#the song is science fiction by the arctic monkeys

[outletcrash]

i must admit you gave me somethin, momentarily,

in which i could believe

[semi-dailysonglyrics]

I wanna stay with you, my love

The way some science fiction does

[angelolsenwife]

i wanna stay with you, my love, the way some science fiction does *goes insane*

[vegasvictor]

you don't belong in a wasteland — a robert house playlist (spotify | youtube)

i have seen the future - shock narcotic | one point perspective - arctic monkeys | goodbye, apathy - onerepublic | neon rust - frank carter & the rattlesnakes | survival - muse | robots don't cry - no more kings | light up the night - the protomen | oh dear brother - howard | the whole world and you - tally hall | i am my own muse - fall out boy | i have friends in holy spaces - panic! at the disco | new machines - vinyl theatre | stipulation - go! child | a good song never dies - saint motel | hotel california - eagles | goodbye mr a - the hoosiers | unintended - matt bellamy | science fiction - arctic monkeys

[steinwayandhissons]

arctic monkeys and every time the word ‘love’ is mentioned

whatever people say I am that’s what I’m not

tonight there’ll be some love, tonight there’ll be a ruckus yeah regardless of what’s gone before

~ view from the afternoon

oh there ain’t no love, no montagues or capulets

~ i bet you look good on the dancefloor

all that’s left is the proof that love’s not only blind but deaf… yeah I’d love to tell you all my problem

~ fake tales of san francisco

she makes a subtle proposition, I’m sorry love I’ll have to turn you down

~ when the sun goes down

lady, where has your love gone, i was looking but can’t find it anywhere, they always offer when there’s loads of love around but when you’re short of some it’s nowhere to be found

~ no buses

well how can you wake up with someone you don’t love and not feel slightly phased by it

~ leave before the lights come on

favourite worst nightmare

it’s wrong wrong wrong but we’ll do it anyway cause we love a bit of trouble

~ balaclava

and those dreams weren’t as daft as they seem, aren’t as daft as they seem my love

~ fluorescent adolescent

there’s room for the trouble and there’s lovers to be had

~ this house is a circus

it’d be a big mistake for you to wait and let me waste your time, really love it’s fine, I said really love it’s fine

~ the bad thing

old yellow bricks, love’s a risk… houdini love you don’t know what you’re running away from

~ old yellow bricks

another roll around and another push and shove, further away from the idea of love

~ da frame 2r

the more you keep on looking the more it’s hard to take, love we’re in stalemate… you’re slacking love where have you been

~ the bakery

am I too quick to assume that the love is no longer in bloom

~ too much to ask

humbug

i had a hole in the pocket of my favourite coat and my love dropped into the lining

~ i haven’t got my strange

suck it and see

i wanna feel your love brick by brick

~ brick by brick

do you still feel love is a laserquest or do you take it all more seriously… when I’m not being honest I pretend that you were just some lover

~ love is a laserquest

your love is like a studded leather headlock

~ suck it and see

jealousy in technicolour, fear by name, love by numbers… crushing up a bundle of love

~ that’s where you’re wrong

before she showed you how to shake love’s steady hand

~ the blonde o sonic shimmer trap

your love’s not what I need, so don’t give it to me

~ evil twin

am

it’s not like I’m falling in love I just want you to do me no good… the look of love, the rush of blood

~ no.1 party anthem

love buckles under the strain of those wild nights

~ mad sounds

I heard that you fell in love, or near enough

~ snap out of it

love like locked horns, love like dominoes… love like thunder, love like falling snow

~ electricity

I know you’re nothing like mine cause she’s walking on sunshine and your love would tear us apart

~ you’re so dark

tranquility base hotel and casino

love came in a bottle with a twist off cap, let’s all have a swig and do a hot lap… but it’s alright, cause you love me

~ star treatment

when true love takes a grip it leaves you without a choice

~ golden trunks

pattern language in the mood for love

~ the world’s first ever monster truck front flip

I wanna stay with you my love, the way some science fiction does

~ science fiction

the dawn won’t stop weighing a tonne, I’ve done some things that I shouldn’t have done, but I haven’t stopped loving you once

~ the ultracheese

the car

lights out on the wonder park, your saw toothed lover boy was quick off the mark

~ jet skis on the moat

put your heavy metal to the test, there might be half a love song in it all for you

~ mr schwartz

[clementine-kesh]

11 and 22 :D

11. Do you have any songs that you associate with Star Trek characters?

oh god i have a whole list. pretty much anything i’ve made an edit with is a song i associate with the respective character(s). though i think my number one in terms of like, this song was literally written for these characters is science fiction by the arctic monkeys for tom/harry

22. What is something canon that you disagree with?

the way canon conflates race and culture is so bad it’s genuinely hard to watch sometimes. there’s so much bioessentialism in trek’s writing and it undermines a lot of the messaging they’re trying to get across. take voyager’s faces, for example, which i think is genuinely one of the worst episodes of the series because of just that. the whole message of the episode is just “but what if the racists were right 🤔”

[gorgeousundertow]

OTP: Brad/Nate

For @mutantmanifesto

inspired by this mega post. None are exact copies (that I'm aware of) but in keeping with the general tone.

TW: angst, suggestive content, etc.

