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db-reviews · 2 years

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#103 - Thank You From The Future - Moon Letters (2022)

We’ve looked at many bands and albums over these few months, so let’s keep this trend up. I have looked at more gothic bands, most notably Anglagard and Discipline, with both releasing albums that I think are all-time masterpieces. However, I never found a band that was gothic, but with the tempo of more happy bands, such as Moon Safari or Cheeto’s Magazine. A more pastel goth band if you will. That is until now. 2022 has been a great year for progressive rock and it just keeps on coming at you with great releases. I doubt that fact will end any time soon but I do think it is worth talking about this album since it has become a bit of a fan favorite for me.

Moon Letters is a Seattle-based supergroup made up of members from bands such as Wah Wah Exit Wound, Spacebag, Panther Attack!, Bone Cave Ballet, and The Autumn Electric, though I am not sure if those are real bands or just made-up names to spark attention. Besides that, little is known about the group besides the fact that they made an album in 2019, Until They Feel The Sun. This sophomore album, Thank You From The Future, was released this year and has gained some notoriety. I heard about it from the Youtuber Notes Reviews, so I’d like to thank them for introducing me to this album because it is great.

The first song of Sudden Sun sets the scene for this album, featuring fast rhythmic guitars and spacey keyboards. These two factors plus the very articulate drumming do bleed some of that more joyous progressive rock moods into my veins. Honestly, it very much reminds me of Cheeto’s Magazine, but a lot more hard-hitting and a bit more retro than contemporary. It is genuinely a mood lifter of a song that helps in its presentation. However, I have a problem with how this song is played out. It is a four-minute song, but it feels like it is multiple songs all at once. Now, this wouldn’t be an issue, after all, many Prog epics have this sort of thing, the problem is that it’s not a Prog epic, it is a four-minute song. I can never get any time to breathe because things change so rapidly that it feels less like a fun rollercoaster. It is like that one ride at a local fair that is supposed to be fun but instead jerks around causing a headache. A song that is fun but insanely chaotic doesn’t help it in the long run.

This also applies to The Hrossa. It is a very fun and jovial song, with a tiny hint of what would become the main staple through this album, and that is the more gothic flair added on. However, it does still have that incredibly jerky progression, where one minute it’s one thing, and the other is something else. It does try to be a bit more straightened out with the track being 6 minutes instead of 4, but the feelings are still there. These feel like concepts for something greater as a whole due to how they are presented in these differing lights, which is neat, but I do want something a little juicier without being bombarded with nothing but technical skill. There has to be something more.

And we’ll get something more with the rest of the album. The first two songs were the appetizer for the main courses, with the first being Mother River. Gone is the overly fast progression; instead, we get that revitalization of that more gothic sound The Hrossa hinted at. Now, instead of just the happier and go-lucky retro progressive rock bands, we get flavors of Discipline and Anekdoten. This one-two punch of the fun and happy side, with the darkness, gives this album a very interesting and flavorful palette to work with. We can also see some very cool space influences. It feels very Syd Barretesque at times, added with the modern skill presented, with the more straightened-out progression and you’ll get one great song. It is just a fun time for me to be perfectly honest.

These aspects continue with Isolation And Foreboding, which is probably the only track that is a little less happy, as seen with the title. The first half feels very mysterious, with the bass being at center stage, chugging the sound along this path. At the halfway point the song shifts gears quickly to something a lot more slower and concrete, with an almost psychedelic rock ballad that honestly moves me. It is so delicate, yet I feel like if I tear it apart it could never break. This song’s title does not lie, this song does have elements of isolation and foreboding; the first half being that isolation, that mystery, the intrigue, and resolve; the second half being that foreboding, the calm yet so strong movement that sets with you even after the song ends. This has become one of my favorites of this album, and I think it is hard not to see why.

Let us liven up the mood a bit with Child Of Tomorrow. This time we get a bit more of a European-influenced track, with a clear folk identity, but not scraping away their more rock-influenced sound. It is kinda like how Urskog by Kaipa was: a very European-flavored album that hailed its flag in the retro progressive rock scene. However here we get more of that rock emphasis, which I think suits this style well. It is very atmospheric, with visions of green plains and small villages filled with people. I know this will be an odd comparison, but this feels like a Gryphon track, but if it were designed to be less folksy, and a lot more rocking. It is honestly super fun hearing this more green-flavored style of progressive rock put through a new filter.

This album has the best for last, and that is Fate Of The Alacorn. This is the best conclusion the band can make for this album, really satisfying me with a good mix of that jovial sound, that gothic sound, and even a bit of that more Kaipa-influenced retro progressive rock sound thrown into the spin of things. I especially love the ending, how it builds with these horns that go through the wringer by the guitars and drums, creating this moody and intense melody that bleeds into me. It is a track that values what came before, almost like a generation-long tribute to the first, second, third, etc songs. It is satisfying to hear such a good closure on this album…wait what? There’s more? What do you mean there’s more? One last song…but this is the…oh wait never mind, I guess there is still one more song left to cover.

The REAL final song for this album is Yesterday Is Gone, and to be honest, it’s just fine. The track itself is basically what you might expect from this album, especially with how the album sounds, and it does do a good job of keeping the torch lit for a little while longer, but I do feel as though it is severely misplaced on the album. This does not feel like the last track on this album, it feels more suitable for the middle. With it being at the end I feel like this album, while still good, ends less with a bang and more with a whimper. Fate Of The Alacorn left me satisfied, and to be honest I am not hungry enough for dessert, so this track isn’t really necessary, at least not necessary to be the final piece on this album.

I’d say if you want more good modern progressive rock you’ll come to the right place with this one. It is a flavorful album that features many songs that while short leave a lasting impression on me. I will listen to some of these songs a lot more throughout the next few months because they are excellent in their stature, but some tracks are a bit lesser than those that I praised. This album isn’t perfect, but I do think all and all it is a fun time that harkens back to that more fun side of progressive rock, while also adding a bit more edge to the mixer. It is like a dark chocolate cake, it is darker, but still has an aura of happiness.

4/5

#music review #album review #progressive rock

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starlightshoals · 4 years

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The Weeknd - After Hours [Album Review]

1 - Alone Again: Swimming in a deep red sea of yearning and heartache, this song is the perfect way to kick off the album. It plays like a mood, a feeling; it’s a confirmation that in the time since My Dear Melancholy, whatever hope was found, whatever lessons were learned, they’ve been lost in that ocean of new mistakes. The second half intensifies and darkens and leads the listener down the dark corridor the rest of the album will follow. Favorite Lyric: “Take off my disguise, I’m living someone else’s life, suppressing who I was inside...” 9/10, Excellent

2 - Too Late: So yeah, the production in this album is god-tier, and this track goes hard in that vein. I love the distortion on Abel’s voice in the chorus, the tempo, the vibe. There are so many segments and details that could fly over your head the first time -- this song is fucking layered. The more you listen, the more it slaps. Like every other track on the album, it’s about mistakes made that push the person you love away, but it’s not some whiny self-pity party, it’s a grim acknowledgment of how you feel and how it’s all your fault. Favorite Lyric: “When the darkness comes, you’re my light.” 10/10, Outstanding

3 - Hardest to Love: There’s a fragility to this track that’s rare in Abel’s music, and I admire that so much. It’s about admitting how difficult you’ve been and wondering why the person you love still wants you after all you’ve done. It strikes at that struggle inside where you want them to let you go because it’s best for them, but the reality of that makes you miserable and you don’t want them to forget you. I could say this about almost any track on the album, but I fucking love the 80s-style production here. Such glorious music for the soul. Favorite Lyric: “I can’t believe you want me, after all the heartbreaks, after all I’ve done, no I can’t believe you trust me, after all the rough days, you still call me up...” 9/10, Excellent

4 - Scared to Live: I gotta be honest, this song doesn’t do it for me like it does for most people. I still like it, and I love the lyrics, but stylistically it’s just a little too sappy for my tastes. I feel like this style (minus the fantastic production) is something I could hear a lot of other places, and that’s something I can’t say about most of Abel’s music. The lyrics, though! They send a lovely message of accepting your partner’s choice to leave you, gently telling them it’s okay to go on in life without you. It’s a truly gracious and grown-up thing to express. Favorite Lyric: “And if I held you back, at least I held you close” or maybe “You always miss the chance to fall for someone else, ‘cause your heart only knows me.” 8.5/10, Great

5 - Snowchild: Ooh yeah, here we go. In this song Abel reflects on his journey through the past decade. It’s a lowkey, moody, heart-in-your-throat track. It’s like walking through an empty city late at night, hands in your pockets, with an ache in your chest. It’s like leaving everything you had behind because it doesn’t matter anymore. You just want out. You just want something new. I can relate. Favorite Lyric: “She never need a man, she what a man need, so I keep falling for her daily...” 10/10, Outstanding

6 - Escape from LA: Maintaining the mood from Snowchild, this is a deep dark dive to the mind. It’s about being dead inside. It’s about being in love with someone you still have but will never have, you know what I mean? They’re in your life, but they’re not yours. And you have everything you could possibly ask for, but it’s still not enough. You’ve done everything you could possibly think of, but it doesn’t fill you up. You’re still running empty. It’s cold and it’s lonely and all that’s left is the voice inside, telling you it’s time to go. But you stay because you’re waiting. So you can be there if they come back. Favorite Lyric: “We’ll figure out our shit and find a way; when you say that you need space, I give you space.” 9.5/10, Amazing

7 - Heartless: I thought it was so funny when this song came out last year and everyone took it literally. This song isn’t about being some badass heartless jerk with no feelings, it’s about pretending to be that to cope with how broken you really are inside. It’s about embracing hedonism to hide the pain. The bridge really drives that home, where Abel sings about being lost and depressed and wondering why the fuck the person you’ve hurt and betrayed still cares enough to come back in your life. Despite all the boasting and bragging and the fast pace and tempo, this song is really the most miserable one on the album. Favorite Lyric: “I thought I lost you this time, you just came back in my life; you never gave up on me, I’ll never know what you see...” 9/10, Excellent

8 - Faith: God, I love this song. There’s something transcendent about it. It takes you to the sky and leaves you standing in a storm. The pace it takes, the production around it, the lightning-quick smooth transitions from piece to piece, it knows exactly what it’s doing and it revels in it. It also has the unenviable task of connecting the tracks before it and after it, and dear lord does it ever. There aren’t many songs these days that truly tell a story, but this one does. Beginning to end, it takes you on a journey. Favorite Lyric: “Well, I feel everything, when I’m coming down is the most I feel alone...” 10/10, Outstanding

