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#god I want this game’s soundtrack on vinyl so bad
chibishortdeath · 8 months
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Random tiny details I like a lot in CV4:
- you can be killed by frogs
- also tables
- and falling off the stairs
- Simon sometimes moonwalks on the stairs
- Simon really has trouble with stairs doesn’t he
- there’s a particular brick pattern in one of the backgrounds that looks like teeth
- 3/4 hanging skeletons can be ducked under without having to kill them
- if you stand in place with the whip held over your head none of Deaths projectiles can hit you
- the cute little bugs on the title screen
- the ghost dancers are named Paula Abgoul and Fred Ascare (hehehe puns)
- that bone horse in the background of the first level
- Simon just kinda flails the whip around with wild abandon when “spinning” it, like it’s barely a spin bro is just panicking
- hehehehe Simon swing!!! It’s so fun
- a lot of enemies are taller than Simon
- the sound when you jump off a treasure chest
- almost all the hand enemies don’t do any damage they just hold you in one spot
- secret room!
- the end use of Simon’s theme of course, still sad there’s no curse of man/second phase tho
There’s more but like man it’s the little things, I love this game I’m replaying it again that’s the whole context for this lol
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mooodyblue · 1 year
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elvis tag game by @headfullofpresley 💗
this is gonna be so loong i apologize in advance 😭😭 i have a lot of thoughts and opinions
tagging: @lllsaslll @elvisfatass @prayerstopresley @kiankiwi-blog and whoever wants to do this 😅
questions under the cut bc i rly listed a good chunk of his discography lol
When was the first time you heard of Elvis?
i'm sure my parents have played something of his growing up, i was more into mj than anything else. i wish i could remember like....the first real time i was ever really introduced to him. he's been referenced in so many of my interests that im sure there was i time i was like 10 and being like "oh that's an elvis reference" lol
what's your favorite era?
70s!!!! big daddy era as y'all call it 😅
favorite song(s) from the 50s?
trying to get to you, i'm counting on you, love me, don't be cruel, lawdy miss clawdy, as long as i have you, trouble, crawfish, i want you i need you i love you, one sided love affair, loving you, young and beautiful ...... i should probably stop before i list them all
favorite song(s) from the 60s
fever, such a night, im coming home, pocketful of rainbows, edge of reality, almost in love, can't help falling in love, the walls have ears, do not disturb, cotton candy land, it's now or never, rubberneckin', summer kisses winter tears, crying in the chapel, suspicious minds....literally everything on from elvis in memphis. god i want to list more but i need to STOP!!
favorite song(s) from the 70s
runaway, polk salad annie, you've lost that loving feeling, moody blue(duh), rags to riches, funny how time slips away, american trilogy!!!!!!!!!, hurt, make the world go away, the wonder of you
all time favorite songs that you can't skip?
suspicious minds, an american trilogy, pocketful of rainbows, i'm coming home, rubberneckin', honestly there's so many. i feel bad if i skip sometimes LOL
least favorite song?
im so sorry but tutti frutti💔
favorite gospel song(s)?
i still need to dive more into his gospel music, but i really love crying in the chapel and you never walk alone.
favorite country song(s)?
funny how time slips away, kentucky rain, always on my mind, make the world go away
favorite non english song?
wooden heart <3
a song(s) that make you feel nostalgic?
can't help falling in love 💗
a song(s) that makes you cry?
unchained melody!!!!! lord i can barely listen to it 😭
a song(s) that make you wanna dance?
rubberneckin', im coming home, got a lot o' livin to do, polk salad annie, suspicious minds
favorite song elvis as covered?
any day now and yesterday
what's a modern song you wish you could hear elvis cover?
i think he'd eat up two ghosts or ever since new york by harry styles tbh.
do you prefer vinyl or cd?
vinyl!!! i actually don't own a single elvis cd, just vinyls(cassettes too!)
favorite album?
self titled and from elvis in memphis <3
favorite movie soundtrack?
king creole for SURE
favorite live performance?
the laughing version of are you lonesome tonight 😅 also welcome to my world from aloha from hawaii !!!
a live performance you wish you were present at?
aloha from hawaii 100% but also literally any of his vegas shows in '69 because that entire live album had me laughing my ass off LMAO
favorite jumpsuits?
THIS ONE.
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favorite movie(s)?
king creole, loving you, live a little love a little, follow that dream and girl happy(mostly because elvis in a dress)
least favorite movie(s)?
stay away joe, kissin' cousins, and double trouble.
favorite costar?
michele carey <3 i luv bernice
favorite documentary?
that's the way it is
favorite interview?
i didn't even have to THINK about this one. i know this is a press conference but idk. same thing? anyway, june 9th 1972 new york hilton elvis i want you so bad !!!!!! it's iconic and i just love how he is with everyone 😭
favorite car?
idk after i first watched elvis (2022) i wanted a pink cadillac so LOL
do you collect merch? if so, what's the one thing you hold most dear to your heart?
i do!! i have his vinyls mostly. but my tcb necklace is my lucky charm at this point, i just wish i had gotten it in silver instead of gold 😅
do you think you'll be a fan of elvis for the rest of your life?
absolutely. ive had a lot of interests and have lost interest in a lot of things but this is so much more different. he truly is everything to me and i've never felt so connected with someone in my whole life. i really do adore him.
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allatariel · 1 year
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@wanderleave Thank you for the tag! I do not use Spotify, but I listen to mp3s and a lot of CDs and vinyl. So, this is my best guess as to what I listened to most.
"Cal Kestis" by Stephen Barton & Gordy Haab from Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (Original Video Game Soundtrack)
"Escape" by Boucle Infinie from Summit
"Lea" by Analog '82 from Youthtopia
"Brightstar" by Voyager from Colours in the Sun
"A Ghost of a Chance" by Rush from Roll the Bones
"Pray Your Gods" by Toad the Wet Sprocket from Fear
"I Like That" by Janelle Monáe from Dirty Computer
"Prom Night" by The Midnight from Monsters
"Skip the Funeral" by Karmella's Game from The Art of Distraction
"Homecoming" by Bad Snacks from Neat Tape 1
Tagging: @seventyonedrum, @callioope, @brynnmclean, @spectral-musette, @spacepandar, @fracktastic, @melyzard, @weshallflyaway, @g-r-a-u, and anyone else who wants to!
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buffysummers · 3 years
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Just watched “once more with feeling” first time ever and I have to say, I loved it! Normally I don’t like musical episodes but the songs, choreography, all while actually progressing the story. I knew that it is a fan favorite but I dislike other shows that do it so I was skeptical. It was *chef’s kisses* brilliant! Would watch again.
Every single musical episode of a tv show you watch is probably because of “Once More, With Feeling” so for that, I apologize. Although it wasn’t the first musical episode of television (I think Ally McBeal may have done it a year or two before, but I’m not sure if the eps are considered musicals, but rather, that they randomly just burst into song), it was critically acclaimed and a total game changer, which prompted other tv shows to try it out. It was also incredibly gutsy and a huge risk that thankfully, paid off. Unfortunately, other shows just couldn’t pull it off so we all suffer as a result. Not even being dramatic, but all musical episodes want what OMWF has. It is definitely one of Buffy’s finest episodes, and considered one of the best episodes of tv ever (and hands down the BEST musical episode of television, although all of them are bad except for Buffy lol. That in itself speaks to how impressive it really is). Most of the cast have a lovely voice, the songs perfectly blend humor with tragedy and drama, and the emotional stakes have rarely been higher. The LYRICS are so good, too? They are excellent at revealing hidden feelings and desires that you just know the characters would’ve never had the courage to say otherwise. I still listen to the soundtrack to this day, and have it on vinyl (I also have a poster of it in my room lol). Walk Through the Fire is a standout for me, but all of the songs completely slap. God I love this episode so much, and I’m glad you enjoyed it because it truly is a brilliant and inspiring piece of art that permanently changed television.
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anyways-wonderwall · 3 years
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Album of the week #2
Comedown Machine
(2013)
By The Strokes
Overall rating: 8.5/10
TL;DR: This album is like your favorite pair of jeans. It looks like all of the other ones you own but something about it feels like home.
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Hey everyone! Sorry this is a few days late but I actually got a concussion the day I was going to write this so I would argue that I have a fair enough excuse. Don't worry I am staying away from screens and I'm really only typing this in 5 minute intervals, meaning I am trying to type as fast as humanly possible. Future me is going to have a field day proofreading.
Anyways, this week's album is Comedown Machine by the Strokes, a band that I definitely should listen to more but haven't fully gotten around to it. I know more of their songs than the average person and have a few of their albums on my phone, but I haven't really fully gone in depth with them like some other bands. I actually already had this album on my phone, which worked out great because I ran out of data this week and could only play downloaded music in my car.
