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newstfionline · 3 years

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Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Biden’s Infrastructure Push Spurs a Flurry of Lobbying in Congress (NYT) Members of Congress have begun a frenzy of lobbying to ensure that their pet projects and policy priorities are included in President Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure and jobs plan, eager to shape what could be one of the most substantial public works investments in a generation. Officials across the country are dusting off lists of construction projects and social programs, hoping to secure their piece of a plan aimed at addressing what the administration estimates is at least $1 trillion worth of backlogged infrastructure improvements, as well as economic and racial inequities that have existed for decades. “My phone is blowing up,” Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary, said in an interview. Nearly every lawmaker “can point to a road or a bridge or an airport” in his or her district that is in dire need of repair.

Truck seized over ‘munitions of war,’ 5 forgotten bullets (AP) Gerardo Serrano ticked off the border crossing agents by taking some photos on his phone. So they took his pickup truck and held onto it for more than two years. Only after Serrano filed a federal lawsuit did he get back his Ford F-250. Now he wants the Supreme Court to step in and require a prompt court hearing as a matter of constitutional fairness whenever federal officials take someone’s property under civil forfeiture law. The justices could consider his case when they meet privately on Friday. It’s a corner of the larger forfeiture issue, when federal, state or local officials take someone’s property, without ever having to prove that it has been used for illicit purposes. Since 2000, governments have acquired at least $68.8 billion in forfeited property, according to the Institute for Justice, a libertarian public interest law firm that represents Serrano and tracks seizures. The group says the number “drastically underestimates forfeiture’s true scope” because not all states provide data. Serrano’s troubles stemmed from some pictures he took along the way of a long trip from his home in Tyner, Kentucky, to visit relatives, including a dying aunt, in Zaragosa, Mexico. The photo-taking attracted the attention of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in Eagle Pass, Texas. When Serrano refused to hand over the password to his phone, the agents went through the 2014 silver pickup truck in great detail. They justified its seizure by saying they found “munitions of war” inside—five forgotten bullets, though no gun. Told to park the truck, he said, he complained a bit before one agent reached into the pickup, opened the door, unfastened Serrano’s seat belt and yanked him out of the vehicle. “I got rights, I got constitutional rights and he snaps back at me, ‘You don’t have no rights here. I’m sick and tired of hearing about your rights.’ That took me aback,” Serrano said.

Should the U.S. boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in China? (Washington Post) As if there aren’t enough sources of Sino-U.S. friction already, an emerging new irritant may soon outpace the rest: the growing calls for a boycott of Beijing’s 2022 Winter Olympics. The games are still 10 months away. But it’s not too early for the event to turn into a flash point. Critics of China’s ruling Communist Party—including a coalition of more than 180 human rights organizations—argue that the regime’s record of human rights abuses and geopolitical malfeasance ought to deprive it of the right to burnish its image with a spectacle like the Olympics. “Beijing won the right to host the 2022 Olympics in 2015, the same year it cracked down on lawyers and activists across China,” Chinese human rights lawyer Teng Biao wrote earlier this year. “Since then, it has detained journalists; harassed and attacked activists and dissidents even outside China’s borders; shut down nongovernmental organizations; demolished Christian churches, Tibetan temples and Muslim mosques; persecuted, sometimes to death, believers in Falun Gong; and sharply increased its control of media, the Internet, universities and publishers.” An Olympic boycott has become a popular cause among Republicans. Major sporting events—and especially international spectacles like the Olympics—always bear a political dimension.

‘Huge’ explosion rocks St. Vincent as volcano keeps erupting (AP) La Soufriere volcano fired an enormous amount of ash and hot gas early Monday in the biggest explosive eruption yet since volcanic activity began on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent late last week, with officials worried about the lives of those who have refused to evacuate. Experts called it a “huge explosion” that generated pyroclastic flows down the volcano’s south and southwest flanks. “It’s destroying everything in its path,” Erouscilla Joseph, director of the University of the West Indies’ Seismic Research Center, told The Associated Press. “Anybody who would have not heeded the evacuation, they need to get out immediately.” The ongoing volcanic activity has threatened water and food supplies, with the government forced to drill for fresh water and distribute it via trucks. “We cannot put tarpaulin over a river,” said Garth Saunders, minister of the island’s water and sewer authority, referring to the impossibility of trying to protect current water sources from ongoing falling ash.

Colombia’s cartels target Europe (The Guardian) At 5 am on a chilly Tuesday morning last month, 1,600 police officers and balaclava-wearing special forces, bristling with arms and battering rams, were ordered into action around the Belgian port city of Antwerp. More than 200 addresses were raided in what was the largest police operation ever conducted in the country and potentially one of the most significant moves yet against the increasingly powerful narco-gangs of western Europe. An incredible 27 tonnes of cocaine have been seized on Antwerp’s quays, in container ships and safe houses, with an estimated value of €1.4bn (£1.2bn), and many arrests have been made. It has been hailed as a mighty blow against what Belgian federal prosecutor Frédéric Van Leeuw calls “a world where morality has totally disappeared”, but Operation Sky has also highlighted a chilling development. Europe has eclipsed the US as the Colombian cartels’ favoured market, because of higher prices and much lower risks posed by European governments in terms of interdiction, extradition and seizure of assets. Jeremy McDermott, a former British army officer who is now executive director of the thinktank InSight Crime, said a kilogram of cocaine in the US is worth up to $28,000 wholesale but that rises to $40,000 on average in Europe, and nearly $80,000 in some parts of Europe. “It is more money for less risk. I see a deliberate decision by some of the top-level Colombian traffickers, based on sources who sat in a series of meetings in 2005-6, where the business decisions were made,” McDermott said. “It is a business no-brainer.”

Conservative Ex-Banker Headed to Victory in Presidential Election in Ecuador (NYT) Guillermo Lasso, a 66-year-old conservative former banker, was set to win Ecuador’s presidential election and beat out Andrés Arauz, a 36-year-old leftist handpicked by former President Rafael Correa. With more than 94 percent of the votes counted after 10 p.m., Mr. Lasso had 52 percent compared with Mr. Arauz’s 47.32 percent, according to the Electoral Council official counting system in Ecuador. Mr. Arauz conceded defeat. The vote signaled a desire, at least among some, to shift right following years in which Mr. Correa has held sway over the country.

England reopens with pints pulled, shopping sprees and hair cuts (Reuters) People queued up outside retailers across England on Monday to release their pent-up shopping fever and some grabbed a midnight pint or even an early haircut as England’s shops, pubs, gyms and hairdressers reopened after three months of lockdown. After imposing the most onerous restrictions in Britain’s peacetime history, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the reopening was a “major step” towards freedom but urged people to behave responsibly as the coronavirus was still a threat. Getting people spending again is crucial for Britain’s recovery after official data showed that 2020 was the worst year for its economy in more than three centuries with a 9.8% decline in gross domestic product.

Tropical Cyclone Seroja flattens Australian town (Washington Post) A tropical cyclone battered Australia’s west coast Sunday night and into Monday, destroying homes and leaving thousands without electricity. Severe wind gusts of up to 105 miles per hour tore houses apart and sent debris flying all over Kalbarri, a coastal tourist town of 1,350 people in Western Australia. Authorities estimated some 70 percent of the town’s buildings were damaged. Drone footage from the scene showed dozens of homes with their roofs ripped off. Power lines were down and roads were littered with shards of metal and other debris. Cyclone Seroja made landfall as a category three storm at about 8 p.m. local time on Sunday between the towns of Kalbarri and Gregory. Cyclones of such intensity rarely travel this far south in Australia, and towns outside the cyclone belt are not usually built to withstand the devastating conditions.

Muslims navigate restrictions in the second pandemic Ramadan (AP) For Ramadan this year, Magdy Hafez has been longing to reclaim a cherished ritual: performing the nighttime group prayers called taraweeh at the mosque once again. Last year, the coronavirus upended the 68-year-old Egyptian’s routine of going to the mosque to perform those prayers, traditional during Islam’s holiest month. The pandemic had disrupted Islamic worship the world over, including in Egypt where mosques were closed to worshippers last Ramadan. Ramadan, which begins this week, comes as much of the world has been hit by an intense new coronavirus wave. For many Muslims navigating restrictions, that means hopes of a better Ramadan than last year have been dashed with the surge in infection rates though regulations vary in different countries. A time for fasting, worship and charity, Ramadan is also when people typically congregate for prayers, gather around festive meals to break their daylong fast, throng cafes and exchange visits. Once again, some countries are imposing new restrictions.

Iran blames Israel for sabotage at Natanz nuclear site (AP) Iran on Monday blamed Israel for a sabotage attack on its underground Natanz nuclear facility that damaged the centrifuges it uses to enrich uranium there, warning that it would take revenge for the assault. The comments by Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh represent the first official accusation leveled against Israel for the incident Sunday that cut power across the facility. Israel has not directly claimed responsibility for the attack. However, suspicion fell immediately on it as Israeli media widely reported that a devastating cyberattack orchestrated by Israel caused the blackout. If Israel was responsible, it would further heighten tensions between the two nations, already engaged in a shadow conflict across the wider Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who met Sunday with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, has vowed to do everything in his power to stop the nuclear deal. According to US intelligence officials, it could take more than nine months to resume enrichment in the nuclear facility.

Abductions and Torture Rattle Uganda (NYT) Armed men in white minivans without license plates picked up people off the streets or from their homes. Those snatched were taken to prisons, police stations and military barracks where they say they were hooded, drugged and beaten—some left to stand in cellars filled with water up to their chests. The fear is still so palpable in the capital, Kampala, that many others have gone into hiding or left the country. Three months after Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni, won a sixth five-year term in office in the most fiercely contested election in years, his government appears to be intent on breaking the back of the political opposition. His principal challenger, Bobi Wine, a magnetic musician-turned-lawmaker who galvanized youthful crowds of supporters, is now largely confined to his house in Kampala. Mr. Wine’s party said on Friday that 623 members, supporters and elected officials have been seized from the streets and arrested in recent weeks, many of them tortured.

Prince Philip’s mourners in the South Pacific (Foreign Policy) The death of Prince Philip, the husband of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, triggered mourning rituals across the country over the weekend. The mourning is not only reserved for the United Kingdom—on one of Vanuatu’s islands, Tanna, hundreds of members of a local tribe have long venerated Prince Philip as akin to a god, and are preparing to mourn his passing. Although it’s unclear how the Prince Philip Movement began, it is believed to have taken root in the 1970s—given life by the royal couple’s visit in 1974. Key to the movement is the belief that Prince Philip is one with the tribe, and fulfilled a prophecy of a tribesman who had found a powerful wife overseas and “would return some day, either in person or in spiritual form,” Kirk Huffman, an anthropologist, told the BBC.

#headlines #news

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rattusrattus3 · 4 years

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Hey! I hope this isn't super weird or anything, but I'm writing a paper for my queer theory class about the relationship between queer and punk identity and I was wondering if you personally felt like there was a relationship between your queer and punk identities, I'm trying to make sure that there is actually something to this and it isn't just something that me and the people I know are perceiving? Again I hope this isnt super weird and I'm sorry if it is! Have a good day!!!

aegszdfxcghvbjklm,. bcfi !!!!!!!! FUCK YES i LOVE THIS

i 10000% feel there is a relationship with my punk and queer identieis, in fact my thesis im working on is DIY fashion and queerness lmao (and several of my uni friends would agree that queerness and punk is correlated, esp because within the subculture we are more free from heteronormative and capitalist expectations like makeup is only for girls and ripped clothes are not professional so theyre not ok etc etc)

heres some sources i used that might be helpfulf to u, the more relevant ones are at the top! (sci hub if u cant find them)

Gunn, M. (2016). CLOTHING AS A PERFORMATIVE CHALLENGE TO HETERONORMATIVITY. 18, 175. PLEASE LOOK AT THIS PLEASE I BEG U

Aberle, C. (n.d.). “Serious is Bad”: A Queer Reading of Punk, Midwest Emo, and Connecticut DIY. 65.

Sharp, M., & Nilan, P. (2015). Queer punx: Young women in the Newcastle hardcore space. Journal of Youth Studies, 18(4), 451–467. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2014.963540

Cherry, B., & Mellins, M. (2011). Negotiating the Punk in Steampunk: Subculture, Fashion & Performative Identity. Punk & Post Punk, 1(1), 5–25. https://doi.org/10.1386/punk.1.1.5_1

Downes, J. (2012). The Expansion of Punk Rock: Riot Grrrl Challenges to Gender Power Relations in British Indie Music Subcultures. Women’s Studies, 41(2), 204–237. https://doi.org/10.1080/00497878.2012.636572

Dunn, K., & Farnsworth, M. S. (2012). “We ARE the Revolution”: Riot Grrrl Press, Girl Empowerment, and DIY Self-Publishing. Women’s Studies, 41(2), 136–157. https://doi.org/10.1080/00497878.2012.636334

Garrison, E. K. (2000). U.S. feminism—Grrrl style! Youth (Sub)cultures and the technologics of the Third Wave. Feminist Studies, 26(1), 141–170. https://doi.org/10.2307/3178596

Persephone Is Pissed! Grrrl Zine Reading, Making, and Distributing Across the Globe. Hecate, 30(2), 156–175.

Dwyer, A. (2009). Identifiable, queer and risky: The role of the body in policing experiences for LGBT young people. In M. Segrave (Ed.), Proceedings of the 2009 Australian and New Zealand Critical Criminology Conference (pp. 69–77). Monash University Criminology, School of Political and Social Inquiry. http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/criminology/c3-conference-proceedings/index.php

Geczy, A., & Karaminas, V. (2013). Queer style. Bloomsbury.

#ask #asks #sorry i didnt expand more but yea i was identifying as punk before i identified as queer and it was through hanging out in punk spaces that #gender #anon #punk #im so happy to hear yioure taking that class good on you #and great topic like #i love u #Anonymous

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pancakeruby · 5 years

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Alternative Bands You Need To Listen To: Part 5 🌸

Skegss⚡️ (makes you feel like you’re skateboarding down a boardwalk in the middle of an australian summer)

Vundabar🌚 (one of my all time favorite bands... they make a unique kind of alternative music with catchy melodies and gritty lyrics/sounds that are truly brilliant)

Goodbye Honolulu🌺 (really good garage rock stuff and an overall awesome sound. chord progressions are also a1)

Made Violent 🔪 (also restores my faith in alternative and punk)

Courtney Barnett🍃 (if you don’t know this songwriting wizard by now... relatable music, awesome guitar playing and band, just overall beautiful songs)

Gallus💥 (my favorite modern alternative band for the past 2 yrs now... super underrated shit, real rock songs that are clean and so advanced. definitely check them out)

Otherkin👌 (imagine a movie intro of someone walking through high school in the early 2000s, with a little more punk)

Cosmic Flanders🔮 (only have 2 songs rn but I know they’ll be big, has a retro-rock and modern day psych-rock feel)

Violent Soho🧨 (reminds me so much of classic 90s bands, ultimate new headbanger music with plenty of more mellow bops too)

The Delta Riggs ⚫️ (the BEST funky alternative)

The Dose 💊 (90’s vibe… it’s good stuff)

The Growlers☀️ (y’all should know them but if you don’t... mix of indie/rock/alt/with some pop stuff, overall the band is super dynamic with a great lead singer and amazing riffs/beats)

Skinny Girl Diet🌹 (female nirvana. that’s it. fucking awesome)

Hot Flash Heat Wave🌊 (mix of post-punk and psychedelic pop stuff, super catchy tunes that you’ll love)

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alpha-incipiens · 4 years

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Favourite music of the decade!