9 - Blinding Lights: I love this song to death, too. The synths, the words, the faint touch of hope. It’s uplifting in a way nothing else on the album is -- it’s about driving fast as you can in the middle of the night just to get to the person you love, praying you’ll get there in time. Ever since it came out last year, it’s helped me through a lot. When I’m sad, it helps me up. When I’m happy, it makes me smile. It might be the most perfect pop song Abel’s ever made. Favorite Lyric: “When I’m like this, you’re the one I trust.” 10/10, Outstanding

10 - In Your Eyes: This one knocked me flat. I wasn’t expecting another retro pop banger on the album, but uh, here it is. This one means a lot to me personally. It reflects a lot of feelings I’ve had over the years. There’s an acceptance in it, a sense of letting go and moving on while still being real about what stays, what matters. And it has a sax solo. Yeah. Favorite Lyric: “In your eyes you lie, but I don’t let it define you.” 10/10, Outstanding

11 - Save Your Tears: There’s something so...peaceful about this song. It reminds me of my dad and some of the 80s music he played when I was a kid. It has that nostalgic feel to it, you know? It’s different for Abel and I like it. At first I wasn’t sure what to think of it, but the more I listen the more I like it. Favorite Lyric: “You could’ve asked me why I broke your heart, you could’ve told me that you fell apart, but you walked past me like I wasn’t there, and just pretended like you didn’t care.” 9/10, Excellent

12 - Repeat After Me (Interlude): The vibe, the mood, the feel. This song goes deep and stays there. Like Alone Again, it’s like dipping into dark water and swimming a while, floating on a memory. Looking at old photos you probably should’ve deleted. Reading old messages from someone you should’ve blocked. It hurts, but it heals. Favorite Lyric: “You don’t love him if you’re thinking of me, you’re just fucking, it means nothing to me.” 9.5/10, Amazing

13 - After Hours: This one took us all by surprise, didn’t it? A six-minute track with a beat switch and enough atmosphere to make your jaw hit the floor. When it dropped it tipped everyone off that this album was going to be special. The song itself is so fluid, so smooth, displaying everything Abel’s learned since he began. It’s a masterpiece that perfectly sums up every theme on the album and then some. Favorite Lyric: All of it, but especially the chorus and the bridge. 10/10, Outstanding

14 - Until I Bleed Out: If Snowchild is like walking an empty city at night, this song is like stumbling out an alley as dawn hits the streets, blood running down your side. Bathed in that red light, begging to be let go. It’s the fitting book-end to where this album started, closing the chapter with nowhere left to go. It doesn’t leave with easy answers, it doesn’t tell you everything is fine. But it acknowledges a change. Favorite Lyric: “Well I don’t wanna touch the sky no more, I just wanna feel the ground when I’m coming down...And I don’t even wanna get high no more, I just want it out of my life...” 9/10, Excellent

Final Rating for the Album: 9.5/10, Amazing

#the weeknd #after hours #review #alone again #too late #hardest to love #scared to live #snowchild #escape from la #heartless #faith #blinding lights #in your eyes #save your tears #repeat after me #until i bleed out #sorry for the length of this post~#but i had a lot to say

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bobdylanrevisited · 3 years

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Love And Theft

Released: 11 September 2001

Rating: 10/10

If there’s one thing Bob Dylan knows, it’s how to follow up a masterpiece with an even better album. This is a phenomenal record, it combines all the things Bob does best: poetic lyrics, a range of musical genres, a growling voice, and an incredibly interesting atmosphere that lingers over the whole album. I adore this record, it deserves to be spoken of as highly as ‘Highway 61 Revisited’ or ‘Blood On The Tracks’, and again proves that Bob was as prolific and trailblazing in his 60s as he was in the 1960s. (As per my last post, I will not address the ‘plagiarism’ claims here, as I feel they are baseless and reductive)

1. Tweedle Dum & Tweedle Dee - This is a great introduction to Bob’s new sound, a mix of country, rockabilly, and nostalgia. Bob’s really come into his ‘old man voice’ and the band are completely in sync. The lyrics themselves are a bit forgettable, but this fast paced opener is just effortlessly performed.

2. Mississippi - Originally an outtake from ‘Time Out Of Mind’, this is a stunningly beautiful song. The melancholy seeps out out every word and note, with Bob again acting through his voice and delivery, to portray a defeated man reminiscing and analysing his life. The music itself is surprisingly uplifting and almost at odds with the subject of the song, but it completely works. This is one of many perfect tracks on the album, and Bob’s songwriting is still untouchable.

3. Summer Days - If you had to guess, you’d say this song is from the 1950s, not 2001. A brilliant throwback, with some fantastic guitar and a great performance by Bob channelling an old blues legend. It may not be the most memorable song on the album, but it’s never a chore to hear.

4. Bye And Bye - A much more relaxed song, with a lovely musical arrangement. The lyrics are filled with happiness, and there is a great bridge that adds an interesting edge to the track. Bob’s wistful singing fits nicely, and this is just an enjoyably cheerful song.

5. Lonesome Day Blues - Perhaps an antithesis to the previous track, this is a rugged and harsh song, from the guitar licks to Bob’s gruff delivery. The song is your classic blues affair, lyrics of being rejected and mourning, but the whole song still sounds fresh and Bob always has an interesting take on the classics.

6. Floater (Too Much To Ask) - Yet another perfect track, and everything here works flawlessly. The lyrics are poetic and tell a brilliant story, but the main focus here should be on the band. The whole arrangement fills me with joy, it sounds like they’ve been playing together for centuries, and every note and instrument compliments one another and the atmosphere of the track. I could go on, but just know that this is a genius composition and all involved are at the top of their game.

7. High Water (For Charley Patton) - Not only is this the highlight of the album, it’s one of the highlights of Bob’s entire career. His way with words, creating a mood and describing an America rooted in history and mythology, are completely unmatched in both music and literature. I cannot express how perfect this track is, from the opening ‘cowboy’ sounding guitar and banjo, to Bob’s moody and haunting delivery, this is a song from both a forgotten era and yet is also somehow ahead of its time. Just listen to it on repeat, it’s fucking unbelievable.

8. Moonlight - Another slower track, with some lovely guitar and bass, and a sweet and tender Bob, almost foreshadowing is crooner turn in the following years. A great love song that is infinitely calming and romantic.

9. Honest With Me - Once again, a slower track is followed by one that sounds like a thunderstorm of guitars rolling down Highway 61. This is another song that sounds like it’s challenging you to a fight. Bob is hard as nails, the lyrics are darker, and the whole arrangement is electrified. Like the rest of the album, it’s fantastic.

10. Po’ Boy - Slowing down again, I adore this song. The lyrics are poignant and also quite funny, and for me this is Bob’s best singing on the whole record. The finger picked guitar adds an interesting layer of intimacy to the song, and all this adds up to one of my most revisited tracks from the album, and some of Bob’s most enjoyable writing from this period.

11. Cry A While - Another throwback, which blends together a few different genres and tempos, creating an incredibly interesting and ever-changing song. The lyrics are, once again, a bit of a downer (not that that’s a bad thing) but the way the band seamlessly switch up their playing is both impressive and a testament to their unrivalled talent.

12. Sugar Baby - The closing track is maybe my least favourite song, which is no bad thing as I still really enjoy it. It returns to the melancholic mood of the earlier part of the album, and is a simple arrangement with Bob growling about the past and regret. It’s still a beautiful track, and perhaps I only regard it a bit lower than the rest of the record as I know it means I’ve reached the end of one of the best albums of the 21st Century.

Verdict: It’s fairly obvious that I completely adore this record and cannot recommend it highly enough. The album may have been somewhat overlooked due to its unfortunate release date, and Bob’s late career is often ignored due to the heights of his earlier work, but this is a perfect record that shows he hadn’t slowed down or lost his touch by any means. This album goes straight into his top 10, and a handful of tracks are among his greatest achievements in songwriting and musical composition. Following this, Bob waited another 5 years before releasing yet another masterpiece, and continuing his incredible critical and artistic resurgence.

#love and theft #bob dylan

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syrenki · 3 years

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for the album asks: lanas "ultraviolence" and sky ferreiras "night time, my time"

oooh, thank you anon!! okay, i'm gonna be honest with you, i only know the title track from sky ferreira. i love it though, i really do, it's glorious. and hey, since you asked this, i'm guessing the whole album is worth listening to, right? thank you for the rec, i'll educate myself on her, hahah

and when it comes to lana, oh man. let's go. i'll actually go least to most favourite, it feels more exciting this way, tbh. so:

14. guns and roses, obviously. it's a shockingly unremarkable track for such a remarkable album, isn't it? just so... bland, frankly.

13. the other woman and yeah, okay, it kind of hurts to put this as my second most disliked song, because it's really good! it just doesn't hit all the right spots for me, i think, quite like the rest of ultraviolence does.

12. florida kilos, it's very sweet and summery! i don't think that i'm very obsessed with it, though. i think she has a lot of tracks that taste ripe like july too, but are more... unique - say 1949 or even the newer doin' time.

11. fucked my way up to the top - well, what can i say, it's sexy. and i love the trance-like feel it has going on. not one of my faves, but yeah, i'm putting it above the other woman and florida kilos because it sets a very... hmm. specific mood, if ykwim.

10. black beauty. it's funny, i actually mostly listened to a different version of it that i downloaded to my mp3 player years ago, only to discover that the real, officially released one sounds completely different now that i regularly use spotify. i do love the lyrics on this one, though. i used to listen to it so, so much in 2016 or 2017, i think!

9. ultraviolence - she was the moment, she was nicole before nicole, huh? i love the dreamy edgyness in this one! it actually took me a long time to warm up to ultraviolence, despite it being the title track, but as soon as i did, i fell in love. i love the wordplay, she really knew what she was doing with the name of this album.

8. money, power, glory - i could have never suspected that i'd put this over black beauty back in middle school, but at this point? yeah. i actually don't care much for the lyrics, as i'm not the type of person to strive for luxury a lot - you can call it being non-superficial, or maybe a lack of ambition, or lazyness. yeah, lmao. what i love most about this song is just the sheer sound of it, the drums, her voice in the ,,glory!" part, the ,,hallelujahs" - it's all so... orgasmic. plus the high pitched ,,i can do it if you really really like it" with the slowed guitar riff in the background completely sells me on this song.

7. brooklyn baby - i mean, what is there to explain. it's just brooklyn baby, you know? yeah, my girlfriend's pretty cool, but she's not as cool as me. i think it's a little bit too cute and positive for the edgy fucker that i am, otherwise, quality-wise, it could very well be in the top 3.

