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#(I think the chorus is catchier but this is fine too)
So, V's song dropped at midnight in SK.
Pros: I didn't have to wake up at 4:45 am to catch the MV.
Cons: I was in a work meeting so I missed it.
Anyway, the most surprising thing about Love Me Again is how unsurprising it is. When I heard V chose MHJ as a creative director of sorts, I thought it was because he wanted to go for something more commercial sounding, or a more elaborate MV, but that turned out not to be the case. The MV was, surprisingly, barely an MV. I mean, it wasn't that different from his Winter Bear MV in terms of aesthetics. It was very simplistic, very V. I guess that's why every track as an MV - most of them are probably low budget. The song itself is very V too. I was surprised that he ended up delivering something along the lines of what I had initially expected from him.
The song is definitely nice and I like that he's doing something very him. The chorus is catchy! His voice sounded nice, and I think he managed to show a different side to his singing even if the song itself is what we expected. I don't have anything to add. The lyrics are fine, but romantic lyrics are usually a miss for me - I'm just not interested in them.
I suspect JK will be even more criticized for being the only member so far not to write his debut song. It's a bit disappointing that he's the only one who did that tbh. Jin wrote, at least, the Korean lyrics for The Astronaut (I don't remember if he composed the song as well), and the song itself was for us, but that wasn't really a solo debut, so it didn't have to represent him as an artist. Jungkook's goal so far with his music seems to be to become a pop star, and also explore more genres of music, which means there isn't necessarily anything he wants to achieve musically, but rather he wants his music to have a certain kind of impact and certain kind of sound, so it doesn't matter who writes it or how personal it is to him - which is at odds with the other members who had a specific message or sound in mind when they released their music.
Here I go on Jungkook again, unprovoked, but yeah... Still, the other members' work isn't necessarily better. Love Me Again is perhaps better than Seven in many ways, but apart from the rap and lyrics, Seven is catchier, the instrumental might be prettier, and Jungkook's vocals are better to me, so I would still rather listen to Seven overall (now that I'm used to what I don't like about it). I don't really listen to the other solo releases tbh, but I find myself wanting to listen to Seven and Dreamers, for example. As always, there's a difference between what's musically better and what is more pleasing and easy to listen to, which is one of the reasons why Jungkook has more commercial success. Perhaps I shouldn't be so closed minded about that. An artist isn't just someone who writes their music. We don't think less of actors for not writing their own scripts.
Jungkook is always on my brain, sorry!
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insomnihan · 3 years
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han’s Entire Thoughts & Feelings on Dreamcatcher’s “BEcause”
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WE ARE F UCKING UNDER ATTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
there are no read mores here so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
ALRIGHT SO-
THE SONG WHERE DO I START WELL- I SAW A COMMENT SOMEWHERE THAT WAS LIKE ‘THIS HAS GOODNIGHT CREEPINESS WITH RED SUN ESSENCE’ WHOEVER THAT WAS YOUR BRAIN IS GINORMOUS™ AND WRINKLY- IF YOU LISTEN TO IT THE SLIGHT SUMMER VIBE IS TOTALLY THERE YET THE PIANO AND THE HARP (MAYBE I DUNNO BUT WHAT I DOONO IS THAT IT SLAPS) THE PRE CHORUS BUILD UP FAST AS HELL THE DRUMS ARE FAST AS S HIT THE CLOCK IS SO CREEPY THE GUITAR IS JUST ASDFFJGHLHKL;;’ THE DOUBLE TIME DURING DAMIS RAP THAT WAS LITERALLY™ AN ATTEMPT TO TAKE MY LIFE (they were this 👌 close istg) AND THEN THE BRDIGE…………………… SOMEONE TAKE THE WHEEL-
AND THEN THEIR VOICES POWERFUL AS ALWAYS AND THAT F UCKING DISTORTION S HIT DURING ‘FOREVER LOVE AND FOREVER MINE’ IS ACTUAL DR*GS- i dunno what it is but the instrumental being like that and then (to me anyway) theres such a sweet undertone (???) in how they sing and then knowing the lyrics likE I KNOW THEYRE OBSESSED- B O I DO I MISS A FAST DAMI RAP P L E A S E I FEEL LIKE SHES THREATENING ME I LOVE THAT PSYCHO NOISE B ICYJ- THAT BRIDGE IS F UCKING CRAZY SIYEONS AND HANDONGS AND YOOHYEONS GENTLE VOICES AND THEN S U A!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOUREALLYGOTTACOMEOUTOFTHELEFTGODDAMNFIELDWITHTHATICANTSTANDYOUHOWDAREYOUJUSTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hello hello for the dance section i will be using THE mcountdown performance yEAH THE ONE POSTED BEFORE THE ACTUAL MV/ALBUM DROP- FIRST OF ALL THE INTRO sorry i have to talk about this theyre so creepy and doll like and jiu is so menacing lIKE WHAT THE F UCK IS THAT (someone answer me what iN THE F CUK did she feed yoohyeon)- NOW ANYWAY I HAVE THINGS TO SAY ABOUT THE ACTUAL DANCE-
OFF THE BAT THE MIRROR INTRODUCTION IS *CHEFS KISS* and then gahyeon choking jiu?????????? LORE????????? IN CHOREOGRAPHY?????????
LISTEN. L I S T E N. ALL OF THEM LIFTING YOOHYEON AT 1:29 LIKE THATS INSANE AND SO FITTING FOR THIS SONG AND VIBE plus yknow………………… handong doing a lot of the lifting………… 👉👈
this specific video doesnt show it during suas verse (which is like Rude™ but fine they show it elsewhere obv) but when shes singing and the rest of them are dropping down slowly………………… yeah-
THE CHORUS EVERY👏SINGLE👏F UCKING👏TIME👏 LIKE THE POSE THEY DO FOR ‘BE’?????????????? THE POWER AND THE GENIUS™ OF IT??????????????????????
DAMI UNHAND ME UNHOLY DEMON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the bridge…………… the rocking from side to side…………… whatever the f uck handong and yoohyeon are doing…………… it was almost like sua was controlling everyone right like deadass im scared-
THE DANCE BREAK PLS LET ME BREATHE
the ending with everyone bowing but gahyeon…………
BICTH……………… BICHY- THE VISUALS JUST KEEP LEVELING THE F UCK UP THATS LIT RALLY INSANE I LOVE THAT FOR THEM- the moment that mystery code was revealed and we were getting demented creepy carnival i waS V I B R A T I N G™ WITH EXCITEMENT the creepy scenery of the  dark hotel lobby and the rundown carnival with the merry go round and teacups AND WITH A CULT and the hallway with the mirrors and the lights (like the use of SO much red and green……… the symbolism………) JUST EVERYTHING IS SO F UCKING ABANDONED AND S HIT- THE LITERAL MIRRORING AND DIMENSION S HIT WHAT THE F UCK!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT CREEPY ASS ROOM WHERE THEY KIDNAPPED GAHYEON IN AND SIYEON WAS ACTING ALL TWITCHY OR WHATEVER WHAT WAS THAT-
TIME TO SHOW WHICH SCENES I LIKED
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THE WHOLE GODDAMN THI-
(jk ☺️)
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OFF THE BAT GAHYEON MAIN CHARACTER I KNOW THATS RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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…………………… i just wanted to put this here-
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i just wanted to put this here too-
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HOW DID YOU EVEN GET HERE
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id like to think that the real handong is one getting dragged away and the one standing is the doppelganger (for Plot™ purposes)
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W H A T T H E F U C K
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I DUNNO WHAT TO SAY OTHER THAN IM SCARED-
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G OD WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE THIS PART WAS SO WEIRD WHAT DOES THIS MEAN WHAT DOES IT MEAN
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HELLO??????????????????
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yeah sure let me take this apple from this broken mirror where another me lies within the walls of this creepy hotel anD EAT IT
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W E L P-
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………………………………… F-
T H E M
I DUNNO HOW IM BREATHING RN-
JIU
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whaT IN THE F UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS SCENE IN THIS SCREENSHOT IS ALREADY A LOT the way she looks seemingly unassuming and harmless in that reception desk that brown and white outfit (is her hair in like………… pigtails???) and then the smile to the instant glare you jusT KNOW youre gonna d*e in that place- MAAAAN BANGS OR NO BANGS SHES STUNNING EITHER WAY AND THATS SO RUDE��……… the white dress and those red ACTUAL TALONS will be the d*ath of me
SUA
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if i counted correctly she had three (3) different outfits??? outside of the dance ones??? white and red then black and purple then that green and black one??? i think of all of those i really like the red and the green one theres SOMETHING ABOUT THEM i think the green one with the big puffy sleeves more NOT BC ITS MY FAVORITE COLOR I SWEAR the green looks silky and then she also has the thing on the side of her face the pearls in her hair- AND THEN THAT RED ONE with the white sleeves and the frilly collar dude whAT THE F UCK LIKE I KNOW WE SAW IT A LOT BUT I WANNA SEE MORE THO……………
SIYEON
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OKAYOKAYOKAY LOOK- THIS OUTFIT IN THIS SCREENSHOT I FEEL LIKE I SHOULDNT LIKE IT YET I DO????????????? two completely different looking patterns that animal print and the strips and then that big ass belt (???) around her waist like this shouldnt be like a GOOD look i dont think……… truly only She™ could make this look work 😔😔😔 i got A LOT A LOT to say about the red and orange plaid crop top and skirt with the different colored clips in her head but the only thought going through my Dumb of Ass Stupid Brain™ iS HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-
HANDONG
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HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MY NATURAL BLONDE BELOVED this white dress and the BLACK BOOTS AND THE CHOKER SHE BETTER S TOP- AND DO NOT I REPEAT D O N O T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SPEAK TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ON THAT SHORT WHITE DRESS WITH THE WHITE BOOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHOEVER STYLED HER YOU DONT CARE ABOUT ME AND THE OTHER HANDONGISTS YET I ALSO LOVE YOU SO MUCH the one with the pink dress dont talk to me dont approach me donT EVEN F UCKING LOOK AT ME IM GOING THROUGH A LOT RN
YOOHYEON
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im really Dumb of Ass™ i thought that one pink and (maybe???) super light blue dress had a clock on it- BUT MOVING ON FROM THAT the space buns and whatever those accessories those are and the pink makeup this is sO- then the white dance outfit with those (mesh??? lace??? i just know that its see through-) sleeves and those big ass earrings THAT LOOK AT 2:24 the boots (yeah i gotta mention that first since i just ALWAYS have to mention them) the white blazer all those pearl long ass necklaces and whatever that is on the side of her face why do her visuals HURT SO BAD-
DAMI
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bicth…………………………………… B I C T H- WHAT HAS THIS WOMAN BEEN DOING??????!!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!??!??!?!?! THIS OUTFIT IS SUCH AN ATTACK I DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT IS ON HER FACE THIS WHOLE LOOK IS SOMETHING ELSE™ her tattoo 🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵 that bottom part of her hair is kinda clapped tho honestly- the pig tails?????? braids?????? in the dancing part on the black and white tiles IM DOWN YALL IM DOWN SO BAD AND ITS F UCKING RUDE™ THAT WE DONT SEE S HIT OF THAT DRESS AT THE END-
GAHYEON
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IM GONNA SAY IT AGAIN LEE👏GAHYEON👏MAIN👏CHARACTER👏I👏KNOW👏THATS👏RIGHT👏👏👏👏👏👏👏!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS RED HAIR IS A BLESSING (especially in that high ponytail i-) SHE IS ATTACKING ME BUT YKNOW WHAT THATS OKAY- im SURE theres a plot significance to her two different dresses the mostly black and the mostly white but my brain can only register WOMAN PRETTY that white one in particular…………… the choker with her hair up and those boots…………… i saw it clear as day and im d wording over it-
BONUS TIME: B-SIDE TRACKS (thoughts and parts i liked)
Intro
i usually expect the intro to be like SUPER HYPE AND INTENSE yknow which it kinda is! however it is consistent that it fits very well and captures the overall vibe of the entire album the calm beginning with the bell like were walking into an establishment and at the halfway point it picks up its intriguing and the ‘i like you’ adds a subtle eeriness that adds just enough to make one wanna continue listening its v good 👌
Airplane
LISTEN……………… LISTEN- this is the VERY LAST genre i expected out of this group YET im not even a little bit shocked that they did this like this cutesy izone-esque summer bop of a song is a DREAMCATCHER™ song……………… YALL- THE AMOUNT OF SEROTONIN THAT ‘AIRPLANE LALALALALALA~~~~~~~’ BRINGS IS SOMETHING SO PERSONAL THIS SECOND GENERATION SUMMERY ASS INSTRUMENTAL WHAT IN THE F UCK- I FEEL LIKE IM RUNNING ON THE BEACH I FEEL THE COLD WIND OF THE WATER BUT THE HEAT OF THE SUN AGAINST MY SKIN AND IM PLAYING WITH A DAMN BEACH BALL WITH A COCONUT DRINK (I F UCKING H*TE LEAVING MY HOUSE) JIU AND DAMI SOUND SO F UCKING PHENOMENAL
Whistle
im pretty firm on believing these b sides represent different times of a summer day and this is the late evening or twilight like not nighttime but CLOSE- i thought i wasnt gonna like the whistling part but that only makes it catchieR THIS SONG IS MAKING ME YEARN AND TRYING TO RECALL LOVELY MEMORIES I DONT EVEN HAVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! then again……………… theres always usually a song on their albums that make me unlock and feel hidden emotions………… THIS SONG GOT ME MISSING A PERSON THAT ISNT REAL this is such a mellow yet so powerful in the way they sing and express each syllable- they all did so good on this song but i gotta mention dami again for her part like oH mY gOoOoOooOoOOOooOD
Alldaylong
JIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the way this song was inspired by a hug jiu got from yoohyeon…………… THIS IS NOT A JOKE she said ‘i wanna try city pop’ anD SHE DONE DID IT- i have NO IDEA how this song managed to hold so much joy and light happiness in every word and instrument used in this but im :ccccccc i literally wanna hug someone after listening to this 😔😔😔 this also makes me yearn for something but at least this one isnt unrealistic or unobtainable i dont think! there are some songs out there that make me cry from its lyrics and its sound but THIS ONE the lyrics and just how happy this song is bro reading the lyrics im about to cry for like the fifth time- they who im love so much… :ccccccc doesnt it make you just wanna hug someone and tell them you love them????????? that you appreciate them??????????