Who would end a heated argument by defending their actions with ‘because I love you!’ ? Brad. I think the argument would get very wordy (obviously) and he would end up twisting himself into a logically impossible state, and have to resort to "Because I love you!" But - both do stupid things on account of love.

What would they do if the other woke in a manic state after a nightmare? matter-of-fact and reassuring; here's where you are, here's what's real.

Do they wear the other’s clothes? (sweatshirt, bandana, necklace, etc.) Nate steals Brad's clothes.

Which one is more protective? Who needs to be ‘protected’? Brad is more protective, but neither of them needs protecting.

Describe their cozy night in. Nate is reading, working on something, and Brad is fiddling with gadget. At some point they play a game like Risk or Scrabble and get really pissed at each other

Who would beg the other not to leave? Who has to leave to protect the other? Depending on the circumstance, either would leave to protect the other, but I could see it more likely to happen with Nate leaving Brad. I don't really see either of them begging the other stay bc they're dumb and don't use their words.

Would they build a pillow fort together just because? No.

What happens if one of them gets sick? Brad freaks the fuck out and makes soup and takes Nate's temperature every ten seconds. Nate is much more reasonable.

What are their thoughts on having children? I think they both like kids, but it might not occur to them that they would be good at it together for a long while.

Describe their first date. They don't have one. They just trip over themselves until they discover they've moved in together.

Do either try to hide their emotions if upset? Can the other still tell? Absolutely. They do not acknowledge the existence of emotions (maybe anger? Anger is fine) but yes, they can always tell.

Do they have many heated arguments? How do they smooth things over? They have some heated arguments, but a lot of the time everything gets said with the eyes.

Who’s the bigger tease? NATE.

How do their personalities compliment each other? How do they clash? They sometimes have disagreements because their values aren't exactly aligned; Nate is a lot more practical and ruthless than Brad is. In some ways Brad is more of an idealist--Brad pushes Nate to be a better version of himself, someone who doesn't need to compromise his own integrity, and Nate keeps Brad from getting lost in his own head.

Do they always say 'i love you' before leaving? No, but it's implied.

Can they stay up all night just talking? Oh yes, wandering down philosophical rabbit holes.

Who's more likely to pull the other in by the waist and kiss them passionately? Either one, whenever they think it's most likely to surprise the other.

How likely are they to have fur babies? How many and what kind? They strike me as dog people.

How do they feel about PDA? Uncomfortable with it due to Don't Ask Don't Tell, but in certain circumstances they might enjoy shocking their friends and family.

Choose one song that perfectly describes their relationship. R U Mine, Arctic Monkeys

Who would get into a fight to defend the other's honor? Who tends to the other's wounds? Lol both. But mostly Brad.

What reminds each of their partner? Little things. Brad of Nate: Baseball games, New Yorker Magazine, collared shirts, crossword puzzles, backpacks. Nate of Brad: Wired Magazine, Astounding Science Fiction, hydration packs, faded t-shirts, very organized dressers.

Who's more likely to convince the other to stay in bed come morning? Brad. Dude likes his sleep.

Who's more likely to give the other a massage? Neither unless there's sex involved, or an injury. If there's an injury, Brad.

Do they have any hobbies they share? They're very competitive, so anything that's a hobby becomes a competition.

What are their vices? Oh god. Being right?

Who is the light weight that needs to be taken care of after a party? Lol both. Brad's bigger, but he doesn't actually drink much because he likes to remain in control, so he's not used to it.

What are there thoughts on pet names? Do they have any? Only to annoy the other one.

Who is more likely to jump in an elevator? Who freaks out? Neither

Your OTP gets to pick out each other's outfits; what is each wearing? anything but a MOPP suit.

Can they sit side by side without touching the other or are they handsy? (lacing fingers, touching knees, etc.) They're pretty handsy actually. Nate maybe slightly more so.

Who's the better story teller? Brad. Brad Brad Brad.

Who's the better cook? Also Brad.

Who's more likely to tell a dirty joke or story to make the other blush? Definitely Brad, but occasionally Nate.

Who's more artistic? Nate

Who's more likely to fire up the stove at 2am because the other woke up in the middle of the night hungry? Brad

Which is more likely to swear? Brad

Who is more sexually experimental? Who's more vanilla? Nate is a dark horse.

Who would rescue an injured animal and nurse it back to health? What would the other think? Brad, and Nate would be resigned and on board

Who has an insatiable appetite? And what does the other do to help? Dark Horse Nate. Brad does not mind one bit.

Which one would take their jacket it off and drape over the other one because they were visibly shivering? Come on. Brad.

What's their favorite type of weather to enjoy together? (getting snowed in together, watching thunderstorms, etc.) These idiots would go out in the bad weather because it's neat.

Who would give their life for the other without a second thought? Both. Nate might try to think of another way for a hot second, actually, but he would still definitely do it.

Who would dance in the kitchen making dinner? Would the other join in or watch from the doorway? Brad would dance, Nate would join in (badly)

Can they fall asleep without the other? Yes, because they are professionals.

Would they get frisky at the movies by themselves? YES.

Does either of them have a secret that could potentially ruin their relationship? No.

Who's the better driver? Nate, because he's safer. Brad, because he's faster.

Does either of them have a hard time being away from the other? Yes, but mostly Brad. Not that he'd admit it.

who's more likely to do something out of spite? Nate.