6. sad girl - it's sweet, it's edgy, it's kinda emo. a love child of pretty when you cry and brooklyn baby, i guess. it's not a masterpiece, but i'm putting it pretty high up the list simply for the ,,he's got the fiiiireee!" part and my own personal feelings for this song, yk? oh well, it's my ranking after all, and i can be as subjective as i please. ♡

5. shades of cool - it's just so good! yes, my baby sure does live in shades of blue! some really similar dynamics to black beauty, and again, god, just a year or two ago i would probably say this was my fave, or at least one of my faves, now i think my love for old money and cruel world has outgrown it, though. it really reminds me of dark blue, indigo and violet hues, you know? it's ultraviolet after all, i guess. the vocals in that instrumental bridge kill me every time in the sweetest of ways.

4. cruel world - man oh man, i would eat this if i could. i would drink it, or put this song into a heart-shaped locket to wear on my neck at all times. it's so unbelievably dreamy, and sexy, and the line about being happy that they're gone hits so hard out of nowhere in the context of the song, for some reason it sounds more like she's singing about someone's death rather than simply them not being a part of her life anymore. i got your bible, i got your gun, and i'm so happy now that you're gone. god. wow. some fatherhood themes for sure. i'm not entirely certain why, that's just how i feel it.

3. west coast. what can i say? newer lana is cool, but she wants what west-coast-ultraviolence-lana had. the tempo change every time she gets to ,,i can see my baby swinging", have you actually noticed how much slower the song gets? and those few guitar notes right before this line. agh, it makes me feel so strangely heartbroken for a love i never had. maybe it's because of this world heritage romeo+juliet music video, though. i can't really think of anything else now when i listen to west coast. oh, and also, i never thought a sexy, playful song like froot would work so well with the moody west coast, but it really, really does.

2. old money - look, this is a personal one. i know it's nowhere near as iconic as brooklyn baby or west coast or anything, but i can't tell you how bittersweet this song is to me, personally. one of the first songs i even know from lana. i used to listen to it at 13, laying in my bed at 3am, drinking some oversweetened coffee, reading about sigils or whatever the hell. some blog on here had an audio player built into its html and i remember, it played this song, among others. i spent weeks searching for it. it sounds like peaceful, quiet tragedy. the calm, almost resigned sound of it sends me right back to those spring nights. always, always.

1. pretty when you cry, judge me how you will for this choice. there's something so utterly exsquisite and heartbreaking about this song, it reaches into you and tugs at your heart with its bony cold hands. i cannot praise it enough, ever. even if it's fully because of my own associations and memories. i always come back to it. i used to cry to it when i lost the person that my 'and winters here are eternal' tag is about. there's just... god, there's something about this song. and also, hey, i really am pretty when i cry.

thank you for the ask and i'm sorry for getting so in-depth and, hm, suddenly writing in a weirdly pretentious way. that's just what lana does to you://

#anon #answered #mine #music #ldr

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matpisound · 3 years

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matpi’s 2020 top ten

With this crazy year finally being thrown to the wolves, I thought I’d share some of my favorite songs. Usually I rank songs based on my mood, but I thought long and hard about this list to make it as accurate to my tastes as possible. In addition to the musical elements, I’ve also considered my personal experience with each song. With that said, get ready for a list that defines the phrase, “all over the place.”

10. ”約束” - Roselia

Translating to “Promise,” this Roselia song rounds out the list with its dynamic highs and lows and metric complexities. Combine that with Roselia’s signature sound and you have yourself a straight up banger. There are a lot of feel changes, with sections of 3 against 4 polymeter, steady rock groves, and a double time chorus, and this keeps the song interesting and super fun to listen to. Not to mention the powerful lead vocals, courtesy of Yukina Minato, played by the insanely talented Aina Aiba, as well as the occasional trading of vocal lines with bassist Lisa Imai, voiced by Yuki Nakashima, allow the song to really shine.

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQS0LZfXRCs&list=OLAK5uy_l6KyKKWX1j8vHY-PjK6yJHkIZpOV0WMrE

9. “Avant-garde HISTORY” - Roselia

Going up the list now we have another Roselia song. This song is marked by its progressive rock influence in the intro, with a lack of adherence to a single key or time signature, all while remaining an epic intro to the majestic 6/8 rock ballad that follows. Combining rock with orchestral elements is a recipe for greatness, and Roselia really pulled through here. The lead vocals are supported by a chorus of the other members in a really significant way in this song, contributing even more to the sheer glory that it exudes. Add in some huge drum fills and epic buildups between sections, and it creates this absolute work of art.

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nakW_Ziciik&list=OLAK5uy_lImYujueVzq7DDMrRc2TX8qnp1ZzMlHKM&index=6

8. “Ride” - Samuel R. Hazo

No, this is not the twenty one pilots song, nor is it a cover. It’s a wind ensemble piece chock full of the good stuff. Spicy harmonies, giant fanfares, fast runs, solos, time signature changes, heavy yet tasteful use of percussion, what’s not to love? I really wanna play this in band one day, because aside from being fun to listen to, it’s a real challenge to play, especially with a large ensemble. Wind ensemble pieces in general are really cool because they are light-years ahead of most modern music in terms of dynamic contrast, and "Ride” has a ton of it.

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=au4geHy_S_0

7. “Amaryllis” - Shinedown

I honestly don’t know how to describe why I like this song so much; I just do. It’s a really nice song. The amaryllis as a flower is extremely beautiful, sporting vivid reds and pinks in its petals, and that imagery really shone through with its lyrics and 6/8 ballad feel. I’d like to mention the key signature as well. The key of D♭ just feels like a beautiful key signature, and here that beauty was thoroughly reflected.

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixltBz9IENw

6. “FIRE BIRD” - Roselia

Back again with another Roselia song. First of all, this song is great because of the story of the Phoenix. I always thought an immortal bird of fire rising from the ashes was such a glorious thing, and this song captures the essence of this tale perfectly. A quiet start with just piano and vocals gives way to a ginormous sounding intro as all the band members sing as a choir, which then leads into a crazy double-time groove which persists throughout the song. Combine that with Roselia’s sound and you get a triumphant anthem that’s sure to energize anyone and anything.

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_F7l7n_oP8&list=OLAK5uy_lImYujueVzq7DDMrRc2TX8qnp1ZzMlHKM&index=4

and here’s a live version because the visuals are IMMACULATE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AwP7S9f3A8

5. “Guilty All The Same” - Linkin Park

Off of one of the greatest rock albums in my opinion, “Guilty All The Same” is nothing short of a masterpiece. A nearly 6-minute song, and it’s never boring for a second. The unique drum grooves and use of 3 against 4 polymeter are what make this song so damn interesting to listen to, and lead singer, Chester Bennington’s, vocals are nothing short of spectacular. Rakim’s verse in the bridge combined with the sick guitar riff and the drums backing them up makes it one of the best combinations of rock and rap that I’ve heard.

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEaEdLQbAFM

4. “LOUDER” - Roselia

This being one of the first Roselia songs I’ve listened to, it has a really special place in my heart. But musically, it’s super awesome too. At a blistering 195 BPM, it’s one of the fastest songs on here, meaning it’s also super fun to play on the drums. It also changes keys between the verses and choruses from D minor to D major and back. And of course, who could forget lead vocalist Yukina Minato guiding the song through her soaring melodic lines. All in all, it’s a great song that managed to top my Spotify Wrapped.

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYSXZQ2b1-c

Now before we get into our top 3, let’s look at some honorable mentions:

“A DECLARATION OF ×××” - RAISE A SUILEN: A song inciting revolution, this combination of rock and EDM is a straight up vibe. We also get some djent as a bonus! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=713nCe8LLa0

“DIVE!” - Setsuna Yuki: Rock music in the world of anime idols is a foreign concept, and to me it’s a welcome one. It seems, however, that others disagree... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXXxW8hEF3o

“Neo-Aspect” - Roselia: I swear this is the last Roselia song, but it was way too good not to include here. A powerful song filled to the brim with expression. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snp_DT9EqiQ

“カレンデュラ“ - RONDO: “Calendula” for those who can’t read Japanese, this heavy song carries a lot of weight in it’s lyrics as well. Overall a really epic song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRnaYwx2fH4

“Daybreaker” - Waterflame: Made fairly recently by a producer who made music that was a huge part of my childhood, this song just vibes so fucking hard. Fun fact: it was released on my birthday! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLomCDE7E50

3. “Transcendent Journey” - Rossano Galante

Now we’re talking about the true bangers of my music taste. I love Galante’s music because it’s always so dynamic always with super melodious lead parts. This piece is no different in that sense. It really feels like a journey. Fast woodwind runs supporting soaring brass lines, quiet woodwind melodies, blazing fanfares, and varied tempo make this piece of music really feel like a spiritual journey. There’s so much about this piece that I just can’t put into words so you just have to listen for yourself.

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuMi2z2F3io

2. “Nostalgia” - Rossano Galante

Another wind ensemble piece making the top 3? Well, aside from being a beautiful piece musically, it brings a lot of good memories for me personally as well. We played this for my band’s spring concert when I was in 8th grade. As 8th graders, our ensemble included the high school band students as well, and that was the year one of my favorite seniors was graduating. He was such a big role model for me, and the entire concert was extremely emotional. This was my favorite piece we had programmed that night, and it’s made its way into my favorite songs of all time.

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qaq_WKsatg

1. “The Catalyst” - Linkin Park

This was one of those songs. You know those songs that you fall in love with as soon as you hear it for the first time? Yeah, this was that. With every listen, I only liked it more and more, and it crawled its way to the top. It starts off soft, but it just keeps building. Everything builds and builds and becomes increasingly chaotic until it all collapses in the second half of the song. From there, the repeated lyrics “Lift me up, let me go” carry this song to its epic finale, in which we feel the culmination of all that chaos from earlier. Not only does the song work so well as a standalone track, its use as the penultimate track on “A Thousand Suns” (my favorite album of all time) serves as the final climax before resolving the intricate story weaved by the album. This is a perfect song if I have ever heard one.

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sBjZBn3DQU

Well, folks, there you have it. A playlist of the best songs that got me through this forsaken year and will hopefully empower the next. I wish you all a better and happy 2021, and I’ll catch you at the double barline!

#music nerd #music #top 10 #top ten #music analysis

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marlenmmb · 3 years

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Favorite 5 Songs

1) Nuestro Juramento - Julio Jaramillo

When I was younger I always found myself bewildered by the reactions family members had when certain songs played. It was always the older songs, whose first guitar strum instantly transported you back a few decades, that caused my grandmother to burst into tears. Sadly, my beautiful grandmother passed away this previous November after living a long happy life. Though I wasn't able to say goodbye to her in person, I still have the memories we shared whilst listening to this song. One of the most memorable moments we shared whilst listening to this song was a small but meaningful one. It was a few years before her passing, I played this song as she sat and ate her cereal late at night. She held her hand within mine and slowly ate whilst tearing up at the song. It might have been a small moment but because of it, this song remains my favorite to this day.