But enough about the interesting week I had, here is my review on The Strokes great 2013 album, Comedown Machine. (Also totally unrelated but I absolutely love the cover? It is just simple enough to not be boring. Reminds me of old vinyl covers and the red makes it really easy to pick out on my phone.)
General Thoughts:
The best way I can describe this album is that it is a very solid vibe the whole way through. It kind of falls into the trap of every song sounding the same, but at least its a good same. When prompted with a title of a song on here I 100% could not tell you what the melody is (minus “Call it Fate Call it Karma”) but there was not a single song on here I didn't like.
The songs in this album have a very detached old energy, that kind of feels like a hug. I kept finding myself coming back to this album as a kind of home, because I know that it would be comforting. A bad day at work? Just listen to this and I'm instantly calmed down. While I usually like variety, what is repeated in this album is so good I can't be mad at it.
Song Breakdown:
I. Tap Out
This song starts out exactly like the intro to my favorite Wii game, Guitar Hero III, so I already liked it without actually hearing what the rest of it sounded like. This song sounds so 2010s indie that I felt like I was living in a John Green book and honestly? I'm not mad at it. Its just mellow enough for my concussed head to vibe along with it but it still has enough of a beat that you can dance to it. The ideal dance would be that one kid vibing in the club with sunglasses. You know the one? I hope you know the one or I sound crazy.
2. All the Time
Okay so this one definitely belongs in a Guitar Hero game. I'm honestly surprised it hasn't been in one yet. Like the last one it makes me feel like I'm in a teen coming of age movie and this is playing in my car as I go on a road trip to “find myself”. Passes the vibe check and is a very solid song.
3. One Way Trigger
This is one of the most, if not the most memorable song in the album, and the one of the only ones that gets stuck in my head. That little riff thingy is super super catchy and repeated enough that you would think it would become annoying, but there is just enough going on that it balances off. I like this one so much that when I was listening to it right before writing this I honestly forgot I was doing a review and was just grooving along. Very very good song.
4. Welcome to Japan
My second favorite on the album babey (you'll see which one is my favorite because it will have a whole love letter written to it). This is definitely a song I want to sit down and learn all the parts on every instrument, tinkering with them until I can get them to sound like the actual song but funkier. The vocals balance goofy and good with thought-provoking lines “what kind of asshole drives a lotus.” The vocals also use a wide range and aren’t just falsetto, thank GOD.
5. 80s Comedown Machine
This song is familiar to the point it is killing me. The main riff is so so so close to something I know but I can’t put my finger on what it is. At first I thought it sounded like the theme song from an old DS game I had as a kid, but after looking up the theme it's not that. It is so familiar sounding the song hurts to listen to because I just feel like I’m missing something. My only guess as to why it sounds so familiar is it sounds like the music used during the climax of The Royal Tenenbaums, it sounds so close that I had to look up the actual soundtrack just to check that the song wasn’t actually there. (The song is actually “Needle in the Hay” by Elliot Smith and while they don’t sound alike they have basically the same vibe to me. Wes Anderson if you need help with soundtracks call me because this song would fit any of your movies.)
6. 50/50
Meh. The songs do all sound the same in this album and this one doesn’t have something about it that makes it stand out in a positive way. The vocals are new I guess, but they just remind me of something out of Scott Pilgrim vs The World so that kind of changes it. Good song that isn’t bad, it’s just not overwhelmingly good.
7. Slow Animals
I really like this one :). Honestly I don’t know what else to say about this one because everything has kind of already been said. All the songs had the same energy so I like them about the same. This one maybe a tad more than the others though. Especially the Waluigi Pinball part.
8. Partners in Crime
This is the only super upbeat song in the entire album and both my regular and concussed brain find it too jarring. Like I was lulled into this false sense of security by calm distortion and layers of vocal harmonies and now that really violent opening riff in this song. I know I’m extra sensitive right now but it’s a no from me.
9. Chances
The teen coming of age movie that is this album is now coming to an end, and this is the song that plays on the car ride home after the climax. It’s dark outside and the bushes and trees are whizzing past, getting more and more familiar as they approach their small hometown. While not my favorite, this song is amazing and sounds especially nice to my concussed brain after the last song.
10. Happy Ending
And now the coming of age movie is over! The main character learned a lesson just before being forced to go off to college in a new town and make all new friends. This song doesn’t have anything that is super different from the others, so all I can say about it is that it was really solid and nice.
11. Call it Fate, Call it Karma
Here is another entry on the “do you ever just want to become a song” list. I want this song to be played around me for the rest of my life. I want to be surrounded in it and put into a stasis pod. Love does not cover what I feel for this song the same way Amazing does not cover how god this song is. The whole album kind of feels like a comforting hug, but this feels like home. It feels like you will be okay and that the world is calm again. My years of music education can’t even break down how it does this, it just does. 50/10, this is the song that made me buy the album. Every part of it is good. Every part.
Final Verdict:
Well I already had this album on my phone, but if I didn’t I would 100% buy it. While individually the songs don’t stand out too much, the album as a whole is something that is worth listening to time and time again. I haven’t listened to many Strokes’ albums the full way through, but as of right now this one is my favorite. A masterpiece of early 2010s alternative rock in my nonexpert opinion.
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quantumlasange · 3 years
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A more refined and accurate version of my top 50 Albums of all time in no real order. This time I’m gonna go into some more detail for my choices.  So if you wanna read that it’ll be after the line break.
1. Graceland - Paul Simon. This is the only album I have on CD, Cassette and Vinyl. It’s honestly a perfect album. I don’t really like ‘That Was Your Mother’ on it’s own but when hearing it as part of the album it’s great.
2. Abbey Road - The Beatles. My favorite Beatles album and I love how the B-side is knows as The Abbey Road Medley. It also has Ringo’s only Drum Solo in the entire Beatles catalog and we all know Ringo is the best Beatle. I have it on Vinyl.
3. In Step - Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Stevie Ray Vaughan is by far my favorite guitarist of all time. Every track on this album kicks ass and he put his heart and soul into every note he played. I have it on Vinyl.
4. Brothers In Arms - Dire Straits. Over all a great little rock album. I find a lot of the songs to be comforting in their own way,  like “So Far Away” and “Brothers In Arms” are very comforting to me. I have it on Vinyl.
5. Winelight - Grover Washington Jr. By God this album is fucking Sexy, like holy shit. This is a more recent listen but I was missing out just listening to “Just the Two of Us” (Featuring Vocals by Bill Withers).
6. Watching You Watching Me - Bill Withers. Nelson George said that this album was I quote "full of little pleasures" and he’s damned right. There is not a single song on this album I don’t like, by far my favorite R&B album of all time. I have it on Vinyl.
7. Future Development - Del the Funky Homosapien. My favorite Hip Hop/Rap album ever. Del’s flows and rhymes are on point throughout the whole album.
8. Spontaneous Inventions - Bobby McFerrin. A live album that you wouldn’t think was live since there’s little to no crowd noise. A great Vocal Jazz album showcasing how Bobby McFerrin can use his voice as an instrument all it’s own. I have it on Vinyl.
9. Squeeze Box: The Complete Works of "Weird Al" Yankovic. This is kinda cheating since it’s a Box Set of every album Weird Al made and an extra album with unreleased stuff. But I can’t choose just one Weird Al album so this will have to do.
10. The Wall - Pink Floyd. This whole Album really resonates with me and helped me understand my depression after I dropped out of college. It really has a place in my life. I have it on Vinyl.
11. Kilimanjaro - The Rippingtons. A fantastic Smooth Jazz / Jazz Fusion album. I really like Jazz Fusion and this is a great example of it.  I have it on Vinyl.
12. Dreamland - Black Box. An Italo house/Eurodance album that’s my favorite in the whole house genre. Some great dance tracks on this. I have it on Vinyl.
13. Tourist in Paradise - The Rippingtons. This album came out right after Kilimanjaro and is another great example of Smooth Jazz Fusion. I have it on Vinyl.
14. Teddy Pendergrass - Teddy Pendergrass. His debut solo album and a fantastic piece of R&B. It also has the  greatest break-up song ever “I Don’t Love You Anymore”. I have it on Vinyl.
15. S.O.S - The S.O.S Band. Their first album, a disco album that came out in 1980 after disco died in the USA. Was really big in Nighclubs and is a good album aside from "S.O.S. (Reprise)" which just sucks.  I have it on Vinyl.
16. Purple Rain - Prince. This album is great. The guitar solo on “Purple Rain” is so good it could bring peace to the world.  I have it on Vinyl.
17.  Feels So Good - Chuck Mangione. A fantastic Smooth Jazz / Easy Listning. album "Hide and Seek (Ready or Not Here I Come)", “Feels So Good” and "The XIth Commandment" are just outstanding. I have it on Vinyl.
