#ash-ra | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

emisoras · 6 months

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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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aeon-arts · 1 month

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Happy Birthday to my friend, @athetos !!

Pose || outfit

#she ra glimmer #she-ra #queen glimmer #princess glimmer #ash #gifts #athetos #my art #every year I say this’ll be the year I draw glimmadora #and every year I chickened out XD

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batbabydamian · 4 months

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🦇🐥 Batman and Robin (2023) #6 rambling and screaming crying throwing up about a single page

so right off the bat, i'm adding these panels to the Ms. Hall is Shush conspiracy board - the first suspect in mind for who could train Zach would be Principal Stone, but Ms. Hall is conveniently placed in the "teacher's pet" panel HMM

Damian's history with Zsasz is mentioned again! any further reference to Streets of Gotham ends here once Damian and Zsasz face off, but i'm not complaining when Damian gets to kick his ass again LOL

AAH SUCH A COOL PANEL!! i rambled enough about Cizmesija's impact shots last time, but this is just. SO COOL... DAMIAN'S POSE, the light streak from the eyes, the jittery effect at the point of impact from Zsasz's front to his back - LIKE DAMN, YOU KNOW THIS KID HIT HIM HARD

ok i was gonna shut up about the impact shots but to accompany the Robin panel, THIS SICK BATMAN PANEL!! THE SPEED LINES ALONG HIS WHOLE ARM, the hilarious waves of that hit going through Zsasz's face asdfg, the cowl and cape silhouette in the back - and the KRAK SFX!! it's got a bit of that gritty splatter effect Cizmesija uses so either another smooth choice by letterer Steve Wands or extra kudos to Cizmesija!!

i thought the action would be my favorite aspect of this issue, but it was THE EXPRESSIONS. from Damian's frustration here (his glare and his seriously gritted teeth) to the page that brought me to my knees lol

a breakdown of my breakdown for this page:

DAMIAN'S WIDE EYED EXPRESSION AT BRUCE'S COMPLIMENT, THE SHINE IN HIS EYES!! what gets me about Bruce’s praise is how specific it is, especially pointing out Damian’s storytelling 😭 Bruce already knows Damian’s technical art skills are amazing!! storytelling through comics is a whole different skill and Bruce recognized that!! 😭 no wonder Damian is so touched, Bruce is paying attention 😭

HE LOOKS SO OVERWHELMED BY THE VALIDATION FROM HIS FATHER - THE TENTATIVE SMILE!! BEFORE HE BREAKS OUT INTO A FULL GRIN!! 😭

HOW HE BURSTS ABOUT HIS PROCESS AND THEN THE LIL ASIDE OF “I love those…” HE'S SO CAUGHT UP IN HIS JOY PLEASE I’M COUGHING UP BLOOD THAT'S SO CUTE 😭 happy Damian is my weakness i mean LOOK AT HIM OH MY GOD the wide smile his lil fist and the pointing, he cannot contain himself!! 😭

his art is so fun, i'm glad we get to see more of this!! the shadow of Bruce and Damian over the pages is a neat touch too! Damian expanding from realistic renders to this manga style on top of these amazing comic layouts…Bruce is right his growth is crazy 😭

to add on to Damian's progress from Bruce's eyes - Detective Comics (2016) #1003 was the last time Bruce acknowledged Damian's art!

the return of Flatline!! for this last bit, i'll be referencing Lazarus Planet: The Next Evolution (2023) since that's Nika's last notable appearance!

Nika calling Damian out on not contacting her asdfg she mentions something similar before, and i could only imagine it's been months since then considering that issue came out a whole year ago 😭

besides Nika meeting Bruce, the most important thing that needs to be addressed is if Damian's aware that she resurrected Ra's and finally, what they could have discussed??