해바라기의 마음 (A Heart of Sunflower)
i knew FOR A FACT FOR👏A👏FACT👏 that they were gonna have a ballad for this album bc road to utopia didnt have one i will admit i was one of the 🤡 that thought jiu would be credited on this song 😬😬😬 ANYWAY- AGAIN WITH THE DAMN YEARNING FOR SOMETHING BUT THIS TIME IM F UCKING SAD AS S HIT why must this song be so powerful to make me emotional before i even got to read the lyrics to fully grasp it……………………… now im truly yearning in the Sad™ way and waiting for some imaginary person who i dont even know will even come back…………………… those damn adlibs are pretty as hell it was sua (and i have to mention dami again okay shes really killing it on this she woNT LET ME LIVE-) who got me feeling this the most like yeah…………………… i am a fool…………… im a fool for loving and missing someone who just disappeared from my lifE G O D D A M N IT-
LIKE this is COMPLETELY surprising album BUT IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE as its described it really is a ‘special’ album as while the title track still has their music style and sound theres still an element of summer (a very Terrifying™ summer BUT a ✨Summer✨ album nonetheless) like the b sides are SO different and COMPLETELY caught me off guard when i listened to the highlight medley YET this group of seven amazing and talented women pulled it off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! its extremely obvious at this point that their steady and organic growth has grown VERY HIGH this time and (although im still very confused by how everything was released and announced BUT i digress) this different kind of method in performing the song the day before seemed to work?????????? I DUNNO WHAT TO SAY ANYMORE this section could literally be summed to just I LOVE DREAMCATCHER SO MUCH 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
IN CONCLUSION: LISTEN TO THIS ALBUM BECAUSE ITS BOMB AS F UCK
AND AS ALWAYS
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berrymeter · 3 years
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ok perth u probably didn't see the oneus cb yet but i gotta give u my thoughts please take my thoughts.
black mirror: it feels a little atrocious and cheesy and i actually love it like it's just a catchy song!! they could have gone harder but i'm okay with it. the mv is VERY valkyrie which is cute but also boring. none of the shots really wowed me also rbw tanked their budget for this cb.. and some of their fits suck. for me this is a step up from banbakbulga though
connect with us: letdown letdownnnn i would honestly rather listen to the outro version of this song. there is no movement there is no buildup. but xion has a verse so 🥰🥰 i guess
polarity: THIS IS THE ONE.. catchy as hell mwah
happy birthday: save me. save them. the chorus is nice honestly and i like this producer but the aggressively heterosexual corny english interjections really took me out of the vibe.. it's not my birthday i'm not your girlfriend shut up shut uppppp
valkyrock: mixed feelings bc it really just feels like valkyrie with poorly arranged hard guitar in the bg there were some weird instrumental choices too. it serves its purpose which is to be a cool concert remix. there are some cool moments tho especially with the main guitar which i can only assume is kanghyun just shredding it good for him. could have gone harder with the rock concept
so overall this cb... just okay. i'm okay with it! it's def not a come back home or a tbontb (i actually LOVED tbontb era sfsgdfdgdg even the acoustic guitar in the chorus) but frankly it wasn't trying to be that. still feels pretty oneus. anywayyy this is long! i just wanted to like. open a discussion lol don't feel pressured to respond!! -tt
i can finally start answering this ohohoho
hi tt anon my beloved!!! i am ready to answer to these thoughts (aka compare them to mine hSDGHSDKJGH. also i’ll be writing like, each ThoughtTM after i’ve listened to each song, so while i’m typing that i’ve only heard black mirror)
ok so i’m done typing my thoughts and. it got VERY long. don’t apologise for length i’m also wordy <3
now connect with us. so far i didn’t like the voice editing on keonhee’s voice but the song sounds... alright... not groundbreaking but it’s alright. seoho my beloved <3 WAIT THERES NO DROP IN THE CHORUS???? WHAT THE FUCK? i don’t really like the typical kpop drops always used now but come on?? oh wait there’s a? ugh. that was nothing. well i guess it’s a song and dongju got a verse for sure. i don’t have a lot to say on it i don’t know if i’ll add it to any playlists IS THAT HWANWOONG’S FIRST LINE?????? what the hell is any of this DSKJFHKJHD i may not have noticed him before but huh what. eh. it’s a song. again maybe it’ll grow on me! but right now yeah it’s a letdown i agree.
so for black mirror i agree the mv was... cheaper than what we got with gaja, twilight & etc. like they used all the budget on their first mvs DNSKJFHKJ (and to be or not to be... i guess? i don’t remember much except Guns And Blood Bath). i don’t really mind it in itself bc i don’t watch mvs much anymore and i’ve accepted that sometimes companies will just throw whatever at the audience for the sake of money (see also: ugly dance by onf letting me down in great part bc it acts as a followup to beautiful beautiful but is literally just a performance mv with no storytelling elements whatsoever but eh what can you do right) but for someone who likes cinematography it’s definitely gonna be disappointing if they were expecting something like gaja or come back home. as for the fits i didn’t really look at them, mostly their faces? and ough they are pretty <3 but yeah i wanted to get the more negative criticism out of the way so i can talk about The Song because unexpectedly i actually really like it!! and we can thank the bassline for that LMAOOO honestly this is gonna sound mean for no reason but this is what w*nho (censoring in case it gets in tags... i do NOT need mbbs after me on this fine day) thought he was doing with his debut song (not losing you that one made me cry. the one that i forgot the name of). i really enjoy the vibe of the song even if imo it doesn’t really fit the visual concept very much? but it has strings and i’m not gonna say no to strings. strings and a sexy bassline. and yonghoon’s whistling. SHFSDHKH
no but it’s a really good song imo! it’s not... as good as say, twilight (maybe it’ll grow on me idk we’ll see but twilight really was one of their best so), but it’s still a pretty solid song and while i do like banbakbulga a lot now it feels a lot less oneus than black mirror. oh wait i have something else to say, they really should leave the rapping to ravn bc like we know kpop rappers are not really rappers but i. really don’t wanna hear leedo rap anymore. he has great vocals there’s no reason for that... ravn is genuinely enjoyable to listen to so i don’t mind him but pls rbw give leedo more vocal lessons so he can sing more (and also give dongju vocal lessons at all?? why does he get two lines per song??? they’re a 2 yr old group now there’s no excuse. is he that bad? i don’t buy it he sounded good in the rtk gaja)
black mirror also very vaguely reminded me of run away by got7 during the chorus for some reason feel free to ignore that HFKJSHKFJ
onto polarity! shit i really need wrist braces. well this is like an improved connect with us? it’s definitely catchier sdnfsjkdfh and definitely a oneus song tho that means i don’t really like what their style is headed toward... one of the percussions they keep using, i really don’t like it!! i hear it everywhere and i don’t like it! not bc i hear it everywhere but bc it’s used for anything and everything like u should be more careful with what sounds u use for what songs. but i’m also very picky in the little details when i’m focused on something i guess sndfjskh. keonhee sounds really good in this song thank u mr lisp for my life i love u :) OH WAIT LEEDO IN THE CHORUS??? VERY GOOD LET’S GET MARRIED jk not to a leo man.
then we got happy birthday....... um... i was gonna say this is fine then he said you’re my goddess and. let me out <3 NOOO KEONHEE SOUNDS SO GOOD THIS IS EVIL... WHY DOES HE SOUND SO GOOD ON THIS SONG NANODNONDD LOVE LOSES </////3 i wouldn’t say it’s unlistenable for me like english girl but i’m gonna have to turn off my english speaking brain to listen to it yeah. it’s a good song otherwise what a shame... stop pushing ur heterosexual words onto me i’m just trying to listen to a song!!! do songs have to be gendered!!!!!!!!!
valkyrock here we go. last one. last one boys & not boys. so far it’s nice tbh. HUH? they lost the vibe with ravn’s verse. okay i guess the prechorus is alright i can hear the faintest hint of strings. the chorus... the percussions should not be like that... like idk how to explain it but the rhythm is too regular and not spaced out enough, if they were gonna do it like that it should hit a lot harder. don’t give me just the big boy (idk the english name but u know the one on the drums) and the small cymbal sound... that’s not loud enough bring out the damn gong (ok i may exaggerate but like it sounds more dancey than rock either way). uhhhhh overall though i really like the mix of the heavy guitar & strings i think that’s great and they should do that more. i can only assume onewe took care of the instruments LMAO harin u should’ve gone harder than that king i know u can...
so uhmmm for me this cb is... better than the previous one. which is sad bc it was a full album. i also liked it better than tbontb bc i felt that one didn’t go hard enough and black mirror wasn’t trying to go hard in that way so it doesn’t bother me 😭 yeah it’s not light us raise us fly with us level but it’s really good still. i can’t wait for oneus to finally release something that makes me insane but tbh? tbh? the bassline might get me there anyway. sexy bass makes me deranged and i think that’s at least a little bit relatable. still... when oneus get back to their roots in ways other than valkyrock maybe we’ll ascend to a better plane. much love 💕
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cottonloid · 4 years
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Cotton Playlist: Unicorn
I wanted to write about Vocaloid songs I like, so I did. Here are my thoughts on Teniwoha and their latest song, “Unicorn.”
UNICORN, by Teniwoha
On February 7, 2020, Teniwoha uploaded “Villain” to their YouTube channel. Their previous song, “Bradbury,” had been uploaded in August 2019, and has at time of writing raked up a respectable 261,500 hits. Although Teniwoha had been uploading music to YouTube since 2014, only one song, “Meitantei Renzoku Satsujinjiken” had managed to break the million-view barrier. That song was uploaded in 2016. Teniwoha’s songs over the next four years received decent attention, with a few surpassing 100K and even 500K in views. But other songs languished with fewer than 50K views. Even “9,” a collaboration with emon(Tes.), has only managed to net 33,000 views.