What’s a non verbal way they say I love you? Sergeant/Sir (still verbal I guess but ya know)

Describe their weekend getaway? They each have a different version, and they try to meet each other's needs. For Brad, it's something adventurous, something that tests his limits, and Nate's game--so a long wilderness hike, foraging for food. For Nate, it's more likely more of a classic vacation

Would they ever go skinny dipping? Yes.

Who’s more likely to carry the other to bed? Brad.

Do they like watching clouds or star gazing? Star-gazing more likely, with Brad pointing out constellations and Nate telling the legends behind them.

What do they do turn the other on/put them in the mood? an eyefuck is all it takes

Whose the serious one when grocery shopping and who likes to toss random things in the cart? Nate makes a list, Brad tosses in anything

Who’s more likely to hold a grudge after an argument? Nate

Who tops? Who bottoms? Switch

Who pulls the other closer when they’re sleeping? Both

[ohmerricat]

incredibly low hanging fruit because of the title but. twelve song .

religious iconography giving you the creeps? ‘disco lizard’? rise of the machines? you gave me something momentarily in which i could believe…. mass panic on a not-too-distant future colony… not on my watch i wanna stay with you my love … make a simple point about peace and love but in a sexy way where it’s not obvious. highlight dangers send out hidden messages. the whole thing may well just end up too clever for its own good the way some science fiction does !

[mrschwartz]

Alex Turner for OOR Magazine (October 2022)

Conducted in August 20th 2022 by Willem Bemboom

Alex in the sun on a terrace. Leather jacket, classic shades, a big head of hair in desperate need of a handful of Brylcreem. He almost looks like a time-traveller, someone from another dimension, unmoved by the sounds of the city in the distance and the swelling lunch crowd around us.

He talks slowly and dragging, as if the battery is almost flat.  His pauses in thought are numerous and stretched out, sometimes to determine what he DOES want to say, more often to think about what he does NOT want to say. Apparently he is so used to intelligent or difficult questions, that the easy ones throw him off. What are you listening to? What has changed? What do you think yourself is the most beautiful lyric? Endless silences, you can almost hear the brain cracking. But they are by no means painful. The lesson taken from previous interviews - and in fact the essence of Arctic Monkeys: just let Alex Turner meditate, that's where eventually the best things come from.

The sunglasses meanwhile are being taken on and off every minute. With wide eyes full of wonder Turner turns the casual things lying on the table into a journey of discovery. OOR's old trusted dictaphone for example. 'Reliable stuff', he judges. ‘At worst eats your tape one time, but such a device will not betray you. Two buttons, on, off, record, play. You don't need more options. I want to start working with these things a bit more.”

He weighs the device for a moment, as if he is testing a peach or tomato at the local fruit & veg. A mysterious short laugh follows. Who knows what goes on in that head.

The Car as a record makes an analogous impression, either way in terms of technique and instrumentation.

Right? Texture wise for sure. Old instruments, string arrangements. The ideas are kneaded to songs with human hands. Although this time we also have a Moog.

And the subjects as well seem to come from a different time. Classic Hollywood, faded glory, but also Cold War stuff. In various songs there are spying elements sneaking around.

That’s for sure what I’m doing in the new songs. Think of Gene Hackman in The Conversation, you have to search in circle of people as such.Vague surveillance stuff, listening devices [focuses on the recorder again]. A bit like how this conversation is also being recorded, haha.

Social media seems completely absent, you are far from sketching a contemporary time frame. People talk on the phone together.

Good point. I imagine that phone in Big Ideas like that, on the wall, with a turntable. It is indeed an analog world, there is no apping or anything like that. On the first song on our first record I sing about a phone that is being unlocked [The View From The Afternoon]. You had to press the asterisk key to avoid accidentally turning on your cell phone. We still play that song every night, I’ve now sang it so often that I’m not thinking about those lyrics at all. A few days ago I did have a clear mind and suddenly I realised: gosh, this is not how phones are any more! Back in the days I was more up-to-date with my technological references, on AM there are still text messages and such. That's gone now. I have gone back in time, it seems.

Your previous album took place at the moon. Where - and especially when - is The Car set?

Hm. [long silence] You know what, I really don't have any idea whatsoever. Even for Tranquility Base I now wonder if it all took place at the moon. That sort of thing reveals itself only later, sometimes even a lot later. The music triggers something in me, I build on the atmosphere and the sound, and I just let The Idea run wild - though I refine the lyrics endlessly after they get into shape. But the source? Dunno, that can't be guided or be explained. I did try to steer away a bit more from the sci-fi idiom than on the previous one. Whether it succeeded is question number two. For some reason there’s somehow always science fiction seeping through.

You now refer in several numbers to old movies and showbiz, like the musical Anything Goes, 1930s Broadway, with music by Cole Porter. New fascination?

Hmmm, no. By the way, it is indeed lifted from a movie. Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom begins with the song Anything Goes, from that musical, sung in Chinese. Nice opening, although I’m certainly not the biggest Indiana Jones fan. I suddenly thought about it, so it ended up in that song. That's how it goes with most things. Who knows where it comes from and what it means. It's suddenly there.

Is Sculptures Of Anything Goes a New York song? Apart from the Broadway link you sing about 'city life 09', the period you lived in Brooklyn, and ‘Village coffee mornings, with not long since retired spies’.