This is some of what I’d consider the most innovative, artistic and just great to listen to music from 2010-2019.

First a Lot of very good songs:

Crying - Premonitory dream

Arcade Fire - Normal person

Sufjan Stevens - I want to be well

Deerhunter - Sailing

Foster the People - Pumped up kicks

Carly Rae Jepsen - Boy problems

Grimes - Butterfly

Travis Scott - Butterfly effect

Future - March madness

Kanye West ft. Nicki Minaj et al - Monster

Juice Wrld - Won’t let go

Danny Brown - Downward spiral

Kendrick Lamar - Sing about me, I’m dying of thirst

Kate Tempest - Marshall Law

The Avalanches - Stepkids

Iglooghost - Bug thief

Vektroid - Yr heart

Ariel Pink - Little wig

Mac Demarco - Sherrill

Vektor - Charging the void

Jyocho - 太陽と暮らしてきた [family]

Panic! at the disco - Ready to go

The Wonder Years - An American religion

Oso oso - Wake up next to god

The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die - I can be afraid of anything

And my top 20(+2) albums:

Calling Rich gang’s style influential on trap would be like saying Nirvana may have had some impact on early-90s grunge. In 2019 with trap so omnipresent in popular music, hip hop or otherwise, through the impact of artists like Drake and Travis Scott it’s almost hard to remember when this was a niche genre - it was Rich gang that popularised its modern sound here. Birdman’s beats with their rattling hi-hats and deep bass could have been made 5 years later without arousing suspicion, while Rich Homie Quan and Young Thug deliver consistently entertaining flows and numerous bangers between them. Thugger, this being his first major project, steals the show with his yelpy and hilarious rapping style. This may have once been the defining sound of house parties in the Atlanta projects; now it can be heard blasting in the night from white people’s sound systems around the world.

Early 21p may have never aimed to be cool, to avoid a certain appearance of lameness, but they did have a knack for writing some really catchy pop with an optimistic message. To the devoted, the critics of Pilots’ apparent mishmash of nerdy rap, sentimental piano balladry and EDM production were just stuffy, wanting music to stay how it was back-in-the-day forever and unwilling to get with the times. This viewpoint is understandable when you approach this album openly and actually listen to Tyler Joseph’s lyrics about youthful anxiety and insecurity, delivered with real conviction and sincerity, actually recognise that disparate musical elements are all there for emotional punch. A few songs do underwhelm. But this is emo for post-emo Gen Z’s and it’s easy to see why to some it can be deeply affecting.

The musical ancestor to the ongoing and endless stream of ‘lo-fi hip hop beats’ youtube mixes, chillwave filled the same low-stress niche, and Dive released at the peak of the genre’s relevance. Tycho’s woozy, mellow sound prominently features rich acoustic and bass guitar melodies over warm synths, enhancing the music’s organic feel compared to that of purely digital producers in the genre. The experience of starting this album is like waking up in a soft bed, the cover’s gorgeous sunrise reddening the room’s walls, while a guitarist improvises somewhere on the Mediterranean streets outside. And it is indeed great to study or relax to!

Simple, minimal acoustic guitar and vocals. If you’ve got talent this type of music shows it, or else it doesn’t: perfect then for Ichiko Aoba. Her touch is light, her songs calm, meditative, in no rush to get anywhere. As if serenely watching a natural landscape, one can best understand and enjoy Aoba’s music in quiet and peaceful appreciation.

Through the incorporation of genres like shoegaze and alternative rock, Deafheaven managed to create a rare thing: a metal album that’s both heavy and accessible, needing no sacrifice of one for the other’s sake. Over these four main songs, there’s a sensation of being taken on an intense, atmospheric and even emotional journey, with the band stepping away from the negativity and misanthropy that dominates most metal. The vocals, closer to the confessionalism of screamo than classic black metal shrieks, express more sadness than they do aggression, and in respites between solid blaring walls of guitar and drums, calm pianos and gently strummed guitar passages set a pensive tone. This totally enveloping, flawlessly produced sound can take you away, like My Bloody Valentine’s best work, into a dream or trance.

By the late 2000s MCR had taken their thrones as the kings of a subculture formed from the coalition of goth, emo, scene and other assorted Hot Topic-donned kids, and earned a lifelong place in the hearts of many a depressed teenager. But after the generation-defining The Black Parade Gerard Way took off the white facepaint and skeleton costume, ditched the lyrics about corpse brides and vampires, and embraced an anthemic, purely pop punk sound. The silly story of Danger Days, set in a dystopian California where villainous corporations rule and only the Punks can stop them, serves as a kind of idealised setting for the all-out rebellion against authority and normality that so many fantasised about taking part in. The band’s electrifying performances are the most uplifting of their decade making music. For many diehards the upbeat sound here was a celebration that they’d made it through the most difficult years of their lives, and a spit in the face of those who’d done them wrong.

The teller of rural American tales, the indie legend, the teen-whisperer himself. John Darnielle, long past his early lo-fidelity home recordings and now backed by a full band, loses none of the heart his songs are famous for. The theme of the album, taken straight from John’s childhood when the pro wrestling on TV offered an escape from his abusive stepfather, is complemented by the country and Tex-Mex flavouring to the instrumentation. Some of the best lyrics in his long career infuse the stories of wrestlers with universal meaning - his characters try, fail, lose hope, reckon with their mediocrity, and when they step into the ring they’re up against all the adversity life can throw at them. John Darnielle’s saying that when that happens, you stand up and sock back.

Folk music was always a major part of the Scandinavian black metal scene during its peak years, so when American musicians began exploring the genre naturally they incorporated American styles of folk. The complex, oppressive and sometimes hellish compositions here, starkly contrasted with bluegrass that sounds straight from the campfire circle, give the impression of life in the uncharted woods of the American frontier, in the middle of a brutally cold winter. Almost unbelievably, one-man-band Austin Lunn plays every instrument on the album: multiple guitar parts, bass and drums as well as banjo, fiddle, and woodwinds.

Andy Stott seems to delight in making his music as unnerving, haunting, perhaps even scary, as possible. The female vocals these songs are built around become ghostly, echoing and overlapping themselves disorientingly. The percussion, audibly resembling metal clanging, rustling or rattling in the distance, is often left to stand for its own, creating a tense space it feels like something should be filling. UK-based club and dub music can be felt influencing the grimy almost-but-not-quite danceable rhythms here, but the lo-fi recording and menacing vibe makes this feel like a rave at some sort of dimly lit abandoned factory.

There’s so much Mad Max in this album you can just picture it being set to images of freights burning across the desert. True to its title, the nine songs on Nonagon Infinity roll into each other as if part of one big perpetual composition, with the end looping back seamlessly to the start and musical motifs cropping up both before and after the song they form the base of. With its fuzzy, raw sound, bluesy harmonica and wild whooping, the Gizz create a truly rollicking rock’n’roll experience. The band would go on to release 5 albums within twelve months a year later, but Nonagon shows these seven Australian madmen at the height of their powers.

Sometimes you just want to listen to fun, hyperactive pop. The spirit of 8-bit video game soundtracks and snappy pop punk come together to create a vividly digital world of sound that seems to celebrate the worldliness, connectivity and shiny neon colours of early 2010s internet culture and social media. The up-pitched vocals and general auditory mania recall firmly Online musical trends like nightcore and vocaloid, while the beats pulse away, compelling you to dance like this is a house party and the best playlist ever assembled is on. It demands to be listened to at night with headphones, in a room lit only by your laptop screen.

“You hate everyone. To you everyone’s either a moron, or a creep or a poser. Why do you suddenly care about their opinion of you?” “Because I’m shallow, okay?! … I want them to like me.”

The fact that that Malcolm In The Middle quote is sampled at the emotional climax of this record should give some idea to the absurdity that defines Brave Little Abacus. It’s not even the only sample from the show on here. And yet the passion and urgency so evident in Adam Demirjian’s lispy singing and the band’s nostalgia-inducing, even cozy, melodies are made to stir feelings. The tearjerker chords and guitar progressions are so distinctive of emo bands with that special US-midwest melancholia, and they are interspersed with warm ambiance and playful sound effects ripped from TV and video games, seemingly vintage throwbacks to a sunny childhood. Demirjian’s lyrics, yelled out as if through tears or in the middle of a panic attack, verge on word salad in their abstraction, but that’s not the point: you can feel his small town loneliness and sense the trips he’s spent lost on memory lane. The combined effect all adds to Just Got Back’s themes of adolescence and the trauma of leaving it. While legendary in certain internet communities for this album and their 2009 masterpiece Masked Dancers, the band remains obscure to wider audiences.

These Danish punks know how to convey emotion through their raw and dramatic songs. Elias Rønnenfelt’s vocal presence and charisma cannot be ignored: his husky voice drawls, at times breaks, gasps for breath, builds up the deeply impassioned, intense force behind his words. The band sounds free and wild, unrestrained by a tight adherence to tempo, often speeding up, slowing down or straying from the vocals within the same song, as if playing live. Instrumentally the command over loud and quiet, tension and release, accentuates the vocals in crafting the album’s pace. Horns and saloon pianos throughout give the feel of a performance in a smoky, underground blues bar, with Rønnenfelt swaying onstage as he howls the romantic, distraught, heartbroken lyrics he truly believes in.

At some point on first listening to Death Grips, a thought along the lines of “He really yells like this the whole way through, huh?” probably crosses the mind. When Exmilitary first appeared, quietly uploaded to the internet, the rapper’s name and identity unknown, another likely reaction among listeners might have been “What am I even listening to?” But perhaps more revolutionary than Death Grips’ incredibly aggressive sound and style might have been its foreshadowing of how over the next decade underground rap acts would explode into the mainstream through viral songs, online word of mouth and memes. It showed all you needed to come from nowhere to the top of the game was to seize attention, and it did that and far more. MC Ride’s intoxicatingly crass, intense rapping captures the energy of a mosh pit where injuries happen, the barrage of sensations of a coke high, while the eclectic mix of rock and glitchy electronics on the instrumentals is disorienting in the best way. If rap were rock and this was 1977, Death Grips would have just invented punk. Ride’s lyrics paint a confrontational, hyper-macho persona; unlike much hip hop braggadocio, the overwhelming impression given is that Ride truly does not care what anyone thinks. He just goes hard and does not stop. It’s music to punch the wall to.

Inspired by classic rock operas, this concept album represents some major ambition and innovation in musical storytelling. Delivered in frontman Damian Abraham’s gravelly shouted vocals, the complex lyrical narrative of the album follows a factory worker, an activist and their struggle against the omnipotent author (Abraham himself) who controls their fates. Featuring devices like unreliable narrators and fourth-wall breaking, it takes some serious reading into to untangle. But it’s the bright guitarwork, combining upbeat punk rock and indie to create some killer riffs, that gives the album its furious energy and cinematic proportions.

Joanna Newsom is enchanted by the past. Like 2006’s ambitious Ys, the music on Divers makes this evident with its invocation of Western classical and medieval music, throwing antiquated instruments like clavichords together with lush string orchestration, woodwinds, organs, folk guitar and Newsom’s signature harp. With her soulful, moving vocals leading the way, it’s hard not to imagine her as some kind of Renaissance-era country woman contemplating nature, love and mortality in the fields and the woods. As always Newsom proves herself a stunningly original and creative arranger with the sheer compositional intricacy and flow of these songs, and most of all the harmonious intertwining of singing and instrumental backing.

Burial’s music is born from the London night: the bustle of the streets, the faint sounds from distant raves, the buskers, the rain on bus windows. This EP’s dreamlike quality makes listening to it feel like taking a trip across the city well after midnight, watching the lights go by, with no idea where you hope to get to. Every single sound and effect on these two songs is so precisely chosen, from the shifting and shuffling beats, the swelling synths and wordless vocals that sound like a club from a different dimension, the ambient hiss and pop of a vinyl record. Musically this sound is drawn from UK-based scenes like 2-step and drum ‘n bass, but twisted into such a moody and abstracted form as to be nearly unrecognisable as dubstep. Just when this urban, dismal sound is at its most oppressive, heavenly soul singers or organs cut through like a ray of light in the dark.

There’s an imaginary rulebook of how construct music, how to properly make tempos and combinations of notes sound harmonious, and Gorguts have spent their career ripping it up and throwing it in the bin. On 1998’s seminal Obscura, their atonal experimentation sounded at times like random noises in random order. But listen closely to Obscura or Colored Sands, their return after a long hiatus, and the method behind the madness emerges. One mark of great death metal is that it’s impossible to predict what direction it will go even a few seconds in advance, and the band achieves this while presenting a heavy, slow, momentous sound. The density of inspired riffs, and the intricate balancing of loud and quiet, fast and slow paced throughout these songs are exceptional. In instrumental sections the guitars will echo out as if across a barren plane, then the song will build up to the momentum of a freight train. Behind the crashing and twisting walls of guitar the patterns of blast beat drumming are almost mathematical in nature. Luc Lemay’s harsh bellows sound like a warlord’s cry or a pure expression of rage to the void. It’s threatening, menacing, unapproachable, but it all makes sense in the end.

Futuristic yet deeply retro, Blank Banshee’s music takes vaporwave beyond its roots in the pure consumerist parody of artists like Vektroid and James Ferraro and makes it actually sound amazing. Songs are built out of a single vocal snippet processed beyond recognition, new agey synthesisers, Windows XP-era computer noises, hilariously out of place instruments, all set to the 808 bass and hi-hats of hip-hop style beats. The genre’s pioneers intentionally sucked the soul from their music using samples pulled from 70s and 80s elevators, infomercials and corporate lounges - here the throwback seems to be to the early 2000s childhood of the internet, and the influence of a time when email and forums were revolutionary can be felt. The effect of this insanity is an album that whirls by like a techno-psychedelic haze: the atmosphere of dark trap beats places you squarely in a 2013 studio one moment, the next you’re surrounded by relaxing midi pianos and humming that a temple of new age practitioners would meditate to. Still, at some point when listening to this album, perhaps when the ridiculous steel drums kick in near the end, you realise that this is all to some degree a joke, and a funny one. It’s hard to overstate what an entertaining half-hour this thing is.

While 2012’s Good Kid, m.a.a.d City presented a movie in album form of Kendrick’s childhood and early adult years, TPAB’s journey is one of personal growth, introspection, and nuanced examination of the state of race in post-Ferguson America. It’s simultaneously the Zeitgeist for the US in 2015 and a soul-search in the therapist’s office. Sounding deeply vulnerable, he openly discusses depression, alcoholism, religion and feelings of helplessness. The White House and associated gangstas on the cover give some idea to the album’s political themes, with Lamar contrasting Obama’s presidency to the political powerlessness and lifelong ghetto entrapment of millions of black Americans. Everything I’ve written about the lyrics here really only scratches the surface because the words here are substantive, complex and dense with meaning. Near enough every bar can be analysed for multiple meanings and interpretations, essays can and have been written on the overall work, anything less does not do justice. The musical versatility on display is astounding: the album acts as an extravaganza of African-American music, from smooth west coast G-funk to east coast grit, neo-soul and rock to beat poetry, and most of all jazz. Like an expertly laid character arc the record progresses through its ideas in such a way that they’re all impactful, with the slurred rapping imitating a depressed drunken stupor followed later by exuberant, defiant cries of “I love myself!”, the white-hot rage against police brutality balanced by the hopeful mantra: “do you hear me, do you feel me, we gon be alright”. Perhaps the most culturally significant album of the 2010s and an essential piece of the hip-hop canon.

