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heavyasafeather · 1 year

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2022

1. What did you do in 2022 that you’d never done before? Portraiture? If that counts. Also, I've gotten into like... Not gardening, but growing things? Like I bought a bunch of flower growing kits. I also randomly got curious about playing with slime.

2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I never make any resolutions.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? If my office manager counts.

4. Did anyone close to you die? --

5. What countries did you visit? None.

6. What would you like to have in 2023 that you lacked in 2022? Joji.

7. What date from 2022 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

June 9: I saw Dan Rossen at the Cashbah. July 6: I saw Fleet Foxes at Cal Coast. Aug 20, 21: HITC 4.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? I think how much more I tried to get into photography or break out of my shell. I tend to just stick to still life/flowers, and had always avoided portraits and the such. But I did a couple “photoshoots” like for my office manager’s baby shower, and a cousin’s grad photos, and all the praise I got made me feel great.

I also managed to grow a mini rose from one of the kits I bought from Five Below. I was just gifted a couple more kits for Christmas, and I'm excited.

9. What was your biggest failure? Being alive.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? I had COVID in earlier January.

11. What was the best thing you bought? Literally, any ticket to any concert. The Dreamfx lens filters for my camera. And the Buzzy seeds growing kits. And funnily, this strawberry scented slime.

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration? ?

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed? There was a thing with my coworker, but I think it was mostly miscommunication, and we got over it after we talked it out.

14. Where did most of your money go? Bills. Clothes, I suppose.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Mostly Joji. And growing some fucking flowers.

16. What song will always remind you of 2022? There’s a lot actually: Joji, “Die For You”

Andrew Bird, “Underlands”

Daniel Rossen, “I’ll Wait For Your Visit”

Mei Ehara , “不確か”

Mom Jeans., “What's Up?"

Ruby Haunt, “Crave”

Toledo, “Fixing Up the Backroom”

Tim Bernardes, “BB (Garupa de Moto Amarela)”

Vision Video, “In My Side”

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

i. happier or sadder? Happier, maybe. ii. thinner or fatter? Fatter. iii. richer or poorer? I mean, technically richer, but…

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Skating.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Going to work. Caring

20. How did you spend Christmas? Christmas Eve, I watched Avatar 2 with Adam and then opened presents with him and his dad. Christmas day, I went home and my parents weren't doing shit because they were fighting I guess, but I mostly remember trying to get food with my dad that we ended up going to Jack in the Box for dinner because nothing else was open.

21. Did you fall in love in 2022? With anyone new? No.

22. How will you be spending New Years? I’ve only just realized for the last few years after I first started doing these, that this question had been erased. I spent most of New Years at Adam’s, and we binge watched House of the Dragon.

23. How many one-night stands? 0.

24. What was your favourite TV program? Orville!

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Is it hate that I feel? I definitely bounce between not giving a shit about them and wishing that there was still a friendship. It definitely feels like there isn't anymore, and it makes me feel angry that I feel like I've extended my hand more times than they have in the last few years. And then I remember all the times I felt like they never really have a fuck about me in the first place, and I get angrier, so... yeah, maybe.

26. What was the best book you read? I don’t know about “best,” but I started reading Jane Eyre, and restarted The Sorcerer’s Stone.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery? .

28. What did you want and get? Joji tickets to the Forum next year.

29. What did you want and not get? Probably better seats to Joji, but I’m still in a better section that I expected.

30. What was your favourite film of this year? Dinner in America. Or Top Gun, maybe? The Banshees of Inisherin.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 31. I went to work, then went to Cheesecake factor for dinner with my parents and Adam.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably satisfying? More Joji, seriously.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2022? Scrubs. And because of my Stitch Fix subscription, a lot of floral dresses... And more Joji merch.

34. What kept you sane? Literally, just listening to Joji. And naps.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Seriously?

