#I want to marry this guy's guitar tone and have feedback babies | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kunstmull · 9 months

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Ash-ra

So I've annoyed all of my friends by going on and on about this band to the point where no one is answering my emails any more. So I'm just going to be spamming this tag until all of Tumblr blocks me (no, really - if I irritate you, I'd much rather you just block me and go on with your online life!) Buckle up, I'm going in.

youtube

When I first found started exploring Buck-Tick, this was one of the first songs I clicked on, just based on the title alone. It's called Ash-ra*, off an album literally entitled COSMOS - do you think there's a chance there might be some Kosmische Krautrock going on here?

*I've since seen some blogs express confusion as to why the title uses this spelling, rather than the Japanese Asura or Ashura. ASH-RA TEMPEL. Lords of Berlin-School Kosmische (Kosmische - "Cosmic" - is what many of the actual German groups of the time called the music that we British jokingly called "Krautrock") led by chess-board pattern loving Meister of electronic guitar manipulation, Manuel Göttsching.

I hit play.

::drums start up::

YES OH GOD YES - Toll immediately goes in for the most Lange-Gerade MOTORIK. This isn't even Dinger-beat, this is the full Jaki Liebezeit, like Mother Sky on speed.

12 seconds in, and there's strange slithering static noises, like the glitchy tape experiments on the B-side of NEU! 2 - yes YES! The tiger is OUT!

And then the guitar starts

Effortless, weightless, just hanging above the driving rhythm section like a seagull riding a glider. This is pure Michael Rother, that endless tone that seems to stretch off into the horizon, a descending scale that dissipates into feathery clouds of... feedback? tremolo arm abuse? theremin? processed guitar? (In the live video, it looks like some kind of harmonics-modulation pedal)

Words cannot even express how much I love the way Imai Hisashi abuses his guitar. This man is a sound pervert - I've since read translated interviews where he expresses contempt that a guitarist should act like a guitar-player - he treats the instrument purely as a tone-generator for him to transform with electronic treatments and manipulations (my favourite musicians have always treated their instruments this way - from what Florian Schneider of Kraftwerk did with his flute, to what drone-rockers like Sonic Boom of Spacemen 3 and Kevin Shields of MBV did with guitars). But the cosmic space-noises here are so otherworldly I genuinely cannot tell where guitar feedback ends and theremin begins, it's a haze of swooping electronic bliss.

Vocals - to be really true to the Kosmische form, Imai should have had the courage to just spout surreal English-Japanese-German word salad a la Damo Suzuki, but yes, there are lyrics, I'm sure someone else has written about them. But in my fan-fiction headcanon version of events, Imai just scribbled "Ash-ra" on the demo tape to indicate this was his Krautrock song, and Atsushi, not knowing the first thing about Krautrock, took this as an instruction to write a song about the actual Japanese Demons.

1:50 minutes in. BASS SOLO. At some point, I'm going to write another essay about how Yutaka is the most underrated musician of this band. He's the one who holds together the floating psychedelic guitar haze and the speed-punk drums, and yet somehow makes it all insanely danceable. He absolutely nails the sinewy funk of Holger Czukay, both melodic and booty-shaking.

And then at 2:04 the BEST BIT of the WHOLE SONG

PNEUMATIC DRILL SOLO!!!

Unfortunately, it seems they don't do this bit live. COWARDS!

REAL German Experimental bands play their drills live!

But it's the attention to detail that makes this band so intoxicating to listen to - layers and layers of sonic references layered on top of one another, the pneumatic drill, the squiggles of electronic sound, and then at the end, the coda...

A short drifting suite of classical piano, because it's the moments of peace that make the psychedelic noise-storms so intense, and vice-versa.

#buck-tick #hisashi imai #ash-ra #cosmos #krautrock #kosmische #ash ra tempel worship #imai hisashi #I want to marry this guy's guitar tone and have feedback babies #Youtube

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musicalmukebox · 6 years

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Let’s Get (Back) Together | l.h. (2A)

Ctto of the gifs used!!

AU: Parent Trap Dad!Luke

Summary: A strong love which led to a strong marriage and twin daughters. Yet in the end, it didn’t turn out so well. You strongly refuse to encounter him ever again. But what happens when both of you coincidentally send your twin daughters to the same summer camp in Florida after 10 years?

Word Count: 2.7k

Warnings: slight swearing and some shade too

A/N: This part is divided into 3 because it shows yours, Luke and the twins’ side of life after 10 years. Heads up, the twins’ names are Rebecca and Stella. Anyways, this part is focused on Luke 10 years later. Enjoy!

I don’t own Parent Trap and its ideas. It’s only used as inspiration.

1 / 2A / 2B / 2C / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15

Feedback/Questions/Others? Here.

