas - Club Dada)

Sons of Illustrious Father (Dallas - Club Dada)

Social Distortion (HOB Houston)

Slow Magic (FFF fest 15)

Stoney Larue (Billy Bob’s Texas)

Slipknot (Dos Equis Pavilion)

Shovels & Rope (South Side Music Hall 2016)

Sweater Beats (Coachella 14)

Sylvan Esso (ACL 18)

Santana (Dallas)

T’s

Tegan & Sara (ACL 12)

Taking Back Sunday x 4 (Dallas)

Thursday (Dallas)

Tito & The Tarantulas (Austin)

Toadies x 13 (Austin, Dallas)

Tool (Lolla 09, Dallas - AAC, Grand Prairie - Nokia)

Them Crooked Vultures (Coachella 10)

Tragically Hip x 4 (Austin - Stubb’s, Dallas - HOB)

Trish Murphy (ACL 05)

TV on the Radio (Lolla 09, Dallas, Untapped Dallas 16)

Thrice (Dallas)

The Heist (Dallas)

Twilight Singers (Dallas - Gypsy Tea Room & Granada Theater 2011)

Three Days Grace (Dallas)

Two Door Cinema Club (Lolla 11, ACL 12, Roo 12)

The Tings Tings (Edgefest22)

The Temper Trap (Lolla 11, Roo 12)

Twenty-One Pilots (Edgefest23)

The TonTons (Dallas - Trees)

Tame Impala (Dallas - Southside Ballroom)

Tinariwen (Fun Fun Fun Fest 6)

Tei Shi (GvB V)

Toro y Moi (FFFfest 15)

Tanlines (Trees Dallas)

Thomas Rhett (Gexa Energy Pavilion)

Travis Scott (ACL 2018)

Texas Gentlemen (Kessler - Dallas)

U’s

Uh Huh Her (Dallas)

Unknown Mortal Orchestra (Club Dada Dallas)

V’s

Van Halen (Dallas)

Vampire Weekend (Lolla 09)

Viet Cong (FFF fest 15)

Vaadat Charigim (35 Denton 2016)

Valerie June  (2018 Old 97′s County Fair)

W’s

White Lies (Lolla 11)

White Rabbit x 2 (Dallas)

Warpaint x 2 (Dallas - Granada Theater, index fest 2)

Wailers x 4 (Dallas, Wildflower Festival)

Weezer (Dallas)

Wilco (Austin)

Wintersleep x 3 (Austin, Dallas - Trees (pic with them))

Walking the Moon (Dallas)

White Arrows (Dallas)

Walk the Moon (Roo 13, Dos Equis Pavilion)

Wu-Tang Clan (Breakaway Fest)

Wiz Khalifa (Fun Fun Fun Fest 6)

War On Drugs (Granada Theater)

White Denim (Index Fest 3)

We Are Scientists (Club Dada Dallas)

Wrestlers (Trees Dallas)

Wussy (Three Links - Dallas)

V’s

Vaadat Charigim (35 Denton 2016)

X’s

The xx - x 4 (Coachella 10, Dallas x 2, Roo 13)

Y’s

Yeah Yeah Yeah’s x 2 (Lolla 09, Dallas)

Young the Giant x 3 (Lolla 11, Dallas, Austin, Waka 15)

Yumi Zouma (GvB V)

Z’s

Zola Jesus (Dallas - Granada Theater)

ZZ Top (Roo 13)

Zobc (Coachella 14)

The Zolas (Dallas)

#’s

311 (Dallas, Edgefest 2017)

30 Seconds to Mars (Dallas, Edgefest, Dos Equis Pavilion)