18. Elementary - Wah Wah Watson. Melvin M. Ragin’s only solo album. This is pure Jazz Funk at it’s best. I’ve used this album cover as an Icon online for years, I love it. I have it on Vinyl.
19. Rumours - Feetwood Mac. There’s only one track on this album that I don’t like and it’s "Oh Daddy”. I feel like that song just brings the whole album down emotionally. Other wise this albums pretty damn good. I have it on Vinyl.
20. Deltron 3030 - Deltron 3030. Del the Funky Homosapien, producer Dan the Automator, and DJ Kid Koala made a fantastic Hip-Hop/Rap opera Concept album. The story of a city in the dystopian year of 3030. 
21. Kisses on The Bottom - Paul McCartney. I caught this at like 2am on PBS' Great Performances one night in like 2013 maybe 2014 and fell in love with it. It’s mainly songs Paul McCartney grew up listening to and he wrote 2 songs in that style and it’s great.
22. Listen to the Scatman - “Scatman” John Larkin. Did you know that Scatman John was a legit Jazz Piano player? This album is just full of fantastic jazz and one kinda out of place dance song.
23. Loop Daddy II -  Marc Rebillet. Sure this is more of an EP but I put a whole Box Set on the list so shut up. Every song is a pure sexy dance groove. I love it.
24. Places and Spaces - Donald Byrd. This is 100% Pure Trumpet Jazz-Funk. This album fucking slaps hardcore. The way Donald Byrd plays the trumpet and flugelhorn is magical.
25. Whenever You Need Somebody - Rick Astley. Not only does this album have the Meme hit "Never Gonna Give You Up" it has a very heartfelt version of "When I Fall in Love". Every song is a mad banger. I have it on Vinyl.
26. Mint Jams - Casiopea. Casiopea makes some great Japanese Jazz Funk Fusion and this is by far their best album. I love me some Jazz Funk Fusion and some of the best stuff came out of Japan in the 80′s.
27. Hi-Five Soup - The Aquabats.  A great New Wave album that kids will enjoy. The Aquabats got more child friendly since they got a kids TV show but this album does have my boy Strong Bad on it. I have it on CD
28. Myths, Legends and Other Amazing Adventures, Vol. 2 - The Aquabats. An earlier Aquabats album since it’s a bunch of unreleased stuff and B-sides. “Pizza Day” speaks to my soul. I have it on CD
29. The Dance - Dave Koz. One of the first Smooth Jazz albums I ever listened to, it really helped me get into Smooth Jazz which lead me to my love of the Smooth Jazz and Jazz-Fusion. I have it on CD
30. The Corner Grocery Store - Raffi. This is an album form my childhood. I still have my VHS bootleg of Raffi on Broadway from when I was a kid. This album has my favorite song sung by Raffi, “Anansi”. 
31. Led Zeppelin 2 - Led Zeppelin. My favorite Zepplin album. “Moby Dick” is my favorite song off the album even if it’s just a big ass drum solo.  I have it on Vinyl.
32. Darkside of The Moon -  Pink Floyd. This is what I consider to be Pink Floyd’s most Jazz-Rock-Fusion oriented album. The whole albums flows together into a great soundscape. I have is on Vinyl.
33. Random Access Memories - Daft Punk. I find this to be a concept album about how Daft Punk is a pair of Robots. Part of it seems like that with the album title being a close reference to Random Access Memory aka RAM and the song title "Motherboard". A lot of the lyrics in the album make me think it has some kind of concept but that’s just me. I have this on CD
34. Thriller 25 Super Deluxe Edition - Michael Jackson.  This was the first CD I remember buying with my own money I got it at FYE. I only really listened to the songs that originally came on Thriller and not the new 2008 versions of the songs.
35. Can’t Get Enough - Barry White. This album is sexy as fuck, god be damned if you listen to this and not get turned on even slightly.
36. Larry Carlton Plays the Sound of Philadelphia. This is a great full of classic Philadelphia R&B as preformed by legendary session guitarist Larry Carton. He plays all the songs in a very Jazz like style that I just love.
37. Pure Pure - Moe Shop. A fantastic little Dance/Electronic EP. I like to call it a Future Funk EP but it’s in that vain of Vaporwave and Future Funk which are both good genres.
38. The Soundtrack to Mulan. Mulan is my favorite Disney animated movie so of course the soundtrack is on my list. I have this on cassette and it’s one of the two tapes I always listen to on long walks.
39. Every Breath You Take: The Singles - The Police. This is my other go-to cassette to listen to on long walks. This is basically the greatest hits of The Police but it’s fantastic.
40. Head Hunters - Herbie Hancock. I told you I liked Jazz-Funk Fusion right? This is perfect example of the genre made by the fantastic Jazz pianist and composer Herbie Hancock.
41. Marcos Valle - Marcos Valle (1983) Marcos Valle released a self titled album in 1970 according to Wikipedia, but I’m talking about the one from 1983. A great Brazilian Disco/Dance Bossa Nova  Samba mix album with some great dance-able tunes.
42. Homestar Runner Original Soundtrack Volume 1 (Songs, Background Music, Jingles, and Worse).
43. Homestar Runner Original Soundtrack Volume 2 (Songs, Background Music, Jingles, and Worse) .
44. Homestar Runner Original Soundtrack Volume 3 (Songs, Background Music, Jingles, and Worse) . If I could have all 3 volumes in the "HSR OST Full-On!" playlist from they would all be one entry leaving me a bit more room to play with. Plus the fact that Volume 4, a Limozeen album, a Sloshy album and a Videlectrix album are all planed for release it would help to just bundle all the Homestar Runner music together.
45. Strong Bad Sings (and Other Type Hits). This is the more “Legit”  Homestar Runner Music. I love Homestar Runner and was even featured in the 2018 Fan Costumes video so technically in a way I’m part of the Homestar Runner Cannon.
46. Fallout: New Vegas OST. My favorite Fallout game and I’d be amiss if I didn’t add the soundtrack to my list. One of my favorite games of all time even if I rarely play it.
47. Dinosaur Dracula’s Halloween & Christmas Jukebox. This is another one of those kinda cheating options since it’s two mix-tape type things. If I want to get in the Halloween or Christmas Spirit I can turn one of these Jukebox’s on and not have to worry about searching for mood music. With 100+ songs on each Jukebox I’m guaranteed good music.
48. 3 Hours of Relaxing Super Nintendo Music 1 & 2 - SNES Drunk. This is the music I turn on if I need some chill background noise or need something to fall asleep to. With a total of 6 hours of relaxing music I’m sure to fall asleep or just relax.
49. Xerf's Jazz/Fusion Mixes. So far there are 5 volumes of Japanese Jazz Fusion and like I said I like Jazz Fusion, espicaly Japanese Jazz Fusion.
50. Xerf's Jpop/AOR Mixes. There are thechinly 8 Volumes but volume 3 is just not there probbably due to copywrite. These mixes are more City Pop and older Japanese Pop, Adult-oriented rock, Funk that kinda stuff.
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huahsu · 5 years
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YEAR OF THE GHOST DOG
[TL;DR version for the New Yorker -- I loved many great short songs and became obsessed with (1) a very old, much longer one (2) and YouTube comments this year.]  [links to previous year’s lists at the bottom]
A while back, I found myself in an extended funk. The reasons are uninteresting and honestly a bit dumb, a mix of everyday bummers and more existential stuff, all of which manifested in a kind of 360º sluggishness. I couldn’t really figure my way out of it but I believed that I would eventually stop feeling this way.
One night, I saw that someone online was selling a copy of the Emulations “These Are the Things,” a magnificent soul ballad 7″ out of Oakland. I wasn’t exactly homesick for the Bay Area, but something about the song’s roots, as well as its overwhelming feeling of optimistic yearning, resonated with (through?) me. There’s a moment when the singer’s falsetto peaks, and the piano starts cascading, and things feel like they’re going to work out after all. The copy for sale wasn’t in great shape, and it cost $100, an extravagant amount of money to spend on a piece of music. But I convinced myself that I’d feel better at some point, weeks, months, or years later, and I’d listen to my Emulations single, and recall that weird summer/fall.
As often happened with independently produced records of the sixties and seventies, “These Are the Things” was pressed on styrene, rather than vinyl. Styrene is a kind of plastic that’s lighter, cheaper and much more fragile than vinyl, and you can tell the difference by a kind of hollow plink when you put it on a turntable. Styrene also means that it has a limited life, and that each time the needle drags across its grooves, the record degrades a little bit. Over time, styrene records that get played a lot no longer sound as crisp or clear (or so it seems). I listened to it once it arrived, feeling a bit of regret at this wild expenditure, but also imagining my future self’s gratitude. I imagined entering into communion with everyone who had played this copy before me. I decided to only listen to the song once a year, if that--after all, each time I listened to the record, the song was changing, slightly.