Now, it’s the year 2034.

It’s around 6 pm in Sydney. Luke stood by in the arrival area of the airport, wiping some sweat on his forehead when he was bombarded by some paparazzi on his way inside earlier. As he recovered, he feels a vibrating buzz on one of the pockets of his jeans. Bringing out his phone, it was a text.

“Just arrived, dad! Give me around 5-10 minutes, just waiting for my luggage.” He reads. It was from *Rebecca*.

Jokes on him, it’s actually Stella. Originally, it’s Rebecca with Luke then Stella with you. Nope, they switched. But hey, let’s just stick to *Rebecca*.

This trip to Florida was the first time Rebecca travels abroad by herself, and boy he missed her, even it’s been a month and a half.

His little girl alone and gone? Shit.

He was hesitant at first when she asked you about this camp, adding how Scarlett Irwin, Ashton’s oldest daughter, had fun there 2 years ago. Yet, why not? It’s a small start with teaching her some independence, especially since he himself traveled without any family when he was in his late teenage years, not even counting the boys.

But calling each other wasn’t an easy thing, trying to find the middle ground always. They talked for the first two weeks, which then abruptly stopped on the last half of her stay in camp. He couldn’t blame her, especially since camp is physically tiring. Not only that, he grew very busy too with working on new music. Even up to this time, the band is still making music.

But the next album would be the last since he wants to focus on his family, on Rebecca. The boys felt the same, especially since they have families of their own. If that was the case, then he would gladly be satisfied with working as a music producer and lyric composer for other artists and bands. Just as long as music is involved, everything is well.

“Dad!” Luke’s attention shifted. He immediately looks up to see a short, blonde girl with her favorite black ripped jeans and suitcase. His stressed expression turned happy.

“Come here, you little poppet!” He exclaims, kneeling down to her level and spread his arms wide open. Rebecca runs to him despite her luggage, and gives him a warm hug, being lifted by him too. How she missed him, all this time.

“I missed you so much, dad.” She mumbles in his ear.

“I miss you too, Becks.” He uses her other nickname before he lets her go from his grasp and then they do their special handshake, air-guitaring in the end. He begins to notice a few changes.

“You cut your hair! I thought you loved your black dyed ends?” He starts.

“Well, Florida was just as warm as Sydney, dad! I couldn’t help it.” She states, tugging a piece on the back of her ear.

“You got really tan and a bit sunburnt too, huh?” Luke observes.

“Yeah, but it was worth it. Camp was really fun.” She says as she reminisces what she calls the best summer of her life so far. Suddenly, she felt some tears going down her cheek.

“Oh no poppet, what’s wrong? Did someone break your heart already?” Luke worries, wiping away some tears.

“It’s nothing. I just really missed you, and time felt so long when you’re in a different country.” She answers, sniffing a bit.

“Hmm I see, poppet. But don’t you worry, you’re back with me now, okay? I got you always.” He reassures before getting a hold of her wheeled suitcase.

“How about you talk more about what happened in camp on the way home, yeh?”

“Sure thing, dad.” *Rebecca* bubbly answers, finally glad to use this word after so long.

“Here’s one thing I want to point out, dad. I love you and all, but it’s weird when some camp counselors knew you from way before I was born and talked about how good-looking you were and still are and wanted to marry you. They even wanted you to make a sudden appearance!” *Rebecca* cringes, getting a slight shiver in her bones. Luke laughs at her emotions as his eyes maintained at the road.

“Well, I’m flattered. So far as I’m concerned, you’re the only girl I have in my life right now.” He professes.

“Welp, that’s the second time I’ve cringed on this trip home.” She jokes.

“So what else happened? Did you do anything mischievous or rad?” Luke tried to act cool like he says he was, but he did try though.

“Cringing for the third time, oh no.” *Rebecca* facepalms.

“Now come on, tell me more.” Rebecca ponders on other funny stuff that happened, despite most of the time, it was spent arguing and competing with Stella before they maturely put aside their difference. All of a sudden, this one really crazy experience hit her mind: when she lost that game of poker. She changed the perspective into the real Rebecca’s, of course.

“Well one time, after dinner and before curfew, the girls and I played poker and boy, I got a lot of candy and American knick knacks afterwards. Also, this one girl challenged me to a best of 3 rounds and I won! To top it off, I made her do a forfeit!” *Rebecca* excitedly shares as Luke drives.

“Oh no, what did you make her do?” Luke asks, smirking at his daughter’s antics. Rebecca is a very cheeky, mischievous girl, always having tricks above her sleeve and tactics to pursue them. Just like her dad.

“I made her jump in the cold lake, commando. The other girls and I stole her clothes too, leaving only her shoes.” She reveals, followed by a hit of laughter from her.