This harrowing hour chronicles the struggles and everyday tragedy of a series of characters and their relationship with the city they live in, narratively driven by some outstandingly poetic lyrics. Jordan Dreyer’s wordy tales despair at the poverty, gang violence and urban decay in the band’s native Grand Rapids, Michigan, an almost childlike open-hearted naivete in his words as he empathises with the broken and alienated people in these songs. There’s no jaded sneer or sly lesson to be learned as he sings about the child killed by a stray bullet or the homebird left alone after all their friends move away, just genuine second-hand sadness and a dream that compassion and community will eventually heal the pain. Taking elements from bands like At the Drive-In’s fusion of punk and progressive, and mewithoutyou’s shout-sung vocals, La Dispute hones its sound to a razor edge to put fierce instrumental power behind the lyrics. Not an easy listen, but a sharply written songbook and a perfect execution on its concept.

Around 2008, Joanna Newsom met comedian Andy Samberg. Within a year, their relationship was becoming the basis upon which the poetry of Have One on Me was spun. Newsom’s lyrics, exploring her relationship with her future-husband, nature, death, spirituality, are above all else loving. Through her warm and vibrant voice, at times an operatic trill and in others deeply soulful, she expresses the joy of love for another, the peace and earthly connection of her beloved pastoral lifestyle, deeply affecting melancholy and grief. Contemplative, artful, genuine or expressive: every lyric in every sweet melody is used to offer her ruminations on life or overflowings of passion.

More so than her previous and next albums, the feel of the album is of not just a folkloric past but also the present day, with drums, substantial brass and string arrangements, and even electric guitar anchoring the sound to Newsom’s real, not imaginary, life in the 21st century. Yet songs here with moods or settings evoking simpler lifestyles and the women living them in 1800s California or the Brontës’ English moors still have a universal relevance. Whether rooted in past of present, the instrumental variety of these compositions, from classical solo piano, grand orchestral arrangements led by harp, to the twang of country guitars or intricate vocal harmonising, makes it apparent that this is the work of a master songwriter in full command of well over a dozen talented musicians. Ultimately, what makes this my favourite album of the decade is that, very simply, it is one stunningly beautiful song after another, all collated into a cohesive 2-hour portrait of Newsom’s soul.

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marciacarrasco8-blog · 5 years

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The Historical past Of Jamaican Rocksteady Music

Massive Room Home is the ‘pop music' of our generation. First exposure: Rock radio stations have missed out on a ton of exhausting rock performers in the 2010's. I will name some names. Sasquatch, All Them Witches, Mos Generator, http://www.audio-transcoder.com/ Elder, Duel, Gary Clark Jr, Torche. Now fashionability: Here are some bands with either female or non white singers which have gotten some airplay: Wolf Alice, Dorothy, Sevendust, Halestrom. Loud distorted electrical guitars aren't modern proper now. The younger Millennials and older Gen Z kids like elevator music like Glass Animals in comparison with the Alt Rock from the ninety's and 2000's. Music followers all have our favourite genres — the ones that almost all resonate with our private style, and that we all the time return to. Hip hop fans, metalheads, EDM fanatics, nation fans, rockers, reggae lovers, and so forth. may dabble with different genres, as a result of there's simply too much amazing music out there. Still, we come back to our favorites. These days, individuals also relate nation music to Pop music, as the music industry is pushing some nation composers' careers ahead, and making it extra business and accessible. Kirsty Brown is the Govt Officer of MusicNSW , the peak physique for up to date music in NSW, and www.goodreads.com a member of Australian Music Business Network (AMIN). Kirsty comes from a background in music journalism and pageant occasions, and is the former Managing Editor of street press The Brag, which she referred to as house for four years, whereas modifying the annual Massive Day Out program and contributing to magazines like Rolling Stone and Demo. Kirsty has labored across such festivals as Flickerfest Worldwide Quick Film Competition, Big Day Out, This Is Not Artwork and most recently, because the Co-director and Basic Manager of Sound Summit. Deathcore isn't very good to be sincere. Every on occasion, there is a good Deathcore band, like Despised Icon, Veil Of Maya, Born Of Osiris, and Oceans Ate Alaska, however a breakdown for a complete tune is not what I consider after I consider music. I'm TAKING A LOOK AT YOU OCEANO. Melodic demise steel and death steel are much better. STYLE (in music) is the bed-rock, the DNA if you'll, that a derivative fashion is derived from. Eg. Rock and Roll, is a TYPE of BLUES MUSIC. The derivative type must elementarty depart from a style to develop into a style of it is personal. If this summoned visions of bopping round your lounge to the Sonic soundtrack, put together to be dissatisfied (though you can do that should you go to Spotify's gaming portal Learn how to Find the Excellent Music to Listen to While Gaming How to Find the Perfect Music to Take heed to Whereas Gaming Video games are actually thought-about an artform, and their soundtracks are an essential component. Nevertheless, sometimes you need to hearken to something else whereas gaming, which is where Spotify comes into its own. Read Extra ). Borrowing influences from music types reminiscent of hip-hop, rap, and reggae, Latin urban music has experienced important modifications during the last twenty years. From the original sounds of the reggae fusion created by Panamanian artist El Basic to the reggaeton fever of the late Nineties, Latin urban music has continued to evolve into a complex genre that features every kind of tropical rhythms, pop and dance music. ÜT: forty.745021,-seventy three.729404 About Weblog Devoted to music discovery. EARMILK serves the latest music news, streams, downloads and more. We cowl every little thing we love, these include dance, hiphop, and digital, indie rock, trap, witch-house, edm, submit-dubstep, dreamwave, various and probably about 500 others - at EARMILK you get the gambit. The mainstream rock comeback will happen Joan: Vinyl information proceed to extend in gross sales and recognition because they sound warmer to the younger person's ears. Vinyl gross sales are at present beating streaming sales within the UK. The digital Scandinavian middle-aged male-written laptop pop music is okay for streaming but in case you expect vinyl heat actual instruments will have to performed. People who learn real instruments study from classic rock. The companies will have to find music that matches the vinyl medium and Kesha will get her chance. (Sometimes also referred to as New York hip hop) A mode of hip hop music that originated in New York Metropolis during the late-Seventies. East Coast hip hop emerged as a definitive subgenre after artists from other areas of the United States (chiefly the West Coast) emerged with completely different styles of hip-hop. It has since grown into a major subgenre of hip hop, and has performed an instrumental role in hip hop history. East Coast hip hop has developed a number of inventive epicenters and native scenes within the Northeastern United States, most of that are primarily situated within African-American and Hispanic urban centers.

Of the four Roles, Sentinels solely came first in their appreciation of two genres: country (forty three%) and non secular music (forty%). The strong sense of neighborhood that characterizes Sentinel character types - whose work ethic and want for order stems from their belief that life is essentially about sustaining the social fabric for the nice of all - could clarify their affinity for these two kinds, each of which regularly include messages in reward of service, whether or not to a higher power or to 1's fellow human being. The ambivalence that Sentinels are likely to have for well-liked entertainment - so much of which strikes them as a waste of beneficial time - may additionally clarify why music must embody no less than a bit of didacticism to carry their attention for long. Frankly I do not care if the music is pop or rock. Just the tune and the lyrics needs to be my taste and wise. I follow 4 rock bands :Disturbed, Evanescence, anhbindon235.wikidot.com Breaking Benjamin and Within Temptation, trigger I simply feel calm or nice or excited by their music. I am only speaking concerning the songs, not the live shows because I stay in India and I've by no means been to any concert events. One of many essential reasons I do not like pop music much is as a result of they're always so cliched. It is both love songs or partying or medication or sex. I'm just feeling so damned bored with trendy pop music. I am also afraid that rock is creating those type of attitudes and that's why I stick with solely 4 bands. When you guys may suggest a brand new tune for me, post your comment on cretoxyrhinamantelli@gmail. com.

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wondroussimmer-blog · 5 years

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GET TO KNOW ME-

Basically, no one actually tagged me in this, but I thought i’d give it a go anyway seeing as this is a new blog and you guys can get to now me a bit, so I tag anyone who sees this and also wants to have a go...

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1. What is your full name? I’m not putting my last name on here, but my first name is Maja (Miya) 2. What is your nickname? I don’t really have one 3. Birthday? January 1st 4. What is your favourite book series? I don’t really read book series’ 5. Do you believe in aliens or ghosts? Not 100% sure, I don’t believe in the sort of ghosts you see in films, but I think I believe our loved ones stay with us in some way. As for aliens, idk, we can’t be the only life but idk. 6. Who is your favourite author? I find the fault in our stars quite overrated, but i’d say John Green because some of his others are my favourites! 7. What is your favourite radio station? BBC Radio 1 8. What is your favourite flavour of anything? this is such a weird question, how can you have a favourite flavour for everything? but if it’s sweet, definitely strawberry! 9. What word would you use often to describe something great or wonderful? Again, weird question, but i use so many words for this, my most used are probably lovely and amazing 10. What is your current favourite song? this changes alll the time, but right this minute it’s probably sunflower by post malone and swae lee 11. What is your favourite word? is this a thing? 12. What was the last song you listened to? vacation by hippo campus 13. What TV show would you recommend for everybody to watch? big mouth, orphan black, queer eye, dexter 14. What is your favourite movie to watch when you’re feeling down? the breakfast club or mean girls probably 15. Do you play video games? only the sims 16. What is your biggest fear? probably the death of people close to me, and in the future not being able to have children 17. What is your best quality, in your opinion? probably that i’m a friendly person 18. What is your worst quality, in your opinion? i’m v insecure 19. Do you like cats or dogs better? DOGS... always dogs! 20. What is your favourite season? autumn/winter 21. Are you in a relationship? yes 22. What is something you miss from your childhood? having way more friends and barely any responsibilities 23. Who is your best friend? my boyfriend 24. What is your eye colour? blue 25. What is your hair colour? brown 26. Who is someone you love? my boyfriend and family 27. Who is someone you trust? my boyfriend and closest family 28. Who is someone you think about often? okay wow, so much variety in these answers but the same as the previous two answers 29. Are you currently excited about/for something? christmas and my birthday 30. What is your biggest obsession? probably sims 31. What was your favourite TV show as a child? Probably Tracy beaker or that’s so raven 32. Who of the opposite gender can you tell anything to, if anyone? my boyfriend 33. Are you superstitious? only slightly 34. Do you have any unusual phobias? cracking knuckles, moths (but only indoors), realistic looking mannequins and gas masks... so not much 35. Do you prefer to be in front of the camera or behind it? behind, every single time 36. What is your favourite hobby? playing sims, graphic designing, video editing 37. What was the last book you read? The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks 38. What was the last movie you watched? Muppet’s Christmas Carol 39. What musical instruments do you play, if any? I play a bit of guitar and can play the mr bean theme song on piano if that counts 40. What is your favourite animal? dogs 41. What are your top 5 favourite Tumblr blogs that you follow? I definitely have more than 5 42. What superpower do you wish you had? be able to teleport and go invisible 43. When and where do you feel most at peace? probably at home with my boyfriend 44. What makes you smile? sorry if this is becoming a boring answer... but my boyfriend! also my dog :) 45. What sports do you play, if any? I don’t at the moment, but I have done tennis, dance (ballet, tap and modern), swimming, karate, speed skating and netball 46. What is your favourite drink? water... how boring ik 47. When was the last time you wrote a hand-written letter or note to somebody? Last month, I made my boyfriend a scrap book as one of my boyfriend’s presents for our anniversary and wrote some letters as part of it 48. Are you afraid of heights? not if it’s a secure height 49. What is your biggest pet peeve? I have wayyy too many and so many grammatical ones, I absolutely hate when people incorrectly use was and were, so if someone said ‘we was going’, I think it’s quite an essex thing but I hateeee it, I can’t stand bad grammar, but also slow walkers, people who walk through the door without looking behind them to hold the door open for people behind, other drivers not indicating, people that have to be louder than everyone else, people that chew with their mouths open... basically I have a lot and this list could go on and on and on 50. Have you ever been to a concert? I’ve seen all time low, the 1975, imagine dragons, sunset sons, ed sheeran and paramore in concert so far and i’m seeing panic! at the disco in march which i’m MEGA excited about!!! 51. Are you vegan/vegetarian? vegetarian 52. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? This would change all the time, it went from radio dj, to dancer, to teacher when I was really young, then architect when I was a teenager, and now it’s clinical psychologist which i’m slowly working towards 53. What fictional world would you like to live in? I’ve not got a clue 54. What is something you worry about? EVERYTHING! I get a lot of social anxiety, so basically whenever i’m out of the house i’m worrying about absolutely everything and it’s the worst and gets me super down, so yeah, love that 55. Are you scared of the dark? okay so I don’t like leaving the dark, i’m fine being in the dark but I hate when i’m home alone and have to turn the lights off in the living room, kitchen and hall to go to bed... if that makes sense 56. Do you like to sing? i’m someone that, at home, is constantly singing, and when it’s only my boyfriend around, if one of us says a sentence that can in some way relate to a song, i’ll immediately sing it, but I suck so I won’t ever sing in public 57. Have you ever skipped school? in school I faked being ill a few times to get off of school, but in uni i’ve skipped way too many lectures over the past 3 years 58. What is your favourite place on the planet? I absolutely adore Spain, but also Belgrade (i’m half Serbian) 59. Where would you like to live? If not my current home town, i’d love to one day live somewhere like Norway or Sweden 60. Do you have any pets? yep, i’ve got a french bulldog 61. Are you more of an early bird or a night owl? I wake up pretty early, but I hate to start the day early 62. Do you like sunrises or sunsets better? sunsets. 63. Do you know how to drive? Yep 64. Do you prefer earbuds or headphones? the sound of headphones but I normally use earbuds 65. Have you ever had braces? nope, thank god 66. What is your favourite genre of music? this really ranges from charts, to indie rock, to ‘former emo kid’, to early 2000s r&b, to musical theatre 67. Who is your hero? probably my boyfriend 68. Do you read comic books? no 69. What makes you the most angry? as we’ve already gathered, I have a lot of pet peeves, so a lot! 70. Do you prefer to read on an electronic device or with a real book?a real book! 71. What is your favourite subject in school? I currently study psychology which has been my favourite subject since A levels, but during GCSEs I enjoyed maths 72. Do you have any siblings? 1 younger brother 73. What was the last thing you bought? some christmas presents for my boyfriend’s cousins 74. How tall are you? 5ft4 75. Can you cook? yes 76. What are three things that you love? spending time with people I love, travelling, collecting photos 77. What are three things that you hate? busy places, cheats, confrontation 78. Do you have more female friends or more male friends? I actually barely have any so this is kind of hard to answer 79. What is your sexual orientation? straight 80. Where do you currently live? England 81. Who was the last person you texted? my mum 82. When was the last time you cried? I’m not actually sure, which is funny because I cry all the time and super easily 83. Who is your favourite YouTuber? I have so many: in terms of sims: lilsimsie, urbansims, sophsims, simkim, plumbella, in terms of lifestyle: louise pentland, in terms of fashion and beauty: samantha maria, tati westbrook, busybee carys, patricia bright, antonio garza, and others: shane dawson, sarah baska, kendall rae, jaackmaate, and loads more! basically, if i’m not on tumblr, i’m on youtube, if i’m not on youtube i’m playing sims, and if i’m not on sims i’m on tumblr... 84. Do you like to take selfies? rarely 85. What is your favourite app? any social media 86. What is your relationship with your parent(s) like? fab 87. What is your favourite foreign accent? Australian and Scottish 88. What is a place that you’ve never been to, but you want to visit? I have so many but I won’t bore you with another long list, so just a few: Sweden, South Africa, Iceland and Canada 89. What is your favourite number? 1 90. Can you juggle? no 91. Are you religious? I was baptised but don’t really consider myself religious 92. Do you find outer space or the deep ocean to be more interesting? both as interesting as the other 93. Do you consider yourself to be a daredevil? not really 94. Are you allergic to anything? no 95. Can you curl your tongue? yep, one of my weird ‘party tricks’ is I can actually curl it 180 degrees 96. Can you wiggle your ears? no 97. How often do you admit that you were wrong about something? not as often as I should 98. Do you prefer the forest or the beach? probably the forest 99. What is your favourite piece of advice that anyone has ever given you?my dad probably gives the best life advice but there’s too much to put here 100. Are you a good liar? It depends 101. What is your Hogwarts House? Hufflepuff 102. Do you talk to yourself? All the time 103. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? I N T R O V E R T, i’m so introverted to the point I hate it but seriously struggle to change it 104. Do you keep a journal/diary? no but I have in the past 105. Do you believe in second chances? it depends 106. If you found a wallet full of money on the ground, what would you do? Hand it in 107. Do you believe that people are capable of change? It depends 108. Are you ticklish? VERY 109. Have you ever been on a plane? manyyyy times 110. Do you have any piercings? nope, I have but not anymore 111. What fictional character do you wish was real? no idea 112. Do you have any tattoos? nope 113. What is the best decision that you’ve made in your life so far? I’m really not sure 114. Do you believe in karma? to an extent, but at the same time bad things seem to happen to good people, sooooo 115. Do you wear glasses or contacts? neither 116. Do you want children? yes 117. Who is the smartest person you know? my cousin 118. What is your most embarrassing memory? omg my whole life is filled with embarrassing memories that I seem to always remember at the most inconvenient times or when i’m about to go to sleep that just haunt me out of nowhere...fun 119. Have you ever pulled an all-nighter? yes 120. What colour are most of you clothes? black or white 121. Do you like adventures? yep 122. Have you ever been on TV? no 123. How old are you? 20 - nearly 21 124. What is your favourite quote? not really sure. 125. Do you prefer sweet or savoury foods? sweet