2) La Barca - Los Tres Caballeros

A few years back I came to the realization that I was alienating myself from my culture and instead becoming too assimilated to American culture. As a way to remedy this, I created a playlist where I compiled Spanish songs from all decades. I started with songs from the 70s and 80s that my mom played when I was young, but I slowly started to move past these times to the 50s and 60s. This was when I discovered the beauty of boleros, slow-tempo Spanish love songs. La Barca (The Boat) talks about the story of a man who fell in love with a woman but they must part ways as her boat leaves soon. It's one of the most recent additions to my favorites but it is lovely.

3) Satisfied - Renée Elise Goldsberry

I was actually very late to the party when it came to Hamilton. I had heard it in passing but I hadn't really paid much mind to it. It wasn't until one of my friends put it on as we were driving home from school that I was exposed to the Hamilton soundtrack. Although I enjoyed all the songs, they didn't stick with me the way Satisfied did. Something about Angelica's internal turmoil over her instant attraction to Alexander just tugs at my heartstrings. I love all the songs in the soundtrack but this has to be my ultimate favorite.

4) Melos - Wednesday Campanella

Last semester I decided to step out of my comfort zone for the first time and enrolled in a Japanese course. I've always wanted to learn a new language that didn't use the Latin alphabet and I thought this would be a perfect opportunity. Although I wasn't the strongest speaker, the class exposed me to the beautiful culture of Japan. With it I discovered Melos. The sound of this song was so different from anything I've ever heard before. Every time I listen to the song I feel as if I am back home in Honduras galloping through the endless fields. It truly makes me feel free.

5) Want Me Back - BENEE

It was around the start of our lockdown when I found this masterpiece of a song. The day wasn't particularly interesting, there was a thunderstorm rolling through town. Spotify recommended me their 'Life Sucks Playlist' and the rest was history. This was the first song on the playlist and I instantly fell in love. It's got such a nice sound it's just a simple favorite for me to play constantly.

#assignments

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jmeddows2 · 5 years

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Purple Thunder (Roger Taylor Series) Part 5

(present/old) Roger Taylor x Reader Notes:

as promised, I still made it on time, well kind of.. as this relationships develops I’d be happy to hear some of the concepts you guys have/ would love Reader and Rog do/experience etc. :) I’d be really grateful and excited to hear some of that..

other wise, same old jazz: sorry for grammar/ mistakes, English is not my first language but anyways, I gave it a go. Enjoy and feel free to submit requests, feedback etc. :)

If you haven’t already, please check this out: Introducing: Purple Thunder :)

Warnings: a bit of cursing, cheating, we’ll get to more in time, don’t worry ;)

Words: 2.5k

„How was that?“ your drummer Sid gave you a questioned and expecting look through the glass wall from the recording booth, as he fiddled around with the drum sticks, twirling one in his right hand. Roger was already in the black leather chair next to you, willing to produce the whole new album and of course, he didn’t give you a chance to deny it, or to put it better, he insisted on taking over the job as producer.

“It was good, really good…. but I don’t know.. I feel like we’re repeating ourselves over and over again” your eyes darted from the sound board to your band member. “It’s good, but it all sounds the same. Don’t you think?” You put your elbow to rest your chin in your hand in a thoughtful gesture looking to Roger beside you. His air was a bit messy, but still looked flawless. He put so much work and detail into each song, trying to make little masterpieces out of them, but as much as you appreciated his work, something was wrong.

“I’ll try a new pattern then? To match the tempo you had in mind?” Sid made you beam back him again, already finding a new beat as he was waiting for your answer.

“Have you tried drumming machines?” Roger firstly looked at you, then Sid, then back at you.

“It’s not exactly the real thing but it’ll give you something to experiment with” Roger suggested, lightly scratching his beard.

“Your call, boss” Sid smiled at you , he was indeed excited about Roger’s ‘new role’ in your band, considering that he had been a life - long fan of his, picking up drumming because of Roger in the first place. It should also be mentioned that his parents met at Live Aid back in 1985 when they were just 15 years old, both stood in front row cheering on their favourite band: Queen. Sid especially recalled seeing pictures of Roger in magazines his parents owned, showing a younger Roger wearing some nice suits, having a glass of wine in his hand and always a beautiful young thing by his side. A major part in his decision making on wanting to become THE next Roger Taylor. And he did.. Well sort of.. Sid was someone who enjoyed life… and especially the ladies… He enjoyed it so much that he lost count of the hearts he had loved and left haunted.

“Ok, let’s try it, you guys mind if I go out for a smoke?” you asked as Sid jumped excitedly into the seat next to Roger.

“It’s alright love.” Roger gave you a smile and turned to Sid “Now, we’ll start with the basics, you can imitate any percussion on this, if you just…” Roger’s voice drowned out as you made your way out of the sectioned area you had rented, up the stairs to the roof terrace. After 10 minutes of smoking and collecting your thoughts you made your way back onto the ground floor, passing the counter in the foyer where Laura, a good friend of yours had been working. Dan had declined all calls since his outburst in the studio the other, which didn’t make the situation any easier. Arriving back in the booth the drum backing track had surprisingly fast, already been laid down.

Time went by flying as Roger showed Sid some tricks of his own on the drums, which left him amazed.

“Today’s been great, you’re heading into a kind of different direction in terms of music, I mean your last two albums were excellent, but I think this is going to be even better” Roger smiled adding finishing touches to the mastering of yet another song. Sid had left you two to it again, heading off to meet his parents. Probably also to tell them that he is currently working with rock royalty, but we’ll leave that aside.

“You listened to those? I’m sorry, I’m just.. I never thought someone like you would listen to my kind of stuff” you chuckled.

“Someone like?” he laughed. “Why do you always think so bad of yourself? Those two records were really good! Of course I listened to them, got to know what’s hot in the moment… Y’know.. what the teenagers fancy… or whom. I read all the music magazines.”

“You’re probably the only person who still reads those” you laughed giving him a light pat on the shoulder.

“Hey” he frowned a bit, but a smile appeared on his lips, signalling he wasn’t taking it too seriously.

“You’re growing with your music, it’s a good thing. Without any of the growing and changing part, Queen would have probably never made it. Gotta think outside the box y’know, do what your heart tells you to do.” He touched your shoulder in a loving gesture.

“And if it tells me to quit?” you whispered but it was still audible for him.

“I don’t know if I want to keep doing it. I’m not feeling it anymore, the excitement, the relief, the love…”

“Are you sure you’re still talking about music here?” Roger looked at you softly, trying to test the waters.

“I don’t know... Music’s always been there for me when friends or family were turning their backs on me, or when I was too afraid to ask for help, I’d just put some record on and everything was fine. It helped me cope with so much, you helped me cope with so much.” looking into his eyes.

“Listening to your music was almost like a healing process, I know it sounds weird but it was and still is. I’m just… confused right now. Do I want to continue? Make an album, tour and then end up in the same dark place I had been in two years ago, because absolutely nothing feels right about it? Do I attempt to make my fans happy, but end up disappointing them because nothing feels right? There’s always so much pressure, I don’t even know who we’re doing this for anymore” by now there were a few hot tears escaping your face. You felt pathetic. Pathetic for always crying and being miserable when Roger was around. He must think you’re a fool by now, someone that’s not capable of the spotlight anyway. Someone weak and undeserving.

On the other hand…..

Roger knew what it meant to make sacrifices, also for the sake of his other three band members back in the day. When you’re up against 3 equals, you’re not always able to convince them with your ability or choice. Whether it depends on the melody and musical part of each song or the lyrical choices. Roger often recalls having a song idea, which then ended up being taken apart by his band mates, trying to change every little thing possible.

This happens, especially when each individual has their own favourite type of musical style. The journey of a musician in expanding their horizon ends, with not feeling it inside their heart anymore. Or the feeling being lost, hurt and especially left out. No matter how many people they’re surrounded with.

You two were sitting with him on the black leather couch, one leg on the couch, one on the ground, while he was listening to you ramble on as if was the most interesting thing ever. Comforting you, giving advice, but most importantly not trying to lead you into any direction, which many people have tried before. He was there. He cared. Lost in comfort you pulled up your feet to place them in his lap. “I was too stubborn when I was younger, but I know now! Don’t do what might sound like the best idea. It usually ends up going into the opposite direction. If following your heart means breaking free from everything that’s holding you back now, then you could do that” Roger gave you a sympathetic smile, softly rubbing your ankles. “If it means taking a break from all of this” he made a circling gesture “then you could do that! Don’t feel like letting anyone down, they’ll understand. We used to release an album every year for quite some time, but the fans still continued supporting us, it’s not going to be any different here.” You brought your legs from his lap to the ground scooting closer to him. A failed attempt. “Do you know how to play?” he picked up the drum sticks that had been lying on the little table beside him and you shook your head in response. He got up and walked over to the drum kit with you following closely. “Be ready to learn from the best then” he sat down on the little stool behind the kit, making enough room for you between his legs, patting for you to sit down. You did. You held the drum sticks in both of your hands when he brought his around you, to teach you a simple pattern. “So try hitting the high hat eight times in beat of one measure. Snare comes in at 2nd and 4th hit.” You followed his instructions perfectly earning praise. “Yeah, just like that, keep the tempo. Now try adding the kick drum on both beginning and end of the 1st and 3rd beat.” You followed his instructions again. “We have a natural here” Roger laughed reaching forward to brush the hair out of your face that was sticking to your forehead. “Solo time” it took a few loud clashes on the cymbals to send the sticks flying through the room. “Ooops” you laughed covering your mouth with your hand, your head slightly tilting to one side as Roger laughed into your shoulder. “A true rockstar” you turned your head to face him.

No phone this time, no text interrupting this moment. There it was. Your all or nothing moment.

You leaned forward pressing your lips against his. He helped you turn around to sit in his lap without ever breaking the kiss.

