Review: Live From Arena Stožice
can you tell i’m on winter break and have nothing better to do?
1) Sunny Side of London
• What can I sayyyyy! we’ve had this live version out for a while now and it’s probably the only JO song that I 100% prefer live. It’s MADE for a live performance, for an audience that will have fun with it and participate. Great opening choice too! 9/10
2) Gola
• Felt much more energetic than the studio version! Gola isn’t my fave but I definitely like it more now that we have this live version! 8/10
3) Bele Sanje
• I think the best part about Bele Sanje are the little nuanced things like the “lalalala” and some of the electronics which I can’t really hear in the live version BUT I can’t complain….I loved it, especially the extended guitar part at the end (which im assuming is Jan lol) and the boys going absolutely CRAZY on backing vocals!
4) Plastika
• THE TRANSITION FROM BELE SANJE TO THIS?!?! HELLO?!?? MY SOUL ASCENDED!!! I can hear all of the electronics and all of the energy! I love that you can obviously tell that Plastika is a fan favorite! Bojan’s emotion in this live version (especially on “ne morem se odločit al se jočem al smejim) just took it to the next level imo. 10/10
5) Proti Toku
•Not much to say about it, I think it’s definitely more fun than the studio version but it just seems quiet to me??? idk?? 8/10 tho, it’s still a banger
6) Dopamin
• THIS!!!! I LOVE LOVE LOOOOOOOOVE THIS!!! I see clips of Dopamine on tiktok or something and it sounds more aggressive than in the studio, and im SOOOOO glad it sounds that way here! It’s such a cute, happy song but it’s so…HARD! Guitars were going CRAAAAAAAAZY, but we could still hear some of the little electronic bits. Byfar some of the best sounds of the album. 20/10
7) Padam
• I cry, I cry every time. Love the audience in this one and Bojan’s voice?!?? angelic. 9/10
8) Demoni
• WE FINALLY HAVE THE DEMONI SCREAM ON STREAMING PLATFORMS! The ONLY thing I think you have been better was just volume, i don’t feel the impact as much in this song as i do in some of the others (which is not the case for the studio albums). Loved how they kind of slightly played around instrumentally with the beginning and the end. All my homies love Demoni. 10/10
9) Katrina
• Ok so…..Katrina is by far my favorite Joker Out song so by default, I think this version is great. There was a lot more tension this go around which, in my mind, fits nicely with the lyrics. HOWEVER…… I think I hyped this up too much in my mind. It was still very very VERY good (and the sheer quality of Jan’s solo was just impeccable, which is what I was hoping for), just missing something that I can’t really put my finger on. 10/10 tho, stream Katrina for clear skin.
10) A sem ti povedal
Ok ok ok hear me out . I am an A sem ti povedal binge streamer, the studio version is what I think musical perfection is. Every time i see a live performance of it, it’s always tweaked in some way, which hurts my little studio-loving heart. I’m not gonna lie and say the trumpet solo was bad or anything, in fact I thought it was quite beautiful, but I don’t think it should have taken the place of the heart-melting intro in the studio version. HOWEVER, I got over that pretty quickly, with the acapella introduction and the buildup into the A-MA-ZING bridge. Personally I think Bojan’s little changes to how sings this one really made a difference, especially since they went ahead and changed like….most of the song anyways. Still, i was transported to another dimension with this one even though I am still a pretty strict A sem ti povedal purist. 9/10
11) Omamljeno telo
Fun, Fun, Fun! One of my favorite JO songs! It almost felt too short! 9/10
12) Kot Srce, Ki Kri Poganja
Martin girlies WYA?!?! EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS WAS PERFECT! from ACTUALLY performing Kot Scre, to releasing it in the album, to the evergy, and ESPECIALLY to having Matic and Martin, who absolutely ATE THIS UP!!! Did anyone else become a Kot Srce, Ki Kri Poganja girlie after this? because I certainly did! 15/10
13) Metulji
• Upon seeing a 6 minute version of Metulji i was very excited. Figuring out that most of it was straight up guitar was definitely something that grew on me after a few listens. One of my favorite things about the studio version of this song is just HOW Bojan sings (it just scratches my brain) and it still does that in this album, and it’s even MORE emotional! Instrumentally, I LOOOOOVED the little tiny changes they made, it really was so beautiful, and also tense, and a little scary! it’s crazy what you can do with sounds. 10/10
14) Vse Kar Vem
•ALSKDSKDKFJ I LOVE THIS SONG!!!! I dont speak Slovene but I FELT EVERY SINGLE WORD!!! Ofc knowing the lyrics helps, and all of that just made me …FEEL! I WAS FEELING FEELINGS! I could feel the audience feeling feelings!!!! What I don’t see talked about enough is how Jure SLAYED that drum break like LORD HAVE MERCYYYYY. 10/10
15) Barve Oceana