A few months later, I felt normal (whatever that means) again, and the record became a marker of...I’m not sure what--maybe a kind of blind, stubborn optimism. Someone years later uploaded the song onto YouTube, which means I can listen to it whenever I want. This fall, I was trying and failing to spend less time on the Internet. But I decided that, instead of going on Twitter and Facebook, I would just read comments fans left on YouTube. I became obsessed with reading all the intimate histories people shared with one another--the chance encounters, the teenage dates and breakups, the seventies shop owners who recalled the days when stocking the right hit single could cover an entire month’s rent. I was listening to the Emulations when I noticed this comment, from Deric Jackson, who was apparently one of the group’s members: “I sung this song when I was 19yrs old. It was a pleasure to record and send this messageout into the airways. I have been with the women that God had given me to marry when I was 22yrs old. I did not understand at that time I was singing about my own life and the women who I had not met, but how wonderful it is to be with my wife fo 35yrs and life is still a breath of fresh air and wonderful. I would like to say to all real men love your wife, never worship her only one to worship is God alone.“ I’m pretty agnostic about most things relating to providence. But I felt as though I had been living in these words: “I did not understand at that time...” Jackson’s song was a prophecy, maybe even a conjuring, of his own path, and I wonder what he hears when he listens to it now. Sometimes you don’t know what’s coming next. But there’s always another song, and it doesn’t always sound the same as the last time.
(LATE 2017 BUT I REALLY DOUBT ANYONE NOTICED AKA THE FRENCH “MO BAMBA”) Junior Bvndo, “T’as ça #3 (Kylian Mbappe)”
I WILL LISTEN TO ANYTHING THAT USES DISTORTION Sheck Wes, “Wanted” OR OLD SCHOOL STABS Santi feat. Shane Eagle and Amaarae, “Rapid Fire” EVEN MORE THAN THAT, I LIKE THINGS THAT SOUND MESSY AND SLOPPY BUT ARE ACTUALLY PERFECT Caleb Giles featuring Cleo Reed, “Name” WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN AS GOOD AS IF IT HAD BEEN PERFECT, THE WARPED AND SMUDGED BEAUTY IS WHAT MAKES IT BEAUTIFUL Tirzah, Devotion Niagara, Apologia SAME, BUT SLIGHTLY OFF-STEP Blood Orange, “Charcoal Baby” THE BEST GENRE OF MUSIC REMAINS “SADE” Sade, “Flower of the Universe” and “The Big Unknown” Amber Mark, “Love is Stronger Than Pride” Bon Iver and Moses Sumney, “By Your Side” Kelela, “Like a Tattoo” 808s AND HEARTBREAK AND NEAR-OCTOGENERIANS Swamp Dogg, “She’s All Mind All Mind” I WASN’T AS ENAMORED WITH A LOT OF “NEW JAZZ” BUT DID LIKE Sam Wilkes, Wilkes Sam Gendel and Sam Wilkes, Music for Saxofone & Bass Guitar …WHICH REMINDED ME A BIT OF THIS FACEMELTING REISSUE (RIYL: ALICE COLTRANE, DON CHERRY, ETC ETC) John Tchicai, With Strings SPEAKING OF TERRIFIC JAZZ-ADJACENT STUFF Dos Santos, “Manos Anjenas” THE ORIGINAL “BIG MOOD” Okonkolo, Cantos THE YEAR I REALLY REKINDLED MY LOVE OF THE CELLO Clarice Jensen, For This From That Will Be Filled Oliver Coates, “A Church” …WHICH I DEFINITELY PREFER TO VIOLIN--ESP PIZZICATO--THOUGH THIS WAS QUITE GOOD Sudan Archives, “Nont for Sale” HARPS ALWAYS SOUND GOOD Leya, The Fool Meg Baird and Mary Lattimore, Ghost Forests ALWAYS HAVE TIME FOR WOODBLOCKS AND VIBES Kate NV, для FOR AS WELL AS MIAMI BASS SIGNIFIERS (KICKSTARTER FOR CITY GIRLS TO RAP OVER DJ BATTLECAT IN 2019) City Girls, “Act Up” AND BANJO DRONE...WHY NOT Nathan Bowles, Plainly Mistaken ALBUMS THAT I LIKED IN 2018, AND THAT I SENSE I WILL LIKE EVEN MORE BY THIS TIME NEXT YEAR Ben LaMarr Gay, Downtown Castles Can Never Block the Sun Neneh Cherry, Broken Politics AN ALBUM THAT I WISH WAS TEN ALBUMS Tierra Whack, Whack World AN ALBUM I WISH WAS JUST A LITTLE BIT LONGER Pusha-T, Daytona OF THE MANY REASONS I MOURN THE DEATH OF “THE ALBUM,” ONE IS THAT I ALWAYS LIKE TO HEAR WHAT PEOPLE DO WITH THAT LAST SONG YG, “Bomptown Finest” OR HOW ALBUMS, FULL OF SIGNS, ANGLES, FLEETING MOMENTS, CIRCULATE AND RE-CIRCULATE Angelique Kidjo, Remain in Light AND HOW THEY ARE LIKE WHAT NOVELS REPRESENTED IN THE AGE OF POETRY—OPPORTUNITIES TO LIVE INSIDE COMPLEXITY, SPACE, A DEMOS U.S. Girls, In a Poem Unlimited ONE OF THE BEST ALBUMS OF THE YEAR WAS A SOUNDTRACK... Kendrick Lamar et al, Black Panther AND TEASER FOR  Jay Rock, Redemption AND ANOTHER WAS JUST SOME RAP SONGS Earl Sweatshirt, Some Rap Songs WHICH ISN’T TO SAY ARTISTS DON’T STILL VALUE AND HAVE FUN WITH THE FORMAT Vince Staples, FM A TWENTY-FIVE TRACK ADVENTURE INTO VIBES Pink Siifu, ensley AND SOMETIMES TWENTY MINUTES OR SO IS ENOUGH boygenius, boygenius ONE MORE ALBUM THING – FIRST SONGS HAVE ALWAYS FELT LIKE THESIS STATEMENTS, AND STREAMING HAS ONLY APPLIED MORE PRESSURE TO THE SOOTHING, BEWITCHING, PERFECT WELCOME Mac Miller, “Come Back to Earth” MAC MILLER AND THUNDERCAT LOOK SO HAPPY HERE whole thing, but esp six minutes in, and even more so about nine minutes in THE BEST VIBES Show Dem Camp feat. Boj and Ajebutter 22, “Damiloun” Koffee, “Toast” HAPPY-GO-LUCKY B/W DEVIL-MAY-CARE Shoreline Mafia, “Nun Major” I LIKE NEF AND EPs PERFECTLY SUIT HIM Nef the Pharaoh and 03 Greedo, Porter 2 Grape 
RAPPING AS FAST AS YOU CAN OVER FREESTYLE/HI-NRG WILL NEVER SOUND BAD TO ME… SOB X RBE, “Paid in Full” SOB X RBE, “Carpoolin’” …ALTHOUGH THEY ALSO SOUND SICK OVER FAKE GHOST DOG BEATS, TOO, THIS WAS ONE OF MY SONGS OF THE YEAR SOB X RBE, “Paramedic!” SAME WITH MEDHANE Medhane, “The Garden” TRIPPIE REDD PUTS OUT A LOT OF MUSIC FILLED WITH TRANSCENDENT MOMENTS, BUT RARELY MAKES TRANSCENDENT SONGS, AND IT PAINS ME A BIT THAT MY FAVORITE SONG OF HIS THIS YEAR WAS Diplo featuring Trippie Redd, “Wish” TRIPPY-ASS DOO-WOP Cuco, “Sunnyside” A STRONG HARMONY IS A VISION OF WHAT LIFE COULD BE Ben Pirani, “How Do I Talk to My Brother?” WHERE WERE U IN 94 Young Echo, Young Echo SWEAR I'VE NEVER HEARD MUSIC THIS “GREY” ManOnMars, ManOnMars IF YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE A FAKE D’ANGELO SONG, IT SHOULD BE THIS GOOD Patrick Paige III, “Voodoo” LIKED THIS, BUT IT’S ALSO POSSIBLE TO BE A BIT TOO FAITHFUL TO THE PAST Teyana Taylor, “Hold On” NOT QUITE FAYE WONG DOING THE CRANBERRIES (RIP DOLORES O’RIORDAN) BUT STILL MEMORABLE Katherine Ho, “Yellow” LIKE THE BEST PARTS OF FEELS-ERA ANIMAL COLLECTIVE, BUT TAIWANESE Prairie WWWW
NEVER THOUGHT TO VISIT THE LOUVRE UNTIL The Carters, “Apeshit” video BROWN EXCELLENCE Humeysha, Departures "BROWN BEATS” FOREVER RIP Cameron Paul