36. What political issue stirred you the most? Eh.

37. Who did you miss? Literally, everybody...

38. Who was the best new person you met? No one's really standing out to me.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2022: –

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. “Deep red, seething anger, it is natural, all too familiar. That legacy is yours and mine to own, that's you and me.”

#end of the year

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themousai · 4 years

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Top 10 Albums of the Decade: Nic Martin

Nightmare Avenged Sevenfold

[2010]

This is a fitting album to start with; I will probably always pin my decision to pursue music as a career on Avenged Sevenfold. 14-year-old me was absolutely crushed by the tragic death of drummer Jimmy Sullivan in 2009, but truly believed in the band’s decision to carry on, full speed ahead, and manifest Sullivan’s vision that he never got to complete; being 2010’s Nightmare.

While I personally never cared for the title track/lead single, it was cathartic and honest tracks like Victim and Tonight The World Dies that really showed me a new and important layer to the band I was already so inspired by. We still had the A7X that has gone on to, frankly, dominate the world stage - the relentless Danger Line and prog-epic-closer Save Me were reminders that these California boys were on to something huge, and they knew it.

Teenage Dream Katy Perry

[2010]

Admittedly: I came to listen to Katy Perry because I had a mad celeb-crush on her in this era. This album is a surprisingly diverse collection of legitimately well written pop songs, front-to-back. Obviously it has the singles we’re all numb to these days (I’m pretty sure California Gurls and Firework were enforced listening for every Jayjay’s across the country), but I found myself using songs like Circle The Drain and Hummingbird Heartbeat as an excuse to enjoy the undeniable pleasure of great pop melodies.

I guess I just feel like this was one of those “cut-above” mega-pop albums, alongside T-Swift’s 1989 and Bieber’s Purpose, I guess I just never saw either of them shooting whipped cream from their chest.

There Is A Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen It. There Is A Heaven, Let’s Keep It A Secret Bring Me The Horizon

[2010]

I rarely hear people cite this as their favourite Bring Me album; never disregarded, but never the top of many lists; yet you Tumblr-Millennials out there would be lying if you said you never reblogged a grainy photo of a bedroom strewn with fairy-lights and band posters with lyrics from It Never Ends or Blessed With A Curse edited over it. I have no issue in saying that the quality of Oli Sykes’ voice was at a low point for this release, but I will always defend the telling depth and emotion that’s explored in the lyrics and structure of each song.

A dark and pummelling metalcore offering in a general sense, it’s Bring Me’s signature unapologetic approach to the point of difference they’re always pursuing – especially on tracks like Blacklist, the transition between the second half of Fuck into Don’t Go, and the catastrophic closer The Fox and the Wolf – that ensured I would keep tabs on this band’s evolution throughout the decade.

Periphery II: This Time It’s Personal Periphery

[2012]

I have a tattoo dedicated to this album and how much this band + album changed my perception of music, especially heavy metal. With that considered, I struggle to find a way to describe this album in way that isn’t simply “If you like metal, go and listen to this album” because there is bound to be something within this gem that will scratch an itch you didn’t know you had.

No one else sounded quite like this, and no one really has since. Whatever, djent. This album absolutely rips. Spencer Sotelo’s vocals are inhuman (not pitch-corrected on this album, noteworthy), and it contains multiple personal-favourite guitar solos ever, ever (Luck As A Constant and Mile Zero). Listen to the whole damn thing, but check out Muramasa, Facepalm Mute, Scarlet, or Ragnarok if you need convincing.

Parallax II: Future Sequence Between The Buried And Me

[2012]

“Goodbye To Everything”. One hell of an alluring motif, no? There is a LOT to unpack on this album, and if you struggle to resonate with musical journeys that take you across the galaxy and back 10+ minutes at a time, then it’ll take a while to sink your teeth into Future Sequence to the depth that it deserves to be appreciated at. The technicality and intricacy of the music accurately reflects the complexity of the lyrical narrative, only made even less-accessible by Tommy Giles Rogers’ ambiguous, cryptically simple/broad verses.