“You evil little girl. But very smart must I say for an 11 year old to have nudity involved.” Luke commends. As a father, he is very open. If she has questions, he makes sure to answer them as truthfully as possible. Thank the heavens she hasn’t asked the where-do-babies-come-from question ever.

He also doesn’t want to be a harsh and strict one, which could lead to Rebecca lying to him a lot in the near future, yet he doesn’t spoil her too much and corrects her when she is wrong or does wrong things. He wants her to trust him and vice versa.

“Well thank you, 37 year old dad.” *Rebecca* gives a funny comeback.

“Don’t push it, poppet.” Luke chuckled. From his peripheral vision, he noticed *Rebecca* looking the sunset.

“Missed seeing that?”

“Yup. Nothing beats it.” *Rebecca* says as her eyes gleam at how beautiful it was. It was nothing compared to Los Angeles. She was gazing at it when they reached a stoplight, wherein it was a chance for Luke to plug his phone to the aux cord of his car and then presses shuffle on his music.

“I don't mind, letting you down easy but just give it time.” He sings along. It removed *Rebecca* from her daze as she knew this song too, so she sang along with him.

“If it don't hurt now, but just wait, just wait a while, you're not the big fish in the pond no more.” She sings back. When the chorus played, they were jamming hard, not giving a damn with what the other people from the outside and other cars would think.

“I definitely missed singing songs in the car with you, poppet.” Luke confirms, holding *Rebecca’s* hand. Before they knew, Luke saw a familiar white house at the end of Braxton Lane.

“We’re home.” Luke says as he drives through the garage, parking it there. As they got out of the car, *Rebecca* admired how lovely the house was. White and huge, just as the real Rebecca described to her.

“Felicia, we’re home!” He shouts from outside. Felicia is the nanny of the family since the beginning and always helps out in any way she can. He opens the trunk of the car, and yanks out *Rebecca’s* luggage. She just kept looking around while he did such.

“You really missed this huh?” She nods. They both walk the pathway to the front door, and as Luke opened the door, it was dark as they got inside. But when they closed the door, the lights suddenly turned on, seeing a lot of ‘new’ faces from *Rebecca’s* eyes.

“Welcome home, Rebecca!” They burst out. This whole time, Luke planned this surprise a few days before. He wanted it to be perfect. *Rebecca* was overwhelmed with the surprise, yet enlightened to see the close loved ones of her dad. She felt welcome.

“Oh you’ve changed quite a bit, little Becks.” An elderly woman walks up first to *Rebecca* before embracing her. *Rebecca* quickly analyzes her face, trying to recall who she is from the family tree the real Rebecca taught her.

“Aww, Granny Liz! How I’ve missed you!” She remembered. As they let go, a teenage boy walks towards Rebecca.

“Got a bit tan over there in Florida, Becca?” He compliments. *Rebecca* analyzes again, Then it hit her.

“More than here, Max.” Max is her oldest cousin on Luke’s side. He’s 17 and specifically, Jack and Celeste Hemmings’ only child.

“Oh no, this diva is back.” Joining in the conversation is Alex Clifford, Michael’s 12 year old and oldest son. The real Rebecca mentioned to her that he’s her ultimate best friend since they knew each other for so long. But little did the real Rebecca knew is that *Rebecca* finds him really cute.

“What’s it to you, loser?” She banters along with a sassy tone.

“Wow, it’s not even an hour yet and you guys are all sassy already.” The last person to join the conversation was a middle-aged redhead with her arms crossed.

“Oh Felicia, we’re really like this. You tolerated us for it.” The “Felicia” Alex referred to is the nanny the real Rebecca grew up with.

“Hmm. Well if you excuse me, Alex, let me give some love to my poppet while you and the other kids go ahead and play games or whatever your generation does nowadays.”

“Alright. Bye, Felicia. Catch up later, Becks.” Alex leaves the scene, probably going to talk guy stuff with Max.

“So how are you, poppet?” Felicia begins.

“Great, a bit tired from the trip, but still great.”

“That’s nice to here. Anyways, I prepared your favorite meals, like 5-cheese macaroni and cheese, roasted chicken, brownies. Go and get something to munch on, afterwards you better tell me stories about camp.” *Rebecca* nods as she grabs a plate and serving the good food on her plate.

Meanwhile and much later, also to Luke’s dismay, his parents had to leave ahead because they have an early flight to London the following day. Luke was then chatting with the guys with their wives by the patio while the other teenage and adolescent children were playing Frisbee and other games by the backyard.

“Well mates and gals, the night is pretty young. Let’s drink to that!” Ashton brings his beer up, urging everyone to bring their drinks up. They clinked them together, which was followed by a set of “woo’s”.

“It’s been a little while since we’ve had something like this, right?” Luke asks as he continues to indulge his beer.