As in: written in New York? No, I haven't been to New York in ages. The Village is in there…. I think this is another of those science fiction things. You've been nervously playing around with that empty cassette box for 15 minutes now, and I’m now imagining that it contains City Life 09. I’m fond of the idea there will be a city life cartridge in the future, a simulation that you can board. I’m imagining a full box of those cartridges, from 1929 to 1959 to 1969 to 1979 to 1989 and so on. That’s because I think there should be intervals of ten years to notice a substantial difference in such a huge city. And the 2009 one is missing from that lyric, it's inside the machine because it's used most often. Whether it's also refers to my time in New York… No idea. It's purely a bit of fantasy.

Let’s swap the fantasy for the facts for a little bit: where and when did you start making this record?

Even before the lockdowns, right away after the Tranquility Base tour in South America. In April and May 2019 I wrote the first attempts of new songs, we already recorded some bits in late 2019, but that attempt led to nothing. Only after the lockdowns we came back together again, last summer, in Butley Priory, an old monastery at the coast of Suffolk. No one knew we were there, it was a remote place. It reminded me of our first record, when we went from the madhouse to the countryside for a while as well. We never did that again ever since, until now. Recording a record in England also was a while ago, same counts for a summer album. So there we were again, at the English countryside, as a rrrrock band! [big eyes and a rolling rrrrr] No distractions, like in the city. Extra focus, no prying eyes. All in the same zone. Good morning, you know.

We will come back at that ‘rock band’ part for a bit later. What did a day in Suffolk look like for the rest?

Oh, every morning we got trumpeted out of our beds with a reveille. And a while after a bell was ringing: go to work, lazy bastards! Thereafter a Powerpoint presentation with schedules and tactics. No, just joking, it was the opposite. Very calm and relaxed, everything in our own tempo. These days I find it essential to take the time. That’s because every project has to search and find its own way. As a maker you also have to let a piece of work go its own way. During the summer of 2019 I read a book about movie editing, In The Blink Of An Eye by Walter Murch. Although movie editing is not my discipline, I did get interesting things out of it anyway, there are parallels with how I put together a record these days. Editing usually involves cutting out bad bits. The question that immediately arises: what is a bad bit? Are there bad bits at all? This Sir Murch calls the process of editing the discovery of a path through all the available material. The more you shot, the more possible paths there are. And because I had quite a lot of ideas, more than ever actually, which all wanted to exist, it was extra important to especially follow the feeling. Sometimes I got a direction in mind, and then the piece itself drags you in the opposite direction anyway. It has other ideas. It lives, it is an entity. Let it go. That’s how it went now as well.

You keep on avoiding the meaning of your lyrics. Is the writing of it not a conscious process then?

Hmmm, that always comes last anyway. I am endlessly adjusting and rewriting. When we were working on the music in Suffolk, I hardly sang on top of it. I do believe that at this moment in time I write down what I am experiencing more directly. I'm a bit more open, more honest, apparently inspired by four guys who are just standing together in a room making music.

What do you consider your favourite find on The Car?

Oh… I forgot to bring my cheat sheet. I’ve got a folder with notes, which I planned on bringing with me. But it also feels a little know-it-all and self-conscious to start giving a lecture from my own notes here. My best line… I wouldn’t know! I simply don’t know all the lyrics by heart yet. [long pause] I think ‘Big Ideas’ as a whole is a very accomplished song.

Ah, with the ‘hysterical scenes’ that are reminiscent of a band just breaking through. ‘We had ‘em out of their seats, waving their arms and stomping their feet’ – that’s where the echo of Monkeymania is audible.

Strange times.

Or just The Beatles. ‘Clap your hands and stomp your feet’, is what Lennon sometimes shouted from the stage…

Hm, yeah. No. Here I imagine sort of more like a movie producer giving someone a call. Or something like that.

Big Ideas is full of melancholy – and that counts for more songs in general.

It’s not just in the words, you know. Yes, so that’s how it works for me: the words arise from the feeling the music evokes. The melody supplies the words and ideally they complement each other. In that way, the things it makes you say are indeed not conscious. It purely revolves around what the music allows you to say.

“Over and out, it’s been a thrill”, you sing on Big Ideas. Hello You, Jet Skis On The Moat and Perfect Sense also contain “goodbyes” and “goodnights”. Are you saying goodbye to something?

Yeah, I think that’s fair. That all has to do with where I arrived in life at the moment. I’m 36, the band exists for about twenty years, including the whole run-up. So I’ve been in the band for more than half of my life. You leave things behind, while the clock keeps ticking. People, places, your younger self. Time. Though that’s not necessarily a bad thing, you get new things in return. But it’s human nature to sometimes look back on what has been, what’s behind you. Though I’m pretty good at leaving things behind.

Like loud guitar music for example.

[big eyes] Ha!

The rrrrrrrrock band you just mentioned is not the same as the one from 2006 anymore.