I don’t know why Teniwoha received relatively little YouTube attention during this period. Maybe it was the state of the Vocaloid community during this time. Maybe they were not favored by the fickle gods of the YouTube algorithm. Maybe their songs missed the musical zeitgeist. Whatever the reason, the dry spell ended with “Villain,” which performed like no Teniwoha song before it. At time of writing, it sits at 4,850,000 views on YouTube. That’s not counting covers.
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I’ve been a fan of Teniwoha since 2014, and I’m glad “Villain” was a big hit. I love “Villain,” even though it’s not my favorite Teniwoha song. But I’m not here to talk about “Villain” (even though I will actually be talking a lot more about “Villain”). I want to talk about “Unicorn,” which I like a little more.
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How do we quantify the success of a song or an artist? I’ve been throwing out a lot of statistics, and sure, we can say that’s a measure of popularity. By that measure, “Unicorn” is the dark horse to “Villain.” Uploaded three months after Teniwoha’s biggest YouTube hit, it currently has 322K views. Not bad. But at this point, it’s not going to replicate the statistical success of “Villain,” despite the similarities between the songs. And there are quite a few similarities. Both videos feature illustrations by Nekoko. Both are about marginalized (pretty clearly queer) identities and create joy out of subversion and adversity. Both have an industrial-rock sound to them.
Comparing the two songs, I think it’s clear why “Villain” was the hit. It has a catchier, dynamic chorus and a badass keyboard riff. In comparison, the chorus in “Unicorn” kind of drifts downwards, then up, then down, then up again, before finally hitting that punchy, “Now! I’m a unicorn now!” “Villain” actually pulls a similar trick in its chorus—after the keyboard comes in, the vocals float back in to sing the title of the song. It’s neat. But it doesn’t blow me away quite like “Unicorn.” The chorus leading up to that part is less flashy, though the jeering/cheering sound at the beginning is a nice addition. But it builds up to a show-stealing synthesizer, and instead of the song’s title sounding like an afterthought, it bursts gleefully forth—“I’m a unicorn NOW!” This part sounds like a prancing horse (complete with clip-clop sounds in the background), and I love it.
It’s the bridge between the verse and chorus that really stands out. It shows up with force and confidence, taking what has until that point been a rhythmically measured song and propelling it forward. The tuning is great, and this is coming from someone who often does not like flower. The little squeak Teniwoha puts into their voice is extremely satisfying. Teniwoha deftly utilizes flower’s gruff low/mid-range, and there’s a tremoring quality to some of the vocals that feels appropriately horse-y (hoarse-y?).
But I don’t actually know shit about music. The real reason why “Unicorn” just barely edges out “Villain” for me is that it’s slightly more playful. And I think play is Teniwoha’s biggest strength. So in “Unicorn,” he gets to show off.
If I had to describe Teniwoha as an artist in two words, those words would be “playful” and “versatile.” Teniwoha primarily makes rock music, but if you listen to his backlog, you’ll hear a wide variety of styles. I’d name some, but again, I don’t know shit about music. And I don’t think all of Teniwoha’s songs fit neatly into genre conventions. For instance, they described their song “Onomatopetenshi” as “neo rakugo funk music.”
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“Onomatopetenshi” is kind of the perfect Teniwoha song. It is basically a vessel for them to make a song entirely of puns. My Japanese language skills aren’t good enough to fully appreciate it, and to my knowledge, nobody has translated it. For obvious reasons. For instance, there are lyrics that translate roughly to “drunkenness, a good slave, old age, spirit fire.” That doesn’t make a lot of sense. But those lyrics (酔いどれ良い奴隷養老霊火) are pronounced, “yoidore yoidorei yourou rei hi.” Sure enough, the vocals yodel. (Skip to 0:33 in the song to hear it for yourself.)  
In another song, “Kyuubi goryoue mystery ~tenketsu~,” Teniwoha pens the infuriating line, “Look in fear upon the bon festival.” Which is fine in itself. But that line (恐れ見よ盆挿話) is pronounced “osore miyo bon souwa,” and is phonetically similar to “o sole mio, bonsoir.”
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I think a witch cursed Teniwoha to make them write puns for the rest of their life.
Anyhow, my point is that Teniwoha can write a range of songs and have a great time doing it. My favorite Teniwoha songs are the ones that revel in their own deviousness. “Devious” feels like an appropriate word to describe someone who makes as many puns as Teniwoha. Ironically, “Villain” is a song that is textually about being devious. But it’s kind of heavy, thematically. The song finds its joy and soars in some places, but it’s a joy that is painfully earned. Embracing the role of the villain can feel empowering, but it’s a role other people have chosen for the song’s narrator.
As in “Villain,” the narrator in “Unicorn” declares themselves to be a unicorn. But it’s less clear that other people forced the narrator into this role, so this declaration reads to me as self-affirmation. There’s still a sense of bitterness in this song, but it a little more playful, a little more weaponized. (Like a unicorn horn???) The vibe is very, “Feeling abandoned by god? Cool. Let’s burn everything down.” It’s the difference between “hated life/蛇蝎ライフ” and “the joys and sorrows of life/苦楽ライフ.”
Teniwoha also gets to do a little more wordplay in “Unicorn,” rhyming English words like ark/mark/dark, melancholy/holy, and unicorn/you become/unison. Then there are some cross-language puns like “smile” and “数mile” (pronounced “suu mile”). The poetics of these lyrics are just generally great. There was some of that in “Villain,” of course, but the tone of the song is maybe a bit heavy for too many puns. I think that due to the slightly lighter tone in “Unicorn,” Teniwoha gets to flex their lyrical muscles a little. And write puns.
This wordplay also works thematically. Teniwoha bends linguistic meaning while his lyrics challenge a black/white binary. The unicorn’s very existence makes a mockery of this binary, just as puns throw linguistic sense into gleeful confusion. There’s a new meaning being made here.
Of course, this also happens in “Villain” to an extent. As always, my preference is simply a matter of taste. Both “Villain” and “Unicorn” are great queer anthems. But the spiteful jubilance of “Unicorn” matches my mood a little more right now. Or maybe I just like that the song sounds like a horse. And really, I’m just glad that more people are listening to Teniwoha now. After six years, they deserve it.
Now please go stream Teniwoha’s “Mononoke Mystery” album. It’s on Spotify, and it’s their best work.
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theoriginalbread · 3 years
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Fine Line - Harry Styles Album Review
Go easy on me, I am no professional at writing, reviewing, explaining my thoughts, nor at grammar.
Everything is as objective as possible but some reviews may definitely and will definitely be biased slightly. :-)
Golden - summer. A song filled with incredibly upbeat lyrics that carry a stronger message than they initially and melodically suggest. Catchier than the flu. It takes a hold of the listener and turns their neck to the sunset beyond the meadow and says, “listen.” It fills you with a harmony of “da da da da’s” that encompasses both ears. Tremendous energy.
Watermelon Sugar - summertime in the 90’s. Laid back, funky, but most importantly, short reverb on the voice. California-esque lead guitar. Horns as the perfect level of mid-high tones. Makes you think of delicious watermelons and warm air.
Adore You - the theme of fruit continues, purity. a love letter written to the love of the author’s mind. “I’d walk through fire for you, just let me adore you.” Deep rich bass with the main melody in full motion. A rhythm that keeps the head bobbing, shoes tapping, and shoulders moving. Hopelessly romantic, this author. ‘No need for you to do a thing honey, just let me adore you.’ Incredible. Great distorted guitar tones.
Lights Up - The song is emptier in composition. Short to zero reverb on instruments. Simple, quiet drums. The message of confusion, the absence of sound amplifying this. “Do you know who you are?” “(Shine) step into the light! (Shine) so bright sometimes! (Shine) I’m not ever going back!” A command given by a confused person. Their beliefs of this lover completely flipped around and demanding answers. Just one loose theory but maybe not.
Cherry - another song that sounds lonely, just his voice. Nobody else and a confession. Begging, remorse. Please don’t call anyone what you called me and maybe it was for the better that we split but know I love you and respect you don’t call him what I used to be to you. The longing in the arrangement of the sounds and the addition of the strings to the song add to the melancholic feel of the voice. The upbeat progression overshadowed by the pain. Cherry on top is the voice note at the ending and the silence from him as he speaks his love language of music to her, whilst she speaks. (Personal favorite but I tried to approach this as objectively as I could.)
Falling - there is nothing but me, empty room, and sadness. The piano reverberates throughout the emptiness he feels. “The love letters are many about you, and we’ve run out of excuses to give ourselves.” He feels he might be nothing of notice in their life once they revert to strangers. He was another ordinary guy. He’s scared of himself being the reason the relationship fell apart too. Depression as a song.
To Be So Lonely - the guitar sounds muted and quiet. A moment where the sounds are coming back and the beat returns. Slow and mellow yet still strong. Buzzing strings, tremolo or vibrato on the electric guitar. Strings remain yet sing a new tune of possible hope. “Don’t call me what you used to call me, I need to be alone.” He’s climbing from the bottom of the spiral and has regained his strength.
She - another love letter, in odd form. She’s so important to me that I cannot get her out of my mind. The time being important as a reminder that even the time, numbers on a clock face, means something about her. He delegates the run for coffee like he knows what to do at the simple look of the time because it is for her. He wants to sail away and tell none of his friends because he couldn’t explain how he felt. She’s incredibly impacted his entire life and he doesn’t want anything else. “I don’t know where she is.” Could be that he’s aware of how incredibly romanticized his perception of her is and that he’d rather it anyway. He plays pretend and he doesn’t know where “she” is but he daydreams of her. Incredible guitar solos and yes - there is more than one guitar being played!
Sunflower vol. 6 - a sunflower is beautiful to look at and see and will always be so. you never want to bother one or block it’s sun, you love the shade. An entry in another page of the love letter. The author wants to let their lover know that he’d never think about disturbing her. Very strong melody and backing instruments with a strong and simple drum loop. The electric sound effects adding a touch of whimsy and fun, upbeat.
Canyon Moon - the author uses a calmer tone, back to the beginning of a solid, percussive rhythm with rich, deep acoustic guitar. The chorus returns and he sings so much more like himself. Excitement to return home and to familiar feelings, normalcy. Bright melody, cheery even.
Treat People with Kindness - rejuvenated spirits and the urge to treat everyone with incredible compassion. forgiving those who wronged him and regaining confidence. The solitude isn’t gruesome any longer and he remembers what the day feels like and comes out more gleeful. Tough stuff happens but we continue. Evidenced strongly by the entire choir singing and the strong voice and confidence. A mantra for positivity.
Fine Line - atmospheric, empty, and filled with sorrow and lethargic sounds. the slow, quiet guitar, not refined, as if played in the moment of grief. Beautiful deep bass notes with isolated highs that add depth and a feeling of loss and weightlessness. Falsetto singing to add to the angelic and somber ambience. “We’ll be a fine line.” We could be an example of a good thing or we could move forward in life together as friends. The song is the confession that was written in the middle but sounds amazing at the end. It’s almost as if the final minutes of the song serve as nothing but reassurance that they will live after this pain.
The ending that perfectly encapsulates the constant up and down a person experiences during a break up with someone significant to them. The “we’ll be alright, we’ll be alright” lyric demonstrates the growth and healing the author has done and reveals maturity behind the excuses. Perhaps too late because the relationship has ended romantically, but it doesn’t have to spell the end of a good platonic relationship.
Overall, this album is a strong 9.5/10 in my books. It has all the themes I love to talk and think about. Beautiful sounding vocals and absolutely incredible tunes.
Hope this wasn’t so muddled to understand and will gladly elaborate on anything in my asks!
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techouspeaks · 5 years
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My Thoughts on Star Twinkle Precure!