“Yeah. I feel like we’re in our twenties again. Those were some fucking good years, well before the kids.” Calum reminisced as he lit up his second cigarette of the night.

“We’re lacking weed though.” Michael says with realization, getting chuckles from everyone.

“I have to say, Rebecca’s changed quite a lot, yeh?” Celeste acknowledged.

“Yeah! Her hair is short, which is rare.” Crystal points out. Yes, they got married, which is pretty cute. They have three kids, Alex, Beatrix and a younger boy named Nathan, or Nate.

“She might’ve grown an inch or two since the last time I saw her.” Eleanor, Calum’s wife, adds. They met when Eleanor was one of the tour photographers for the band, wherein she was always on Calum’s side of the stage taking photos. He gradually grew a liking for her, starting with having lunches together and photoshoots pretty much anywhere. Then, then rest is history. Marriage and an only son named Nicholas, or Nick.

“She’s grown a bit shyer and quiet too. I don’t know, but I’m not used to her not like this laid back, and she would always arrive at a party like this with a loud hello.” Bryana addresses. She and Ashton sorted things out and tried again. Now, they’ve been married for more than 10 years, also with 3 kids, Scarlett and two boys named Oliver and Topher.

“Give her a break, love. The poor girl just got off a really long flight.” Ashton intervenes.

“Hold on, is Sierra still coming over, mate?” Jack changes topic, about Sierra. Deaton to be specific, also known as the singer Essy. She’s also a close friend of the band. Even a friend of yours too before.

“Sadly, she couldn’t. Working in the studio still for that next album.” Luke answers. Oh no, this topic.

“Oh yeah. So when are you gonna tell Rebecca about you and Sierra? She onlys knows you two as good friends.” Crystal brings it up a lot further.

“Shit, I don’t know. Soon perhaps?” He replies, really unsure.

“Well, you gotta do it fast. You’re getting married again in a month, God damnit!” Michael reminds, putting his head on top of Crystal’s shoulder. Luke’s stress levels rose. He didn’t know to approach this situation, especially since Rebecca didn’t have an actual motherly influence after the divorce.

Hmm, unless you count Felicia.

“Again, lol.” Michael points out that word jokingly, which gave an immediate shock everyone in the room.

Picture a lot of Kermit the frogs drinking tea. It was like that, except with alcohol and cigarettes. Shady indeed. If there was the “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named” from Harry Potter, then this was the Topic-Which-Should-Never-Be-Brought-Up.

Much to their luck, Luke didn’t rage or anything. He was unresponsive and just continues to finish his second beer of the night. But he felt a pang of pain. Regret even, but he didn’t want to set the evening with bad vibes.

“Drunk already, Clifford? It’s only 9 pm.” Calum breaks the silence, getting a chuckle from Eleanor.

“Not really, but I’m not as strong as I used to be, Hood.” Michael mumbles, and right before he takes another sip, Crystal grabs his beer from him.

“And I believe you’ve drank too much for tonight. You’re driving, or better yet, I will.” She says politely out of safety. Michael grins like a Cheshire cat, grabbing back his beer.

Despite those past topics, the group continued on talking, never running out of things to say or share. Not to mention indulging more alcohol, except for Crystal, Ashton, Eleanor and Jack. They’re the designated drivers.

Ashton shared that he tried to answer the where-do-babies-come-from question from Nate one day, while Luke shared what *Rebecca* told him earlier in the car about the camp counselors, Jack told about his trip to Sweden with his family, and lastly, the most amazing one which is from Calum and Eleanor.

“We’re expecting.” Eleanor announces, receiving hugs and congratulations from everyone. Time passed so quickly, and eventually, midnight hits. The boys and girls still had work in the morning.

Good luck to them, especially Michael. As they all left, Luke crashed instantly on the couch, his tipsy eyes about to close after drinking a lot of beer.

“Someone looks dead tired.” It was *Rebecca*, commenting on his exhausted physique and sits beside him.

“Imagine working in the studio, driving for 30 minutes to the airport to fetch you, then organizing and entertaining this little party for you.” He responds, his arms reaching out to her for a cuddle. Hesitant at first, but eh, she wanted to treasure everything she missed out on with him. Kissing the top of her forehead, Luke speaks up again.

“Tomorrow, we are spending the whole day together. Anything you want to do, poppet, let’s go for it.”

“Well, that whole day starts now, dad. Let’s start with sleeping.” She suggests as he nods. Lazily, they stood up.

“Good night poppet. Don’t let jetlag win you over.”

“Noted. Good night, dad.” As Luke was the first to walk away, Rebecca speaks up.

“Good luck with your future hangover.” She adds, jokingly.

Oh this girl, he thought. Today is bound to be good.

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