• BRAVE Oceana absolutely killed me…but speaking of Jure absolutely eating the girlies up, the drum break in this was just PERFECT. Also I loooooved being able to hear Nace during the first few verses, I never realized the bass part was so fun! AND THE BACKING VOCALS? THE AAAAAAAA’s? PERFECTION! 10/10
mr. maček i love you
16) Ngvot
• KRIS GUŠTIN YOU WILL ALWAYS BE FAMOUS! ALWAYS! We all knew he could throw down with the songwriting, and it’s just so nice to be able to hear him sing it too! Ngvot is a classic, nothing much to say about this live version! 8.5/10
17) Vem Da Greš
• also another OP fave here and another beautiful transition into this from Ngvot! Also not too much to say about this one other than I felt it wasn’t as impactful as the studio version, like the buildups were just for nothing because the actual hits were lacking power. Also the faint children’s choir-esque sound was throwing me off? I heard it it Metulji too and idk what it is! 8/10
18) Ne Bi Smel
• part 3 of Jure absolutely killing it. Now THIS was powerful! So much energy, especially compared to the already super-fast studio version. Bojan’s voice was definitely one of the highlights (it is in every song, but especially here!)!
19) Ona
• to be honest, i’m not rocking with this jazz band version of it. The sultry sax intro was a great addition, setting up the plot of the song and everything, but this big brass thing throughout the song was not it for me. I think what I love about the studio version is the angry electronic things we hear, and we do hear it here, but it’s almost cancelled out by the brass? idk man, it’s a song about crying your eyes out every night because of a girl and it just wasn’t feeling like that! 7/10, I still love Ona
20) Tokio
• The audience did their part in this one! Another great one, I have no complaints. 10/19
21) Umazane Misli
• God i love this one! I think this had the perfect amount of experimentation in it for the song to sound like itself while also feeling fresh. Personally i would have preferred if there were no mics or instruments on during the part with the girl’s voice and just had the whole audience sing the whole thing, but that’s just a stylistic, nitpicky thing lmao. 9.5/10
22) Novi Val
• I cried, i’m still crying. 15/10
23) Carpe Diem
• Carpe Diem NEVER fails! This was the absolute best song to close out with in EVERY way! It’s fun with a sappy ending that wraps up the album and the show perfectly. I would have sold all of my limbs to be there during that. 20/10
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✨ BOOK REVIEW ✨
D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding by Chencia C. Higgins
⭐️⭐️⭐️
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This was a fun, sexy, emotional romance chosen for my book club this month and I’d been meaning to read it for ages. I’m glad I finally did!
I love me a reality tv romance. Especially when it’s a dating show. So throw in a FAKE WEDDING and I knew I was in for a fun time.
This book definitely covers some heavy topics such as racism and coming out, and it handles them incredibly well.
I loved the way D’Vaughn and Kris seemed to balance each other out so well. They complimented each other perfectly. They had so much chemistry right from the start and I loved watching them fall in love while planning their fake wedding.
I think I just wanted a bit more from this. It felt overly formulaic at times which is to be expected with a book like this, but I just felt it more here than others I’ve read. I also would have liked more on-page time developing D’Vaughn and Kris’s relationship a bit more. I guess I’m not much of an insta-love fan 😅
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Ginger Snaps (2000)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
TW: Some of this film revolves around self-harm and suicide. Be aware of triggers.
God didn’t let me watch this film during the same night I watched Jennifer’s Body because he knew it would have made me too powerful.
Prior to watching this movie, I only knew the major plot point. The disruption that causes everyone to stir. I didn’t anticipate to be completely enchanted by the aesthetics that were prominent by the tail-end of 90s grunge.
I am a sucker for weird girls that don’t fit into the jungle of high school. I can only imagine how much harder that is if you are attacked by a mysterious beast that has been haunting your small town. At least their mother was as supportive as she was.
Overall, the violence in this movie is manageable because the camera is sharp and jerky, which evoke a super tense feeling. I couldn’t follow who was where and who I was rooting for.
Minus half a star for the amount of dog carcasses that are in this film.
You should watch this if:
You love saying “Oooh, he had it coming!”
You are a sucker for the misunderstood characters
You love any mythology involving the moon/cycles/coming into a higher power
Titles similar to this:
Jennifer’s Body (2009) (Hot weird girl)
The Craft (1996) (Group of weird girls being spooky)
Carrie (1976) (Weird girl on the loose!!)
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