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Read more to find out what I think of the first episode! Does this shine like a star or crash and burn like Lala’s rocket?
Let’s start off with the main cure, we have a typical happy go lucky main hero. No surprise. She’s alright, I really do wish that Toei would give us a lead with different personalities. Like a tomboy lead again, which we honestly haven’t seen since I think Suite Precure or make the lead cure be a huge book worm that’s very logical. Not really shy but you know, just doesn’t believe in things like magic at first. Or someone that doesn’t get along with people because most thinks she’s weird but she believes in magic and that’s why. You know just someone a little different than the happy go lucky, “I’m a clutz because I’m the main character!”
Lala we dunno much about since she didn’t speak much. I feel like she maybe another Riko just more on the shy side. Though it’s nice that she didn’t understand Hikaru at first. That was a nice touch.
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The mascots are okay. The baby fairy got on my nerves but there are worse baby characters than her and at least, this one is useful like Hugtan. I was hoping to do without a baby fairy for a while…
The blue mascot is an odd choice design. Kind of a poor one but eh…I’ll live with it.
Transformation actually very original. I like that she sings during the transformation, like how a little kid would if they were to pretend to do their own transformation except with a professional singer. I like the star transformation device. That looks cool. The pen could be a more original design but as is, it’s cute and passable.
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Star Punch attack is the lamest attack I’ve seen but I’ll give it a pass because all first attacks start off pretty lame, with an exception of a few. (Go Princess, Heartcatch, Suite Precure)
Villain has got a butt ugly design but I’ll give credit, it’s original in it’s ugliness. It’s a new feat of ugly for sure and at least he looks and is threatening. Looks like we’re going back to Happiness Charge Precure where the cures have to fight not only possible monsters but Power Ranger esc minions. That’s interesting I guess.
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Though what bothers me is how Hikaru did not die in space because she was in the vacuumed of space! How are they breathing? I mean granted I know that you wouldn’t die immediately but you would be choking because it’s called a “vacuum” for a reason! I know I shouldn’t question the logic of an anime where magical fluff balls come out of notebooks, but come on! There’s gotta be some to make sense of certain things! Come on! That’s a bit of bad writing!
Animation passable. It works at least and the colors used in this are pretty and colorful without hurting your eyes.
First leak we actually have a leak of the new precure joining, it’s suppose to be a cat girl, but she looks like a wolf girl to me and well. Her name is Cure Cosmo and well that’s the name of the wolf in Voltron Legendary Defender.
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She looks cool but I really hate the skirt. Like it’s not Cure Parfait level of awful but it’s not that great either. She looks like she’s wearing an umbrella for a skirt. Everything else looks cool on her, just not the skirt.
Opening theme pretty nice, I love the instruments in the back. The chorus could be a little catchier but as is, it’s not bad at all. I could hum this theme a little bit. The visuals are nice and interesting. Honestly, this is the first time in a long time where I had to say something nice about the opening. I could listen to this opening fine. Mahou Tsukai’s, Kira Kira’s and even Hugtto Precure themes I wouldn’t listen to at all but This theme, I could listen to a lot for the instruments in it alone.
Ending theme is where it is! I played it a couple times. The pyu pyum part was a little annoying but the rest of the song I love! The visuals are nice too! Great rendering! 
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I give this episode 7 stars out of 10, mainly because I’m feeling generous. This series I know won’t be amazing as Hugtto or Go Princess but it looks like it will be a decent fun series as I said before. Looking forward to it!
7 Stars!
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Level: Great!
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Tel Aviv 2019: Straight outta Latvia to Eurovision with a cinematic French rendez-vous
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Supernova with their strict-on decision to only focus on all that’s radiofriendly this year went to hell for me. I mean, I like me some pop tunes, but not those that are purposefully marketed to be enjoyed by the massive sheeps of the Eurofandom who usually fall for those songs by Michael James Down, Will Taylor, even Ylva & Linda... because at the end of the day they’re all just shallow and pointless outside the ESC bubble.
Well the best they could do is to accept some different winds out of nowhere! And so they did when the audition stage hit place and we guys got to witness the 33 shortlisted tunes for this year, among which of them are loudly and proudly different - like “Alligator” and “Grow”, which I did not fathom but I was also raging for their not qualification for - more precisely “Alligator” which was way more outstanding of those two I mentioned. The guys that performed that song were fun, their performance choice was fun, they could have totally rocked on Supernova... but alas.
In fact not that many alternative songs made it to the final down-to-16 cut! There might have been a couple of those that sound nothing a radio would play unless it’s not playing pop on its purpose (Laime Pilnīga’s ”Awe” comes to mind right away), but in the end of the day, not many of those survived and we were graced with some... choices, like letting Samanta Tina waste herself on a cocky-ass tune with terrible chorus rhyme-scheme and unbearable charisma and putting through the most Eirodziesma-like mess-fest with the Beaver guy on top of it. Honey I like you in costume but... not in this emploi.
I don’t blame them though, as one of non-blatant-pop tunes conquered the Latvian hearts for this year. These next Latvian people in Laura Rizzotto’s succession are collectively named Carousel and their song is “That Night”.
It sets a romantic mood throughout, like we all are reliving this magical last date - it was in a restaurant, the candles were lit, the restaurant looked vintage with bordeaux satin tablecloth on the table, and the couple is having a smooth evening... until the love runs out to the probably cold and rainy streets and the other half of the couple starts longing for one's love. That's all I can imagine with this.
So yeah, I really like this! It's got lovely instrumentation that doesn't need all the over the top instruments - just guitar, simple drums, etc.; the noir flair is distinct on here and that's not bad on here; this is just a simple and soft song that you too could play in your own restaurants when all the lovely couples have romantic dinners and sip wine. And in some kind of a French movie, too (with the lead role being a curly redhead artiste with striped sweater, looking for love in Paris (because it’s so romantic in there honhonhon). I'm not sure if the revamp touched upon this one little problem I noticed but the problem kinda seems to be that the chorus repeats. A lot. And verses are way too short that they could be easily forgotten against the 4th and 5th time one would be hearing the "lo-o-o-o-ove, where? Are? You?" line, and then lulled into sleep at how peacefully relaxing it is. Which is indeed of a problem because repetition has quite a bit of a negative effect on people. Yes, it gets the song onto your brain more easily, but the repetition drives people insane too. Just like it was suspected for “Story of My Life” (Belarus 2017) on its original version to be unable to be ‘stood’ - after the 2nd chorus, the rest of the song just went like “hey hey hayayayaho” until the end. Naviband fixed the problem by throwing in another vocal onomatopoeia in a form of the song bridge and I loved them for it, even if there still were too many “hey hey hey”s at the end, haha.
Final conclusion? Yep, issa good entry, and if anything it’s helluva underrated. Say what you want about it being “boring”, to me it’s somewhat fresh and exciting, because the melodies are pleasant, the instrumentation is top notch and Sabīne’s vocals are relaxing. Delightful starry night music, oh yes, thanks a lot for it, Carousel, I’m taking it.
Obviously, after they won Supernova, there was a lowkey uprising from fans who were dead certain on wanting Edgars Kreilis or Markus Riva to win, eek. Honeys, honeys. I do like those two as well, BUT for a bit of a mess that Supernova 2019 was with some of their decisions to include, I think it’s for the better they finally let themselves go lighthearted over it all rather than blatant tryhard to sound radio for the masses just cuz the NF wanted. Just forgive Carousel for winning, okay? Okay. ^_^
Approval factor: Definite yes from me, because why wouldn’t I rate it a yes. Yay brotherland!
Follow-up factor: For me personally this is miles better than Laura Rizzotto's last year's melodrama. Overall I think it just flows nice and is a delightful addition to the Latvian collection.
Qualification factor: This I cannot think about all too often but I am not sure if they'd... stand a chance anymore? I'd use to think it did, but that was weeks before supposedly much stronger entries rushed in, squeezing Latvia into an uncomfortable position. But I really hope it's just charming enough to kind of get through. Sort of. A little bit. I'm positive about it happening, but not that much. And a lot of older audiences might love it enough to vote it, too.
NATIONAL FINAL BONUS
I admit that I got way too heated about hearing Supernova’s new approach to selecting entries, but in the end it turned out that I didn’t need to worry all that much in the first place - some of those alternative entries we got were very nice (or at least the entries out of the standart overbearing radio-pop norm), both in their actual auditions (this time they were on an actual stage in front of a jury instead of the listeners pick-pocketing the submissions themselves) AND among the actual picks. But what else is there to be note-worthy in this year’s edition of this show?
• Well, among of the auditionees there were those too-weird-ass bands/artists (some of them I mentioned), and you saw me mention the “Alligator” song to you beforehand, which is done by an ambitious project ATOM.LV (so did I mention “Grow" by Waterflower and her show is worth mentioning as well <3 Those flowers in her hair, the hair color, the makeup, her overall image (it’s like Jamie-Lee upgraded) and the dance moves are ADORABLE <3333 but the song is... hmm... :c). And I’ll repeat myself - those guys rocked! I may have not been a massive fan of this but I can at least commend them - they had a good song structure going on, a clear message (alligators from the stars *catchy trumpet fanfare part* trying to probably conquer the world, yeah!) and an outrageous tribal image with that facepaint on! Awh hell yeah! Who wouldn't want THAT through the live shows??? Ah, only the Latvian juries ofc. (And me because I never got the appeal of this but I sure felt sad for 'em kids hoping and wishing for them through :x)
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• Thank Goodness I had my faves through - all hail Double Faced Eels! They're the little legendary pop band who went all their way to compete in some Youtube contest and have had sung with Bebe Rexha as the prize for winning it almost 1,5 years ago :o Believe it or not but I have heard of them way before their Sulernova stint - I got introduced to them through a friend, known on Tumblr as Soupgeist. :3 And I don't regret stanning a name I know, as "Fire", their entry in this year's 'Nova, was a pop-rock banger with some electro in! Granted the vocaliat might've had some troubles singing live but he still pulled it off nicely in the finals, with that energy coming out on top! Yeah yeah, uguns. 🔥
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• Like I mentioned earlier, there were people rooting for other favourites this year so heavily, and that annoyed the hell out of me, because I thought that Eurofans have some sort of evolving tastes that accept more than just pretty pop boys/girls with not-so-special songs? Well, I mentioned that Eurofans’ targets were Edgars Kreilis and Markus Riva. The latter felt so attacked about him trying to achieve his representation dream over and over he even tweeted about it once... well I did like his song “You Make Me So Crazy”, but I found it a little too overrated with the fans. So I did Edgars, but his song was way catchier and had way more personality than being a club track, I tell ya. Why would his song be renamed from “Fire” (yes, he partially shared a song title with that Double Faced Eels’s song!) to “Cherry Absinthe”, anyway? It gives it a bit more of an exciting feeling, tbh. ^_^ So I ended up rooting for him a little bit more out of the two ‘pretty’ pop boys, if I had to accept one of those kind of winners that everyone wanted (like everyone wanted just either yesyes or The Middletonz for Hungary this year).
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• There were a lot of other nice chosen songs too that I would’ve loved to discuss, but I just can’t not mention the Riga’s Beaver as one of the more memorable moments here. I did write earlier in this that I was disappointed though. Not because of the beaver being out of costume and coming at us as a young-to-middle-aged stunning lad, but because the Beaver-entry, “Tautasdziesma”, was a “Supernova”-times cluster-mess. I think of this as a charity music medley-parody of some sorts, and that doesn’t bode with me well, and sometimes I like parodies, like the one Klemen Slakonja (aka the guy who portrayed Putin for a musical number once) did in his country’s NF in 2012 (that he hosted) was fairly nice (although a bit too much), but... ehhh... at least the men are fine and their costumes were dandy.
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• Let’s not forget that those auditions had this one glorious thing going on during the performances - we saw shots of the jurors judging all of the 33 shortlisted acts with... rather less-than-enthusiastic looks, and man oh man were they fabulously done with this shit <3333
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if that’s not a big indicator of them being too dead inside to be judging anything that day, then idk what is...