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guardians-ofthe-lastyoungkilljoy · 6 years

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musicians that get constant stream on my Spotify

doing this cause I'm actually so bored. this is going to be a long post

5 Seconds of Summer (Australian)

I’ve loved these guys since their first album dropped and seeing them grow into these beautiful young men they are now fills my heart with so much love and pride.

Year I started listening - 2014

First song I listened to - She Looks So Perfect

First 2 albums have pop-punk vibes. 2nd album gets quite personal and has helped me through some shit. 3rd album is different but cool. Very vibey alt-pop stuff. EPs are very underrated.

All Time Low (American)

Whipped from the start. Probably the most unproblematic artist out there. Just a couple of boys who want to play their music and see their fans. Pure™️. On the final Warped Tour.

Year I started listening - 2017

First song I listened to - Dear Maria, Count Me In

All albums up to Don’t Panic are very pop-punk. Future Hearts is pop-punk but there was this idk growth thing and it was just somewhat different to its predecessors. Kind of the record where they grew out of the ‘whiny pop-punk sk8er bois’ and into more alt-rock. Last Young Renegade was very different. Some pop-punk tracks some alt-rock some completely different. Loved it nonetheless. New songs scream Dirty Work and I’m living for it. Dirty Work is also extremely underrated and everyone should listen to it.

Boy Hero (American)

A bit like the love child of Sleeping With Sirens and Panic! At The Disco. Idk how to describe it but it’s hell good.

Year I started listening - 2017

First song I listened to - How Far I'll Go (Cover). Rebel Flesh (Original song)

These guys have a whole bunch of covers. Self titled is pretty good. Also they like anime and they do twitch streams. Lead singer lowkey sounds like Brendon Urie. Got a powerful voice.

Bring Me The Horizon (UK)

Big British metal core band

Year I started listening - 2018

First song I listened to - Can You Feel My Heart

First album was deathcore then went to metalcore and got less heavy over time. Lots of people didn’t like the last album but I liked it. It was different but good different. Liked how they decided to play with new sounds. Also makes it easier to cover their songs.

Counterfeit (UK)

British rock band. Also surprise remember the guy who played Jace in the Mortal Instruments movie yeah well he’s the lead singer.

Year I started listening - 2018

First song I listened to - Lost Everything

Got a some EPs and the album is great. Should not be slept on.

Ed Sheeran (UK)

Ok everyone should know him or you’ve been living under a rock.

Year I started listening - 2011

First song I listened to - Give Me Love

First album was straight up acoustic singer-songwriter stuff. Cute and stuff. Next 2 albums experimented with sound and it was great. There’s at least 1 song on each album that will make you cry. Actually went to his concert for the divide tour and it was great. Very chill.

The Faim (Australian)

Alt-rock with some pop-punk influences in there. Fairly new band and went under the name of Small Town Heroes before the name change. Sounds a bit like Panic! At The Disco, Fall Out Boy and All Time Low.

Year I started listening - 2018

First song I listened to - Midland Line

The EP Summer Is A Curse is out now and boy it is good. Just waiting for the album to be released. They wrote some tracks with Ashton Irwin, Mark Hoppus, Pete Wentz, Josh Dun and John Feldmann and Zack Cervini produced it. I have very high hopes for the album. Entire band has this amazing stage energy which is absolutely mesmerising to watch.

Fall Out Boy (American)

Once again if you have’t heard of them you’ve been living under a rock.

Year I started listening - 2016

First song I listened to - Immortals (bless Big Hero 6)

Extremely pop-punk before the hiatus. Went into some cool different stuff after hiatus. Mania was very different than their previous albums and I actually didn’t like it too much at first but I gave it a few more listens and I loved it.

Gang of Youths (Australian)

An Australian indie band. Different to what I usually listen to. Very chill.

Year I started listening - 2017

First song I listened to - The Deepest Sighs, The Frankest Shadows

Latest albums is amazing. All the albums have a mix of bops and sad songs so you never know what you’re going to be hit with. Great lyrics throughout. Talks about real life issues in a number of the songs, some personal to the band’s life.

Green Day (American)

You have been living under a rock if you haven’t heard of these guys.

Year I started listening - 2016

First song I listened to - Wake Me Up When September Ends

Before American Idiot was like underground punk rock songs. After American Idiot got some pop influenced melodies which got them into more mainstream rock. Bops, anger, sadness and overall feelings throughout. Broadway Musical version is extremely slept on and I saw the production and it is a masterpiece. Left me kind of breathless at the end.

Harry Styles (UK)

Living under a rock if you don’t know who this wonderful man is

Year I started listening - 2017

First song I listened to - Sign Of The Times

Super different from his 1D career. Has some old classic rock influences. Bops and sad songs throughout. Powerful voice and has an amazing stage presence. Media portrays him so badly when he’s actually such a wonderful human being.

I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME (American)

Ex Panic! member and ex Falling In Reverse member come together to make some cool different music. 2 beans chilling in a band together.

Year I started listening - 2018

First song I listened to - Choke

Music is kind of weird but cool. Bops throughout and should really release more music. Label company really needs to hurry up with whatever they’re doing cause the album’s finished but they haven’t released it.

Mayday Parade (American)

This band literally writes the saddest music known to humankind. Also unproblematic and everyone loves them. On the final Warped Tour.

Year I started listening - 2017

First song I listened to - Miserable At Best

First 3 albums are very pop-punk. Next 2 go into more alt-rock and pop-rock. Last album are a mix of both. It sounds pop-punk but still maintains that level of growth the band has gone through since the start of their career. Be prepared with tissues cause this band will make you cry.

Mike Shinoda (American)

The rapper dude from Linkin Park. Literally the only rap artist I listen to.

Year I started listening - 2018

First song I listened to - Crossing A Line

Latest album is super personal but a masterpiece. Raps are amazing and vocals are on point.

My Chemical Romance (American)

Should this even be on my list cause they’re not a band, they’re an idea

Year I started listening - 2016

First song I listened to - Welcome To The Black Parade

1st album was post-hardcore and somewhat depressing. Albums got less heavier over the years. Each album also has a different theme so there’s days where I feel like I need to listen to Danger Days and other days where I need to listen to The Black Parade. Also my music teacher likes them which really surprised me since he’s an old guy that likes to listen to jazz.

One Direction (UK)

Was a 1D fangirl and still is a 1D fangirl

Year I started listening - 2011

First song I listened to - What Makes You Beautiful

All of the albums are absolutely amazing. Got less pop over time. Lots of bops with some sadness thrown in which makes my heart hurt. Not afraid to bop to them in public.

Palaye Royale (Canadian)

Actually found them when CrankThatFrank did a video with them. Still waiting for the kazoo kid to perform with Satan’s Favourite Boy Band. Just 3 brothers who want to play some music. On the final Warped Tour.

Year I started listening - 2018

First song I listened to - Mr. Doctor Man

Boom Boom Room Side A is a quality album and I’m so hyped for Boom Boom Room Side B. Rock band that likes fashion and makeup. EPs have solid songs in them.

Panic! At The Disco (American)

Living under a rock if you haven’t heard of them.

Year I started listening - 2016

First song I listened to - I Write Sins Not Tragedies

Each album has a different vibe to it so it depends on what you feel like that day on what you listen to. Didn't really like Pray For The Wicked but gave it a few more listens and I love it.

Pierce The Veil (Mexican-American)

Post-hardcore band of Sexicans based in America.

Year I started listening - 2017

First song I listened to - King For A Day ft. Kellin Quinn

Got less heavy over each album. Collide With The Sky is probably my favourite album. Currently writing album 5 which I am extremely excited for. Vic Fuentes’ voice is quite high and but you get used to it. Screams are excellent.

PVMNTS (American)

Pronounced as pavements but they decided to not have vowels. Also remember Tyler Posey from Teen Wolf well yeah he’s the lead singer in the band. On the final Warped Tour.

Year I started listening - 2018

First song I listened to - Jumping Stairsets

Has a lot of early 2000s pop-punk influences. Sounds like Blink-182. Very excited for some more music from them. These guys did a UK tour with The Faim. Released an EP recently.

Shawn Mendes (Canadian)

Living under a rock if you haven’t heard of this sweet boy.

Year I started listening - 2015

First song I listened to - Stitches

Newest album is very real and super chill. Got some new different sounds in it. First 2 albums are heavy on the singer songwriter genre. Amazing writing and his voice has a somewhat raspy tinge and extremely powerful at the same time.

Sleeping With Sirens (American)

Yes this is the band where the lead singer sounds like a girl.

Year I started listening - 2017

First song I listened to - If You Can’t Hang

Newest album is quite different to their past stuff but I really like it. Explored some issues in the songs which they haven’t previously done. Overall either angry or soft.

Story Untold (Canadian)

Pop-punk band. Lead singer (Janick Thibault) used to post a lot of covers on YouTube. Went under the name of Amasic before. Lead singer low-key sounds like Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day. Also kind of looks like Alex Gaskarth and Awsten Knight. On the final Warped Tour.

Year I started listening - 2017

First song I listened to - History

2 albums out currently. 1st album was extremely pop-punk. 2nd album explored some different sounds but still pop-punk. Also signed to Hopeless Records.

A Summer High (American)

Found them through CrankThatFrank when he did a reaction vid to songs I’ve never heard before. On the last Warped Tour.

Year I started listening - 2018

First song I listened to - Pretty Little Liar

Think fetus 5SOS and that’s basically their sound. Basically the kids who never left their pop-punk sk8er boi phase. Has quite a few covers and needs to tour with 5SOS. All 3 of them can sing and they sing like angels.

SWMRS (American)

Yes this is the band that has Billie Joe Armstrong’s kid in it. Also it’s pronounced Swimmers. Just they didn’t like vowels. Originally named Emily’s Army but they changed the name. Found these guys through a reaction to songs I’ve never heard before from CrankThatFrank

Year I started listening - 2017

First song I listened to - Lose It

Kind of like indie-surf-punk idk but it’s good. Drive North has some anger and some bops just an overall good album. Can’t wait for some new music from them.

Twenty Øne Piløts (American)

Living under a rock if you haven’t heard of them. Can’t even begin to describe the genre cause they’re just that different.

Year I started listening - 2016

First song I listened to - Ride

Bops mixed with deep lyrics and sadness. Raps are amazing. Poetic writing. 2 talented beans who deserve so much. New music is heavier and it will go so hard live I cannot wait.

The Vamps (UK)

I had a phase with this band and their first 2 albums get heavy repeat.

Year I started listening - 2014

First song I listened to - Somebody To You

First 2 albums are absolute bops. Mixed feelings from their 3rd album. Vocals are great.

Waterparks (American)

Metaphors. Metaphors everywhere. God’s Favourite Boy Band. On the final Warped Tour.

Year I started listening - 2017

First song I listened to - I’m A Natural Blue

The EPs are great also angry and a lil bit of screaming. This band are a blessing sent from heaven and are pure boys. Follow Awsten on Twitter for the best quality content. Don't expect anything from Otto on social media he never uses it. Double Dare is cute but also slightly angry. Entertainment is full of anger and angst and sadness and it’s beautiful. Excellent songwriting.

With Confidence (Australian)

Pop-punk. Very pop-punk. Jayden Seeley has a beautiful voice. On the last Warped Tour.

Year I started listening - 2017

First song I listened to - Voldemort

First album is a poetic masterpiece. Some bops and some sadness (looking at you Long Night). Excellent songwriting throughout. Love and Loathing is probably one of the best albums of 2018.

Lol that’s it. Will probably update everytime I get into another band.

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sinceileftyoublog · 6 years

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Live Picks: 6/8-6/11

Hop Along; Photo by Tonje Thilesen

BY JORDAN MAINZER

The weekend’s got plenty of music and a couple more festivals. Check out what to see.

6/8: Bill Frisell Trio, Old Town School of Folk Music

Bill Frisell has long been one of the most innovative jazz guitarists, injecting influences from Americana/country (see Blues Dream), Malian guitar music (see his excellent The Intercontinentals), and even ambient/experimental music. To see him play in any capacity is a treat. This trio performances features bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Rudy Royston.

6/8: The Black Dahlia Murder, House of Blues

Tonight, Michigan death metal band The Black Dahlia Murder plays last year’s Nightbringers in its entirety, their best album since Ritual and certainly one of their best records yet. We previously covered a show of theirs in Joliet to support 2015′s Abysmal, and if that was anything to go by, they’re experts at combining melody and power on stage as well as in the studio.

Knoxville deathcore band Whitechapel (playing This Is Exile in its entirety) co-headlines. Italian death metal band Fleshgod Apocalypse and blackened death metal bands Aversions Crown and Shadow of Intent open.

6/8: Young Widows, Subterranean

Tonight, Young Widows celebrates the 10-year anniversary of their album Old Wounds by playing it in its entirety as well as playing some never-before-played tracks from their just-released compilation DECAYED: Ten Years of Cities, Wounds, Lightness, and Pain. Earlier this week, we spoke with front-man Evan Patterson about the new album and the upcoming show.

Singer-songwriter Emma Ruth Rundle and local post-hardcore heroes Sweet Cobra open.

6/8: The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die, Lincoln Hall

There’s a reason that this band has made it to our top albums of both 2015 and 2017 and that their show three years ago at Subterranean was one of the best we’ve reviewed. The band’s trademark mix of post-rock, post-hardcore, and truly tender emo makes their sound unmistakable. Their stories, filled with tales of sexual violence, feminist revenge, and experiences with xenophobia have hit hard for many. Yet, their most successful songs remain as vaguely relatable as their music is expansive. Their live show is becoming increasingly ambient, as well, a refreshing shift for a band not content to stay within any one scene.