MY FAVORITE DISCOVERY OF THE YEAR Pharoah Sanders playing “Kazuko” in a tunnel near the Marin Headlands LIKE NONE OF ITS INFLUENCES (FOOTWORK, AMBIENT), LIKE NOTHING ELSE OUT THERE, REALLY Foodman, Aru Otoko No Densetsu DARESAY SKI MASK WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN BOOED OUT OF THE CIPHER Ski Mask the Slump God, Beware the Book of Eli THE MOST FAMOUS PERSON I’VE SEEN ON THE BIG SCREEN AT THE PAST THREE YEARS’ NETS GAMES IS Young M.A., “PettyWap” DEMOS FROM A GROUP I HAVE ALWAYS ADORED, BEFORE THEY FOUND THE SOUND THAT I ADORE The Nonce, 1990 EXTREMELY GOOD AND LARGELY OVERLOOKED REISSUE Suzanne Menzel, Goodbyes and Beginnings FOUR TET IS GOING THROUGH HIS LIVE ARCHIVES, AND IT’S A TREAT TO STUDY HIS ARC/EVOLUTION  Live at Hultsfred Festival, 18th June 2004 Live at LPR New York, 17th February 2010 Live in Tokyo, 1st December 2013 Live at Funkhaus Berlin, 10th May 2018 STRANGE TO LIVE IN A MOMENT WHERE BEING WEIRD SEEMS A BIT DERIVATIVE. STILL, THIS IS BLISSFUL SahBabii, “Anime World” HAPPY FACE Smino, “Klink” SAD FACE Drake, “In My Feelings” (especially this version) “JIM FROM THE OFFICE” FACE Pusha-T, “The Story of Adidon” STOLE YOUR FACE Sophie, “Faceshopping” FACE/OFF YG and Mozzy, “Too Brazy” Sammy Bananas feat Antony and Cleopatra, “Slow Down” Kode 9 and Burial, Fabriclive 100 GASSED FACE E-40 and B-Legit, “Whooped" ABSOLUTELY FACEMELTING Todd Barton and Ursula K. Le Guin, Music and Poetry of the Kesh VACATION AWAY MESSAGE SiR, “D’Evils” Bad Bunny x PJ Sin Suela x Nejo, “Cual Es Tu Plan” BEST OPENING DISCLAIMER TO A VIDEO 808INK, “Come Down” “TAGS: LATIN CHORAL CUMBIA GOTH LOS ANGELES” San Cha, “Cosmic Ways”
BEST USE OF “OOCHIE WALLY,” STILL ONE OF MY FAVORITE BEATS EVER Stefflon Don, “Oochie Wally freestyle” BEST USE OF “SUPERTHUG” Rico Nasty, “Countin’ Up” EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS--THE HEADBANG MINIMALISM, THE LAS VEGAS WALGREENS--BUT ESPECIALLY THE LINE ABOUT WELLS FARGO Rico Nasty, “Trust Issues” “ORGASM ADDICT” (RIP PETE SHELLEY) Victor Oladipo, “One Day” “I JUST TOOK A FLIGHT TO FRANCE TO COP CARDIGANS” Black Thought and Styles P, “Making a Murderer” “AT THE EMIRATES I MILLY ROCK” Manzo and Malachi Amour, “Lingard” DOPE TUNE, AND UNEXPECTED KELLYANNE CONWAY REFERENCE JPEGMAFIA, “1539 N. Calvert” YEAH YEAH YEAH (RIP MARK E SMITH) Travis Scott and Drake, “Sicko Mode” R-E-S-P-E-C-T (RIP ARETHA FRANKLIN) Rosalia, El Mal Querer REEL DEAL, “DRIPPIN’ DOPE (SAXAPELLA)” (1989) Gunna, “Top Off” WAMP WAMP (WHAT IT DO) B/W WAIT (THE WHISPER SONG) Vallee feat. Jeremih, “Womp Womp” SAD REGGAETON IS NOT BAD Bad Bunny, “Solo De Mi” SOUNDS GOOD TO ME, 2002-PRESENT Temani, “Power” Westerman, “Confirmation” REAL LIES, POET LAUREATS OF “YOUNG PEOPLE THINKING ABOUT BEING OLD” Tom Demac and Real Lies, “White Flowers” A SONG DESIGNED TO SOUND LIKE IT CAME OUT THIRTY YEARS AGO, WHICH ALSO FEELS LIKE IT CAME OUT A MILLION YEARS AGO (IT WAS JUST JANUARY) Bruno Mars feat. Cardi B, “Finesse (remix)” TAY-K WAS JUST A YEAR AGO Comethazine, “Highriser” FAVORITE 2 BRIDGES MUSIC ARTS “MIGHT AS WELL” RANDOM PURCHASE OF THE YEAR  Kizaki Ondo Preservation Society and Clark Naito, 木崎音頭 Kizaki Ondo FEELS LIKE IT CAME OUT TEN YEARS AGO (IT WAS JUST JAN/FEB) BUT I NEVER GREW TIRED OF IT Rich the Kid, “Plug Walk” ODDLY REASSURING THAT PEOPLE STILL JANGLE Massage, “Oh Boy” Earth Dad, “Walter” ...AND DISCOVER WORLDS FROM WITHIN THEIR BEDROOMS Soccer Mommy, Clean ...AND EXPLORE THE CONTOURS OF GROWLING AND NAGGING Sada Baby and Drego, “Bloxk Party” ...AND CAN USE THE PAST TO MAKE SOMETHING SO VISIONARY AND FORWARD-THINKING Virginia Wing, Ecstatic Arrow Mitski, Be A Cowboy ...AND LOOKING FOR FOURTH WORLDS Arp, Zebra ...AND MAKE IMPOSSIBLE RHYTHMS Heavee, WFM ...AND THAT ARTISTS I HAD NEVER HEARD OF, WORKING IN IDIOMS I HAD NEVER HEARD OF, MIGHT STILL BLOW MY MIND Odunsi (the Engine), rare. JUNGLE LIVES X-Altera, “Blowing Up the Workshop” mix TOP THREE TIMES I SAW STANDING ON THE CORNER THIS YEAR 3 - The Merciful Allah Black Hole Theatre 2 - The Time it All Ended with Fireworks on Grand St. 1 - An Empty Storefront During a Blizzard
{HONORABLE MENTIONS -The Time They Brought a Monolith -THEME DE YE-YO [Respect to the Gods]} SONG OF THE SPRING, SUMMER, WINTER, YEAR,  STILL UNDEFEATED ### A CHURCH AND JOHN LENNON’S “IMAGINE” :: 2017 SIKH DEVOTIONAL MUSIC :: 2016 SPOOKY BLACK :: 2015
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6ad6ro · 6 years
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Yo what are your thoughts on the Castlevania IV vinyl? It's like one of my favorite soundtracks but the harsh reviews made me wary
hi @feryx! i think if you love castlevania iv and you love vinyl it’s a must buy. i probably didn’t do a good job explaining that the cv4 release was actually awesome to any normal fan, but it’s the extreme purists who buried it. the reasons they disliked it were:1. they hated the cover art. imo it’s not my fav but it’s far far from BAD. i actually rly like the colors they used!2. it was sourced from “Demon Castle Dracula Best 2“ which was an old ost cd konami put out. it included lil bonus tracks with original sound effects like actual bats and doors creaking and church bells. these were usually relegated to their own little tracks but sometimes they happened at the start of a legit track or were played over minor tracks like the name select screen?most purists hate this kinda stuff like poison. i can’t really blame them for the critique since personally i want every track as it was in the game? and if you put on record for the first time not expecting it, you’ll probably frown and say “ugh what”? but HONESTLY it really wasn’t that bad. if you move past the purist standard, it actually sounds kinda neat and is v digestible. and 95% of tracks are free of it. if you want to hear what it’s like here’s a link:dcdb2 cd: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-BNjOOziyA&index=1&list=PL8E7C80F668EE3A69mondo vinyl: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kraoG6yyymU3. people felt it was lazy. they assumed artist was chosen hastily (i doubt it), and they hated that it was sourced from an old 90s cd rather than re-sourced. it didn’t help that (from my understanding) they totally did this with their first 3 releases. especially castlevania 3 which they did it twice! like completely new clean raw sources of the famicom ver with the amazing chip, AND one of the nes version. each on their own discs. it was just so so complete and everything people had wanted. we were spoiled.and i guess that made cv4, a standard release, look kinda crappy in comparison. but that’s totally unfair because idk. very few people are complaining about the new xenogears release, and that’s half remixes and missing the world map theme for chrissakes! or earthbound. that’s one of the most popular vinyl ever, and while it’s v well done and pretty, it’s sourcing a cd and missing 80% of the tracks! i don’t think castlevania 4 missed a single track? at least not completely. plus it’s super high quality and mondo are great people and ship cheap with lower prices and…yes i think it may be worth critiquing a little… but oh my god you still gotta BUY the gd thing bc it’s the entire castlevania iv ost on vinyl and that’s amazing regardless! i’d only stay away if ur a super purist (which is fine). your decision! good luck hope my info helped!!! lmk if you get it!