Anyway, I am finished with this review also, and I’m happy about it! I don’t think I can move any of this at a more quicker pace (seriously, I have to do so many more even during rehearsals!!!), but I am still trying to do my best. Good luck to the Carousel quartet and may they not flop in May! To hell with the naysayers sweeties, you’ll do just fine x ✨
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thesinglesjukebox · 5 years
Video
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MARTHA - LOVE KEEPS KICKING
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Pop-punkers kick up little more controversy than last time around...
Jonathan Bradley: Pity Me faves Martha return a bit less punk and a lot more power pop, their effervescent slapdash glee extending now to a pert swing rhythm and attempts to mosh to Huey Lewis and the News. "Love Keeps Kicking" holds its optimism in check with an almost discomfitingly earnest despair -- and vice versa: you barely notice how quick "you were tripping fractals" turns into "sometimes I feel so empty I just wanna leave it all." But there are jokes as well -- "I need a paid interpreter to decipher your midnight texts" is shade worthy of Fight Like Apes. The first time I heard it, it sounded like the kind of classic that immediately asks you to pull together playlists so that it might literally sit beside other effortless classics, like say, "Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone" and "Another Girl, Another Planet" and "Alex Chilton" and "Beat Surrender" and "The Boys are Back in Town." (It's as rousing as any of these.) But it also made me want to cue it up again and again. Martha: I am listening. [9]
Alfred Soto: "Is that Weezer?" the dude at the other table wondered when I played the opening bars without realizing the headphones weren't plugged in. [1]
Ryo Miyauchi: Martha mines from sweeter-than-sweet jukebox favorites, and the verses leading to the big payoff of a chorus are filled with charmingly personal specifics. Every other line makes you want to inquire more about the story. "When you got smashed and tried to mosh to Huey Lewis and the News": they could make a whole other song based on this. [6]
Iain Mew: We're about a decade early for a song to precisely be to Belle & Sebastian's "I'm a Cuckoo" what "I'm a Cuckoo" was to "The Boys Are Back in Town", but never mind. It might be a scruffy ramble, but every time the harmonic guitar comes in it makes all the sense it needs to. [7]
Thomas Inskeep: Martha are supposedly a four-piece punk band, but all I hear on "Love Keeps Kicking" is mewling, whiny Brit indie that makes my teeth itch and my fist clench. [2]
Juana Giaimo: I find it easy to identify with self-deprecating songwriters -- that's probably why I love Paramore, especially in After Laughter. Martha often writes self-deprecating lyrics too, but "Love Keeps Kicking" also sounds really cheerful -- there's even an acoustic guitar strumming as the base of the song. However, there is something darker in the excess of energy. The backing vocals literally scream, and the main voice is too dramatic, as if he was pouring his heart out from desperation. This kind of irony is what makes Martha such a compelling band, able to understand the silly contradictions of love. [8]
Alex Clifton: I suddenly understand why people love pop-punk; I would too if there were fewer whiny frontmen and way catchier melodies like the ones Martha have given us. This will be stuck in my head for the rest of the day, and I'm fine with that. [7]
Katherine St Asaph: I love power pop, but with so much of it, you have two choices: Weezer-indebted stuff that coats your inner ears with Reddit gold, and/or great tracks with pinched voices, more like love keeps kicking the shit out of their vocal cords. Note: I'd probably love this if it were a Veruca Salt or Sarge song. [6]
Joshua Minsoo Kim: Songs like "Love Keeps Kicking" remind you that mediocre power pop songs can make you think they're good because of a repeated, catchy guitar riff. Don't be fooled. [3]
Tim de Reuse: Okay, okay, I'm charmed, Martha, you got me. You're not perfect, but you're loose and messy in an energetic way, and you're silly, but just the right amount of silly. I love the awkward pattern of emphasis on the stupendous line "I need a paid interpreter to decipher your midnight texts," and the whole-hearted harmonized "ooh-yeah" of the chorus, and that addictive, twangy guitar lick! The mix is a bit flimsy for my tastes, but they've laser-focused on achieving a particular high-octane atmosphere, and I can't disrespect people who are so clearly good at what they do while sounding like a bunch of goofballs. [8]
Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: There is a certain kind of song that exudes kaleidoscopic joy, where every note is so beautifully placed that you can't help but love it. "Love Keeps Kicking" is one of those songs, dazzling in its shaggy glory. It's all jutting edges that hold in your memory, from the guitar lines down to the show-stopper of a bridge. I can't imagine getting this out of my head, and I can't imagine wanting to, either. [9]
Vikram Joseph: When I first heard Courting Strong, Martha's debut, I was enraptured; here was this headlong torrent of empathy, nostalgia, hope and anxiety, contained inside perfect three-minute bullets of jagged pop-punk, fired directly at my hypothalamus. They had grown up and come together as a band some 15 miles from where I grew up; it felt like it was meant for me. That kind of adoration and affinity generates expectations that border on fear, but this band keep on meeting them. The chorus of "Love Keeps Kicking" almost sounds a little too simple at first, until you hear the full phrase that gives the song its name: "Love keeps kicking the shit out of me, and there's no solution I can see." And then, despite the backdrop of rollicking, indie-punk power chords, it's suddenly devastating; they've never sounded defeated like this, and it's like seeing the most upbeat person you know in tears. The big chords dropping out feels like the mask - you know, the one you wear every day at work and when you see your friends so they'd never guess that, some days, you wake up feeling utterly hopeless - slipping to the floor. "No happy pill / no drinking bleach / no permanent lobotomy," sings JC Cairns, his voice endearingly strained as usual, but for once running out of reasons to stay positive or ways to fix everything. That empathy, though, still runs through the song like an artery; the hyper-specific anecdotes in the verses are Martha's way of making the pain communal, as they always have been. Love keeps kicking the shit out of us; remembering that might make it hurt a bit less when it does. [8]
[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]
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feminism-and-reggae · 4 years
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Shaggy
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Lyric Analysis
‘Luv Me Luv Me is obviously very anti-radical feminism! I included this one because I find it so compelling the song is so catchy. Much catchier than ‘Joy You Bring’ which is much more pure.
“Sweet, succulent and fine//A twinkling eye on my darling divine//I love the way you move all the way you're designed//Your only lines are my mind, forget the corny line//Now let me hit you off with this question sign//You seem to be the type for me to wine and dine//A little candlelight dinner toasted over some wine//Well, I will hit you off with this lyrical rhyme//Now Mr. Lover keep her rockin', Mr. Lover keep her rockin'//Mr. Lover keep her rockin' and swing//Now Mr. Lover keep her rockin', Mr. Lover keep her rockin'//Mr. Lover keep her rockin' and swing” (Genius Lyrics).
Video Analysis
The video is completely anti-radical feminism as well. Women in the video walking around half naked. I believe if the context were different the nudity might have the potential to be more metaphorical and hence more toned-down. However, the lyrics prove the purpose is purely for objectification.
Lyrical Analysis
‘Joy You Bring’ is a much more positive, sweet song about loving a woman. What’s interesting though, this sing is not as catchy as ‘Luv Me Luv Me’. It’s curious how the song with the vulgar lyrics sounds better and is more popular.
At any rate, it is slightly refreshing from the last song to hear Shaggy rap about being in a healthy relationship like this, where he brings his feminine partner up.
“For every day and every moment (wa, wa)//For every smile and every dream (every smile and every dream girl)//I'll paint you a rainbow (uh, a big rainbow)//For all the joy you bring (all the joy you bring yeah)//I'll buy you a mountain (a nice mountain girl)//And I'll cry you a stream (wa, uh)//I'll give you a river (so wa)//To show what you mean to me (so wa, uh, uh)//I don't wanna sound cheezy//But I realize that loving you is very easy//Playing in the summer sun warm and breezy//Not at all sleazy//Poor, but I love it when you give me that look//Whoo, you're looking so teasy//Woman you're the fire and my love and it's freezy//Living like a Jefferson's George and weezy//If I am queezy//Girl you're always to hear and I'm dote this time//So I'm needed//Can't get enough of you women I'm greedy//Sinking in the ocean of your love and unheeding//Unconseeding and I wanna show you what you mean to me” (Genius Lyrics).
I would say this is a pro-radical feminist song.
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Lyrical Analysis
This is a more pro-radical feminist song as well, that’s very popular. ‘Angel’ is a classic! I feel like we all grew up on it.
“Now this one's dedicated to all the youths who want to say nice things to all dem girls//(Heh, heh, heh, shooby dooby dooby doo boy, shooby doo)//Treat her like diamonds and pearls//Dedicated to all the girls around the world//(Now) Now this is Rayvon and Shaggy with a combination you can't miss//(Heh, heh, heh, shooby doo dooby doo boyoy, yeah)//Flip this one 'pon the musical disc (Yeah) Well//Ah ah, wah wah wah//Girl, you're my angel, you're my darling angel//Closer than my peeps you are to me, baby (Tell them)//Shorty, you're my angel, you're my darling angel//Girl, you're my friend when I'm in need, lady//Life is one big party when you're still young//But who's gonna have your back when it's all done? (Yeah)//It's all good when you're little, you have pure fun//Can't be a fool, son, what about the long run?//Looking back, Shorty always mention//Said me not giving her much attention (Yeah)//She was there through my incarceration//I wanna show the nation my appreciation” (Genius Lyrics).
Slightly more positive messages like this reinforce the critique of woman being devalued in medicine, religion, law, etc.
Video Analysis
The video itself is not too friendly to this particular theory of feminism. Again the women are barely wearing anything. Not that this makes less ‘holy’ or undeserving. It’s frankly disappointing to see this huge contradiction between lyrics and visuals.
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Lyrical Analysis
This is Shaggy’s most pro-radical feminism song!
“So amazing how this world was made//I wonder if God is a woman//The gift of life astounds me to this day//I give it up for the woman//She's the constant wind that fills my sails//Oh, that woman//With a smile and a style//She'll protect you like a child//That's a woman//She'll put a smile upon your face//And take you to that higher place//So don't you underestimate//The strength of a woman//The strength of a woman//Woke up this morning//Got up with the scent of a woman//So picture if you would what life would be//... ain't much good without a woman” (Genius Lyrics).
These words do a great job deconstructing the negative thinking patterns regarding women, that society has been taught to learn. The music video only makes it better.
This song also reminds me of Susan Hawthorne’s piece in ‘Radically Speaking: Feminism Reclaimed’. Hawthorne tells a short anecdote in the beginning about struggling with epilepsy and finding her voice in the world as a woman. Hawthorne explains how much better everything got when she found radical feminism. It reminds me that woman truly can do whatever we set our minds to, as cheesy as it sounds. “Until feminism I had no proof of my existence. Woman hidden behind man. Epilepsy hidden by silence. Lesbianism hidden by ignorance. Ignorance of myself” (Feminism Reclaimed, paragraph 7).
Video Analysis
It’s very nice to see women doing different things, like play instruments, sports and even experiment with going to space. Because woman can be whatever they choose. And it’s about time people start learning that!
Cultural Analysis
In terms of this branch of feminism, I think Shaggy could do a lot better. It’s hard to say, because he’s given us so many fun, catchy songs to sing a long to-some of them are still problematic. He’s between helping and contributing to the problem. Shaggy hasn’t been talked about too much in recent years-perhaps it’s time for the world to start paying attention to his lyrics.
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deadcactuswalking · 4 years
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REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 8th December 2019
Top 10
This is a pretty easy week for me, thankfully, as not much has changed... well, apart from pretty much everything... except the top four, of course. “Dance Monkey” by Tones and I is at its tenth consecutive week at #1.
At number-two, we have “Before You Go” by Lewis Capaldi steady at the runner-up spot.
Similarly non-moving off of the debut at number-three is “Own It” by Stormzy featuring Ed Sheeran and Burna Boy. I’d say this could make a viable play for #1 in two weeks with the album release but I have my qualms, mostly because... well, you’ll see.
“Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa has not moved at number-four.