As necessary as the shorter breather tracks/interludes are, the highlights on this release are the lengthier pieces that all take you on a true journey, taking its time to set each scene and its mood. Lay Your Ghosts To Rest and Telos are integral tracks that really take you to a new dimension and show you every nook and cranny of it; and the final 18 minutes of Silent Flight Parliament & Goodbye To Everything (Reprise) has got to be the single most epic metal album closer this decade; a claim I’m open to having challenged.

Make no mistake, this is literally a 72 minute melting pot of progressive rock and technical death metal, with hearty sides of wack synths and lush orchestration, atmosphere that shifts from grand to crushing, and cheeky passages that skim from surf-rock to noodly jazz.

Altered State TesseracT

[2013]

My uncle introduced me to TesseracT’s first album One in 2012, which immediately cemented the band as one of my favourites. But 2013’s Altered State is one of those “perfectly aligned” albums for me: it was exactly what I needed to hear right when it was announced and released. It’s the only album to feature vocalist Ashe O’Hara (who now sings for Voices In The Fuselage) and is widely considered their crown jewel – although I firmly stand by the sentiment that TesseracT are incapable of writing a song that isn’t stunningly incredible.

The album is 10 tracks split into four “suites”: Of Matter, Of Mind, Of Reality, and Of Energy; so it was a daunting thought to try and absorb the entire thing in that way during my first listen. This is one of those albums that you know how incredible it is, but it’s not until you find yourself going back to it again and again over the years that you get to truly appreciate how perfectly executed the entire 50 minutes really is. The effortlessly impossible, extended rhythmic passages in Eclipse and Singularity; the sound of a heart exploding in Resist; the GOD DAMN SAXOPHONE in Calabi-Yau and Embers, it’s ALL there to make one of the most remarkable progressive metal albums ever; and they did it without a single scream or sub-drop.

To Pimp A Butterfly Kendrick Lamar

[2015]

I have no shame in announcing that hip-hop is a genre I forced myself to like. My brother had a soft spot for it growing up, and a lot of people in my school liked it; so, while I was familiar, I hadn’t found the album ‘for me’. good kid, m.A.A.d City showed me who Kendrick Lamar was and that – like pretty much every other teenager in 2012 – I quite liked his songs. The Blacker The Berry will never not-give me the same goosebumps I got upon first hearing it. I remember seeing the announcement that To Pimp A Butterfly had just been released hours earlier on iTunes, it was probably the first album I ever purchased online that wasn’t anything close to rock or metal, and – once again – I have no shame in admitting that the artwork was a big reason for why I was so immediately drawn to wanting to hear it.

Man, as I sit here listening to the intro to u at 12:30am, driving the entire album into one of its many, many dark and completely out-the-gate corners, I’m reminded that this album was so damn ahead of its time. Kendrick is unpacking SO much. He sits you down and pours you a drink as Wesley’s Theory lulls you in with its sexy groove and upbeat formalities, and he continues to tell you EXACTLY what the fuck is up, and he does it with pure, unapologetic class. The music on this album is just… it literally leaves me speechless nearly 5 years on: there are moments where it feels like the speakers couldn’t possibly handle another layer of jazzy instrumentation or lush, effect-laden basslines. But it’s when you take that, then add Kendrick’s stories, and that’s why this album transcends beyond most other hip-hop/rap releases; listen to How Much A Dollar Cost? or Mortal Man and tell me that he doesn’t have SO much to say that the already-limitless musical landscape can barely contain him.

131 Emarosa

[2016]

Something I had to keep remembering as I considered my list and wrote about each album is that we were asked to talk about albums that were important to us and our lives on a personal level. So, although Emarosa have multiple FANTASTIC albums, 131 was an album that found me and reached out to pull me out of a dark place in my life. Bradley Walden had already proved that he was a beautiful vocalist with a gorgeous voice on 2014’s Versus, but 131 feels so honest and more real in comparison.