Baltimore Indie post-hardcore band Pianos Become The Teeth co-headline. LA garage rock trio Teenage Wrist opens.

6/8-6/10: Chicago Blues Festival, Millennium Park

Headlining performances take place in the Jay Pritzker Pavilion and include tributes to founder and owner of Delmark Records Bob Koester and legendary blues musician Little Walter, as well as a performance by a living legend, Mavis Staples.

We previewed Mavis Staples’ headlining show at the Vic Theatre back in February:

“Since 2010′s stunning You Are Not Alone, Chicago legend Mavis Staples has fostered a fruitful musical relationship with another beloved Chicagoan: Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy. Three out of the past four albums feature production and/or songwriting from Tweedy, and his minimalism is the perfect complement to Staples’ deep soul. Her most recent offering is If All I Was Was Black, an outward and explicit political statement. Live, Staples tends to cherry pick from her recent discography but also play Staples Singers classics and covers of The Band and Buffalo Springfield.”

Vieux Farka Toure plays the Budweiser Crossroads Stage (at South Chase Promenade) on Saturday at 2:45 P.M. The Malian singer and guitarist is more than just the son of the legendary Ali Farka Toure; he’s put out some great albums in his own right, namely his self-titled debut and 2011′s wide-ranging The Secret (I see you, Dave Matthews feature). His most recent album is last year’s Samba, which features the limber and joyous “Bonheur”.

Fantastic Negrito opens for Mavis Staples on Sunday at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion. His subversive, hilarious blues punk broke out in 2016 with The Last Days of Oakland, and he’s got a new album out next Friday with Please Don’t Be Dead. So far, he’s released two songs from it: the blistering “Plastic Hamburgers” and funky “The Duffler”.

6/8-6/10: Ribfest Chcago, Lincoln Avenue from Irving Park to Berteau

You can even be a vegetarian and enjoy Ribfest because it usually books pretty good bands. This year, headliners include Southern rockers The Weeks and country punks The Waco Brothers tonight, SILY favorite Algiers and indie folk act Yoke Lore tomorrow night, and 2000′s hype kings Ra Ra Riot and Americana duo Striking Matches on Sunday.

Algiers’ The Underside of Power was one of our top albums of last year. They’re a stellar live band, lead singer Franklin James Fisher equal parts soulful and angry, the band behind him delving into everything from ramshackle post-punk to ragtime and blues.

6/9: Tech N9ne: House of Blues

Divisive and lyrically dexterous Kansas City rapper Tech N9ne comes around pretty often, but like Los Lobos, that’s reason for me to always say “I’ll catch them next time.” Eventually, you just need to bite the bullet. Albums like All 6′s and 7′s and Something Else cemented him as an ambitious rapper who can succeed when working with big concepts and other mega rappers, while recent albums like Planet and Special Effects have showed he can be a hit-maker. He’s got 20 albums to his name and a ton of other EPs. Not everything he produces is quality, but he’s pretty prolific.

Hip hop artists Krizz Kaliko, Just Juice, Joey Cool, King ISO, and Mackenzie Nicole open.

6/9: Clams Casino, East Room

We covered influential beat-maker Clams Casino’s set at Day For Night 2016, where we noted that both he and the audience seemed a bit bored. Something tells me, however, that catching him in a crowded club at night is better than catching him in a half-empty post office in the middle of the day. (I listened to Instrumentals a couple days ago, and it still bangs.)

Producer Plu2o NASH opens.

6/9: Liz Phair, Empty Bottle

She’s got a sold out show at Empty Bottle and a major slot at this year’s Riot Fest. That’s because Matador records just released Girly-Sound to Guyville, a 25th anniversary retrospective of Liz Phair’s debut Exile in Guyville that even more notably includes remasters of her Girly Sound demo tapes. To celebrate the occasion, Phair’s set should be heavy on Guyville material, perhaps with a few highlights from Whip-Smart or Whitechocolatespaceegg.

Indie darling Soccer Mommy opens.

6/9: The Mavericks, Thalia Hall

Tex-Mex band The Mavericks have been perhaps at their strongest since their 2010s reunion. 2013′s excellent In Time may be their best album as a whole, while 2015′s Mono (mixed in monophonic sound) appropriately emphasized production over hooks. Last year’s Brand New Day veered a bit towards Americana--just listen to those powered out fuzz riffs behind the Tex-Mex on “Damned (If You Do)”. Even if the new record wasn’t as good as the previous two, it was at least a symptom of a band unwilling to stay put.

6/9: Live from Here with Chris Thile, Ravinia

Chris Thile’s done it all: played with acclaimed bluegrass bands like Nickel Creek and Punch Brothers, won a MacArthur Genius award, and covered Bach on a solo album. Now, he takes over for Garrison Keillor, who was accused of sexual harassment, on Live from Here (formerly A Prairie Home Companion). Special guests tomorrow night include guitarist Parker Millsap (who we just previewed), acoustic instrumentalist band Hawktail, comedian Tom Papa, and duet partner Gaby Moreno.

6/10: Traschan Sinatras, SPACE

Scottish indie pop band Trashcan Sinatras embarked on an acoustic tour last year. Now, they’re on their “One Night, Two Albums” tour, in which they’ll play in full their 1990 debut Cake & 1993 follow-up I've Seen Everything as well as selections from their more recent discography. Their last album was 2016′s Wild Pendulum--but I’d hope for cuts from 2004′s Weightlifting.

6/10: Simon Joyner, Empty Bottle

Omaha singer-songwriter Simon Joyner is the type to have laid back and made himself a steady presence in the Americana world. Those he’s influenced and collaborated with, like Beck, Conor Oberst, and John Darnielle, have sold more records than he has, but his music remains just as present. Last year’s Step Into The Earthquake followed 2015′s excellent Grass, Branch, & Bone, which we spoke to him about at length in our feature Palpable Pain.

Chicago singer-songwriter Gia Margaret and singer Angela James (joined by Jordan Martins of Quarter Mile Thunder on pedal steel) open.

6/10: Hop Along, Metro Chicago

We caught Hop Along’s intimate, energetic set at House of Vans last year after they had multiple years to iron out the songs from their great Painted Shut album. This time around, they have another excellent album to their name: Bark Your Head Off, Dog, released a couple months ago. In recording the new album, the band spent extra time in the studio, resulting in songs filled with strings, Rhodes, and complex, layered harmonies. The extent to which they’re able to replicate the album live is a selling point for seeing them just as much as lead singer Frances Quinlan’s incredible voice.

Ex Hex-offshot Bat Fangs opens.

6/10: King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Riviera

They did it. It was an ambitious promise, but Australian psych rockers King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard released 5 albums last year (including Murder of the Universe, reviewed on SILY). They were all good, but none as good as 2016′s truly nonstop Nonagon Infinity. Expect them to play from their entire recent discography minus Sketches of Brunswick East, which was released in collaboration with Mild High Club.

Melbourne rockers Amyl & The Sniffers opens.

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tonguetiedmag · 3 years

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music: weekly roundup (our favorite submissions of the week

Demons (Eldorado) - Khamari

The final track on Khamari’s debut EP is the incredibly catchy ‘Demons’. From the opening guitar strums I was absolutely hooked on his unique sound, with such soft vocals perfectly complementing the instrumentals. Whilst being such a mellow track to relax to, lyrically Khamari takes us on an emotional journey of his pain and worries post-breakup as he receives concerning messages from his former lover. Khamari is an artist to keep an eye out for, with skills in vocals, piano and guitar as well as his thought-provoking lyrics.

Emo Kid - girlcrush

Pop-punk band girlcrush’s latest release ‘Emo Kid’ feels reminiscent of the 2000s with references to Avril Lavigne, checkerboard vans and the urge to dye your hair against parents’ wishes. From the moment I started listening to this I was already memorising the words and dancing around my room to the fast paced guitar strums and catchy vocals. Whilst the lyrics are both fun and nostalgic, they also touch upon important topics such as ‘dark thoughts’, their struggles with sexuality, and feeling alone and overwhelmed at school.

Don’t You Want To - Jordan Xidas

Jordan’s smooth vocals introduce his newest track ‘Don’t You Want To’, accompanied by some slow guitar leading into a quiet beat that instantly gets stuck in your head. His softly spoken words encapsulated me on the first listen, with some incredibly open lyrics discussing his experiences with non-reciprocated feelings. Jordan really managed to create such a catchy yet meaningful pop track with some hints of an indie style to his voice and guitar.

Mr. Prime Minister - st.sinner

Australian pop-punk band st.sinner have already caught my attention with their electric debut single ‘Mr Prime Minister.’ With an incredibly catchy guitar riff and funky sound effects, the track is one meant to be played loud. The vocals are gritty and rebellious, with an incredibly catchy chorus similar to well-known punk-rock artist Yungblud, and reminiscent of Green Day’s ‘American Idiot’. The political message in the track is brilliantly executed, with references to censorship, policies and the importance of young people in elections.

When You’re Drunk - Madison Deaver

Indie pop artist Madison Deaver’s ‘When You’re Drunk’ introduces her sultry vocals against a steady rising beat, with the chorus immediately showcasing her powerful vocal range. Madison manages to encapsulate her passionate distaste towards those incapable of expressing their emotions sober with her hard-hitting emotional lines and lyrics. Her carefully curated instrumentals bring an incredibly catchy sound to the song, whilst her vocals have you singing along even on your first listen. This is definitely a song you’ll have on repeat for hours and stuck in your head for days.

Lie to me (acoustic) - Vera Blue

Vera’s electric vocals are expressed beautifully in this acoustic release of her incredibly successful track ‘Lie To Me’, that has reached over 4 million listens on Spotify. It’s clear to see why many have fallen in love with Vera’s sound, especially in such a raw track really allowing her to express her vocal capabilities and clean guitar playing. The delicate strumming in this track sets the mellow vibe of the track, whilst lyrically she discusses the beauty of falling in love but also the anxieties that come with expressing and exploring those tender feelings.

Ghost - Arlo Wells

Arlo Wells debut single ‘Ghost’ is a headbanger of a first release, with a catchy intro through electric guitar, fading into post-hardcore vocals that blend nicely between singing and screaming throughout the track. There are a perfect balance of intense build-ups and clean vocals to sing along to, keeping your attention throughout. The vocals, whilst catchy, are sung passionately and emotionally retelling vocalist Austin’s experience when fearing a friendship may be on thin-ice after he received some emotional family news; thankfully he has grown from this experience and he penned the track to discuss how their friendship was worth fighting for.

I Am Not Afraid to Walk This World Alone - The Way Way Back

The Way Way Back have embodied an authentic pop-punk sound in their latest single ‘I Am Not Afraid to Walk This World Alone’, tackling an abrupt breakup in its sensitive lyrics and title reference to famous My Chemical Romance track ‘Famous Last Words’ also dealing with loss. The electric guitar leading into the track immediately caught my attention, feeling like a loved pop-punk track yet still so fresh and new. The lyrics were particularly clever, with thought-provoking lines like,

‘You opted out of growing old together, so you could pretend you’re still a child.’

Worst Party Ever - Fellowship

Fellowship’s vocals introduce this track immediately on pressing play, with a raspy undertone to their voice against strong electric guitar and a snappy drum beat. It’s certainly a pop-punk anthem, similar to the likes of Modern Baseball and Real Friends. Authentic to the genre, the track discusses yearning for the love of a woman, and the regrets of not kissing her at the party when they had the chance.

Light Up The Way - Wax Owls

Wax Owls’ mellow track ‘Light Up The Way’ brilliantly incorporates both Indie Folk and Alternative Rock sounds. While it starts off slow with acoustic guitar, the chorus is the highlight coming together with powerful vocals and instrumentals. Vocalist Gerry wrote this track with the intentions of being lyrically and musically hopeful, with new instruments and harmonies to emphasise people joining together in celebration. It’s safe to say the track succeeded in its motivations, as it undoubtably brings such positivity and happiness on every listen.

Forever - HopeFool

Hard Rock band HopeFool smashed it with their latest single ‘Forever’, fading into a long intro full of electric guitar and drums fast-paced enough to keep you gripped for the vocals. Lyrically, HopeFool discusses how moments can last forever through memory or consequence, and perhaps the difficulty to let go when you can constantly relive events in your mind. I particularly enjoyed their creative lyrics, such as

‘The actors in all my dreams are your clones.’

With a poppier edge to the singing, the track feels fresh in the rock genre yet still stands out with the constantly changing guitar complementing every rise and fall.

Listen to all of these songs on our playlist!

Article by: Tatiana Whybrow-Price

#tatiana whybrow-price #music

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pardontheglueman · 6 years

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The Lost Genius of The Go-Betweens

The next time you’re down the local boozer with your mates and there’s an uncomfortable lull in the conversation, consider striking up a discussion based on the following question - which is the best band never to have had a top forty hit? Now, obviously, this is a version of the hoary old chestnut that’s passed many a drunken hour for the sports fan down the ages - who is the best footballer never to have played at a World Cup? The answer to that is a rather obvious one, of course, George Best. The musical variation of this question may be more stimulating.

Whilst Robert Lloyd and the various re-incarnations of his Brummie post-punk combo, The Nightingales, would make any respectable critics’ short list, his guttural, sub-Beefheart squeal was aimed more squarely at the underground than at the mainstream. The same uncompromising mindset also undermines the case for New York’s Suicide and David Thomas’ experimental avant-garage group, Pere Ubu.

Soon enough, however, somebody will alight upon the only truly acceptable answer, at least the only answer acceptable to me, and a good number of other men and women of a certain age, who are each the proud possessors of a pair of rose-tinted glasses. It simply has to be those doyens of guitar pop, the Go-Betweens. The inexplicable absence from the singles chart of these Australian Indie-pop pioneers remains a mystery to this day. Not once, during their illustrious lifetime, 1978-2006 (allowing for a hiatus from 1989 to 2000) did their melodic epistles ever threaten to deliver them pop stardom here, or in America. Incredibly, they even failed to secure a top 40 hit in their native Australia. This, surely, constitutes the greatest miscarriage in the history of popular music since the time Al Jolson blacked up for The Jazz Singer, declared brazenly “you ain’t heard nothing yet” and shamefacedly went on to make his fortune.

Just how the Brisbane based guitar heroes, led by singer/songwriters Robert Forster and Grant McLennan failed to achieve even one solitary week in the top 75, despite crafting a plethora of heavenly pop songs that should have made them household names on both sides of the Atlantic, is a mystery that genuinely scrambles the brain. Indeed, it prompts the group’s longtime fans to ask the age-old question, the one that escapes from our lips every time we drunkenly stumble upon a recording of Barry Manilow’s ‘Bermuda Triangle blaring out of a pub jukebox; ‘why did you let this happen, dear Lord, why?’

Consider some of the flotsam and jetsam that has (dis)graced the charts since the advent of Rock ‘n’ Roll. In no particular order, I give you Vanilla Ice, The Bay City Rollers, Duran Duran, Milli Vanilli, Arthur Mullard and Hilda Baker, Black Lace, MC Hammer and Sting. And, that’s just the tip of a very embarrassing iceberg!

Even more puzzling was the regular presence on the chart of bands that might best be described as second-rate Go-Betweens. The very ordinary Deacon Blue springs to mind here, as well as the Trashcan Sinatras. And, how on earth do you explain the continued presence in the charts, throughout the eighties, of bands that made comparable music, both in terms of substance and style to the Go-Betweens themselves. Aztec Camera, for example, chalked up 12 hits and 74 weeks on the chart while Lloyd Cole, with or without his Commotions recorded 15 hits spread over 62 weeks.