Arizona Zervas keeps climbing with “ROXANNE” up two spaces to number-five. As much as I hate to say it, this could clinch the top spot in the foreseeable future.
Billie Eilish is only slowly pushing herself down the chart, with “everything i wanted” down a spot to number-six.
“Memories” byhabm Maorith 5n is aipneone s;aceygw to nnujmberse0even bht who the hell cares
Now here’s the big story: “All I Want for Christmas is You”, the 1994 classic by Mariah Carey, straight off of its re-entry in the Top 40 last week, is up a whopping 26 spaces, probably the largest increase we’ve seen in months. It’s getting the #1, I’m guaranteeing it, in both the UK and US. It has virtually no competition. It’s getting there.
“South of the Border” by Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B isn’t moving at number-nine.
At #10, we have “Heartless” by the Weeknd, a debut in the top 10 that I honestly expected to be higher, but nonetheless, it’s here and I’ll talk more about it later, but it’s the Weeknd’s 21st UK Top 40 hit and his eighth top 10.
Climbers
As I expected, there are no climbers to speak of here. You’ll see why.
Fallers
Well, here’s our first of three big lists to cover in this episode, as we have 14 fallers within the Top 40. Alright, let’s blast through them all: “Bruises” by Lewis Capaldi and “Down Like That” by KSI with Rick Ross, Lil Baby and S-X, both in the top 10 last week, are down five and seven spaces respectively to #11 and #17. “Good as Hell” by Lizzo isn’t far off, down seven spots to #19, and “Netflix & Chill” by Fredo is down five positions to #24... You know what, I’m typing too many words and too little numbers, here we go: “Turn Me On” by Riton, Oliver Heldens and Vula is down eight to #25, “Professor X” by Dave is down five to #27, “Must Be” by J Hus is down eight to #28, “Lights Up” by Harry Styles is down 14 to #29, “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM” by Travis Scott is down seven to #30 and “Ride It” by Regard featuring Jay Sean is down six to #31 – that’s five consecutive fallers. “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi is down eight to #34, “New Dior” by DigDat and D-Block Europe is down nine to #35 off of the debut last week, “Don’t Rush” by Young T & Bugsey with Headie One is down eight to #37, and finally, “Nice to Meet Ya” by Niall Horan is at #38, down 16 spaces from last week. The sad thing is that I think most if not all of these songs, excluding “Bruises” and “Down Like That”, have been hit by the Christmas explosion and prematurely lost their chart runs, which is kind of sad – I don’t see these tracks rebounding anytime soon.
Dropouts & Returning Entries
Now for our second list of 12 drop-outs, which is only slightly less than the last list. Don’t worry, these lists do get increasingly smaller... or decreasingly bigger, however you want to phrase it. Out from #27 is “Orphans” by Coldplay, “Watermelon Sugar” by Harry Styles is out from #28 (It’ll rebound due to the album release in the next two weeks), “God is a Dancer” by Tiesto and Mabel is out from #30, “Loyal” by PARTYNEXTDOOR and Drake is out from #31, “Liar” by Camila Cabello is out from #32 (It’ll rebound next week if nothing goes awry, although she has suffered a serious sophomore slump), “Gangsta” by Darkoo and One Acen is out from #33, “French Kisses” by ZieZie and Aitch is out off of the debut from #34, “Circles” by Post Malone is finally out from #37 and “Better Half of Me” by Tom Walker is out from #38. I don’t see many of these rebounding, although the releases of sophomore albums Fine Line and Romance could seriously help out Harry and Camila, and “Gangsta” and “French Kisses” seem like they could rise later on.
Edit: I forgot to note that “Can’t Fight This Feeling” by Bastille and the London Contemporary Orchestra is out from #39.
IT’S CHRISTMAS INNIT
Now for our final list, and our shortest, with only seven entries, although I will also recite the year they were produced just to show how insane these returns are every year. “Step into Christmas” by Elton John, from 1973, is back at #39, “Santa Tell Me” by Ariana Grande, from 2014, is back at #33, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” by Michael Bublé, from 2011, is back at #32, “Merry Christmas Everyone” by Shakin’ Stevens, from 1985, is back at #26, “Do They Know it’s Christmas?” by Band Aid, from 1984, is back at #23, “Fairytale of New York” by The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl, from 1987, is back at #22, and “Last Christmas” by Wham!, also from 1984, is back at #13. Rest in peace to George Michael (Who actually contributed to two songs here), Kirsty MacColl and Rick Parfitt.
NEW ARRIVALS
#40 – “Falling” – Trevor Daniel
Produced by KC Supreme, Taz Taylor and Charlie Handsome – Peaked at #3 in Latvia and #41 in the US
I have no introduction for this. It’s just one of these TikTok songs and it’s produced by the new crop of trap-rap Internet Money-type guys. I don’t care for Lil Tecca or most of the crop surrounding him, so I doubt I’ll like this. This is Trevor Daniel’s first UK Top 40 hit and yeah, surprise, surprise, it’s not great. The bland guitar pick-up is good enough, but Trevor Daniel cannot sing and makes no effort to convince you that he can. The distorted sub-bass is just odd and honestly way too menacing and dark for a break-up song that paints itself not as a kiss-off, but more like a “Thank God I found someone else” song, so why isn’t this happier? The trap percussion is an FL Studio loop, and his delivery and cadence is mopey and pathetic. Everything here just feels painfully amateur, almost offensively so. This might be a lot worse than I’m giving off with my more apathetic tone here, but this is underdeveloped with a singular verse that somehow stretches out to nearly three minutes due to an overlong chorus. Yeah, no, I can’t stand this. Next.
#14 – “River” – Ellie Goulding
We’ve seen this before with Katy Perry’s “Cozy Little Christmas” last year. A week before the real Christmas kick-in, a new, mediocre Christmas-related song enters for the first time at an alarmingly high position by an increasingly irrelevant female pop star, that is exclusive to Amazon music for no other reason other than to bump sales and chart success, falsely implying that this song is successful. In the r/popheads thread about this chart, people upvoted a comment saying they didn’t even know Ellie Goulding had released anything – and I didn’t either, because it’s not on Spotify, Apple or even freaking TIDAL. It’s just on Amazon music, which is so odd to me but that is why I don’t have production info. No-one on Genius has bothered to download Goulding’s cover of a 1971 Joni Mitchell deep cut (I’m sure they just copy-pasted the original lyrics) to check the songwriting credits. The Wikipedia page for the song doesn’t have a separate section for Goulding’s version, and they did for the John Lewis advert rendition of “Can’t Fight This Feeling” that Bastille made with the London Contemporary Orchestra, a song that I forgot to even note myself until I realised it dropped out this week. In fact, I am protesting this song’s chart placement. Okay, that’s a bit far, but I’m not reviewing it, even if I could easily take a peep at a leaked YouTube re-upload. If it’s not on Spotify, it’s not on REVIEWING THE CHARTS.
#12 – “Blinding Lights” – The Weeknd
Produced by The Weeknd, Max Martin and Oscar Holter – Peaked at #3 in Lithuania and #11 in the US
It’s the Weeknd’s 22nd UK Top 40 hit: the double A-side with “Heartless” was released oddly, with “Blinding Lights” here being released days after and about a week after, was finally accompanied by a music video that’s really just an advertisement for Mercedes-Benz vehicles. Neither single got to experience their best possible tracking week in full, but nonetheless, both are still pretty high because it’s the Weeknd, and I’m actually somewhat excited for this. I’ve heard that it interpolates A-ha’s cheesy 80s synthpop classic “Take on Me”, and it wouldn’t be the first rendition I’ve heard of the song in 2019. That would be Weezer’s hilarious cover on both the Jimmy Fallon show (Where they played it with kids’ toys) and their “Teal Album”. Sorry, I bring Weezer up too much. Is the song good? Hell, yes. It starts with an overwhelming wave of ominous distortion before retro 80s synths quickly come in and an iconic, reverb-heavy drum pattern comes in that sounds awfully familiar – it’s probably also from “Take on Me”. The synth riff, as typical with 1980s synthpop, is hilariously grandiose and egregious, but the Weeknd kills it here as well, not letting the instrumental or even the freaking bongos playing during the verse shine over him or put him off. He blends in with the airy synth painting in the chorus, and it is gorgeous, it really is. I wish this was a tad catchier but that definitely will be a possibility for it to grow on me later on (Which hopefully it does, it’s already perfectly qualified for my best of 2020 list). The Weeknd’s vocals on the bridge are oddly powerful, and that last moment in the penultimate chorus where there is this epic beeping synth that rises until the synth riff drops once again is awesome. The pre-chorus is probably my favourite part, though, especially when the synths cut out for it to just be the Weeknd over the drums, right before the chorus kicks in. I love this so much, unexpectedly so, and I’m so glad it charted so high. I hope it survives the Christmas songs, though.
#10 – “Heartless” – The Weeknd
Produced by The Weeknd, Metro Boomin, Dre Moon and Illangelo – Peaked at #1 in the US
If “Blinding Lights” was the “pop” single, this is the “R&B” single. It’s very much like the Weeknd to release two singles harboured towards two different demographics and two different radio formats, and for both of them to be smash hits, although dropping them at the same time is a tad overwhelming. I can skip the pre-amble as I’ve already done that at the start of the episode, so does it deserve its (Likely single) chart-topping week on the Billboard Hot 100? Well, yeah, I’d say so definitely, this is pretty cool, although not nearly as good as “Blinding Lights” or really any of his songs by now. This really is only decent-tier Weeknd but, man, this guy’s too good. Metro Boomin is one of my favourite hip-hop producers, and he definitely makes his presence known here, with the watery synths in the intro being abruptly drowned out by massive 808 bass and a skittering trap pattern, as well as the Weeknd whispering “Sheesh” for whatever reason. Weeknd uses a very typical delivery for him here, one I’ve heard on his other massive #1 hits, “The Hills” and “Starboy”, but he still sounds charismatic as all hell, and rides the beat incredibly well, especially when those drum hits come in before pounding back into the groovy trap beat. Weeknd plays more into his cocaine-addict sex god persona here, but is pretty thorough and honestly kind of funny here (Despite sounding checked-out in the chorus’ whiny falsetto), as he’s “running through the [women] like a dog pound” and getting so much of said [women] that it’s falling out of his pockets... although he definitely doesn’t just glamorise the sour rockstar lifestyle, in fact he predicts himself to be jumping the shark in seven years (Or, alternatively, says he has already jumped the shark within his seven-year-long career). On both of these songs, however, I do feel that while they don’t run too long, they don’t really have that effective of a climax, even if both the final choruses are epic (This one going for a distorted, cluttered vocal samples to build up the dark sonic atmosphere replacing a plundering bass), and the bridges are kind of unnecessary. I’m not complaining that these songs exist though, they’re both pretty good at least. Welcome back, Abel, we missed you.
Conclusion
Best of the Week is going to the Weeknd for both “Heartless” and ESPECIALLY “Blinding Lights”, and Worst of the Week goes to Trevor Daniel for “Falling”. We’ll see next week a large amount of Christmas nonsense coming in once again, as well as the impacts of a certain unfortunate circumstance I’ve said my peace on with Twitter @cactusinthebank, which you can follow for more musical ramblings. See you next week.
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thebandcampdiaries · 6 years
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Cory M. Coons - The Long Road Home
Cory M. Coons is a singer and songwriter with a very distinctive style. His music blurs the lines between various genres, including rock, folk, and Americana, only to mention but a few. Recently, he published an exciting new project called "The Long Road Home.”
Endowed with a beautiful set list of original songs, this album is a deeper outlook on Cory’s insights as a songwriter, as well as a celebration of his kaleidoscopic background and diverse approach.