Haha, not on the record, no! But on stage we just keep on rocking, that all co-exists. But you know what’s the funny thing? We could very well still have made a loud guitar record after all. If the music had asked for it, I think I would have obediently followed. When we finished touring in 2019, everything pointed in that direction. Much louder than Tranquility Hotel, in any case. But that started to shift towards a different direction and that’s why we took a break from it at the time. I was afraid I would start forcing things. And sometimes you just have to accept the fact you can’t go back to the riffs from ten years ago. At the end of the tour I knew what kind of songs I wanted to do, with the lights of the stage still in my eyes and the thundering roars of the audience in my ears. Big, loud guitars should have been part of that. That’s what I’m gonna do! I even put on my motorcycle boots to get a hold of that mood. But that didn’t feel right in the end, as said. You’re not that person anymore, your music wants to go in a different direction. Then I can only follow that.

Put the Arctic Monkeys who were recording at the English countryside in 2006 next to the band working at Suffolk last summer. Not to see what has changed, but what hasn’t changed?

Well, everything has changed. [2 minutes of silence while you can almost hear a movie playing in his head] … except for the countryside and England, haha! I did find it more fun this time though. Maybe because right now we finally know what we’re doing. Yes, that has remained the same. The only reason we now can not make a loud guitar record in all peace and comfort, is because we’re still Arctic Monkeys. Everyone has grown up, the essence of the band has grown with us. The faces are a bit more round, the boys call their children instead of their parents, but the feeling remains the same. Life itself happened – and not in an unpleasant way. It’s all good, everything. Yes, it’s fine.

Why did you have more fun now than back then? Did that 20 year old kid that recorded ‘Whatever People Say I Am…’ not know what he was doing?

Not what happened to him, no. It was a great time, but oh dear, so much stress! Now I’m completely relaxed in everything I do. Looking back at 2006, everything was so… tight! My guitar was hanging just below my chin, the strap was almost pinched around my back. That example alone. I let the guitar nicely hang nowadays. And sometimes I even leave it in its stand. The schedules are looser, the people are looser, the music is looser. Less heavy, not as frenetic and whaaaargh! It’s fitting better in its own skin. Just like ourselves. The jacket is hanging loosely unbuttoned. I’m sitting behind a grand piano in the corner. And still it feels like Arctic Monkeys, because we’re still walking the same path, however strange the path winds. The same timeline and the same principles. The path, following the music, is the constant factor. 15 years ago we followed our instinct as young lads and The Record is what resulted from it. Now we’re still doing that, and this time that record is The Car.

Oh yeah, The Car. What kind of car is it?

Just a car.

Does it stand for anything?

No, it’s standing on a roof. The cover photo was taken by Matthew Helders, our drummer. When I saw that photo a few years ago, I immediately knew it had the potential to be an album cover for the band. There’s not just spies and goodbyes in the lyrics, if you listen closely you can hear a few cars. And after [raises voice] Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino the temptation to call something ‘The Car’ is simply too big. It is what it is.

So just a car.

Yep. And that car on the cover in particular.

Where was the photo taken?

If I’m not mistaken, in Los Angeles.

Ah, Los Angeles. There you’re nothing without a car. What kind do you drive?

I don’t own a car. I’m back in London now and it’s just not practical there. No car…

Where did you used to go on holidays as a kid?

Oh, eh, Eastbourne, on the south shore. With my grandparents on the Dotto Train, one of those tourist carts along the beach. But how did we suddenly end up here?

I wondered about this when I heard The Car, the song. Nicely melancholic, you sing about past holidays, falling asleep at the back seat.

But that doesn’t take place in Eastbourne [rolls his eyes]. But where does it take place, I can hear you think… In a parallel universe full of espionage and science fiction, haha!

Sounds exciting. Have you ever tried writing a script yourself?

No. The kind of stories I tell are mostly… based on the music and the melodical ideas, as I already explained. Those bring forth the story. If I wouldn’t have that, I would struggle. I would like to learn this though, sometime, one day. But I’m not working on it now, it’s a whole different skill to the one I’ve currently got on board. Never say never, we’ll see. But definitely not tomorrow [thinks for a bit, laughs]. Tomorrow’s Pukkelpop. There’s no time for drafting scripts. Although it is a world I would like to roam about, one I’d like to explore. At the Priory I had an old 16mm camera with me, one that fits in the palm of your hand and you have to crank up yourself. Still not even close to Hollywood. But ah well, that’s a hobby.

What music are you listening to yourself at the moment?

[two minutes of silence] I used to be able to always draw a straight line from what I was listening to right to the new record, that’s different now, I think. No more adding this, this, this and this and you’ve got the new Monkeys. It’s not as clear what those things are this time, not even for me.

If you could go to Record Palace at the opposite of Paradiso with 50 euros right now, what would you pick from there?

Oh wow, that place is amazing! I actually should stop by there later. We’ve been so busy fine-tuning the show, this morning I only took a walk in the park for a bit… Lovely morning.

But at the moment you’re listening to…

Oh man… After finishing the record, nothing for a while, for a few months. Now it’s starting up again a bit. Headphones on… listening to things. What do I want to share here right now?

I’ll just write down Nookie by Limp Bizkit.

Oh no. Is that a threat? Alright, in that case do… Nat King Cole! The song ‘Where Did Everybody Go’. Why? That’s why.

At There’d Better Be A Mirrorball you actually sound a bit like Nat King Cole. Coincidence?

Ha, that’s nice! Eh, yes, coincidence. On the other hand: what’s a coincidence?

You sing a lot in falsetto, you croon, sometimes you’re channelling Bowie. Are you still looking for your voice or are you finally coming close?