After the band split up in 1989 Forster and McLennan each took a stab at solo stardom, in theory doubling their chances of a hit, but still, the record buying public remained unpersuaded. McLennan in particular, penned a succession of gorgeous ballads throughout the nineties, the best of which, ‘Black Mule’ (1991) and ‘Hot Water’ (1994) are arguably the finest of all his compositions.

Even the French, not exactly renowned for having their finger on the pop pulse, have made the Go-Betweens something of a cause celebre. A 1996 issue of leading rock magazine Les Inrockuptibles pictured the band on its front cover with the strap-line ‘Le groupe le plus sous-estime de l’histoire du rock?’ Which, broadly translates as - The Go-Betweens the most underrated band in the history of rock? The magazine also ranked ‘16 Lovers Lane’ in its list of the best albums of the period from 1986-1996.

Publié en novembre 1996.

The Smiths: The Queen Is Dead

Pixies: Doolittle

The Stone Roses: The Stone Roses

The Go-Betweens: 16 Lovers Lane

Portishead: Dummy

PJ Harvey: Dry

Tricky: Maxinquaye

Morrissey: Vauxhall & I

Massive Attack: Blue Lines

Beck: Mellow Gold

The Feelies: The Good Earth

REM: Automatic For The People

James: Stutter

The Divine Comedy: Liberation

The Smiths: Strangeways, Here We Come

My Bloody Valentine: Loveless

The La’s: The La’s

De La Soul : 3 Feet High And Rising

Bjork: Debut

Jeff Buckley: Grace

This re-appraisal of the band’s standing, together with an invitation to play at the magazine’s 10th Anniversary bash prompted Forster and McLennan to reform the group.

For a brief moment, true devotees of the group allowed themselves to believe that a great wrong might be righted. Perhaps the band might strike lucky and have a song included on the soundtrack of some mega Hollywood Rom-Com. There was a precedent of sorts. The Triffids, their compatriots from Perth and themselves a seminal indie band of the eighties, nearly managed to fluke a hit when their classic song, ‘Bury Me Deep In Love’, was chosen to play over the cheesy wedding scenes of Harold and Marge on the popular daytime soap, Neighbours. The band, profile duly raised, punched home their advantage; they’re follow up single, “Trick Of The Light”, spent a glorious week in the charts, at no 73, in early 1988.

Sadly, despite recording a batch of very fine comeback albums, particularly 2005’s ‘Oceans Apart’, with its standout tracks ‘Here Comes A City’, ‘Born To A Family’ and ‘Darlinghurst Nights’, a familiar pattern soon re-emerged - critical acclaim on the one hand and commercial indifference on the other. The Australian media wasn’t averse to chastising the band for their perceived failure either. ABC’S current affairs show The 7:30 Report announced their return to the stage in the following manner -

“The Go-Betweens have been described as the quintessential critics’ band. They made an art form of commercial failure. But as Bernard Brown reports, they’re happy to have earned the industry’s respect, even if the dollars didn’t follow.”

Good old Bernard concluded his report with “But the band’s influence far outweighed its record sales and they wear the tag of commercial failures”.

Any hope that the Go-Betweens could somehow turn the tide disappeared once and for all with the unexpected passing of McLennan in May 2006 at the age of 48.

Any discussion of great songwriting partnerships in popular music would rightly begin with the likes of Lennon and McCartney, Bacharach and David, Leiber and Stoller, or Jagger and Richards. You shouldn’t, though, have to look too far down the list before coming across the names of Forster and McLennan, probably bracketed right alongside Difford and Tilbrook or Morrissey and Marr.

McLennan and Forster, back in harness

Both were capable of writing supremely catchy songs and both had the propensity to pen an eye-catching lyric. Grant McLennan’s ‘River Of Money’, from the ‘Spring Hill Fair’ album (Beggars Banquet, 1984) whilst rather atypical of his output (it’s more of a prose-poem than a pop song) is such a unique lyric that it demands to be quoted in full.

River Of Money

It is neither fair nor reasonable to expect sadness to confine itself to its causes. Like a river in flood, when it subsides and the drowned bodies of animals have been deposited in the treetops, there is another kind of damage that takes place beyond the torrent. At first, it seemed as though she had only left the room to go into the garden and had been delayed by stray chickens in the corn. Then he had thought she might have eloped with the rodeo-boy from the neighbouring property but it wasn’t till one afternoon, when he had heard guitar playing coming from her room and had rushed upstairs to confront her and had seen that it was only the wind in the curtains brushing against the open strings, that he finally knew she wasn’t coming back. He had dealt with the deluge alright but the watermark of her leaving was still quite visible. He had resorted to the compass then, thinking that geography might rescue him but after one week in the Victorian Alps he came back north, realising that snow which he had never seen before, was only frozen water. I’ll take you to Hollywood I’ll take you to Mexico I’ll take you anywhere the River of Money flows. I’ll take you to Hollywood I’ll take you to Mexico I’ll take you anywhere the River of Money flows. But was it really possible for him to cope with the magnitude of her absence? The snow had failed him. Bottles had almost emptied themselves without effect. The television, a Samaritan during other tribulations, had been repossessed. She had left her traveling clock though thinking it incapable of functioning in another time-zone; so the long-vacant days of expensive sunlight were filled with the sound of her minutes, with the measuring of her hours.

Not the stuff of the three-minute hero, I appreciate, but the pair were equally comfortable writing the standard verse, chorus, verse pop song that chimed in at a radio-friendly 2.56 and wouldn’t have frightened the horses. From ‘Spring Hill Fair’ they released a trio of pristine singles. McLennan’s pop-by-numbers opener ‘Bachelor Kisses’ was the first to hit the shops (and stay there, in the bargain bin) followed by Forster’s heart-achingly sad confessional, ‘Part Company’;

“That’s her handwriting, that’s the way she writes

From the first letter, I got to this her Bill of Rights”

‘Man O Sand To Girl O Sea’, the final single from the album, found Forster in a more self- assured frame of mind;

“Feel so sure of our love

I’ll write a song about us breaking up”.

This sequence of starry-eyed singles should have seen the Go-Betweens clasped lovingly to the bosom of the pop establishment. Instead, they remained exiled in the wilderness, otherwise known as the John Peel show.

Still, at the time it seemed to be only a matter of time, before their streak of bad luck would break and the Brisbane boys would be basking in the sun-kissed glow of chart success. Two robust albums followed, ‘Liberty Belle And The Black Diamond Express’, (Beggars Banquet, 1986) and ‘Tallulah’, (Beggars Banquet, 1987) each spawned excellent singles in Forster’s ‘Spring Rain’, and ‘Head Full Of Pride’, as well as McLennans’ ‘Right Here’ and ‘Bye Bye Pride’.

The great British public, though, remained sceptical. Peel sessions, stadium tours in support of the band’s longtime admirers, R.E.M, contractual tie-in’s with a host of high profile record companies including Rough Trade, Postcard and Capitol, made not the slightest difference to the band’s outsider status. If a pop group can be described as persona non grata, then they were it! The frustration was beginning to tell, driving McLennan to comment that he’d;

“given up on the commercial success thing, which is very good for my state of mind”.

Forster, Morrison, Willsteed, McLennan, Brown - the line-up at the time of 16 Lovers Lane

The reality was, though, that their most “commercial” album, indeed their masterpiece, was still to come but in attempting to break into the charts the band would succeed only in breaking itself apart. The omens were not good from the outset. First off, bass guitarist Robert Vickers, who had been with the group since 1983, handed in his notice. His successor, John Willsteed, seemed the perfect replacement though, and his playing certainly brought a clarity and polish to the band’s sound, in keeping with their new direction of travel. He is credited by some insiders as having played a number of the more intricate guitar parts on ‘16 Lovers Lane’. Unfortunately, Willsteed was a somewhat disruptive personality who seemed to relish making enemies within the band.

Furthermore, Amanda Brown, recruited after contributing violin to the Servants sublime second single ‘The Sun, A Small Star’ began a relationship with McLennan. Suddenly, word leaked out that Forster and Morrison had been in a relationship of sorts for years. Battle lines had been drawn.

At the exact same time as the Forster/McLennan friendship, begun long ago in the Drama department of the University of Queensland, was starting to disintegrate, the power-brokers at the group’s management company were trying to push McLennan into the limelight at the expense of Forster. Author David Nichols, in his book The Go-Betweens, is clear about the re-alignment that took place “every promotional video from ‘Right Here’ onwards shows Forster completely back-grounded”. Seen today the video for ‘Was There Anything I Could do’ makes a toe-curling Exhibit A, with McLennan and Brown cavorting centre stage while Forster is stationed well to the rear. Morrison was deeply unhappy, particularly about the decision to draft in producer Craig Leon. In an interview with Sydney��s ‘On The Street’ she was scathing about the shift in emphasis;

“He was chosen to make this single accessible to people, to get us to crawl out of our cult corner.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGUxZvuRe9k (Exhibit A)

Despite the recriminations that would inevitably follow, the next five Go-Betweens singles would all be McLennan compositions.

On a more positive note, Forster and McLennan were working on the songs for ‘16 Lovers Lane’ together, rather than working individually. The spirit of collaboration instead of competition at least extended as far as the song-writing! Released in August 1988 (Beggars Banquet /Capitol) and produced by Mark Wallis, who’d worked with the likes of Marianne Faithful, Tom Jones and R.E.M, ‘16 Lovers Lane’ was a sublime collection of glimmering guitar ballads and sugar-spun indie anthems so glossy and sun-kissed that you had to wear dark glasses just to listen to it.

On the release of their debut single ‘Lee Remick’ back in 1978, Forster and McLennan had talked about capturing “that striped sunlight sound” which Forster later defined as being;

“A romantic phrase, but it is abstract. It could be the sun coming through blinds as you play a record. It’s the shimmer of a Fender guitar. It’s harmonies and tough-minded pop songs. It’s lying on a bed beside a window reading a book in the afternoon. It’s the sun on a girl’s shoulder-length hair. It’s Buddy Holly in the desert the day they recorded ‘Maybe Baby’. It’s t-shirts and jeans. It’s Creedence. It’s Bob. It’s Chuck Berry.”

On ‘16 Lovers Lane’, made twenty years after they first articulated the concept, they came closest to perfecting its meaning.

Opening with the McLennan’s unashamedly summery ‘Love Goes On’;

“There’s a cat in the alleyway

Dreaming of birds that are blue

Sometimes girl when I’m lonely

This is how I think about you”

and ending with Forster’s majestically romantic ‘Dive For Your Memory’

“I’d dive for you

Like a bird I’d descend

Deep down I’m lonely

And I miss my friend

So when I hear you saying

That we stood no chance

I’ll dive for your memory

We stood that chance,”

‘16 Lovers Lane’ (once voted 24th greatest album of the eighties, by none other than Rolling Stone magazine) could also boast another pair of McLennan classics in the ‘Streets Of Your Town’ - a song that should have occupied a place in the nation’s pop consciousness in the same way that The La’s ‘There She Goes’ or The Human League’s ‘Don’t You Want Me Baby’ have done, and the wistful, heart-breaking lament,’ Quiet Heart’.

“I tried to tell you

I can only say it when we’re apart

About this storm inside of me

And how I miss your quiet, quiet heart”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJfP6G0LSEA

‘Streets Of Your Town’ was such an obvious choice for a single that they had two cracks with it, releasing it first in October 1988 and then, refusing to accept defeat, the following summer. Sandwiched in between the twin versions of this neglected classic were two more ‘easy on the ear’ contenders, ‘Was There Anything I Could Do’ (McLennan) and ‘Love Goes On’. Both met the same miserable fate – they were steadfastly ignored.

The failure to impact on the charts, with such an obviously radio-friendly song as ‘Streets Of Your Town’, must have come as a crushing blow to Forster and McLennan and was probably the final nail in the Go-Betweens’ coffin. Broke and broken-hearted they went their separate ways.

That the Go-Betweens had swallowed their pride and danced to the tune of their paymasters, there could be no doubt. They’d flattened out the kinks in their song structures, planed off the angular edges and streamlined their sound until, with each passing record, they began to sound less and less like The Velvet Underground and more and more like Abba. Not that there is anything wrong with Abba or ‘16 Lovers Lane’ itself, indeed in parts it’s a breathtakingly beautiful record. It’s just that 3/5ths of the band didn’t really want to make that type of record anymore. The Go-Betweens sold their soul, but they still didn’t sell any records!

To make matters worse there wasn’t even the consolation of making their mark in the album charts, where more mature bands could be expected to have their egos massaged by a loyal fan base, successfully built up over a lengthy career. All the Go-Betweens could muster, though, was a week at no. 91 in June 1987 with ‘Tallulah’, and one week at no. 81 for ‘16 Lovers Lane’ in September 1988.

The Go-Betweens, however, did make minor inroads upon the UK Independent Charts. Before signing for Beggars Banquet the band had recorded for Rough Trade and Situation 2, qualifying them for inclusion in the Indie charts. Between 83 and 86 they had three entries in the top 40. ‘Cattle and Cane’, an autobiographical McLennan song voted by the Australasian Performing Rights Association in 2001 as one of the country’s 30 greatest songs of all time, reached no. 4 in March 1983, while ‘Man O Sand To Girl O Sea’ charted at no. 24 toward the end of the same year. A 12 inch only release of ‘Lee Remick’ peaked at no. 7 in November 1986. And there the trail runs cold.

To speculate, now, on the spectacular failure of the Go-Betweens is to set oneself an impossible task. Maybe, it was simply because they never really established a British fan base, maybe Australians appeared less cool than Americans or the dynamic duo just lacked sex appeal. It could be argued that both Forster and McLennan were not distinctive enough as singers, even that they sounded too erudite at times, for daytime radio. Maybe it was Forster’s controversial decision to play a Capitol Records promotional launch of ‘16 Lovers Lane’ in an olive green dress (the company scaled down the record’s promotional budget the very next day). Or, perhaps, it was just that fate was against them all along.

In September 1985 the band had signed with Elektra, hoping for better promotion and distribution of their work. Forster was in optimistic mood “We’ve gone with Elektra – start our LP in just over a week. Without any doubt the songs are our best, we are playing our best, and with ourselves producing this unknown masterpiece, it might be great.” Within weeks Elektra had gone belly up and the band was back to square one again, much to Forster’s chagrin;

“I do think we have a sense of anger – no one’s ever been able to present us to the British public in any sort of cohesive or intelligent way.”

One thing is for sure, they had a fistful of great songs and in Forster, they had someone who gave the band personality. His art-rock background led him to pay particular attention to his stage performance, although we can only presume his tongue was firmly in his cheek with this analysis of his ‘dancing’;

“Bobby Womack himself once told me that I am a soul man and that as far as modern music is concerned there are only three soul men left: himself, me and Prince. Prince came to Brisbane and took the colours, the moves, his whole act from me. It’s true! He’s seen my moves!”

Perhaps The Go-Betweens’ drummer Lindy Morrison, speaking in 1992 was nearer the truth than I, and others, would care to admit when she offered this overview;

“We might have been one of the most lauded bands in the country, but we sold bugger all records. That’s a shame. So let’s not go on about it being one of the most lauded bands in the country, cause who cares? We didn’t sell records, we weren’t a popular band, and I’m sick of hearing about the fact that we were so fabulous – because if we were so fabulous, why didn’t anyone buy our records?”