If you enjoy the work of artists such as Keith Urban, John Mellencamp or Bruce Springsteen, you will feel at home with this record, and Cory’s earnest vocal delivery will definitely make its way into your heart. The songs on “The Long Road Home” have a very personal and textural feel, which really highlight the artist’s intimate connection with his material. His singing is absolutely spotless, bringing a lot of dynamic and harmonic depth to the material by way of his exceptional performances. In addition to Cory’s beautiful voice and playing, the songwriting/arrangements are really spotless, along with the down-to-earth approach to production. The sound of this album is pristine and modern, yet it also has a pleasant nostalgic vibe, which really adds to the strength of this beautiful mix. The album’s lead single, “Long Road (Dead Man’s Dream)”, which you can stream above, is a stellar country rock song, which encapsulates the vibes of this album perfectly!
In conclusion, this album is a rollercoaster ride, where there’s everything from rock and roll punch, to folk intimacy: a listening experience worthy of your time!
Learn more about Cory’s beautiful music and listen to “The Long Road Home” at the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J98pPDAH0j0
We also had the opportunity to catch up with the artist: keep reading to learn more!
The Long Road Home is an album with a diverse range of influences, yet the sound is very consistent: how did you manage to combine so many different ideas so smoothly?
Well thank you first off... That's a great compliment! I'm really a Rock n' Roller at heart. But I think it all comes from my many influences over the years going back to when I was young, and listening to my Mom's old Country, 50's, 60's and 70's records, and then the 80's rock stuff which I am deeply rooted in as well, I think is a factor as well. I think it all comes out in the mix with my own “CMC” sound! Also having great players like my friend and lead guitar player Marc Muir on the new record who has known me for a long time, and my strengths and strongsuits, as well as having a great producer doesn't hurt either!
What is your favorite song on this release, and why?
Hard to nail down one... I think “Long Road” as my Rocker track. “Once Too Many, Twice Not Enough” and “Would You Stay” as the catchier, more melodic and memorable chorus line songs, and “Break The fall” as my more meaningful, tugging-at-the-heartstrings songwriter ballad type.
For some people, combining the energy of rock with the intimacy of country music might be difficult, but your record excels at that - do you have any specific approach when you are writing your songs, to help you determine the “energy” of each track?
Again, I think it all just comes out in the mix... I like to try to tell a good story, and let the ideas and melodies of the song guide me, instead of trying to “force” the ideas in one specific direction. I love the energy of Rock guitars, but I also like certain instrumentation from Country music, or more specifically Roots-Rock like a Mandolin, which has been used in many classic rock songs over the years. And also I have used the more singer-songwriter style of instrument like harmonica on some of my previous stuff.
Do you have any plans to bring your music out on tour?
I would love to tour again, this time doing my own material with my band ... Family is always the most important, and it's hard to be away from my wife and daughter. But if the right opportunity presented itself, I would definitely consider it.
If you had to describe your album, but could only choose to compare to food, what would it be and why?
I like to think that I “marinate”, “groom” and add flavour to my ideas for songs, lyrics and melodies over time... So maybe a tender steak with a fine red wine!
Where can fans learn more about you and listen to your music?
At my website, Facebook, YouTube, CdBaby, iTunes and now Spotify...
All these links are connected to my official website: www.corymcoons.com
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god-hunter · 7 years
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Delirium - 2016
This was an awesome, amazing fucking album, and I’m sorry I took so long to get it/review it.  I got this bad boy as a birthday present for myself in April of 2017, but this came out a year ago, around the time that I finally reviewed Broken Crown Halo, I think.
Anyway, this album absolutely brings back the old sound with heavy double kicks right at the get-go.  There’s definitely a fair amount of Karmacode & Dark Adrenaline in here, and I’m very okay with that.  Broken Crown Halo was a good album, but it was quite subdued in comparison.  This time, I feel like they really wanted to kick ass.  And they definitely brought their A Game to most of the songs.  (I say most, because there’s at least 1 clunker in there for me.  But it’s still good.)  There’s a great flow in this whole album.  They definitely set the tone for something dark, heavy and beautiful and once again, I am completely inspired by this wonderful band.
This might even be my favorite album by them.  [I tried to wait a while before reviewing this I think, so my review wouldn’t be completely biased.]
Since nearly every song is a fan-favorite on this one, I’m gonna take you through them very quickly.
1. The House of Shame - We start with some very pretty, solemn and haunting “Oh”s from a chorus of voices (probably produced by a Synthesizer.)  Then the heavy metal double pedaling and crushing guitars kick in relentlessly.  When the verse really starts up, Andrea takes the lead on this one.  Cristina Scabbia takes on a pre-chorus that leads into a very catchy main chorus.  The synthesized orchestra is in there, and everything is gorgeous.  Then we’re taken right back to the sweet double pedals and repeat the formula once again.  After the next chorus, there’s a quick guitar solo that’s nice and exhilarating as we get into a double-pedal break down.  When I first heard this I was super excited.  Then everything stops to give Cristina a solo moment to sing the chorus without any instruments save for the orchestral synth.  The instruments join up again for a final chorus and then the sweet double pedal part rolls in again, before we close it off with an exciting ending.
2. Broken Things - This one started with a bit of a bold move by Andrea.  It’s just voice and guitar.  “Now SUUUNK in the Horizon!  We’ll watch the hours go by.  Faaaall and then arise again.  I hear the darkness breathe!!”
When I first heard that I was like, “ooh...  I dunno.”  But then the rest of the instruments join with some heavy pedaling and riffing.  [I noticed that they definitely got a lot more ‘Metal-core’ for this album.  All the typical off-beat pedaling and whatnot, almost made this band unrecognizable for this album.  But there’s definitely that Lacuna touch to it that makes this song pretty and listenable again.  And that would happen at the 37 second mark.  Suddenly the drums calm down, and a single stringing guitar leads the line with a little synth behind it for backbone.  Cristina leads us off with a nice verse, then goes into an awesome little chorus.  No idea what she’s singing about, but it’s fun.
Andrea comes back in with his familiar refrain, but you couldn’t call it a Chorus. Because Scabbia kicks back in with the now-familiar verse and Her Chorus.  And it’s definitely way catchier than Andreas.  Anyway, this song is very cool and a lot of fun to listen to once you get into it.
3. Delirium - Then comes this guy.  The title track.  And it’s amazing.  You just have to get over a strange sound effect in the background that they used all the way back in Shallow Life.  There’s like a very high voice, which sounds like Cristina using a vocoder or something.  It’s squeaky and almost annoying, but it somehow suits the song because it’s far enough in the background not to get in the way.  
Anyway, they don’t waste a minute for Cristina to start singing, “Deliiiirium”.  Then Andrea takes the verse to set a nice sweet, moving, but calm tone.  This song is heavy, and I suppose a little mellow, but it’s doesn’t slow down any.  It’s just nice and dark.  Verses, flow right back into Cristina’s “Deliiiirium”s.  She woos us with a beautiful break-refrain.  This song ends almost as soon as it starts, but it’s just awesome.  The flow is the same throughout and I’m okay with that.
4. Blood, Tears, Dust -   Hands down, my FAVORITE song on this album.  They definitely get new here and use a little bit of Dub-step to their advantage here, but I like it a lot.  First of all...  Andrea’s growls are back.  (That was apparent in the first song too.)  But secondly, there’s just this awesome riffing going on.  Almost Fear Factory-esq.  After Andrea’s growls, Cristina’s beautiful vocals pool in for a Chorus.  And I swear, I feel like I’m listening to them for the first time again.  This is the band I discovered half my life ago at 16.  It was such an awesome feeling.
This song rinses and repeats in this fashion, but it is honestly such a pleasure to keep hearing that chorus.  Cristina picked such nice notes in the higher range in such an order that I keep wanting to hear it.  The backing parts too.  Everything is hypnotic in this song for me.  I don’t tire of it.
5. Downfall - Then we get this song.  ANOTHER Favorite.  Lacuna Coil fucking rock out with guitars and bass chiming in with 16th note strumming.  But the backbeat is mid-paced and down beat. There’s a nice calm synth really holding everything together as Cristina rolls us through the verse and chorus for this one.  Agh!  The guitars are so good in this one.  Andrea offers light back-ups here only sometimes.  And they really add to the song.  I fucking love this band man.  They fucking did it again.
6.  Take Me Home - ...This one, is the one clunker though.  For whatever reason, they decided to start in a child’s chant.  One of those ‘nya nya nya nya’ things...  And it’s awful.  Creepy sounds chime in 13 seconds in, with a guitar.  Then Andrea takes over chanting, “Take me for a Riiiiiide!”  That’s when the song really kicks in, and I guess it’s better, but I still have the bad taste in my mouth from that weird chant.
Andrea controls a verse that I don’t care about.  It’s mostly drum and bass with little guitar inclusion.  The guitars kick back in for a Chorus, that feels lost on me from such an awkward beginning.  Cristina sings it, and it doesn’t sound good to me.  It’s somewhat fast, and a little uninspired in my opinion.  [I feel like whoever wrote this one definitely doesn’t usually do the writing in the band.]
Uhhh, I think there’s a break-riff that’s a little bit better by the end of the song.  But honestly, every time I listen to it, I just go through the motions.  This one is a complete skipper for me.  
Although, if you do stick around for the end, I suppose it flows into the next song, which is Way better.
7. You Love Me ‘Cause I Hate You -  This song is a power ballad, that at first sounds like it won’t go very far.  It’s good..  Cristina leads us in with a verse that doesn’t stop.  The drums are slow, but powerful, if not a little processed.  But then suddenly Andrea interrupts with a hard, “YOU LOVE ME ‘CAUSE I HAAATE YOOOUUUU”, and Cristina rolls with it in the background, beautifully.
The 2nd verse, is just as good as the first, with the rest of the instruments a smidge more awake and heavy.  That 2nd Refrain kicks in and it’s just as awesome as the first time.  After the refrain, Cristina sings a new part, which I guess would be considered the bridge.  We get a 3rd “YOU LOVE ME ‘CAUSE I HATE YOU” and it’s just wonderful.  Very easy to learn, and sing along to.  Very cathartic, and yet still beautiful and almost calming.  I love it.
8.  Ghost In The Mist -  This one is way more metal-core, bring back a little of those ‘Blood, Tears, Dust’ effects.  I notice that LC have a bad habit of writing songs in the chromatic scale sometimes, and that definitely happens this time, after there Dub-steppy part.  There’s a bunch of half-steps that climb up in a verse, which just sort of bother me.  But then the part after that is very pretty.  The chorus by Scabbia, of course.
By the 2nd go-around, the half-step part isn’t as annoying.  You’re sucked into the formula at this point, and enough parts are enjoyable to cohesively keep it all together.  So this one isn’t my favorite, but it’s still enjoyable.
9. My Demons -  This is a gorgeous power ballad/dub-step/metal core tune.  They really embraced this new hybrid sound of theirs.  They evolved...  And Andrea’s refrain is easy to keep in your head.  “I feel fucked up today. My demons cursing me as I’m awake.  My head is spinning, I can’t think straight! Your words are poison inside my veins!” He continues with a “You liiieeeed”, and a little bit more, before it’s Cristina’s turn.  And even then, he sings, “You lieeeed”, which really makes this feel like a nice collaboration between the two.
They’re both singing the chorus.  Him the back-ups, while she gets into this beautiful part.  “I’m thinking about you, uncertain without you” “...I’m choking without you,”.
It’s very good.  This is the mellow part of the band that I signed up for.  Even their mellow numbers are fucking heavy on this one man.  I love it.
10.  Claustrophobia -  Another ballad/metal-core mix.  More subdued than the last, Cristina leads off a whole bunch of verses, about “Is Hate the Answer”, etc. etc.  These songs definitely fit more into the Broken Crown Halo set, which is fine.  I welcome it.  A very good power-ballad with an awesome guitar solo to boot.  i really like the end of this song more.  There’s a nice little instrumental break moment, where there’s all sorts of dubby metal-core things happening.  A cool sound in the synth gluing it together, before the final refrains.  It’s also chilling to hear Cristina close it off with, “Will hate be the Answer?”
Very topical.