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for the music ask...I'm gonna do what my friend did, so you have a lot to answer :D every even number
Thank you for asking me, my luv, and sending me so many to answer
2: a song starting w/ the same first letter of your first nameF, so right now I’d say Free Fallin’ by Tom Petty, because of course
4: a song that reminds you of your favorite seasonI love summer, and one of the best summers I ever had was the first I fell in love with the Beatles. I made a trek up to a record shop and bought Help! on Vinyl, so basically that whole album reminds me of it, but I’d say probably The Night Before.
6: your current “on repeat” songHaha, ok I’ll admit it, there’s two, one of which I’m not totally proud of XD I downloaded the Dick Turpin song from Horrible Histories because that shit is a tune! I know it was a pastiche of Stand and Deliver by Adam and the Ants, but god I just love this version so much. The other song is Dirty World by The Travelling Wilburys.
8: a song that speaks the words you couldn’t sayOk, this one is hard for me. I don’t know why. And my answer is going to be a weird one, Propinquity- The Monkees/ Mike Nesmith. 
10: a song about the place where you liveHmm, does this mean a song that reminds me of the place I live, or a song actually about where I live? I’m going to do the former, because it’s easier XD sorry. Bus Stop by The Hollies.
12: a song you can scream all the words toI am so tempted to put another Horrible Histories song here since I’ve been rewatching them, but I won’t. Who doesn’t scream the lyrics to Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band? Or the chorus of Randy Scouse Git
14: a song with the name of a place in the titleUm, Marrakesh Express by Crosby Stills and Nash
16: your favorite childhood songNo doubt about it, I’m A Believer by the Monkees
18: a song that reminds you of a bad timeThis one is a weird one, because it’s totally contrapuntal to the situation, but Hey Bulldog by the Beatles
20: a song that empowers youAnother weird one, but I just feel so much stronger when I hear The Air That I Breathe- The Hollies. I wonder what that says about me...
22: a song you related to in the past and present, but for different reasonsSemi Detached Suburban Mr James- Manfred Mann. It used to remind me of being with my dad on a saturday. He always would bark after the lyrics ‘taking doggy for a walk’ but now I relate to the idea of surrendering to the expected and not actually doing what you would’ve wanted. I swear that message is in there somewhere, I’m sure... 
24: a song from a soundtrack (musical, movie, video game, etc.)Gimme some Lovin’- Steve Winwood from Rush (2013) That race scene is one of the coolest in the whole movie!
26: a song that taught you a lessonI am going to be a total obsessive nerd and take this literally. I’ll pick the English Kings and Queens song from Horrible Histories XD
28: a song you always skipped, but ended up loving once you listened to itGasoline Alley Bred- The Hollies
30: your all-time favourite songI really just want to totally reject this question, because I am criminally indecisive and I just adore music, all kinds of it, so to pick just one!!! that’s torture. But I’ll torture myself and say I’m A Believer- The Monkees, because it was probably the first song I ever learnt all the lyrics to and I have so many wonderful memories of it. 
Some of these answers were really weird. I’m sorry XD Even worse, I can’t explain them!
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dustedmagazine · 3 years
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2016/2020: Patrick Masterson
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If what you came to read was my 2020 wrapped, here: Yves Tumor’s Heaven to a Tortured Mind was my favorite album. HAAi’s Put Your Head Above the Parakeets was my favorite EP. Oleksandr Yurchenko and Svitlana Nianio’s Lichy Do Sta Symphony No. 1 was my favorite reissue. Overmono’s take on Rosalía’s “A Palé” was my favorite remix. Protomartyr’s “Processed by the Boys” was my favorite video. Equiknoxx’s Vinyl Factory set was my favorite mix. Lil Baby’s “The Bigger Picture” was song of the summer. The best show I saw was SuperKnova at Chicago’s Sleeping Village in February. My Spotify account doesn’t reflect any of this.
What follows is an unused essay for The Believer’s Distancing series that Dusted alumnus Daniel Levin-Becker ran for most of 2020. The idea behind the column was to write something personal about an album that took you to a space away from quarantine’s confines. I’d intended it as a kind of spiritual companion or prequel to the essay of mine that ran in May, but I think it functions as an endnote for this year just as much as it would’ve for 2016, when I sat out Dusted’s year-end features. Call it making up for lost time.
As I get older, I’m often reminded that music doesn’t save and it doesn’t really heal the way I once thought it could — but it does let you feel, which is to say it lets you know you’re alive. In a year where government ineptitude and personal irresponsibility actively worked against that, music took on added importance for its normality. Artists kept releasing. I kept listening. The ritual remained. I don’t know what 2021 brings the same way I didn’t know what 2017 had in store, but I do know what I’ll be doing until my ears finally fail me. Over my dead body is right. Thanks for reading.
- - -
Distancing #XX: Rojus (Designed to Dance)
Hitler, man. Fucking unbelievable.
I laugh at the thought, leaned back and following the shadow of an umbrella to shield my sunburned skin from further exposure on the main floor of Larcomar, an open-air mall carved into Lima’s Pacific cliffside, watching paragliders take off at regular intervals and nursing a bottle of Cusqueña in the final idle hours of my trip down here. My youngest brother is across the table, sunglasses on, shaking his head, then nodding like the Alonzo Mourning gif as he nurses his own: Yeah, we did do this, didn’t we. We met Hitler in Peru.
Well, sort of. That’s how I’m going to lead off the story of what I did for Christmas 2016, anyway. The truth is less sordid, no zombies: We’d been walking aimlessly the evening before around Miraflores, a neighborhood that never seemed to end and stopped at the sandwich shop La Lucha. I ordered a jamon y queso (relearning Spanish on the fly, needless to say, has its limits) and was rung up by Wilson, a very ordinary name, and served up by Jitler, which… I don’t know, maybe I’m the only person in line who gave it a second thought, but say that with a Spanish accent and it sure seems like something you, as a parent with even a vague awareness of the last 100 years on earth, wouldn’t risk naming your kid unless you were looking to prompt a lot of questions already answered by your kid’s name. Right? No fucking way? Unbelievable.
I tip the bottle back and think over how that hasn’t even been the best part of this trip. The best part, truly, is the bread. If I asked my friends to name three things they know about Peru, they’d say Machu Picchu or the Incas, probably ceviche, maybe coffee or pisco sours. They aren’t wrong, but there’s a more right answer: I haven’t had bad bread the entire time I’ve been in this country. From paninis to pizzas to hot dog rolls (what can I say, I panicked staring down a sizable menu and a dog just sounded right in the moment), every loaf or slice or roll has smelled tremendous and tasted better. I’m sure of it now: There really is something to breadmaking by the sea, as any defender of a New York bagel will tell you.
Is Peru the only country I’ve never eaten bad bread in? I take another sip, can’t remember.
On the other hand, why is every napkin here half-sized and single ply? It feels like you have to fight for each perforation of napkin no matter the buttery goodness of your bread. Maybe paper is just valued differently or people are neater here, but I’m sure of this, too: There has to be a reason the same way there’s a reason the bread is good and the straws are so big and the restaurant and bar hours are strange and only one guy does all the Liga 1 commentary and you can’t check into a flight until three hours before, but security for it closes two hours before and the gate is 15 minutes before. I have a lot more than Conversation in the Cathedral to read when I get back, I think. There’s a lot to be explained.
For example, what I’m even doing in Peru for Christmas to begin with. It started as a joke, I’ll tell people: I got hired in May for a job after being unemployed for seven of the previous 13 months. It took nine years, but this was finally the position I’d wanted since I graduated, the role I felt I was put on this planet to fulfill, and in this aspect of my life at least, I was relieved. My friend had planned a New Year’s Eve wedding and the logistics of bumming around friends’ couches or staying at my parents’ house for more than a week didn’t quite add up, so I told my brother, wouldn’t it be funny to go somewhere weird for Christmas instead? I’ve never been to Calgary or Albuquerque or Little Rock. Then it was Cuba, then Argentina, then Peru — hey, my brother says, I’ve got a friend who knows the country and is all about us going down there.
We check the flights. It’s laughably affordable for us both.