Forster managed a slightly more laconic response;

“It was quite freeing to realise, our group is so good, and we’re getting nowhere. After a while, the lack of recognition was so absurd it was funny”.

Following their initial break up, the compilation album ‘1978-1990’ was released and allowed the music press to pass their verdict on the life and times of the Go-Betweens. Melody Maker’s Dave Jennings could barely contain his anger; “The fact that the Go-Betweens never became massive is a disgusting injustice…..take the Go-Betweens to your heart, where they belong.” In 1996, writing for Select magazine Andrew Male wrote that “The only problem with listening to the Go-Betweens now is that they can’t help remind you of how crap the eighties were. The Go-Betweens produced records of quiet brilliance and got nowhere. Sting sang about a sodding turtle and became a millionaire.”

Even now, though, there isn’t exactly a critical consensus. Simon Reynolds in his definitive account of the post-punk years 1978-1984, “Rip It Up And Start Again”, devotes only one sentence to our Antipodean protagonists; “The Go-Betweens, who hailed from Australia but had a spare, plangent sound similarly rooted in Television and early Talking Heads”. It should be noted, of course, that at this stage The Go-Betweens only had ‘Send Me A Lullaby’ and ‘Before Hollywood’ under their belt. Bob Stanley in his widely acclaimed book “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah: The Story Of Modern Pop” (2013) omits them entirely from his 800-page anthology.

Any discussion of Literate Pop, though, if you are inclined to concede that the genre actually exists, if you believe great pop can be thought through, rather than instinctively felt, be cerebral rather than corporeal, would have to take into account the Go-Betweens’ collective body of work. Their singular form of romanticism, their shimmering chorus’s, their quirky, idiosyncratic lyrics and their wry pop sensibility all combined to make them one of the great post-punk pop groups. They made two albums, ‘Spring Hill Fair’ and ‘16 Lovers Lane’ that would lose nothing in comparison with Costello’s ‘King Of America’, Lloyd Cole’s ‘Rattlesnakes’, Scritti Politti’s ‘Songs To Remember’, Mickey Newbury’s ‘Look’s Like Rain’ or the Manic Street Preachers’ ‘Everything Must Go’. In this context, their work will be remembered long after their more commercially successful contemporaries have disappeared from the recorded history of popular music.

To end, though, at the beginning. In 1978, after the local success of their debut single, ‘Lee Remick’, Forster dreamt of setting sail for England. Given the torturous fate that awaited them on these shores, his words seem remarkably poignant now.

“England, I think, has the greatest acceptance of new music, they’re more open-minded. They write it in the NME and people buy your records. Any country that can accept Jilted John, X-Ray Spex and the Only Ones……there’s a place for the Go-Betweens.”

http://www.go-betweens.org.uk/

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chicagoindiecritics · 4 years

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New from Kevin Wozniak on Kevflix: What’s Streaming This Month? – August

Here are my picks for the best movies coming to Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, Criterion Channel, and HBOMax in August. This month offers up some great options, including Oscar winners, indie gems, and Hollywood classics.

NETFLIX

Full list of everything coming to Netflix in August can be found here.

THE ADDAMS FAMILY (Barry Sonnenfeld, 1991)

A perfect adaptation of the classic show about the creepy, kooky, mysterious, and spooky family.

AN EDUCATION (Lone Scherfig, 2009)

Carey Mulligan’s breakout performance leads Lone Scherfig’s coming-of-age drama.

BEING JOHN MALKOVICH (Spike Jonez, 1999)

One of two Charlie Kaufman-written movies coming to Netflix this month. This one looks at a group of people who find a tunnel that puts them inside the mind of actor John Malkovich. It’s an incredible film.

CASINO ROYALE/QUANTUM OF SOLACE (Martin Campbell/Marc Forster, 2006/2008)

Though Quantum of Solace is a bit of a dud, Casino Royale is my favorite James Bond movie and ushered in Daniel Craig as one of our best Bond’s.

ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (Michel Gondry, 2004)

The other Charlie Kaufman-written film is his strongest screenplay to date and one of the most original movies of the 21st century.

JURASSIC PARK TRILOGY (Steven Spielberg/Joe Johnston, 1994/1998/2001)

Lost World and Jurassic Park III may not live up to the first film (not many films do), but this is a fun trilogy of dinosaur chaos and mayhem.

MR. DEEDS (Steven Brill, 2002)

One of the last great Adam Sandler vehicles. This movie never fails to make me laugh.

NIGHTCRAWLER (Dan Gilroy, 2014)

One of Jake Gyllenhaal’s best performances came in Dan Gilroy’s thriller about a man obsessed with breaking into the world of crime journalism.

OCEAN’S 12 & OCEAN’S 13 (Steven Soderbergh, 2004, 2007)

It’s kind of annoying they don’t have the whole trilogy on here (more on Ocean’s 11 later in this list) but these are fun, cool, twisty, weird movies with stellar casts that are endlessly rewatchable.

SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED (Colin Tervorrow, 2012)

The only good movie Colin Trevorrow has made is a unique take on the time travel movie.

AMAZON PRIME VIDEO

Full list of everything coming to Amazon Prime Video in August can be found here.

3:10 TO YUMA (James Mangold, 2007)

James Mangold’s underrated Western remake features dynamite performances from Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, and Ben Foster.

INCEPTION (Christopher Nolan, 2010)

One of the best movies of 2010’s is as bold as any blockbuster film ever made.

MARGIN CALL (JC Chandor, 2011)

JC Chandor’s debut is a tightly strung, expertly acted look at the 2008 financial crash.

TOP GUN (Tony Scott, 1986)

An 80’s classic.

DORA AND THE LOST CITY OF GOLD (James Bobin, 2019)

This adaptation of the Nickelodeon children’s show is an exciting and fun adventure film.

THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON (Tyler Nilson, Michael Schwartz, 2019)

Led by the terrific performances by Shia LeBeouf and Zack Gottsagen, this is sweet, funny, heartwarming road movie that will melt your heart.

HULU

Full list of everything coming to Hulu in August can be found here.

AUSTRALIA (Baz Luhrman, 2008)

Baz Luhrmann’s bold romance staring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman.

THE BROTHERS MCMULLEN (Edward Burns, 1995)

Edward Burns won the top prize at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival for his film about three Irish Catholic brothers from Long Island who struggle to deal with love, marriage, and infidelity.

MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD (Peter Weir, 2003)

An epic sea adventure from the great Peter Weir.

RAIN MAN (Barry Levinson, 1988)

Barry Levinson’s Best Picture winner features a pair of excellent performances from Best Actor winner Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise.

STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE/STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN/STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH OF SPOCK/STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER/STAR TREK: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY/STAR TREK: INSURRECTION (Robert Wise/Nicholas Meyer/Leonard Nimoy/William Shatner/Nicholas Meyer/Jonathon Franks, 1979/1982/1984/1989/1991/1998)

Being more of a Star Wars person my entire life I did not watch a lot of Star Trek, so I’m excited and intrigued to check these films out.

UP IN THE AIR (Jason Reitman, 2009)

George Clooney is sensational in Jason Reitman’s look at a man who makes a living firing people.

DISNEY+

Full list of everything coming to Disney+ in August can be found here.

ANT-MAN AND THE WASP (Peyton Reed, 2018)

One of the most underrated movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

THE PEANUTS MOVIE (Steve Martino, 2015)

A funny, sweet, beautifully animated adaptation of the Charles Schwartz creation.

X-MEN (Bryan Singer, 2000)

One of the most important comic book movies ever made.

CRITERION CHANNEL

Full list of everything coming to Criterion Channel in August can be found here.

*The Criterion Channel does things a little differently than every other streaming service. The Criterion Channel, a wonderful streaming service that focuses on independent, foreign, and under-appreciates movies, doesn’t just throw a bunch of random movies to stream. They get more creative, by having categories like “DOUBLE FEATURES” or “FILMS FROM…”, giving us curated lists of films that somehow blend together or feature a specific artist.*

AUSTRALIAN NEW WAVE

A look at the films that changed Australian cinema forever in the 1970’s and early 80’s.

Walkabout (Nicolas Roeg, 1971)

The Cars That Ate Paris (Peter Weir, 1974)

Picnic at Hanging Rock (Peter Weir, 1975)

Sunday Too Far Away (Ken Hannam, 1975)

The Devil’s Playground (Fred Schepisi, 1976)

Don’s Party (Bruce Beresford, 1976)

Storm Boy (Henri Safran, 1976)

The Getting of Wisdom (Bruce Beresford, 1977)

The Last Wave (Peter Weir, 1977)

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (Fred Schepisi, 1978)

Long Weekend (Colin Eggleston, 1978)

Money Movers (Bruce Beresford, 1978)

Newsfront (Phillip Noyce, 1978)

Mad Max (George Miller, 1979)

My Brilliant Career (Gillian Armstrong, 1979)

The Plumber (Peter Weir, 1979)

Breaker Morant Bruce Beresford, (1980)

Gallipoli (Peter Weir, 1981)

Puberty Blues (Bruce Beresford, 1981)

Starstruck (Gillian Armstrong, 1982)

The Year of Living Dangerously (Peter Weir, 1982)

DIRECTED BY WIM WENDERS

Dabbling in both narrative and documentary films, this group of films from director Wim Wenders showcases one of Hollywood’s most diverse filmmakers.

Alice in the Cities, 1974

Wrong Move, 1975

Kings of the Road, 1976

The American Friend, 1977

Paris, Texas, 1984

Tokyo-ga, 1985

Wings of Desire, 1987

Until the End of the World, 1991

Palermo Shooting, 2008

Pina, 2011

DOUBLE FEATURE: THE DECLINE OF MIDWESTERN CIVILIZATION

THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS (Orson Welles, 1942)

KINGS ROW (Sam Wood, 1942)

Two 1942 films that focus on the trials and tribulations of people living in turn-of-the-century Midwest towns.

DOUBLE FEATURE: BEHIND THE SCENES

HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE

THE PLAYER (Robert Altman, 1992)

Two wonderful, darkly funny looks at working in Hollywood.

BRAZIL (Terry Gillian, 1985)

Terry Gilliam’s insane dystopian film is another one I have been dying to revisit.

BACURAU (Juliano Dornelles, Kleber Mendonça Filho, 2020)

One of the most critically acclaimed movies of 2020 focuses on sinister events in a Brazilian village.

RAFIKI (Wanuri Kahiu, 2018)

A bright, colorful love story about forbidden love in Kenya.

HBOMAX

Full list of everything coming to HBOMax in August can be found here

ALL THE PRESIDENTS MEN (Alan J. Pakula, 1976)

The greatest film about journalism ever made and a true American masterpiece.

BATMAN/BATMAN RETURNS/BATMAN FOREVER/BATMAN BEGINS/THE DARK KNIGHT (Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher/Christopher Nolan, 1989/1992/1995/2005/2008)

Need a Batman fix? HBO has your back.

BEFORE SUNRISE/BEFORE SUNSET (Richard Linklater, 1995/2004)

Really mad Before Midnight isn’t on here, but the Before Trilogy is the greatest trilogy in all of cinema and each film offers up something special.

THE FUGITIVE (Andrew Davis, 1992)

A thrilling and entertaining Best Picture nominee.

IDIOCRACY (Mike Judge, 2006)

A political satire that feels all too real now.

JOJO RABBIT (Taika Waititi, 20190

Taika Waititi won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay in this comedic World War II film about a child who’s imaginary friend is Adolf Hitler.

OCEAN’S 11 (Steven Soderbergh, 2001)

Arguably the coolest heist movie ever made.

AN AMERICAN PICKLE (Brandon Trost, 2020)

An immigrant worker at a pickle factory is accidentally preserved for 100 years and wakes up in modern day Brooklyn. Seth Rogen plays the immigrant worker and his great grandson.

BIRDS OF PREY (AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN) (Cathy Yan, 2020)

Though I wasn’t the biggest fan of this when I first saw it, Margot Robbie is an absolute delight to watch as Harley Quinn.

THE WAY BACK (Gavin O’Connor, 2020)

Ben Affleck gives the best performance of his career in Gavin O’Connor’s drama about a man trying to turn his life around.

Follow Kevflix on Twitter and Instagram, @kevflix, and on Facebook by searching Kevflix.

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timclymer · 5 years

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The Go-Betweens

The next time you’re down the local boozer with your mates and there’s an uncomfortable lull in the conversation, consider striking up a discussion based on the following question – which is the best band never to have had a top forty hit? Now, obviously, this is a version of the hoary old chestnut that’s passed many a drunken hour for the sports fan down the ages – who is the best footballer never to have played in the World Cup? The answer to that is a rather obvious one, of course, George Best. The musical variation of this question may be more stimulating.

Whilst Robert Lloyd and the various re-incarnations of his Brummie post-punk combo, The Nightingales, would make any respectable critics’ short list, his guttural, sub-Beefheart squeal was aimed more squarely at the underground than at the mainstream. The same uncompromising mindset also rules out the likes of New York’s Suicide and David Thomas’ experimental avant-garage group, Pere Ubu.

Soon enough, however, somebody will alight upon the only truly acceptable answer, at least the only answer acceptable to me, and a good number of other men and women of a certain age, who are each the proud possessors of a pair of rose-tinted glasses. It simply has to be those doyens of guitar pop, The Go-Betweens. The inexplicable absence from the singles chart of these Australian Indie-pop pioneers remains a mystery to this day. Not once, during their illustrious lifetime 1978-2006 (allowing for a hiatus from 1989 to 2000) did their melodic epistles ever threaten to deliver them pop stardom here, or in America. Incredibly, they even failed to secure a top 40 hit in their native Australia. This, surely, constitutes the greatest miscarriage in the history of popular music since the time Al Jolson blacked up for The Jazz Singer, declared brazenly “you ain’t heard nothing yet” and shamefacedly went on to make his fortune.

Just how the Brisbane based guitar heroes, led by singer/songwriters Robert Forster and Grant McLennan failed to achieve even one solitary week in the top 75, despite crafting a plethora of heavenly pop songs that should have made them household names on both sides of the Atlantic, is a mystery that genuinely scrambles the brain. Indeed, it prompts the group’s long time fans to ask the age old question, the one that escapes our lips every time we drunkenly stumble upon a recording of Barry Manilow’s ‘Bermuda Triangle blaring out of a pub jukebox; ‘how could you let this happen, dear Lord, how?’

Even more puzzling was the regular presence on the chart of bands that might best be described as second rate Go-Betweens. The very ordinary Deacon Blue springs to mind here, as well as the Trashcan Sinatras. And, how on earth do you explain the continued presence in the charts, throughout the eighties, of bands that made comparable music, both in terms of substance and style to The Go-Betweens themselves. Aztec Camera, for example, chalked up 12 hits and 74 weeks on the chart while Lloyd Cole, with or without his Commotions recorded 15 hits spread over 62 weeks.

After the band split up in 1989 Forster and McLennan each took a stab at solo stardom, in theory doubling their chances of a hit, but still the record buying public remained un-persuaded. McLennan in particular, penned a succession of gorgeous ballads throughout the nineties, the best of which, ‘Black Mule’ (1991) and ‘Hot Water’ (1994) are arguably the finest of all his compositions.

Even the French, not exactly renowned for having their finger on the pop pulse, have made The Go-Betweens something of a cause celebre. A 1996 issue of leading rock magazine Les Inrockuptibles pictured the band on its front cover with the strap-line ‘Le groupe le plus sous-estime de l’histoire du rock?’ Which, broadly translated as – The Go-Betweens the most underrated band in the history of rock? The magazine also ranked ’16 Lovers Lane’ in its list of the best albums of the period from 1976-1996.