Always in search of! You look for a manner of singing that guides the music the easiest way. A way that’s in tune with the feeling you wanna convey. That’s the hardest part… no, that’s what you’re aiming for, that connection.

Connection with?

With what you can’t really grasp. And can’t understand. Or can’t express into words. How you as a normal little person can become part of that wonder, the music. There’s a technical component to it, by practicing a lot I can reach a higher pitch or hold a note better. Those are means. The purpose is something bigger though. There’s this great song on Sinatra at the Sands, 'Don’t Worry About Me', that he introduces as one of the best songs ever. In one part of a verse he sings a step-up note, bigger and bigger, that fills all gaps in the notes just to get to the next step. It’s off, but because of that it’s actually perfectly right. It stands out. That’s why I call magic. That’s what it’s about. Getting completely lost in that feeling and getting to a place where everything is right. Even when it’s not right. Even more so when it’s not right. Then you know it’s right.

[woodlandrealm]

tagged by @mithrandirl and @sauronpilled, thank you both<3

THIS WAS HARDER THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE JSGHKS

Answer these questions with song titles by one artist/band:

artist: Arctic Monkeys

gender: She's Thunderstorms

how do you feel: Brainstorm

if you could go anywhere: Science Fiction

favorite mode of transport: One For The Road

best friend: Star Treatment

favorite time of day: When The Sun Goes Down

if your life was a tv show: Too Much To Ask

relationship status: The Bad Thing

your fear: Fire And The Thud

tagging: @gondolindon @magicinavalon @dagordagorath @queerofthedagger @elvenhymntoelbereth

[sleepy-vix]

Idk if I’ve asked you this but what r ur fav arctic monkeys songs

oooh wait first of all, i wouldn't say im an arctic monkeys fan bc tbh idrc abt them and only listen to them when i want to, but my favourite songs are:

- library pictures

- science fiction

- one point perspective

- four out of five

- star treatment

- do i wanna know

- arabella

in no particular order :) (tho the line "the horizon tries but its just not as kind on the eyes as arabella" lives rent free in my head)

hbu, what are ur fav AM songs? also, do you listen to/like the neighbourhood? :)

[whyiwaswhereiam]

Shuffle your on repeat playlist and list the first 10 songs that play, then tag 10 people (It probably won't be 10 people...)

Thanks to @bagel--bytes for tagging me in this. Time show off my vast and terrible taste in music.

"What a Time to be Alive", So Much For Star Dust, Fall Out Boy

"Science Fiction", Tranquility Base Hotel & Casio, Arctic Monkeys

"Don't Threaten Me with a Good Time", Death of a Bachelor, Panic! At the Disco

"Somebody to Love", Greatest Hits, Queen

"Money", Mystery Skulls, Mystery Skulls

"Rosalita", The Wild The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle, Bruce Springsteen

"夜に駆ける", 夜に駆ける, Yoasobi

"Comedy", Comedy, Gen Hoshino

"20 Dollar Nose Bleed", Folie á Deux, Fall Out Boy

"La Cirucla", Desilusión-EP, Nico Play

Alright, now time for who's next...

@nitrogennightmare @rominousdizzo @gobeast37 @punchchu @9000slimes @mypenisthebarrelofthegun @vanilla-extraction

[cherrylng]

Muse Disc Guide - Black Holes and Revelations [STYLE Series #004 - Muse (August 2010)]

Black Holes and Revelations

IN MUSIC The success of their last album made them an international arena band in the UK and beyond, and after a two-year world tour, which included a triumphant Glastonbury Festival (2004), they decided to spend nearly a year and a half working on a new album. Produced by Rich Costey, as on the previous album. The band had never stuck to the established framework of guitar rock, but with no set deadlines and plenty of free time, their diverse tastes and ideas were given concrete expression on this album.

During the early stages of production in the south of France and most of the remainder in New York, they digested and absorbed a wide range of genres (from progressive rock, space rock and world music to R&B, soul and electronica). The electro-funk-tinged first single (3/ Supermassive Black Hole), in particular, was born out of their club experience in New York (although it is the only song along the same lines), and its bold transformation took the world by surprise. The song, which exposed their enterprising nature, reached their highest UK chart position to date by 4th place.

The songs feature different instrumentation, but also more versatility within a single song than ever before. The flamboyant (Queen-esque) choruses that were suppressed on the previous album are back in many places, including the rich and viscous (1/ Take A Bow). The romantic pop (2/ Starlight), the melancholy new wave (4/ Map of the Problematique), (8/ Exo-Politics), the jazzy (5/ Soldier's Poem), the march-like rhythm with slide guitar of (6/ Invincible), the aggressive guitar of (7/ Assassin), the exotic rock number (9/ City of Delusion) with acoustic guitar, strings and trumpet. The band has succeeded in creating a new innovation, expressing a grand and profound worldview through a variety of songs and a strange compositional style. "Knights of Cydonia" with a western-like space opera is a masterpiece. With this album, which naturally reached number one in the UK, the band took to the stage at the newly refurbished Wembley Stadium in 2007 as one of the UK's leading bands. —Sumi Imai

-

2006 Hit Albums

The UK scene saw the emergence of a number of energetic young bands this year. Arctic Monkeys' (A/ Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not) was a prime example. With their garage-tinged guitar sound and lyrics written by frontman Alex Turner, their debut album reached No.1 in the UK charts for the first time. Other releases that year included The Kooks' debut and Razorlight's second album, both of which were hits. Meanwhile, Snow Patrol, who had made their international debut in 2003 with their major label debut Final Straw, finally became one of the biggest bands of the year, selling 1.2 million copies of (B/ Eyes Open) in the US.