This album doesn’t try to be anything more or less than what it is: a collection of meaning rock songs about life and the more personal, intricate emotions and tribulations that most people endure. Songs like Sure and Cloud 9 draw you in with their ear-worm choruses, but they keep you around with the heartfelt stories being told, all of a sudden you’re lying on your kitchen floor with tears streaming down your face wailing to the climax of Never while you think about your bb. This album helped me understand and forgive myself, I hope it can help you too.

Clairvoyant The Contortionist

[2017]

“Wow, Nic put Clairvoyant in his ‘Albums of the Decade’ list? What a genuine surprise…”

Anyone who knows me is probably sick of just how frequently and in-depth I talk about this album. The Contortionist were that band that all my favourite bands loved but I never got around to checking out. That was until my friend Declan showed me Return To Earth, which would easily make my top singles of the decade, too. It’s a perfect representation of the entire album: melancholic, intense, epic, and worth being patient with as it pulls you in with its devastating themes of addiction and loss. Vocalist Michael Lessard has said the album’s lyrics were written as the darker extension of 2014’s critically acclaimed Language; the general story revolves around his close friend’s untimely overdose due to his struggles after losing his mother, with Clairvoyant taking a more subdued, less metaphorical look at the despair his friend endured.

While this album does have its hookier and more upbeat moments - found in Reimagined and the title track – it’s the way these sections are woven into a much bigger picture that really turns every track into one 54 minute journey that you’d be remiss to not repeat a few times on a road trip or during a rainy day in. A personal highlight for me is the closing track Monochrome (Pensive), particularly after having listened to the entire album from the beginning first. As one of the most heart-crushing and honest moments lyrically, the song is ultimately an indescribable piece of art: catastrophically grand, breath-takingly emotional, this album is one of my most highly recommended ever.

Sundowning Sleep Token

2019

My most treasured musical discovery this year; I heard a 7-second-long snippet of Sleep Token’s 2017 single Calcutta on another artist’s Instagram story and was shocked: were you even allowed to pair a voice as lush as Vessel’s with a musical landscape that ultimately builds into a down-tuned breakdown? I was hooked, I needed more than the minimal offerings (heh) that were available – though EVERY song leading up to Sundowning is absolutely stunning in their own rights.

All of a sudden, The Night Does Not Belong To God appears on YouTube as I check my phone early one Thursday morning: fantastic, a new single. Two weeks later, to the day: The Offering makes itself known and has since dominated the band’s ‘popular songs’ on all streaming platforms. Another exact fortnight later, Levitate is an unexpected, yet welcome change of pace as a tender piano ballad topped with Sleep Token’s signature grand-finale-breakdown that can only be described as a wrecking ball levelling everything that was so intricately crafted in the 3-4 minutes prior. A pattern was emerging, and I was HERE for it. Sundowning revealed itself as 12 tracks, each carefully composed but linked together with an emotional lyrical thread, as well as aligned graphics/videos and even merch released with each track. As a working musician, this marketing approach completely blew me away, but when the music being pushed is this boundless, this forward-thinking, this calculated yet so naturally flowing, it gives me hope for the future of heavy music.

Every song is worth giving equal time and attention to, the band knows this and that’s why they released it that way. There are no two songs that sound like each other, but there certainly are various, vivid shades to Sleep. From the brutally thick ending to Higher or Gods, to the cheekily obscure, trap-versed banger Dark Signs, to the gorgeously progressive epics Say That You Will and Blood Sport; this album is one that anyone who considers themselves a fan of music needs to check out. This is what the future of music sounds like.

Listen to our decade wrapped over on Spotify!

Written by Nic Martin / Devilskin + Seas Of Conflict

[more decade round ups here]

#nic martin #seas of conflict #top 10s of 2010s #bring me the horizon #katy perry #periphery #tesseract #kendrick lamar #sleep token #the contortionist #emarosa #between the buried and me #avenged sevenfold

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