Publié en novembre 1996.

1. The Smiths: The Queen Is Dead

2. Pixies: Doolittle

3. The Stone Roses: The Stone Roses

4. The Go-Betweens: 16 Lovers Lane

5. Portishead: Dummy

6. PJ Harvey: Dry

7. Tricky: Maxinquaye

8. Morrissey: Vauxhall & I

9. Massive Attack: Blue Lines

10. Beck: Mellow Gold

11. The Feelies: The Good Earth

12. REM: Automatic For The People

13. James: Stutter

14. The Divine Comedy: Liberation

15. The Smiths: Strangeways, Here We Come

16. My Bloody Valentine: Loveless

17. The La’s: The La’s

18. De La Soul: 3 Feet High And Rising

19. Bjork: Debut

20. Jeff Buckley: Grace

This re-appraisal of the band’s standing, together with an invitation to play at the magazine’s 10th Anniversary bash prompted Forster and McLennan to reform the group.

For a brief moment true devotees of the group allowed themselves to believe that a great wrong might be righted. Perhaps the band might strike lucky and have a song included on the soundtrack of some mega Hollywood Rom-Com. There was a precedent of sorts. The Triffids, their compatriots from Perth and themselves a seminal indie band of the eighties, nearly managed to fluke a hit when their classic song, ‘Bury Me Deep In Love’, was chosen to play over the cheesy wedding scenes of Harold and Marge on the popular daytime soap, Neighbours. The band, profile duly raised, punched home their advantage; their follow up single, “Trick Of The Light”, spent a glorious week in the charts, at no 73, in early 1988.

Sadly, despite recording a batch of very fine comeback albums, particularly 2005’s ‘Oceans Apart’, with its standout tracks ‘Here Comes A City’, ‘Born To A Family’ and ‘Darlinghurst Nights’, a familiar pattern soon re-emerged – critical acclaim on the one hand and commercial indifference on the other. The Australian media wasn’t averse to chastising the band for their perceived failure either. ABC’S current affairs show The 7:30 Report announced their return to the stage in the following manner –

Good old Bernard concluded his report with “But the band’s influence far outweighed its record sales and they wear the tag of commercial failures”.

Any hope that The Go-Betweens could somehow turn the tide disappeared once and for all with the unexpected passing of McLennan in May 2006 at the age of 48.

Any discussion of great song-writing partnerships in popular music would rightly begin with the likes of Lennon and McCartney, Bacharach and David, Leiber and Stoller, or Jagger and Richards. You shouldn’t, though, have to look too far down the list before coming across the names of Forster and McLennan, probably bracketed right alongside Difford and Tilbrook or Morrissey and Marr.

Both were capable of writing supremely catchy songs and both had the propensity to pen an eye-catching lyric. Grant McLennan’s ‘River Of Money’, from the ‘Springhill Fair’ album (Beggars Banquet, 1984) whilst rather atypical of his output (it’s more of a prose-poem than a pop song) is such a unique lyric that it demands to be quoted in full.

River Of Money

It is neither fair nor reasonable to expect sadness

to confine itself to its causes. Like a river in flood,

when it subsides and the drowned bodies of

animals have been deposited in the treetops, there is

another kind of damage that takes place beyond the torrent.

At first, it seemed as though she had only left

the room to go into the garden and had been delayed by stray

chickens in the corn. Then he had thought she might

have eloped with the rodeo-boy from the neighbouring

property but it wasn’t till one afternoon, when he

had heard guitar playing coming from her room and

had rushed upstairs to confront her and had seen

that it was only the wind in the curtains brushing

against the open strings, that he finally knew she

wasn’t coming back. He had dealt with the deluge alright

but the watermark of her leaving was still quite visible.

He had resorted to the compass then, thinking that

geography might rescue him but after one week in the

Victorian Alps he came back north, realising that snow which

he had never seen before, was only frozen water.

I’ll take you to Hollywood

I’ll take you to Mexico

I’ll take you anywhere the

River of Money flows.

I’ll take you to Hollywood

I’ll take you to Mexico

I’ll take you anywhere the

River of Money flows.

But was it really possible for him to cope with the

magnitude of her absence? The snow had failed him.

Bottles had almost emptied themselves without effect.

The television, a Samaritan during other tribulations, had

been repossessed. She had left her travelling clock

though thinking it incapable of functioning in

another time-zone; so the long vacant days of expensive sunlight

were filled with the sound of her minutes, with the measuring of

her hours.

Not the stuff of the three minute hero, I appreciate, but the pair were equally comfortable writing the standard verse, chorus, verse pop song that chimed in at a radio friendly 2.56 and wouldn’t have frightened the horses. From ‘Springhill Fair’ they released a trio of pristine singles. McLennan’s pop-by-numbers opener ‘Bachelor Kisses’ was the first to hit the shops (and stay there, in the bargain bin) followed by Forster’s heart-achingly sad confessional, ‘Part Company’;

“That’s her handwriting, that’s the way she writes

From the first letter I got to this her Bill of Rights”

‘Man O Sand To Girl O Sea’, the final single from the album, found Forster in a more self- assured frame of mind;

“Feel so sure of our love

I’ll write a song about us breaking up”.

This sequence of starry-eyed singles should have seen The Go-Betweens clasped lovingly to the bosom of the pop establishment. Instead, they remained exiled in the wilderness, otherwise known as the John Peel show.

Still, at the time it seemed only to be a matter of time, before their streak of bad luck would break and the Brisbane boys would be basking in the sun kissed glow of chart success. Two robust albums followed, ‘Liberty Belle And The Black Diamond Express’, (Beggars Banquet, 1986) and ‘Tallulah’, (Beggars Banquet, 1987) each spawned excellent singles in Forster’s ‘Spring Rain’, and ‘Head Full Of Pride’, as well as McLennan’s ‘Right Here’ and ‘Bye Bye Pride’.

The great British public, though, remained sceptical. Peel sessions, stadium tours in support of the band’s long time admirers, R.E.M, contractual tie-ins with a host of high profile record companies including Rough Trade, Postcard and Capitol, made not the slightest difference to the band’s outsider status. If a pop group can be described as persona non grata, then they were it! The frustration was beginning to tell, driving McLennan to comment that he’d;

“given up on the commercial success thing, which is very good for my state of mind”.

The reality was, though, that their most “commercial” album, indeed their masterpiece, was still to come but in attempting to break into the charts the band would succeed only in breaking itself apart. The omens were not good from the outset. First off, bass guitarist Robert Vickers, who had been with the group since 1983, handed in his notice. His replacement, John Willsteed, seemed an upgrade, though, and his playing certainly brought a clarity and polish to the band’s sound, in keeping with their new direction of travel. He is credited by some insiders as having played a number of the more intricate guitar parts on ’16 Lovers Lane’.

Unfortunately, Willsteed was also battling a massive drink problem and it didn’t take him long to make enemies of the rest of the band.

Furthermore, Amanda Brown, recruited after contributing violin to The Servants sublime second single ‘The Sun, A Small Star’ began a relationship with McLennan. Suddenly, word leaked out that Forster and Morrison had been in a relationship of sorts for years. Battle lines had been drawn.

At the exact same time as the Forster/McLennan friendship, begun long ago in the Drama department of the University of Queensland, was starting to disintegrate, the power-brokers at the group’s management company were trying to push McLennan into the limelight at the expense of Forster. Author David Nichols, in his book The Go-Betweens, is clear about the re-alignment that took place “every promotional video from ‘Right Here’ onwards shows Forster completely back-grounded”. Seen today the video for ‘Was There Anything I Could do’ makes a toe-curling Exhibit A, with McLennan and Brown cavorting centre stage while Forster is stationed well to the rear. Morrison was deeply unhappy, particularly about the decision to draft in producer Craig Leon. In an interview with Sydney’s ‘On The Street’ she was scathing about the shift in emphasis;

“He was chosen to make this single accessible to people, to get us to crawl out of our cult corner.”

Despite the recriminations that would inevitably follow, the next five Go-Betweens singles would all be McLennan compositions.

On a more positive note, Forster and McLennan were working on the songs for ’16 Lovers Lane’ together, rather than working individually. The spirit of collaboration instead of competition at least extended to the song-writing! Released in August 1988 (Beggars Banquet /Capitol) and produced by Mark Wallis, who’d worked with the likes of Marianne Faithful, Tom Jones and R.E.M, ’16 Lovers Lane’ was a sublime collection of glimmering guitar ballads and sugar-spun indie anthems so glossy and sun kissed that you had to wear dark glasses just to listen to it.

On the release of their debut single ‘Lee Remick’ back in 1978, Forster and McLennan had talked about capturing “that striped sunlight sound” which Forster later defined as being;

“A romantic phrase, but it is abstract. It could be the sun coming through blinds as you play a record. It’s the shimmer of a fender guitar. It’s harmonies and tough-minded pop songs. It’s lying on a bed beside a window reading a book in the afternoon. It’s the sun on a girl’s shoulder length hair. It’s Buddy Holly in the desert the day they recorded ‘Maybe Baby’. It’s t-shirts and jeans. It’s Creedence. It’s Bob. It’s Chuck Berry.”

On ’16 Lovers Lane’, made twenty years after they first articulated the concept, they came closest to perfecting its meaning.

Opening with the McLennan’s unashamedly summery ‘Love Goes On’;

“There’s a cat in the alleyway

Dreaming of birds that are blue

Sometimes girl when I’m lonely

This is how I think about you”

and ending with Forster’s majestically romantic ‘Dive For Your Memory’

“I’d dive for you

Like a bird I’d descend

Deep down I’m lonely

And I miss my friend

So when I hear you saying

That we stood no chance

I’ll dive for your memory

We stood that chance,”

’16 Lovers Lane’ (once voted 24th greatest album of the eighties, by none other than Rolling Stone magazine) could also boast another pair of McLennan classics in the ‘Streets Of Your Town’ – a song that should have occupied a place in the nation’s pop consciousness in the same way that The La’s ‘There She Goes’ or The Human League’s ‘Don’t You Want Me Baby’ have done, and the wistful, heart-breaking lament,’ Quiet Heart’.

“I tried to tell you

I can only say it when we’re apart

About this storm inside of me

And how I miss your quiet, quiet heart”

The failure to impact on the charts, with such an obviously radio-friendly song as ‘Streets Of Your Town’, must have come as a crushing blow to Forster and McLennan and was probably the final nail in The Go-Betweens’ coffin. Broke and broken-hearted they went their separate ways.

That The Go-Betweens had swallowed their pride and danced to the tune of their paymasters, there could be no doubt. They’d flattened out the kinks in their song structures, planed off the angular edges and streamlined their sound until, with each passing record, they began to sound less and less like The Velvet Underground and more and more like Abba. Not that there is anything wrong with Abba or ’16 Lovers Lane’ itself, indeed in parts it’s a breathtakingly beautiful record. It’s just that 3/5ths of the band didn’t really want to make that type of record anymore. The Go-Betweens sold their soul, but they still didn’t sell any records!

To make matters worse there wasn’t even the consolation of making their mark in the album charts, where more mature bands could be expected to have their egos massaged by a loyal fan base, successfully built up over a lengthy career. All The Go-Betweens could muster, though, was a week at no. 91 in June 1987 with ‘Tallulah’, and one week at no. 81 for ’16 Lovers Lane’ in September 1988.

To speculate, now, on the spectacular failure of The Go-Betweens is to set oneself an impossible task. Maybe, it was simply because they never really established a British fan base, maybe Australians appeared less cool than Americans or the dynamic duo just lacked sex appeal. It could be argued that both Forster and McLennan were not distinctive enough as singers, even that they sounded too erudite at times, for daytime radio. Maybe it was Forster’s controversial decision to play a Capitol Records promotional launch of ’16 Lovers Lane’ in an olive green dress (the company scaled down the record’s promotional budget the very next day). Or, perhaps, it was just that fate was against them all along.

“I do think we have a sense of anger – no one’s ever been able to present us to the British public in any sort of cohesive or intelligent way.”

One thing is for sure, they had a fistful of great songs and in Forster they had someone who gave the band personality. His art-rock background led him to pay particular attention to his stage performance, although we can only presume his tongue was firmly in his cheek with this analysis of his ‘dancing’;

“Bobby Womack himself once told me that I am a soul man, and that as far as modern music is concerned there are only three soul men left: himself, me and Prince. Prince came to Brisbane and took the colours, the moves, his whole act from me. It’s true! He’s seen my moves!”

Perhaps The Go-Betweens’ drummer Lindy Morrison, speaking in 1992 was nearer the truth than I, and others, would care to admit when she offered this overview;

Forster managed a slightly more laconic response;

“It was quite freeing to realise, our group is so good, and we’re getting nowhere. After a while, the lack of recognition was so absurd it was funny”.

Following their initial break up, the compilation album ‘1978-1990’ was released and allowed the music press to pass their verdict on the life and times of The Go-Betweens. Melody Maker’s Dave Jennings could barely contain his anger; “The fact that The Go-Betweens never became massive is a disgusting injustice… take The Go-Betweens to your heart, where they belong.” In 1996, writing for Select magazine Andrew Male wrote that “The only problem with listening to The Go-Betweens now is that they can’t help remind you of how crap the eighties were. The Go-Betweens produced records of quiet brilliance and got nowhere. Sting sang about a sodding turtle and became a millionaire.”

Even now, though, there isn’t exactly a critical consensus. Simon Reynolds in his definitive account of the post-punk years 1978-1984, “Rip It Up And Start Again”, devotes only one sentence to our Antipodean protagonists; “The Go-Betweens, who hailed from Australia but had a spare, plangent sound similarly rooted in Television and early Talking Heads”. It should be noted, of course, that at this stage The Go- Betweens only had ‘Send Me A Lullaby’ and ‘Before Hollywood’ under their belt. Bob Stanley in his widely acclaimed book “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah: The Story Of Modern Pop” (2013) omits them entirely from his 800 page anthology.

Any discussion of Literate Pop, though, if you are inclined to concede that the genre actually exists, if you believe great pop can be thought through, rather than instinctively felt, be cerebral rather than corporeal, would have to take into account The Go-Betweens’ collective body of work. Their singular form of romanticism, their shimmering chorus’s, their quirky, idiosyncratic lyrics and their wry pop sensibility all combined to make them one of the great post-punk pop groups. They made two albums, ‘Springhill Fair’ and ’16 Lovers Lane’ that would lose nothing in comparison with Costello’s ‘King Of America’, Lloyd Cole’s ‘Rattlesnakes’, Scritti Politti’s ‘Songs To Remember’, Mickey Newbury’s ‘Look’s Like Rain’ or The Manic Street Preachers’ ‘Everything Must Go’. In this context, their work will be remembered long after their more commercially successful contemporaries have disappeared from the recorded history of popular music.

To end, though, at the beginning. In 1978, after the local success of their debut single, ‘Lee Remick’, Forster dreamt of setting sail for England. Given the tortuous fate that awaited them on these shores, his words seem remarkably poignant now.

“England, I think, has the greatest acceptance of new music, they’re more open-minded. They write it in the NME and people buy your records. Any country that can accept Jilted John, X-Ray Spex and The Only Ones… there’s a place for The Go-Betweens.”

Source by Kevin McGrath

from Home Solutions Forev https://homesolutionsforev.com/the-go-betweens/ via Home Solutions on WordPress from Home Solutions FOREV https://homesolutionsforev.tumblr.com/post/188064333480 via Tim Clymer on Wordpress

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