Meanwhile, the biggest US presence of the year was Gnarls Barkley, the unit consisting of Danger Mouse and Cee Lo, who also produced Gorillaz. "Crazy", also on the album (C/ St. Elsewhere), was an even bigger hit in the UK than in the US, where it held the top spot for 11 consecutive weeks. Nelly Furtado's single ‘Maneater’ from (D/ Loose) was also a big hit in the UK. The album was produced entirely by Timbaland, but Justin Timberlake's (E/ FutureSex/LoveSounds), also from Timbaland, was also one of the most popular albums of the year.

In October of the same year, Amy Winehouse's (F/ Back To Black) was also released, which went on to smash the charts all over the world the following year. In the UK, the reunited Take That's Beautiful World, released at the end of the year, spent a total of eight weeks at number one over the next year.

-

IN LYRICS

In a situation where the real world is being equated with dystopia in the tradition of science fiction, Matthew tried to inspire people's consciousness by giving them an epic story. In this sense, the lyrics of the album can be read as a vivid history book of the present time. The protagonists of the stories, such as (5/ Soldier's Poem), a lament of an unknown soldier, are ordinary people who do not appear on the stage of history.

History offers a conspiracy infested with neoconservatism, neoliberalism, wars without cause, surveillance societies, etc. Citizens without a voice in the face of this conspiracy will one day forget that they are free. Although in fact they are being deprived of their freedom by the conspirators, (1/ Take A Bow) brings to the foreground the present without freedom and at the same time condemns the conspirators by singing that ‘our freedom's consuming itself, what we've become is contrary to what we want’. In (7/ Assassin), he also condemns the mastermind of the conspiracy while describing the end of the conspiracy - the eventual birth of the assassin from the citizens' egg of despair. In other words, throughout the album, Matthew is trying to give a voice to the voiceless citizens.

However, Matthew does not degenerate into a mischievous agitator, but rather a voice that emerges from citizens asking themselves ‘who are we as individuals? This is summed up in the album title ‘Black Holes and Revelations’, which refers to how the protagonist and the history he is confronted with operate in an unknown imagination (=black hole), and how the listener's identity is revealed through the protagonist (=revelations). The lyrics tell us about the individual identity of each listener, which is revealed through the protagonist.

Matthew couldn't help but agree with the Daily Telegraph's point about the similarities between this album and Monty Python, but the black humour of Exo-Politics, which depicts an alien invasion, certainly has a distinctly British sense of humour. —Abe Kaoru

-

YEAR 2006 January - Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi and UFJ Bank merged to form The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (BTMU). February - 20th Winter Olympics held in Turin, Italy. Shizuka Arakawa wins gold in the women's single figure skating event. The name of her fascinating move, ‘Ina Bauer’, became the most popular word of the year. March - New Kitakyushu Airport opened and a new airline, StarFlyer, operated between Haneda and Kitakyushu. April - Lily Franky's Tokyo Tower: Okan to Boku to, Tokidoki, Oton (Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad) won the Honya Taisho (Japan Booksellers' Award). - Digital terrestrial television broadcasting, 1seg, was launched. May - An Inconvenient Truth, a documentary film by former US Vice-President Al Gore, was released in US theatres, raising awareness of global warming prevention worldwide. June - Montenegro declares independence from Serbia and Montenegro. Serbia also recognises it. - Muse's 4th album Black Holes and Revelations is released, topping the UK charts. - North American tour begins. 2006 - FIFA World Cup held in Germany, with Italy winning for the first time in 24 years. July - Hidetoshi Nakata of the Japanese national football team announces his retirement. August - Summer Sonic ‘06, where the band wowed the crowds with a spectacular performance. After returning to Japan, Muse performs at and headlines the Reading & Leeds Festival. September - Junichiro Koizumi retires as Prime Minister and Shinzo Abe's Cabinet is formed. October - European tour begins. - The Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters won the Japan Series in professional baseball for the first time in 44 years. November - Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe announced his retirement. December - Nintendo launched the Wii.

Translator's Note: I actually didn't know or remember that BHAR had a story to the album itself. Well, today I learned from translating these articles.

[tranquilitybasehotelcasino]

HAPPY SIXTH ANNIVERSARY TO THE SONG OF THE SECOND MINUTE HOUR DAY WEEK MONTH YEAR DECADE CENTURY

[theageoftheunderstatement]

Irish Examiner: Evolution of the species: Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys on new album, The Car

Written by Alex Green, 19/10/2022

In the two decades since they formed in Sheffield, Arctic Monkeys have evolved. The band have gone from indie upstarts to stylish retro-rockers with a penchant for vintage pianos and high concepts.

It’s been a gradual process, but one that has seen the clattering guitars of barnstorming hits such as I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor and 505 firmly dropped in favour of lush strings, smooth jazz and soul.