“You’re the most impactful, strong and beautiful woman I got to witness in such a long time” he brought his hand up and brushed a few strands of your hair out of your face. You moved closer to him, pressing your lips against his again and he deepened the kiss. Your heart was racing when your lips touched his, the feeling of his beard tickling your chin as his mouth started to move along with yours, his lips surprisingly soft. You moved your hand into his messy hair as one of his hands moved to your hip, the other cradling your cheek. Sudden realization hit you and you pulled back. Roger opened his eyes at the sudden loss of contact, when he saw you with your head already in your hands as you were nervously pacing around the room. “I really seem to mess everything up, huh?” you mumbled to yourself, not intended for him to hear. “Hey, it’s alright” calming down was the last thing on your mind now. “You’re alright!” “No, nothing’s alright, Roger! I’ve been telling myself that for far too long now.. I get it if you don’t want to see or work with me ever again “you were cut off when his lips crushed against your again, he pulled you onto the leather couch with him, back into his lap. A feeling of safety crept into your heart as he pulled you tighter, kissing along your jaw. Nothing mattered, not the fact that your boyfriend was currently touring the states, avoiding every single temptation on the way, nor Roger’s wife who was patiently waiting for her husband’s phone call from the other side of the world. Your face was pressed against his chest, the scent on his shirt in your nose and it felt like the safest place in this world. He held you as close as possible. “What are we now” “I don’t know. But I hate the fact you’re everything I was looking for, when I wasn’t looking for it.” Roger replied with a hint of sadness in his voice, caressing your hair. “Have dinner with me, I know this restaurant, pretty hidden…” “what if they-“ “Brian’s going to be there. No paparazzi to worry about.” So you agreed. Without having any other conversation your current status, he held your hand. On the way to the cab, in the car itself, earning no suspicious look from the driver who probably didn’t even notice your intertwined fingers. Roger only let go once you entered the restaurant. Brian was already there, definitely not expecting you on joining them, as he had already taken a seat on a table for two. Roger was right, no paparazzi around. A young waitress with long brown hair pulled up into a ponytail, which was about 16 years old, was willing to reseat you. She was nervous and almost trembling, so you suspected her to be star struck by the two rock royalties who you shared the table with.. She came back with a tray of drinks, nearly tripping over own feet when she finally reached your table. Brian was just about to ask her if everything was alright, Roger beside you with a smug smile but it wasn’t them she was interested in. “Actually I’m so sorry it’s not really professional, but (Y/N) I’m such a big fan!! Could I please take a picture with you! I’m so sorry to disturb you, I just can’t help myself” the young waitress bounced nervously from one foot to the other. Roger took a quick picture for the girl, who had now basically wrapped her arms around you, still trembling. It was cute, a small reminder of why you’re still doing this. Making people happy… but somehow always leaving yourself out of the frenzy of happiness. She thanked you by giving you another squeeze and you took your seat next to Roger. “So… how’s the album getting along? Roger told about some complications concerning the guitarist? Did everything turn out alright?” Brian asked, taking a sip from the beer in front of him. You were struggling to answer that question. Your guitarist had basically left, you were far behind in production and material. Yeah everything went great, except for the fact that management was pressuring you, because of the money they were about to lose. Everything was great. Roger noticed the worry in your eyes so he was trying to change the topic. “Let’s not talk about work now, what are y’all having? Bill’s on me” he placed his hand on your thigh under the table, making sure no one would see and gave you reassuring squeeze. It was all you needed in this moment to calm down. Brian was quite suspicious. He had known his best friend for over 50 years now. Even considered him a brother. He knew when something was going on with Roger. And that was a lot in this moment. He saw it, right in front of him. Every single look that was exchanged between you and Roger, every single gesture and the exchanging touches. Love.

Roger payed the bill as promised and wanted to drop you off at your flat. Brian though had other plans, which involved a serious conversation with his best friend. So tricked Roger into the belief that some ‘serious’ problem about the upcoming tour came up.

“What the actual fuck do you think you’re doing Roger?” taglist: @bellamy1998 @oldfashionedlovergirlsblog

#roger taylor #roger taylor fanfic #roger taylor fanfiction #Queen #queen + Adam Lambert #Brian May #old roger taylor #present day roger taylor #roger taylor x reader #present day roger x reader #purple thunder

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happymetalgirl · 4 years

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February 2020

After a slow, but solid, start to the new decade last month, February sure picked the pace back up with a ton more releases. As usual though, the early month has seen a few more filler albums pushed out without the bands’ labels stirring up much of hype around them, and for some of it, you can see why. We got several more solid projects though that have me excited for what else their associated record labels have in store for the rest of the year. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here, there’s plenty to talk about for February, starting with Sepultura.

Sepultura - Quadra

Machine Messiah was the first album I reviewed for this blog, and in that review I made note of the silliness ongoing complaining about this Sepultura lineup not being the “real” Sepultura by fans who still clamor for Max to come back or for the current lineup to retire the Sepultura name. As the size of the Derek Green era discography gradually dwarfs the Max era catalog, Sepultura fans gradually come to accept that the past is the past and this is Sepultura now. And the mild contrast between Sepultura’s output as old late and Max’s creative output through Soulfly, Cavalera Conspiracy, and Killer Be Killed hasn’t really shown any major gulf in class between the estranged artists. Sepultura may not be putting out successive critically acclaimed masterpieces, but they sure have maintained a greater ambition for grander sounds and concepts than Max, who, by contrast, has come through with some solid projects himself, but has largely repeatedly retread the tribal nu metal ground of Roots and tried to give the death metal he practiced with Sepultura some modern updates, with mixed results. Machine Messiah found Sepultura weaving proggy and orchestral elements into their modern form of death metal with respectable success, and the band’s ninth album with Derek Green is a solid continuation of the styles and aesthetics that the band had been evolving into on and leading up to Machine Messiah. Quadra, though, I think just lacks a bit of that creative spark that its predecessor had. It splits the band’s compounded sonic evolution into its main parts by going through sections of thrashy songs, groovy songs, slightly experimental songs, and more moody melodic songs, and it makes for a nice flow to the album, but it feels like each part is missing some of the others while also not going all-in quite enough to make the splitting up of their stylistic components worth it. Again, it’s still solid, just not blowing me away.

6/10

Ihsahn - Telemark

Kind of an odd one here, just a quick five-track EP: three originals and two covers. The first of two EPs to come this year from the Emperor frontman and black metal progressive progenitor finds him largely continuing in short form the slightly blackened prog-rock he had going on on Ámr. The opening track, “Stridig”, rides this mostly continuous guitar rumble over a few intriguing proggy passages while Ihsahn snarls in classic fashion. On the vocal front, his style is raspy and distinctly black metal, but he keeps the roughness on his throat to a minimum to not overpower the instrumentation around him and to make more potent use of melody with his vocals. The second track, “Nord”, introduces a few little modern Opeth-isms and some subtle horn accents to up the prog factor as the EP gets a little lighter. The title track in the middle of the record really goes to prog town even more dramatically than the previous two and takes with the horns with it. With covers of Lenny Cravitz’ “Rock & Roll Is Dead” (which sounds like it wouldn’t be too far off from a Marilyn Manson cover if he also decided to cover the song) and “Wrathchild” by Iron Maiden rounding the album, Ihsahn continues his use of raspy vocal tones and meager black metal rasp over the rock and metal classics while giving the Maiden cut a sweet extra flair with the brilliant addition of a little horn section. It’s a splendid little addition to Ihsahn’s solo catalog and a continuation of his proggy vision for his brand of black metal.

7/10

Intronaut - Fluid Existential Interventions

I have kind of long seen Intronaut as the heir apparent to Isis, with their spacy, sludgy brand of post-metal taking that of the post-metal godfathers’ into more proggy territories, and the L.A.-based trio have gradually grown more into their skin over the past few records, taking , and with The Direction of Last Things having been released almost five years ago, I was starting to get a little worried about if they’d hung it up for some reason. The band shows that the longer break has not dampened their boldness or creativity as they pick up right where they left off with the marriage of gargantuan sludge heaviness and ethereal post-metal atmosphere. The band get a little Meshuggah-type jazz fusion going on in the song “The Cull” and keep that jazzy flow going on the spacy sections of “Contrapasso”, while getting infectiously headbangingly groovy on “Pangloss”. I love the ways the band finds to shift in so many different directions so smoothly. I’d say though that the repetition of smooth movements in similar directions from song to song continue to be the band’s Achilles heel, sometimes really needing some kind of X factor or some kind of compositional surprise to break their cycles in these songs so as to not feel so circlular. The groovy riffage on “Pangloss” is probably the closest the band comes to diverting from their post-metallic mould, and as much as I love it there, I wish there was more. It’s a strong effort from them nevertheless, but I hope the band don’t take so long to progress in this vein on their next album.

7/10

Napalm Death - Logic Ravaged by Brute Force

With a new record on the way this year, I’m sure happy to get a little appetizer from the grindcore legends in the form of this two-song EP. The first song, the titular “Logic Ravaged by Brute Force” kicks off on a melodic brooding note, but quickly ramps up into the band’s famous high grinding death gear. It’s a pretty solid track, just a bit lacking in aggressive pay-off during the choruses, the verses constantly bringing the tempo down. But it’s definitely the kind of Napalm Death song that fixated on its melodic brooding mood and its titular hook, not necessarily representative of the band’s whole catalog or the album to come. The second track of the two, the cover of Sonic Youth’s “White Kross”, is a bit more of a burner, but it fits quite well into that mould for that kind of Napalm Death track like “Omnipresent Knife in Your Back” that could work as an album closer as well.

It’s just two songs and you want a number? Come on./10

Anvil - Legal at Last

The long-running Canadian outfit’s previous album, Pounding the Pavement, served little more than a reminder of why they never ascended to the heights of thrash metal during that genre’s peak of cultural relevance, and I have not revisited that record since re-listening to it to figure out exactly where to place it on the year’s worst-of list. The bar has never been super high for Anvil, and Pounding the Pavement really made it seem like the only way to go was up. The corny cover art to this follow-up here, though, didn’t give me much hope, and it sure isn’t much of an improvement. As with any Anvil project, the lyrics on Legal at Last are malignantly atrocious, and any attempt to enjoy the album is going to have to overcome the serious hurdle of tuning out some of the dumbest lyrics that sound like they were lifted from a high-schooler’s math notebook. I, again, kind of went into the project not expecting much, and knew I was going to hear some truly cringy bars. The “Chemtrails” song, nevertheless, manages to astound me with its ridiculously stupid lyricism feeding into the titular conspiracy theory seemingly unironically. Nice one guys. I’ll say, the band at least kind of redeem themselves with their pointing out the obvious corruption surrounding the fossil fuel industry and government surveillance. Anyway, predictably shitty lyrics aside, the band channel the same Motörhead-esque proto-thrash they’ve channeled their whole career with similar compositional predictability and lack of imagination, and it tires really quickly. And there really isn’t much to say about it musically. The riffs here, I’d say, are marginally better than those on Pounding the Pavement, and this album at least slightly more tangibly fun than its even more bumbling predecessor.

4/10

Sylosis - Cycle of Suffering

For some reason I didn’t quite like this album when I first heard it, and what an idiot I was in that moment, because damn this album is solid! Blending thrash with some technical death metal much like Revocation and knowing when to inject a little metalcore rhythm, Sylosis have come through with a ferocious and pummeling, but melodically nimble record that channels pure thrash aggression in every direction it travels. The band works in rewarding thrash breakdowns in songs like “Arms Like a Noose” and gripping harsh vocal melodies on songs like “Idle Hands”, and all sorts of little touches that only make the compositions more and more intense; I think this may be their best effort yet!