Like a lot of my trips in recent years, then, the logistics escalate quickly from theoretical to real: I play around with dates, times, connecting flights and strange airports in an effort to game the system and get a little bit extra trimmed off the cost. We commit to plane tickets, a hotel, itineraries. He gets phone numbers of people his friend knows down there. Where in Newark do you want to meet up before the flight? How far can we go once we’ve arrived? Is there anything we collectively need to see? Isn’t this dumb and delightful? And that’s it, crucial questions answered, pieces in place: I’m visiting Lima.
Everyone should travel like that, I think, watching another paraglider set off. In one way, I’m thinking about all the ridiculous pieces it took to put me here. In another, though, my mind is as far away as we are from Chicago. I’m stalling, trying not to think about what’s happened back home. Two weeks before, I was in Charlotte enduring grade school friends’ condolences like it was a funeral instead of the wedding it actually was. “I heard about what happened.” “I’m really sorry to hear about you and.” “I was looking forward to finally.” And so on. For someone who usually has so much to gab about, I still haven’t worked out how to say what I’m really feeling. It’s crushing and confusing when you think you’ve found the most powerful relationship in your life and effortlessly reached a kind of platonic ideal, the kind of intimacy most people go their whole lives not knowing — and then, slowly, you find it’s less true than you imagined, find something more powerful. Nothing can prepare you for what you can’t ignore. I have no idea what institutional oppression is like and I’ve done nothing but benefit from a system designed to serve me, so I feel too guilty to admit to anyone I’m an emotional wreck when their grandparents are dying and their worlds are changing and we’ve just elected a self-important cartoon for president, but there is always a “but” with stuff like this. I remember the bar in the hours before I left for Newark where I was tired and thirsty and tired of being thirsty, the train ride to O’Hare, pausing to look back before I passed on through security. There is always a reason.
All of that was the old world, I think to myself. This, though? This right here? This is the new. I think back to the intramural soccer matches we watched after downing the sandwiches and moving on; for all we know, we might’ve been watching a fourth division game out there. Beautiful palm trees, incredible summer weather, pull-ups on the beach, pisco sours with the hotel staff as a transgender game show host soundtracked our Christmas countdown, Brenda and Renzo and Callao and Christmas day turkey with a family I didn’t know and bubblegum soda and Barranco beer and Cerro San Cristobal and cherimoya slushies. Typhoon evacuation signs. The modern art museum. Lanes and turn signals as suggestions. Far away clears my head.
I know what I’m doing even when I don’t always know I know what I’m doing and God has that gotten me in some trouble, but I know what I’m weak for and I know what my strengths are and I think I know how to play it better yet. This is where I start to get myself correct, stop being my own worst enemy. I have a plan. I’m going to straighten things out and get my mind and life in order and all this pent up fear, this sadness and disappointment and self-defeating anxiety, is going to show itself out. I exhale in relief at the anticipation of it: Yes, 2016 was a bad year, maybe my worst, a year I never want to go through again — but 2017? No, I can feel it as “Blush” rolls around in my head and I watch another paraglider set off from the cliff and out toward the sun, the sea: 2017’s going to be a good year. A really good year.
Hitler. Fucking unbelievable. I take another sip and laugh again. What do you think, I say, one more and then we go? Rory nods. One more.
Rojus (Designed To Dance) by LEON VYNEHALL
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airadam · 4 years
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Episode 136 : Protection
"I'm a walking heart attack, looking for somebody to happen..."
- Boogieman
Still shut up in the house for the most part, which at least gives me a chance to really dig through my crates, vinyl and otherwise! This month's selection has some great recent records, some older underground favourites, and a mix segment I've been wanting to do for ages - figured this episode was as good a time as any!
Twitter : @airadam13
Twitch : @airadam13
Playlist/Notes
Mac Ayres : Shadows
If nothing else, this enforced time spent in the house has yielded some great musical discoveries. I heard this cut on a DJ Jazzy Jeff Twitch session, and bought it immediately as soon as I found out what it was! Mac Ayers is a singer/songwriter/instrumentalist from Long Island, and if he's already turning out material like this in his early 20s, I can only imagine what it'll be with more experience. This is a highlight on last year's "Juicebox" album, and one that those who enjoy the modern soul sound will almost certainly enjoy!
[DJ Premier] Prhyme : My Calling (Instrumental)
This beat from "Prhyme 2" is so, so good. DJ Premier continues to turn out fresh creations over thirty years since his debut, with more different styles than he's often given credit for. The pianos sound like falling rain, the low end is the solid ground, and everything else fits perfectly around them.
Ski Beatz & Stalley : Gentlemen's Quarterly
Smooth from the lyrics to Ski Beatz' sophisticated production, this is a cut I'd managed to forget about until I rediscovered it in my collection recently. Find it on the "Ski Beatz 24 Hour Karate School Presents Twilight" (snappy!) LP, if you can find a reasonably-priced copy!
LL Cool J ft. Keith Murray, Prodigy, Fat Joe, and Foxy Brown : I Shot Ya (Remix)
A classic from the mid-90s. LL brought in some of the hottest MCs of the time alongside a young Foxy Brown making her on-record debut for a Trackmasters-produced street banger. The "Mr. Smith" album is the source for this often-sampled gem.
O.C. & Organized Konfusion : You Won't Go Far
Unapologetic boom-bap from this all-NYC combination, taken from the second volume of the "New Jersey Drive" soundtrack. Of all the tracks on that release, it's the one that hews closest to the plot of the film itself, which itself makes it a standout in the world of 90s Hip-Hop/R&B soundtracks! OK self-produced this one, and rather than give each MC a verse each, they split each verse between the three of them for more of a tag-team feel.
Rise : Make Sure That We Win
Note: I got this wrong on the voiceover - this is a Beatminerz beat, not DJ Spinna. Spinna produced the excellent "Part of the Game" on the same EP.
Rise is an MC out of Brooklyn and the Demigodz crew, who has a knack for punchlines and quotables within a laid back style - he just seems puzzled by wack MCs most of the time! The Beatminerz provide the beat with the fuzzbox guitars moving all over the soundscape and the classic boom-bap drum style and some sub bass to give it the heft. DJ Evil Dee of Da Beatminerz rounds things out with his cuts for the hook. Grab this and a couple of other great tracks on the 2003 "The Intro..." EP.
Pete Rock : Air Smoove
"Petestrumentals 2" may not become the low-key icon that the first instalment did, but don't sleep on it - it's still Pete Rock on the beats, after all.  I keep going back to it and finding myself enjoying tracks more and more, with this being a prime example.
Above The Law ft. 2Pac and Money B : Call It What U Want
I once nearly got into a fight (the other guy was heated) when I off-handedly mentioned that I remembered when 2Pac had been a dancer for Digital Underground - but it was true, and there was never any shame in it! Anyway, it was also with that crew that he made initial strides onto the mic, and after going solo himself, this was one of his first features, alongside Money B from DU. Above The Law's "Black Mafia Life", from which this is taken, is one of the most overlooked albums that could claim the accolade of "classic" when you listen to how it sounded and how early it was made - I strongly recommend that every listener seeks it out for an end-to-end hearing. It's striking to realise that of the four MCs on this cut, only two are still with us today - RIP 2Pac and KMG.
DJ Quik ft. Pharoahe Monch & K.K. : Murda 1 Case
An absolute stomper from Compton's finest, leading with the piano, keeping the drums hard but simple (kicks on 1 and 3 only, snares on 2 and 4), and three MCs going at it. On this clear standout on 2002's "Under Tha Influence", the underrated Quik holds his own against one of the best to pick up a mic, and shows the confidence and intelligence as a producer to know that this was the man to bring in for the closing verse.
De La Soul : Verbal Clap
Many years after their debut, De La remind you that they can get busy on a state-of-the-art thumping beat with no problem - in this case, a masterful creation by J Dilla, one of two on 2004's "The Grind Date". Dave's rhyme style here is extra raw and he dominates by sheer brute force, standing out even on an album where De La sound highly-motivated overall. If you don't yet know it, it's well worth your while to search it out and have a proper listen.
Mr. Scruff ft. Broke 'n' English : Listen Up
Manchester all the way on this track, with the DJ and producer Mr Scruff getting the drumline mad active with a nice bassline, and Strategy and DRS of Broke 'n' English bringing all the local flavour on the mic. This great cut is on the flip of the also-excellent "Nice Up The Function" 12", which is now available digitally - so no difficulty in finding a copy!
[The Neptunes] Busta Rhymes : Pass The Courvoisier, Part II (Instrumental)
A great party beat, one to get people moving even without Busta and Pharrell's vocals!