The Car, the band’s seventh album, completes their latest transformation, refining the template set by its predecessor, 2018’s Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino — a concept album about a luxury resort on the moon. The band’s charming, sometimes inscrutable, frontman Alex Turner says their last release helped lay the groundwork.

“I would imagine at some point there was an intention to not go anywhere near science fiction-sounding things with this record — in the lyrics or the music,” he says, picking up the phone amid studio sessions for a special recording destined for radio.

“We may have successfully evaded science fiction in the music side,” he adds with a laugh. “But there are actually a few instances where a bit of that language hangs over from the last one, probably more than I even realised.

“There’s plenty about it that feels different to me from the last one. There’s a progression in the dynamics of the whole thing. Perhaps it executes those ideas more effectively.”

Turner speaks slowly and thoughtfully, and his turn of phrase is pleasingly similar to his cryptic, often abstract song lyrics. I ask if The Car is a spiritual successor to Tranquility Base — the creative process began in the same room in Los Angeles before his move back to London.

“I wouldn’t put up that much of a fight against that,” he says before a pause. “I can’t emphatically subscribe to that idea but I can’t totally oppose it either.”

Work on the album began in earnest in summer 2021, when the band came together at Butley Priory, a 14th century monastery turned wedding venue in a remote part of Suffolk.

“That was the first time we had been back together all at once, for what felt like a really long time,” he explains. “There may have been time between the end of the tour in 2019 and the session in Suffolk when we were all together but it was really swift. It felt like we hadn’t had that energy that you get with the collective for a really long time. Definitely, the excitement was palpable.”

On The Car, Turner sings of jet skis, photoshoots and mirrorballs, a dusty and creaking vision of fame — and a more grown-up version of the adolescent angst of early Arctic Monkeys records.

One album it bears resemblance to, Turner suggests, is Nat King Cole's Where Did Everyone Go?, a sensational collection of ballads from 1963.

“There are important parts of this record that are instrumental and often in the writing process they preceded a lot of the lyrics certainly, or any of the vocal ideas,” he says. “The top of the record starts with one of them. There’s a few of them right throughout the thing. It sometimes feels like those bits have aspirations outside of a pop song — and the record is me dragging them back towards a pop song.”

He adds with a dry laugh: “That’s what I would put in my review anyway.”

The Car is also seeped in film and cinematography. In fact, Turner shot the There’d Better Be A Mirrorball video on 60mm camera during their Suffolk recording sessions. Back in 2019 he had read a book called In The Blink Of An Eye, by the Oscar-winning film editor and sound designer Walter Murch, who worked on Apocalypse Now and The Godfather trilogy.

“There’s definitely stuff when I think about things that he said in that book, and I think about this project. There was definitely a post-production phase that was elongated or prolonged … If I am thinking of that as the edit, we have this ‘shoot’ on location, if you like, in Suffolk last summer and then that was part of it.

“We went to another studio and did a bunch more overdubs. But then I felt like there was this period where we spent time putting all the sessions together. I’ve never edited a movie before but I imagine you could draw some parallels perhaps between it.”

Just a few months ago the band played confident headline sets at Reading and Leeds festivals, as well as Electric Picnic, prompting rave reviews.

At the UK gigs at least, the crowd was largely made up of teenagers too young to have experienced the band during its formative years — a new generation presumably converted by 2013’s chart-conquering AM.

Some tracks from their early days still feature in their sets, such as the mosh pit-prompting …Dance Floor.

“It really depends,” offers Turner, when asked how his relationship to those songs has changed. “I suppose that (Dance Floor) has never really been benched. It’s always been in there so it’s evolved incrementally over the last 15 years or whatever.

“The version of Dance Floor now, it almost feels like that one is a separate thing because it’s just always in there. Some of the other ones we rested for a while. This summer we were playing Ritz To The Rubble and it felt like that doesn’t come as naturally as it once did.

“There have been moments where it has felt like you are doing a cover, but I don’t think it feels like that any more. We have gone through that phase possibly. It’s something else now.

Turner is now regarded by many as one of most significant frontmen of the 21st century, and his album-to-album transformations have led to comparisons with David Bowie.

He says it’s rare that he ever looks back at the Arctic Monkeys’ catalogue as one cohesive whole.

“There was a time before this record where we were listening to some of the other ones to try and get an understanding,” he says. “But when you do that it doesn’t, to me anyway, seem that dramatic a shift between them all. Maybe if you look at the show, it would probably look really different over the years, but I’ve never done that. And even that, it’s happening over 200 nights. It changes into something else.

“I don’t think it’s a ‘sit down in the boardroom and this is what we are going to do now’ sort of thing. It’s all gradual. When you listen to the records back to back — like I said, it’s not something that I do quarterly, but I have given some attention to that twice maybe in the last 15 years — it all seems like it’s the same band to me. But you may disagree with that.”

Another mammoth tour and a likely number one, how does Turner motivate himself at the top, and where do Arctic Monkeys go from here?

“I suppose it depends on how you are looking at it. I don’t think I’ve thought about it like that — if I ever did — for a really long time. Because I don’t know if that is how it works in this band.

“To think about it like that is almost as if the big show is some sort of trophy, which it doesn’t feel like it is — or ought to be.

“To suggest there wouldn’t be anywhere to go after playing Glastonbury for the first time suggests it’s this trophy that you’re going to put up. I don’t think it feels like that from where I’m standing.”