8/10

God Dethroned - Illuminati

The trajectory of blackened death metal has really been impossible to separate from Behemoth’s highly influencial landmark album, The Satanist, with bands in the field all aware and taking cues from the Polish juggernauts on how to size up the already-mammoth-y style to biblical proportions. And while they still have their instinctive old-school death metal war-like brutishness showing through on songs like the title track, God Dethroned seem to be more willingly working in ethereal choirs and . Songs like “Spirit of Beelzebub”, “Eye of Horus”, and “Gabriel” show a clear Behemoth influence wrapping itself around the band; the intro of “Broken Halo” is perhaps the clearest tribute or rip-off of “Ov Fire and the Void” I have ever heard, and the song only continues to expound on the integration of Behemoth’s style into God Dethroned’s. As nice as the alternating mesh of old and new for the band is aesthetically, there are a few too many bland, filler cuts on here like “Book of Lies” and “Satan Spawn” weighing down the more excitingly volatile tracks with dragging performances that can only sound so good over such dry compositions.

6/10

Five Finger Death Punch - F8

Ivan Moody did a little phone interview with Loudwire prior to this album’s release and his assessment of his band’s recent output was actually pretty sober and realistic. Along with detailing the mental health benefits that have come with his newly committed sobriety (which I am genuinely happy about for him) Moody admitted that the band’s past two albums (And Justice for None and Got Your Six) have not been very special, and he’s right. He even said that the band’s double album pair was bloated and should have been trimmed down to one album, and he’s definitely right. He stated that he felt that the band has been in a rut for awhile and expressed a rejuvenated desire to make music that isn’t so here-today-gone-tomorrow, and he’s right about that. And he said that on this album, F8, the band really stepped it up and improved their craft to finally make something special again, and that’s where his hot streak of correctness ends. Don’t get me wrong, he’s partially right about F8 being better than the past two albums, but that’s not a very high bar to clear. I was very critical of And Justice for None when it came out in 2018 and I agree that it and Got Your Six are without a doubt the band’s worst albums, and that is saying something because they were on a downward slide for a long time and it wasn’t very surprising the way they bottomed out so badly on those two albums. While I don’t think the improvement was quite as dramatic as he made it out to be, I will say that I can see what Moody was talking about with the refined songwriting on F8, it really does seem like the band tried to inject a little more boldness into their writing and their performances have a bit more of a sense of purpose this time around. The band gives us a few glimpses of their younger selves with returns to The Way of the Fist heaviness on a couple songs, and even though they still don’t have the best track record for ballads, the few mellow tracks on F8 are certainly better than the past two albums’. On that subject, the track sequencing on F8 isn’t quite so disjointed and awkward as it was on And Justice for None. But again, the improvements still aren’t as dramatic as Ivan Moody might see them. The band still don’t really break out of their box too much; it’s not so much an album of them finally getting them out of their creative rut as it is an album of them slowly making their way out of that rut or getting them more capable in that rut. Again, it is a noteworthy enough improvement over the past two (or four even) albums’ drivel, but it’s not quite a full return to form. Hopefully this gets them back in the right direction though if it’s not too late.

4/10

Blaze of Perdition - The Harrowing of Hearts

The Polish quartet’s fifth full-length is another set of solid modern occult black metal with just enough of a sense of atmosphere and emotional rawness lifted from blackgaze. I certainly wouldn’t call this an atmospheric black metal album, but the band does venture into those more ethereal realms of black metal too. They do well to maintain their intensity throughout it too, as the atmospheric elements serve to create a more expansive and grand feel to the music rather than just breaking up and diluting the darker, heavier aspects.

7/10

Sightless Pit - Grave of a Dog

After a pretty big past few years for them, Lingua Ignota mastermind Kristen Hayter, The Body’s Lee Clifford, and Full of Hell frontman Dylan Walker teamed up for a seemingly casual dark-ambient-noise-venture to kick the decade off. I’m contrast to the extreme abrasiveness most of these artists peddle through their main projects, Grave of a Dog remains predominantly ambient until Dylan Walker’s distorted-noise-backed screams on “Drunk on Marrow” usher in the industrial noise of “Miles of Chain” and “Whom the Devil Long Sought to Strangle” being the standout exceptions. I enjoy Kristen Hayter’s ever-languishing operatic vocals across the album, especially on the minimal, piano-driven closing track and on “Violent Ruin”, on which the trio play with some autotune on her voice that actually comes out nicely. But for the most part, this album is so casually below all these artists’ punching weight, it’s no doubt just a quick bonus album project for all three of them that I’m sure pales in comparison to their past and future releases.

6/10

Insect Ark - The Vanishing

With clear influences from avant-garde elites like Sumac, Deathspell Omega, and Neurosis seeping through the pores of this album, Dana Schechter continues to refine Insect Ark’s spooky, psychedelic brand of instrumental doom metal with the help of newly-recruited drummer Andy Patterson’s well-tempered percussive accents to give the brooding songs more than just a steady anesthetized heartbeat, but also a newly percussive sense of punch. And the two gel in artistic partnership in such an seemingly innate way you would think they’d have been bandmates for years. The Vanishing, again, continues to hone the spacy, darkly ambient metallic psychedelia Insect Ark has carved out a niche for, floating from unnerving oppressive heaviness to eerie drones of dark, brassy ambiance with ease and confidence. I definitely respect and recommend this one highly.

8/10

Godthrymm - Reflections

Godthrymm is the offshoot project of a couple of former members of My Dying Bride, and Reflections is the trio’s first full length project together after a couple of EPs (from which a few songs on this album are pulled) that gave me mixed anticipations for this full-length. A Grand Reclamation in 2018 sounded very prototypic and derivative of Candlemass without the crucial bombast to back it up, but the band made some strides on 2019’s Dead in the Studio that clearly piqued Profound Lore’s interest, with much more melodically compelling songs like “We Are the Dead” and “Cursed Are the Many” making it into this LP. The band had a more I like the emotive Spirit-Adrift-esque guitar melodies that “The Sea as My Grave” incorporates and the more straightforward funeral dirge of “The Light of You”, and the band even improved the originally amateurish “The Grand Reclamation” from the first EP greatly with a more professional vocal performance and better drum accents. Still, much of the melody on here is not enough to really conjure any strong emotions and the grand doom the album shoots for isn’t quite as epic as it should be as a result. The band did well to improve upon their first efforts together, but I think they do still have a way to go.

6/10

The Amity Affliction - Everyone Loves You... Once You Leave Them

I didn’t totally hate The Amity Affliction’s pop-oriented direction on 2018′s Misery, but I didn’t like it much either (granted they’ve never really been my style), and I wonder if fans felt similarly about the stylistic drift because Everyone Loves You... Once You Leave Them is a definitive return to the band’s roots that, while still not entirely for me, I can definitely appreciate more than Misery. The band’s older sound that makes its way into this album is proportionally much more metalcore than the sound they trended toward on Misery, and even though I still don’t find the pop-punk-ish vocal style and melody writing to be a very fitting compliment to the early 2000’s metalcore the band rides instrumentally, I can much more clearly see the appeal this time around and enjoy a greater portion of the tracks here.

5/10

Kvelertak - Splid

Norwegian alchemists Kvelertak have been eccentrically fusing punk at varying degrees of hardcore and rock ‘n’ roll with black metal for four albums now and they’ve been pretty damn successful at it the whole time so at this point it’s a matter of what the band do with their established style, how far they can take what they already, and how much expanding they have to do to keep it sustainable. Splid shows that the band’s answer to all those questions is “yes, we can”. While much of the vibrant novelty of the self-titled debut and Meir has worn off, what’s left is a band showing that they are indeed more than an attention-grabbing novelty act and can keep their style going beyond that initial excitatory period. Stylistically Splid only occasionally draws from new-ish territory, occasionally going significantly light-spirited and even dancy, but otherwise it’s pretty much the Kvelertak we know and hopefully love, maybe some of that initial charm is a little worn and sensible through the compositional repetition, but sure as hell not to the point where it’s not a good time.

7/10

Frigoris - ...in Stille

Germany’s Frigoris continue to struggle to set themselves apart from the ambient black metal pack, which they present themselves as little more than a statistic in the growing homogeneity of the genre with all the baseline competence to pass but nothing stylistically or compositionally unique or forward-thinking.

5/10

殞煞 Vengeful Spectre - 殞煞 Vengeful Spectre

Blending ambient elements of traditional Chinese folk music into the atmosphere of Deafheaven-esque blackgaze (the vocals being some of the closest I have ever heard to George Clarke’s) this anomaly of a self-titled debut from 殞煞 Vengeful Spectre is a fantastic way to enter the fold for the Guangdong outfit, establishing a signature style early and with impressive genre-blending competence. I am eager to hear what this band has in store for the future.

8/10

Tombs - Monarchy of Shadows

A pretty sizeable EP from the Brooklyn-based four-piece, Monarchy of Shadows gives a pretty concise and tasty portrait of the band’s crushing Gorgoroth-esque black metal that sacrifices hardly any heaviness for its dissonant atmosphere. The compositions get a little repetitive as the EP draws on though, which does do a harsh number on the project’s otherwise consistently solid aesthetic. Luckily the more death metal-infused portions of the album like “The Dark Rift” and “Once Falls the Guillotine” kick some needed energy and compositional life into the project. I’d say it’s worth a go for anyone with a hankering for black metal with unrestrained distorted heaviness and occult vibes more than shoegazy ambianc; it’s not a mind-blower, but it’s a good quick dose of it.

7/10

Delain - Apocalypse and Chill

After being thoroughly disappointed by Within Temptation’s writer’s-block-ridden LP last year, I was honestly not in much of a mood for any more pop-oriented neoclassical symphonic metal this year, but after hearing a lot of praise for this new Delain project, I thought I’d give it a try, and Delain sure did change my appetite for the genre. The band sound so much more cathartically vibrant with their willingness to depart from the neoclassical norm into synthetic and other diverse stylistic territories, incorporating adrenaline-fueled downtuned guitar riffs, upward key shifts akin to alternative metal and power metal, and resounding melodic choruses into modern symphonies with big but tasteful production bolstering, and the Lacuna Coil-esque vocal trade-offs across it all are executed brilliantly. And even when the band go more traditional they show they can accomplish similarly invigorating results with a more bare production pallet, a truly impressive display of symphonic versatility and creative courage.