AZ : Take Care Of Me
From his very first LP, AZ was flowing over soul/R&B samples, so it wasn't a reach for him to make a track like this for "Aziatic", his fourth. Precision soundtracks it with a "no samples" approach which for the non-Bad Boy producers tended to be the move for the club/radio tracks, and it's aged fairly well. AZ's lyrics are definitely reflective of the time - cellphones are so unremarkable in 2020!
Krumb Snatcha ft. Boogieman : Oxygen
Krumb Snatcha is pretty much as rugged as it gets, but here he shows that while he can give you an underground street classic like "Closer To God", there's still time to have fun! This track from his second LP "Respect All, Fear None" isn't what you might expect from KS but I think he did a solid job here. Nottz' beat bumps and burbles with a solid low end, and the guest MC Boogieman, who's already collaborated with him previously, steals the show with a casually disrespectful closing verse - not a particularly technical one, but entertaining!
Mic Geronimo : Nothin' Move But The Money
This record was hated when it came out, of all the tracks in this section, it was the most blatant pander to the pop audience - after all, Puffy (now Diddy) was the producer! This was amplified by the fact that Queens' own Mic Geronimo was a darling of the underground scene after his excellent debut LP "The Natural", and this is a million miles away stylistically. "Vendetta" was a big change, and arguably a bit of a career killer because of it. Have a look at the video - every so often, Mic actually looks pretty uncomfortable! 
Goodie Mob ft. Big Boi and Backbone : Get Rich To This
This was the next most derided track when it was released - if someone else had recorded it, it may have been received for what it was, but again, this was a serious sonic whiplash for anyone who had heard "Soul Food" or "Still Standing". It was still Organized Noize on production, still the same MCs (plus guests), but definitely not what people were expecting, by and large. I can't front though - I kind of liked it even then! The "World Party" LP is the source for this one.
[Kenny Dope] L Swift : Ride This (Instrumental)
Crispy clean drums and a nice guitar line are the highlights of this beat from a 2000 12" by one of the MCs from the incredible Natural Elements (now reformed, with L Swift as Swigga). The vocal version features A Butta from NE and the B-side is produced by Spinna, so well worth picking up if you see it!
Toots & The Maytals : Funky Kingston
We close the episode with the title track of the 1973 album by the reggae legend "Toots" Hibbert, who passed away this month at the age of 77, and his band. The throatiness of his delivery on this classic cut does bring to mind the American funk godfather James Brown, but the message and the groove is pure yard. It may be almost fifty years old now, but still moves a dancefloor with ease!
Please remember to support the artists you like! The purpose of putting the podcast out and providing the full tracklist is to try and give some light, so do use the songs on each episode as a starting point to search out more material. If you have Spotify in your country it's a great way to explore, but otherwise there's always Youtube and the like. Seeing your favourite artists live is the best way to put money in their pockets, and buy the vinyl/CDs/downloads of the stuff you like the most!
Check out this episode!
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sakanxde · 7 years
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REALLY  LONG  CHARACTER  SURVEY. RULES.  repost ,   don’t  reblog  !    tag  ! good  luck  ! TAGGED.  @meishutori​ TAGGING. @captainurahara​ @hanabiira​ @divinebred​ and whoever else wants to
BASICS.
FULL  NAME :  Shinji Hirako  NICKNAME :   Shinji. Piano Mouth. “That one asshole.”  AGE :  500-something BIRTHDAY :  May 10th ETHNIC  GROUP : Mixed. Asian and Caucasian. NATIONALITY :   Japanese/English/Soul? He was born in the Soul Society in my HC.  LANGUAGE / S :   Japanese, English  SEXUAL  ORIENTATION :   Bisexual  ROMANTIC  ORIENTATION :   Panromantic RELATIONSHIP  STATUS :   Depends on the verse CLASS :   Upper ---> Exiled Criminal ---> Upper. The Captain position is well respected. HOME  TOWN / AREA :    First District of the Rukongai CURRENT  HOME :   Fifth Division PROFESSION :   Captain in the Gotei 13
PHYSICAL.
HAIR : Short blond, with angular bangs  EYES :  Brown NOSE :  “ong and slender FACE :  Sort of heart shaped with a sharp jaw LIPS :  Thin. has a creepy set of teeth. COMPLEXION :  Fair BLEMISHES :   None SCARS :   None  TATTOOS :  None. He’s got a tongue piercing though.  HEIGHT :   5′9 1/2″ WEIGHT :   132 lbs. BUILD :   He’s a stick FEATURES :  Expressive eyes and mouth. Always looks like he’s done with everything. ALLERGIES :  none USUAL  HAIR  STYLE :   Bobbed USUAL  FACE  LOOK :   Bored and/or Sarcastic USUAL  CLOTHING :   Standard Shinigami uniform + his tie. When out of uniform, he likes wearing modern, stylish clothes. And hats. 
PSYCHOLOGY.
FEAR / S :   Abandonment. ASPIRATION / S :   To rebuild the 5th after Aiizen fucked it up POSITIVE  TRAITS :   Intelligent, passionate, charisma, leadership, caring NEGATIVE  TRAITS :  Sarcastic, obnoxious, likes to provoke people, emotional, blunt ZODIAC :   Taurus  TEMPERAMENT :    Sanguin SOUL  TYPE / S :   Warrior/Sage ANIMALS :   Weasel VICE  HABIT / S :   Stubbornness  FAITH :   Agnostic  GHOSTS ? :   Yes AFTERLIFE ? :  Yes REINCARNATION ? :  Yes ALIENS ? :   No POLITICAL  ALIGNMENT :  Does hating Central 46 count? ECONOMIC  PREFERENCE :  Comfortable  SOCIOPOLITICAL  POSITION : N/A ? EDUCATION  LEVEL :   Academy Graduate. Tried going to college in the human world but got bored and dropped out. 
FAMILY.
FATHER :   Alive. (Do not have a name for him yet). He’s English. Has not been in contact since exile. MOTHER :  Alive. (Do not have a name for her yet). She’s Japanese. Has not been in contact since exile. SIBLINGS :  None EXTENDED  FAMILY :   None NAME  MEANING / S :   ? HISTORICAL  CONNECTION ? :  None
FAVORITES.
BOOK :   He’s a fan of the Harry Potter series  MOVIE :   Ghostbusters (he thinks the human concept of ghosts is hilarious) SONG :   Anything jazz DEITY :   None. HOLIDAY :   Halloween. MONTH :  June SEASON :  Summer PLACE :   His room. WEATHER :   Sunny SOUND :  Trumpet or a Saxophone SCENT / S :    Spice. The smell of new clothes TASTE / S :    Caramel FEEL / S :   The texture of a vinyl cover  ANIMAL / S : Fox NUMBER :  50 COLORS :   Orange 
EXTRA.
TALENTS :   Can play the trumpet. Very perceptive.  BAD  AT :   Math, focusing, schoolwork, paperwork. TURN  ONS :  Dirty talk, biting, passion TURN  OFFS :   Crying, intense pain HOBBIES :  Video games, music, fashion TROPES :   Jerk with a heart of gold AESTHETIC  TAGS : JAZZ, vintage, retro  GPOY  QUOTES :   “I like to do all the talking for myself. It saves time and prevents arguments.” -Oscar Wlde
MUN QUESTIONS.
Q1 :   if  you  could  write  your  character  your  way  in  their  own movie ,   what  would  it  be  called ,  what  style  would  it  be filmed  in ,  and  what  would  it  be  about ?   A1 : It’d just be a documentary of Shinji’s daily life. It’d be amusing enough.
Q2 :   what  would  their  soundtrack / score  sound  like ?           A2 :   JAZZ
Q3 :   why  did  you  start  writing  this  character ?       A3 :   Because I love him and he allows my sarcasm to come out. 
Q4 :   what  first  attracted  you  to  this  character ?       A4 :   His STYLE and the mystery surrounding him and how intimidating he kinda got in his first appearance? God I love his outfits so much I WANT THOSE TIES.
Q5 :   describe  the  biggest  thing  you  dislike  about  your  muse. A5 :    nothing he is my son
Q6 :   what  do  you  have  in  common  with  your  muse ?       A6 :   We’re very sarcastic and we LOVE JAZZ 
Q7 :   how  does  your  muse  feel  about  you ? A7 :   Probably indifferent 
Q8 :   what  characters  does  your  muse  have  interesting  interactions  with ?       A8 :   Kensei ( @kanpekii and @kmuguruma  )and Rose( @meishutori). Miki ( @hanabiira) Urahara ( @captainurahara ) HIS TWIN ( @divinebred)
Q9 :   what  gives  you  inspiration  to  write  your  muse ?       A9 :   My rp partners. And just him in general. He writes himself tbh I don’t come up with the crazy shit he gets into.
Q10 :   how  long  did  this  take  you  to  complete ?       A10 :   An hour
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