11. Ultima Ratio - This song, honestly sounds like it could be the last one at first, but there’s plenty more before we’re done done.  The verse is sort of whatever with Andrea, but Cristina kicks in with a small pre-chorus and then an awesome Main Chorus.  “Save me, before I fall apart.  Come closer to me, while I’m still alive.”  Then she does this really graceful thing with her voice as she sings, “It neee---eee-ver Eeee-eends”  twice.  It literally makes the song man.  I fucking love that choice.  This totally could’ve been their last song of the album.  And maybe it should’ve been.  But we got even better things coming up.
12.  Live To Tell -  This is a Madonna cover if you can believe it!  When I first heard it, I had no idea.  Then I heard the actual song on the radio, and got all fucked up when I heard the familiar chorus.  Which is an attestant to Lacuna Coil.  We’ve brought it up before.  It seems that on all of their Even Number albums, ever since ‘Unleashed Memories’, they do a cover.  That’s just their thing.  And I love that they’ve kept it up.  Yet again, they fucking nailed it, with something solid and incredible.  Blowing the original song out of the water.
She super slowed down Madonna’s verses.  There’s a whole different musical part underneath basically.  When the chorus kicks in, it resembles Madonna’s version, but it’s very slow with significant back-ups that shape the chorus more.  They practically dominate the song to really shape it into it’s own original version.
And again... I had no idea this was a cover at first.  I thought LC just nailed it with a beautiful power ballad once again.  I love the bridge where guitars and drums stop.  It’s just synth and her, when Cristina sings, “If I run away, I never have the strength, to go very far.  How will they hear the beating of my heart?  Will it grow cold?  The secret that I hide.  Will I grow old? How will they hear? When will they learn? How will they knoooow?”
It’s fucking awesome man.  Really beautiful.  Gorgeous.  Amazing cover.
13.  Breakdown - By this point, the album’s already done for me.  They wowed us so much already!  But there’s 2 more.  This song is somewhat of a solemn, heavy after-thought to ‘Live to Tell’.  Another one that’s good, but not my favorite.  We heavy Cristina and Andrea handling the verse with call and response type stuff.  Then she controls the chorus, and it’s just sort of whatever.  Not a bad song though.  It just sort of feels tacked on to me, to  be honest.  There’s a very cool bridge though.  It keeps buildings and gets heavier.  Andrea even has a solo moment to shine with awesome growls before a final chorus.
14.  Bleed the Pain -  This is our last song, proper and it falls flat for me.  It’s not a bad song at all, but somehow, I feel like we got this already in ‘Ultima Ratio’.  The songs don’t even sound the same, but there was something of a finality to that riff for me for some reason.
Anyway... this one is pretty Metal-core for an ending.  Definitely a different choice.  Andrea definitely went for it on his back-ups.  Cristina did her usual catchy pretty vox for the chorus.  More metal-core strumming and pedaling, in full sync.  This more-less rinses and repeats until we come to a close.
...and that’s the album!
Every time that last song ends I feel like there’s something coming next.  But I get surprised to hear track 1 again.  Either way though, there’s at least 8 solid songs on this disc for me that makes it More than worth it.
And how about that Madonna cover man?  Shit!  At this point there’s an EP’s worth of material, if you just wanted to put together all of their covers on a disc for yourself.
[That would be: Stars from ‘Unleashed Memories’ Enjoy the Silence from ‘Karmacode’ Losing My Religion from ‘Dark Adrenaline’ and now Live to Tell from ‘Delirium’]
And that’s every other album folks.
Lacuna has been rocking us for 8 solid fucking albums.  That’s amazing man.  They’ve had a lull here and there in their career, maybe.  But they are still Very on top of their game.  And I’m definitely just as into them as I was when I was a teenage boy.
It’s a shame that this review took such a long time to do, but I’m glad I was in the mood to give this one a spin and a critique today.
Now my Lacuna Coil queue is done for the moment, and I’m very much looking forward to whenever the next album comes out.  [They can take their time. lol]
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Clean Bandit
So you might have, no, probably have already heard Clean Bandit and maybe not even known it. Their hit “Rather Be” was quite big at its time.
But something’s changed. Everything’s changed.
NB: Before you read any of this, I have to mention that this is my opinion and my opinion only. If you disagree at some point, please leave feedback, but don’t overdo it, mkay?
So if you’ve read this blog for long enough, even though I don’t write a lot, you might know that I have pretty strong opinions on some things in music.
“Rather Be” was my favourite song for quite a while, and it probably had a role in what my tastes in music are now. However Clean Bandit have changed since then, and nowadays they just sound generic. Let’s talk about that!
Once upon a time they released “Mozart’s House”.
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This one I still consider one of their strongest song. The video was quite experimental, as was the song. It peaked in the UK charts at position 17. As I see it, this song has also helped them gain their initial audience. They haven’t done anything like it ever since, and that’s good, because it’s actually a bit simplicistic by its structure.
The same simplicity is a bit more noticable in “Telephone Banking”. Honestly this is not that great of a song, however it features the very memorable chiptune progression which they reused a bit later.
As I see, that video reflects their current life going-ons, which is an interesting concept. The video itself is also quite interesting, however it’s also not their best work.
This seems about the point where they parted with Love Ssega, since I can’t seem any other videos featuring him. But whatever, the next one’s A&E.
This one was probably the catchiest at the time of their videos. This one also seems purposefully minimalistic at times, however some parts are extremely particular, like the bassline (seriously, the bassline! It’s crazy). The videos also keep getting better - this one is heavier on VFX, whereas e.g. Mozart’s House was more practical effects than synthetic ones, and I would say that it works quite well for this one. 1 However overall the video seems like it’s basically just more of a VFX demo than a coherent video.
Next up is “Nightingale”. This one isn’t particularly bad, I like the DnB style and the general EDM-esque vibes. The video is light on VFX, however of course they couldn’t get by without it entirely so there’s a 3D bird at one point. Also another feature that’s common in many of their videos is toying with the timescale, and this one is no exception. It’s quite short and to the point, which I think works out well for it. Overall this would probably get a thumbs up for me. 2
Then came “Dust Clears”. This feels like a more emotional one, and this is the first one where cinematography and nice landscapes play a major role in the video. In part that might be related to the overall more sadder tint to the song itself. But in concert these go together very well and create a particular feel to it. Basically the whole video is a cinematography demo, as I would call it. The song itself already has some hints of what their music will become over time, what with the minimalistic house-esque beats and all. The food shapes are also a nice hint to their logo which I don’t thing I saw in their previous ones, however it can be seen in all the videos after this one.
And here it comes!
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This is, without a doubt, their best song in multiple regards. The video is also quite well made, there’s some VFX but not too much, as well as enough practical editing tricks to make it very well interconnected. Also, for the first time (as far as I can tell, don’t judge) their video tells very particular story which can be quite easily inferred through watching the video and not thinking about it too much.
I could talk about the song a lot as well, however I think the main melody is what made it for most people. The chord progression is also not particularly interesting, but it works out well, making a catchy song that’s not completely devoid of any value from a purely musical standpoint.
Then after a long wait out came “Extraordinary”. Like “Rather Be”, the song itself is fairly good and integrates the band’s unique blend of orchestral music with a house style. This one is not as good, since they’ve sacrificed some of their artistic integrity to make the song catchier, and it worked - they’ve created an epithome of catchiness, it’s basically impossible to get this song out of your head.3 The video itself it show at very beautiful locations and the cinematography just rocks. It’s hard to beat this one.
(Hint: it won’t be beaten!)
Next one up is “Come Over”. This one is not so good in multiple aspects. First of all, it’s a departure of their usual house-esque style and goes more into reggae if it can be called that. The rhymes feel a bit forced (simple/symbol, really?). The video itself is actually still quite great, especially from the cinematography standpoint (if you manage to look past Grace, which they probably didn’t want to happen). I basically don’t want to talk too much about this one since it doesn’t feel like what Clean Bandit used to be at all.
Then followed “Real Love”, with Jess Glynne who was also features in “Rather Be”. This is moving again towards that house feel that they gave up in “Come Over”, which is not bad, but what they actually made was a pretty generic house track. This one sort of lacks personality. It’s a bit too repetitive and uses some pretty uninteresting cliches such as the first beat bass drum skip, which isn’t really out of place, but it just doesn’t feel right. Actually, no, it’s more like the whole song feels like they’re chasing behind “Rather Be” a bit, but this time they’re not really creating a new kind of song, but trying to do what other’s have done previously quite close to the letter. The video is fine I guess, nothing too interesting, but not too bad either.
And this is about the point I became completely disconnected from their happenings and sort of went on my own route, not really hearing anything from them. So I completely missed “Stronger” at the point when it came out, but that doesn’t prevent me analyzing it right now. “Stronger” incorporates the steel drum-sounding instrument from “Rather Be” at the beginning and in general sounds like a fine song overall. Some of the elements, again, seem like borrowed cliches, but it’s not too bad and overall this one is listenable to. The video is an interesting part, since this one was shot in collaboration with Microsoft so they used a camera rack (can be seen at 4:16 in the “episode 3″ preview). It’s actually used quite well, and the video fits the song well.
Next up was “Tears”. This one has a pretty good video so I’ll embed it.
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The song itself is a bit boring, and the chorus sort of reminds me of some Soviet songs, but I guess nothing is new anymore. Apart from that, it’s pretty uptempo and would probably make fine music for workouts or something. However, the video is freaking amazing! The practical VFX involved indirectly destroying multiple instruments with fire, and it seems that it was worth it. The video would probably get a strong thumbs up from me, if I rate it separately from the song.
Then came the one that everyone’s singing right now, “Rockabye”. This one has an emotional message I guess, and it’s presented very well through the song. But the song itself isn’t particularly interesting, but it is catchy enough for it to be extremely successful. But this one, just like “Come Over” is basically reggae wrapped in a slight house facade. The video is relatively good, but it doesn’t stand a chance next to the previous one. That might be part of the message, but even then there are some weird moments related to how they shot the singer - there’s a bit too much looking at the camera and it seems slightly awkward. Apart from that (and Grace Chatto just standing around a cello, not even trying to look like playing it), it’s again very well shot, nicely edited and generally fits the song.
Then just a couple of days ago a new song turned up, called “Symphony” and featuring the rising star Zara Larsson. The song is sort of mediocre, however the video is very powerful. This one has similarities to “Rather Be”, in that there is a pretty well defined story which is told through the video, and actually it’s told pretty clearly and well. As always, cinematography is on point, but it’s a bit jumpy though. It also seems that there is a full-blown symphonic orchestra behind them this time.
In general I would probably say that “Symphony” is an improvement over “Rockabye”, although I’m not sure if it will get as widespread as Rockabye.
So, to summarize. I would say that Clean Bandit started out as being pretty close to my tastes and has strayed away from them. And by stranding away they also have lost some of their uniqueness and traded that in for more recognition, I guess. I’m not quire it’s working though, judging only by the view counters on their videos. Although Rockabye has surpassed Rather Be by a 100 million views, it is still halfway to many of Calvin Harris’s songs (This Is What You Came For currently sits at 1.4 billion, How Deep Is Your Love at 1 billion, as is Summer). I’m not quite sure what this tells us about the music industry, but anyway.
Clean Bandit has changed, and that’s good, even if they’ve changed against my expectations. CGP Grey and Myke Hurley put it very well on this week’s Cortex, although in a different context (at about the 56 minute mark, also paraphrased):
If you generate any kind of audience, you have that audience because people like what you do, but they want more of the same thing, and you as a creator might not want to continue doing the same thing forever, so I think you should try doing different stuff.
So even if Clean Bandit has morphed into what it is now, I think it is better for them. I can still find music I like in other ways (hello Spotify and Discover Weekly, or as I call it, Lesser-known-artists Galore), and I try to share what I find via either this blog or the Telegram channel I have linked somewhere.
Farewell, good luck and thanks for all the fish.
See the ad for Looper at 2:57? If you don’t instantly recognize the name, go watch this YMS review. ↩︎
Also let me point you to this Gorgon City remix. It preserves the original features quite well and gives them a house layout. ↩︎
Actually this might have been true of Rather Be at some point as well, but I’ve gotten over it. ↩︎
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