8/10

Suicide Silence - Become the Hunter

After the calamity that was their ill-fated attempt to branch out into Deftones-imitation and clean vocals on their self-titled album, Suicide Silence show that they thoroughly learned their lesson with their gruff, classically deathcore groovy sixth LP, Become the Hunter, which finds the band playing much more to their instrumental strengths and their signature style of deathcore chug (there is a lot of thicccc, delicious chug on this project), finds them taking their riff-writing style back a bit to The Cleansing and No Time the Bleed and feels more natural than what they were trying to do on the self-titled record. Eddie Hermida got the memo about his vocals on the self-titled; it’s all screams and growls here, not a “tee-hee” in sight. Unlike the aforementioned albums with Mitch Lucker behind the mic, Become the Hunter isn’t quite as productionally rough around the edges or as horror-movie eerie and menacingly evil. It’s all about the crunchy guitar rhythms all across the album, which finds the band repeating themselves a bit, but not so much that it feels more like derivative writing rather than convergent compositional tactics across the song. While it could certainly be seen as a run through the motions or a retreat to the band’s safe zone, this was definitely the return to form Suicide Silence needed after the misfire that was the previous record, and definitely a more exciting album for Hermida to showcase his deathcore vocal talent than You Can’t Stop Me. For me though, it’s definitely an improvement on the band’s meager first album with their new vocalist and its subsequent creative dry heave, and it sets a much more convincing tone for Suicide Silence going forward with Eddie Hermida.

8/10

Neaera - Neaera

Despite their fluctuating quality across the first run of their career, I was a surprised and disappointed when Neaera disbanded back in 2014, but equally enthralled to hear the band return to the fold thankfully not too long after. With this self-titled record being the German act’s first after returning from the grave, the band rose back up in the most emphatic way I can imagine. As self-titled albums are generally meant to, Neaera represents Neaera at their essence, blending Swedish melodic death metal with modern NWOAHM metalcore as they always have throughout their career. Indeed, the fascinating thing about this self-titled album is that it’s really not significantly stylistically different from the band’s previous efforts aside from some minor production tweaks. But Neaera really found the sweetest balance for themselves between the menacing blend of death metal urgency with a thrashy metalcore sense of rhythm and the cathartic guitar leads of melodic death metal, and I can’t honestly think of any other project that makes a better case for the intermingling of these styles than the case this album makes. While plenty of metalcore out there incorporates some elements of melodeath, Neaera’s brand that they crystallize on this album is the other way around, primarily melodic death metal but with the raw pounding drive of metalcore to provide a more punchy dynamic to a style that often finds itself in great need of it. And the band manages to mesh these genres in a manner that, rather than diluting them both, brings out the best in both of them. I could seriously sing this album’s praises for much longer, but I think I will leave it at it being the best album I’ve heard so far this year.

9/10

Ozzy Osbourne - Ordinary Man

I’ll admit that I don’t really follow the public life of the original Black Sabbath frontman too closely or intentionally, but it is pretty hard to avoid as well so it’s not like it’s even possible for me to be completely ignorant of how he’s doing. It goes without saying of course, but Ozzy Osbourne is a bonafide icon and singular figure for heavy metal that very very few, if anyone else, can compare to, and with his career and musical output kind of petering out over the past decade as his old age begins to get the better of him, there seems to be a greater sense of awareness in the metal world that we probably only have a few years more with Ozzy, if that. And it’s going to be a very profoundly somber day when the vocal godfather of heavy metal is gone. That being said, this is quite possibly the last album we will get from the prince of darkness and yet listening to it doesn’t quite feel that way. In the weeks leading up to the album, Ozzy’s supporting tour was postponed (or maybe just cancelled), and the man himself said that he does not have his health as is not happy. Yet the album sounds like a very stale, yet modern take on Ozzy’s doomy and classic heavy metal sounds with some modern rock production updates that honestly sound a few generations younger than its seventy-one year old apparent creator, and Ozzy himself sounds uncannily clear, coherent, and healthy. I saw a little bit of dismissal of this album as not being a profound conceptual contemplation of mortality like David Bowie’s, Leonard Cohen’s, or David Berman’s last albums, and while I definitely enjoy those artist’s swansong albums more than this and while I do feel like Ozzy deserves a proper album that better represents his importance to and impact on metal and culture at large, I don’t know if that’s the kind of album Ozzy wants to make. The man is struggling with Parkinson’s disease and based on his music leading up to this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if he just wants to make fun rock music therapeutically to get his mind off the pain rather than honing in on it and intensifying it. Going back to criticism of the album though, Ozzy still sounds so checked out in his performances despite his suspiciously healthy-sounding voice that I can’t help but wonder how touched up it is, the exception being the title track featuring Elton John on which Ozzy does get a little introspective about realizing his ambitions and cementing his legacy as a music legend. Ozzy also sounds more enthusiastic in his performance with Post Malone on the galloping, blood-pumping closing track “It’s a Raid”, but for the majority of the album, it really sounds like he doesn’t even want to be there, and I just hope this wasn’t something people around him pressured him into. I really do want to reiterate my utmost respect for Ozzy Osbourne and all that he has done for the music I love so much, and I would love to hear him round out his legendary career in a more fitting manner. But if he needs to end it here to rest and heal, which it really seems like he does, I won’t begrudge the man or take anything away from his legacy and what he’s accomplished for music. Thank you forever Ozzy, and whatever you do next, as always, go fucking crazy.

5/10

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celtics534 · 5 years

Text

When I Watch the World Burn, All I Think About is You

Chapter 4 of Doom Days is upon us and it’s one of my favorites! I’ve gotta thank @gryffindormischief and @thedistantdusk for all their help! Without them, this fic wouldn’t be the same!

Also read on: FF.net and AO3

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Harry knew he shouldn’t feel aroused by Ginny examining his wound, but between the feeling of her fingers moving smoothly over his shoulder and his current… view—

“Everything looks as good as expected.” Ginny leaned away from Harry, her chest rising with each breath she took. Harry forced his eyes to drift away from the movement.

“Tha —” Harry cleared his throat. “That’s good.”

Ginny reached over to the bedside table where she had placed the bandage. “How does it feel?”

Harry’s was about to give his classic answer of fine, but the glare Ginny sent him stopped the word dead in his throat. “It’s a little sore,” he admitted.

“I thought as much.” Ginny gave him a look of approval. “I have some pain meds that should help.” She nodded towards the bedside table while she cut a piece of medical tape. Harry grabbed the bottle of pills and his canteen of water.

“So.” Harry fished around for a topic, but his mind had only one question he wanted to ask her. “You excited to see Dean?”

Ginny held the bandage in place while lining up the tape. “Hm? Oh.” She paused, her tongue sticking out of her teeth as she concentrated. “I guess so.”

Harry’s heart plummeted into his stomach. “You didn’t end on bad terms or anything?”

“Not really.” Ginny leaned away to admire her work. “That should hold for a while. Though we should check it again before we leave for Bill’s.” She turned away and started cleaning up the supplies.

He really didn’t want to ask, he knew he shouldn’t ask, but his curiosity would kill him if he didn’t find out. “What do you mean by not really?”

“Oh, we would still talk in the corridors after I broke things off with him.” Ginny gave him a sideways glance. “And I broke things off with him because he treated me like some damsel in distress. And I am no damsel.”

Harry shook his head. “No, you’re not.”

Ginny smiled. “You’ve never treated me like some helpless maiden.”

“Because you’re not one.”

Her grin widened. “That’s right, but some blokes…” She shrugged. “On a journey like this, some would become overbearing and try to hide me behind every corner. What I'm trying to say is, thank you."

She shrugged, the picture of nonchalance except for the blazing look in her eyes. It felt as if her gaze was burning him up from the inside out. He was more than willing to combust if it meant she would always look at him like that.

Between that look and her slightly parted lips, Harry couldn't stop himself. He leaned up and pressed his lips to hers.

Ginny let out a muffled sound of surprise, but it only took her a second to respond. She positioned herself so she hovered over him. Her arms came up to wrap around his neck, while he moved his to her hips. He pulled her onto his lap, nothing but her filling his mind and senses.

It was a noise downstairs that brought them back to reality. Ginny pulled away from Harry. He could still feel her breath on his face. “What was that?”

Harry shook his head. When he spoke it was as if he hadn’t used his voice in twenty years. “I don’t know.”

As if on cue, Seamus’ thick accent called from below. “Oi! Ready for supper?”

Harry let his head fall onto Ginny’s shoulder. “Fuck.”

Ginny’s fingernails started scraping his scalp in the most delightful way. “Come on, we shouldn’t keep him waiting.” She started to stand, but Harry gripped her hips with cat-like reflexes, holding her still.

“Are —” He looked into her confused eyes. “We should talk about —”

Ginny silenced his ramblings with a swift kiss. “Tonight,” she promised.

This time when she moved, Harry allowed her to fully stand. She offered him a hand to help him up off the bed. “I — uh —” Harry hoped his face wasn’t as red as it felt. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

It took Ginny all of two seconds to understand his current predicament. She nodded, a smug smirk on her lips. “I’ll tell Seamus you’ll be — uh — down in a moment.”

Before Harry could do more than blink, Ginny pressed her lips to his. When she pulled away, her smile was intoxicating. He couldn’t help but watch her leave. The way her hips swayed…

Harry moaned, his head in his hands. Holy fuck! He had just kissed Ginny Weasley! Something he’d dreamed of since he was sixteen.

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Harry cut another piece from his slice of roast, his attention only half on his food. Ginny was across from him, talking to Dean. Her ex. He wasn’t proud of it, but Harry hated seeing this other bloke make her smile.

Fuck off, Harry scolded himself. He had no right to be a jealous git when she was only talking with him. Not to mention he didn't have a claim to her or anything. Yet — after what had just happened up in that small bedroom...

"Oh, I remember!" Ginny laughed at Dean’s story. “I still can’t believe Sprout fell for that.”

“She was a little preoccupied.” Dean’s smile infuriated Harry almost as much as the fact that Dean’s body had shifted closer to Ginny’s again! “Seamus had just lit his desk on fire.”

“Oi!” Seamus leaned around his girlfriend Lavender in order to defend himself. “It wasn’t the whole table.”

“Yeah, just three out of four of the beakers.”

“See, that’s not the whole table!”

The table laughed at Seamus’ obvious pride. Their group consisted of five people, besides himself and Ginny. Seamus, Dean, Lavender, a woman named Padma, and a quiet man called Dennis.

Harry had to admit the idea of having everyone convene in the town’s old church for dinner was great for morale and connection. Looking around the room he only saw content faces. A few of the older men had taken to some instruments and were plucking a merry tune.

“Come on, Shay.” Lavender stood from her seat and dragged Seamus up from his position. “Let’s dance.”

“Of course, m’lady.” Seamus winked at the group. “Footloose taught me something about dancing, and what it leads to.”

Dean snorted as his friend moved into the centre of the room. Harry saw Dean glance at Ginny before draining his glass and standing. “So, Gin.” Dean’s voice took on a forced casual tone, his palm reaching out to offer Ginny a hand up. “Care to dance? For old times’ sake.”

Harry had to stop himself from taking the offered hand and breaking it. Instead, his focus fell to Ginny. To his immense pleasure, she shook her head. “Thanks for the offer, Dean, but I want to finish my food first.” She pointed over at Padma. “But I’m sure Padma would love to accompany you.”

Padma looked surprised but nodded. “That sounds fun.”

Dean’s face took on a look of annoyance before shifting to a smile. “Sure! Come on.” He held out a hand for her to take.

Harry watched the crowd start to form on the makeshift dance floor. The dancers varied in age and style. There were people just moving to the beat with their partner, while others (Seamus and Lavender) were dancing in a way that left little to the imagination.

Ginny let out a low laugh, turning Harry’s attention back on her. Her focus was on Dean and Padma, who awkwardly swayed together. “You know, it may be the apocalypse, but it would take a lot more than that for me to dance with Dean again.” She looked at him. “You, on the other hand…”

Without needing another hint, Harry rose from his seat and nodded towards the dancers. “Care to dance?”

She tapped her chin in mock consideration. “Hmm. Let me think...” Ginny let her voice trail off, making Harry rolled his eyes with affection. She laughed while taking his hand. “I’d love to.”

Harry really hadn’t thought through the fact that he’d actually have to dance. He was not a good dancer. At all the school formals, he’d been the bloke standing in the corner of the room, sipping on punch and trying to forget he was there.

The music was a fast-paced jolly tune, and Harry had no idea what he should be doing. His arms felt awkward and lanky. He figured he must look like a baboon.

Ginny laughed. "What do you call that move?"

"Er —"

Ginny mimicked him. "Luna would love this."

Harry nodded, his attention only half on her words. He couldn't keep his eyes off her. She was a masterpiece. She swayed to the music, making her hair flow around her. In Harry’s opinion, she would be the best exhibit in the most prestigious museum. Everything about her — Harry couldn’t even put it into words.

He didn’t notice the change in tempo until Ginny pressed in close and wrapped her arms around his neck. Harry’s hands fell to her hips, his fingers grazing the bare skin under her shirt.

Ginny looked at him with a smile. “What are you thinking about? You have this adorable look on your face.”

“I —” Why couldn’t Harry ever articulate what he was feeling? He wanted to tell her how incredible she looked and how perfect she made everything feel. The world outside of the church was in complete ruins, but right at this moment… none of it mattered, because he was safe in her arms. He would love to tell her that, but instead his tongue tied itself into knots, making him look like a fool. “I — I'm just really happy.”

“Me too, Harry.” Ginny continued to sway them to the melody. She rested his head on his chest, her ear sitting right over his heart.

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Ginny walked into the small bedroom, her dirty clothes in her arms. She had changed in the loo a few doors down while Harry had gotten ready for bed in their room. Their room. That was still an odd notion. Their room, where they had kissed only a few hours previously. God, that kiss had been on Ginny’s mind most of the night.

She had wanted to tell Seamus to fuck off when he’d called them for supper. At the time, she thought Harry’s lips were the only substance that she needed. But that logic had only lasted a minute. Her brain had come back to her with a stab of hunger.

Then dancing. Fuck, she loved dancing with Harry. Being in his arms made her feel as if all the problems in the world didn’t exist. There was only him and her. And now it really was just going to be him and her.

Ginny knocked on their closed door. “You decent, Harry?”

She waited for his muffled yes before entering. He was lying on the floor, a pillow under his head and a small throw blanket covering his body.

“What are you doing?” Ginny stopped in the doorway, her free hand naturally going to her hip.

“Er —” Harry sat up, the blanket sliding down and revealing a spray of dark hair across his chest.

Ginny felt her mouth go dry, but she refused to be deterred. “What did I say this morning?” She moved into the room and placed her old clothing on a spindle-legged chair in the corner. Then she walked over to the bed and peeled back both sides of the covers. “There is no way you’re sleeping on the floor.” She lay down on her side before patting the empty space. “Come on.”

It took Harry a few seconds to rise from his makeshift bed. Slowly he moved in beside her, pulling the blankets up over them. Ginny then turned to her bedside table, blowing out the candle to surround them in darkness.

The darkness wasn’t the only thing that enveloped them, though. There was an awkward silence that Ginny hated more than she wanted to admit. Harry was there beside her, but he lay like a board, his arms plastered to his side.

“For fuck’s sake,” Ginny muttered. She turned onto her side and tapped Harry on the arm. “Look at me.”

Harry turned. The beam of moonlight coming through the curtains provided Ginny with the information she needed. He looked… nervous. Ah, Ginny thought, he doesn’t know where we stand.

Ginny took a deep breath. She was done pretending. All she wanted was to fall asleep in his arms. Without any more hesitation, Ginny slid across the gap between them, her head resting in the crook of Harry’s neck, a soft mimic of their earlier dance. His heady scent filled her up like a warm drink. “Let’s go to sleep, Harry.”

After a few seconds, Harry’s hand rested on her hip. “Goodnight, Gin.” His voice was quiet in the silent room. She felt his lips on her temple. It was a simple gesture, but fuck, it was perfect.

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Ginny woke slowly, loving the warmth that encompassed her. She didn’t want to move in case it ruined her utopia. Ginny could feel Harry’s fingers rubbing slow circles on a small patch of exposed skin on her back. It surprised her that he was awake. After the last few days… he should be knocked out cold. Hell, so should she.

She nuzzled her nose into Harry’s neck, letting herself become lost to the world. All that her brain cared about at that moment was how perfect she felt in Harry’s embrace.

Harry let a sharp breath out his nose, ruffling her hair. His hands pressed more firmly on her skin, shifting from her back to her arm. The feeling of his calloused fingers running up and down her freckled arms sent shivers down Ginny’s spine. Without thinking, she pressed a lazy kiss to his neck. When Harry let out a throaty groan, Ginny did it again. And again.

Harry tangled their legs together and Ginny moved her hands up Harry’s bare back, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. She pressed her nails into his shoulder, pulling him towards her. Harry rolled over her. His mouth connected with hers before drifting down her chin, past her neck... Ginny moaned as his hot breath warmed her breasts through her shirt. Gooseflesh erupted on her arms as her senses heightened in the growing darkness.

Harry’s fingers began to toy with the hem of her top, pushing it slowly up her stomach. Her breath hitched from the pressure of his hot open-mouthed kisses, ones that were traveling further and further up. His breath came in sharp pants as he lifted her shirt to her breasts.

“Har —” Ginny’s voice caught in her throat as his lips teased the underside of her right breast. She exhaled before trying again. “Harry, wait a second.” Harry pulled back in an instant, his expression wild. In the faint light, Ginny could see very little green in his eyes, having been overtaken by his dark pupils.

“Gin?” Harry’s rough tone only fuelled her. She rolled off the bed, moving swiftly to her rucksack. With numb fingers, she sifted through her minimal belongings. Finally, she found the box she was looking for.

“Ginny?” Harry spoke again, sounding no more in control than before. He was sitting up, his legs over the side of the mattress.

Ginny reached the bed, putting the box of condoms beside Harry. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her weight into his side. Her lips reconnected with his as if they’d never parted, and Ginny pressed Harry onto his back.

Harry’s fingers went back to the hem of her shirt, which had fallen back down to cover her torso. “Is this — “ Ginny saw his Adam’s Apple bob. “Are you sure?”

There wasn’t a second of hesitation. “Fuck yes.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next time Ginny woke, it wasn’t an easy rise. The sound of screaming and — Ginny’s tired mind had a hard time placing the noise at first, but she soon realized it was the crackling of flames. Ginny jumped from under the covers, the summer night air hitting her naked body with ferocity. Without pause, she grabbed the nearest article of clothing on the floor. Harry’s shirt came halfway down her thigh as she hustled over to the parted curtain.

Though the noises had given her an inkling of what she was about to see, they truly hadn’t prepared her. The cute little town she had toured was on fire: Buildings, abandoned cars, and people were all engulfed in flames outside her window. Bodies were lying on the ground, flesh burning. It was then that her sense of smell returned. Searing skin was not something that settled well. She closed the window quickly, hoping to cut off the odor.

Harry was stirring when she turned around. On a normal night, Ginny would have crawled back under the covers, run her fingers through his messy bedhead, and kissed his chapped lips. But this was not the time. Maybe someday they’d get there, nights where the comfort of each other’s arms wasn’t a stolen luxury.

"Harry, we need to go!" Ginny searched for her previously discarded jeans.

Harry blinked for a few seconds, a confused look on his face. When he spoke his voice was rough with sleep. "Why?"

Apparently, Harry slept like the dead after — vigorous activities.

Ginny found her worn blouse under the bed. She pulled Harry’s tee shirt over her head and threw it at him. “I don’t know what it is, but it’s not good.”

Harry took her advice and started moving. When he rose from the bed, his face drained of color, his attention drawn to the window. The flames had started to create shadow puppets through the curtains. Ginny watched the wave-like motion on the far wall.

“What the fuck?” Harry muttered, zipping his jeans with clumsy fingers.

“That’s the question.” Ginny grabbed their rucksacks and threw Harry his. “And we’re gonna go find out.”

Harry shook his head. “If this is a raid, I need to get you out of here.”

Ginny could actually feel her jaw drop. “What? No!” She pointed at the window behind her. “We need to go and help!”

In an instant, Harry was in front of her, his hands lightly gripping at her upper arms.

“I need to get you out of here.” His eyes flickered from the brightness outside, but it wasn’t just the fire giving his gaze its intensity. “We’ll help everyone on the way, but Gin...” His voice, which had been rough with sleep beforehand, took on a new severity. He seemed unable to complete his thought, his throat working rapidly.

“What?” Ginny didn’t understand why Harry would just want to leave. These people deserved help. Before she could open her mouth to ask what was going on his head, Harry’s lips had taken hers. The possessiveness in his kiss startled her. The way he held her jaw in his hands made her feel like she was his world. Nothing else mattered to him.

When Harry took his lips away from her, his forehead came to rest on hers. She didn’t open her eyes, unable to face the potential magnitude of his gaze. If it was anywhere near the ferocity she had felt in his kiss…

A thud from outside the bedroom door pulled their situation back into sharp focus. Harry breathed in deeply before backing fully away and swinging his rucksack over his shoulder. “We best go find out what that was.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

What ‘it’ turned out to be was Seamus coming home from his evening out, except rather than a night out drinking with his mates and woman he’d come off worse in a knife fight. Ginny could see the red trail down the wall where Seamus had slumped to the floor.

Seamus’ lips trembled as Ginny crouched in front of him. Blood was trickling from his mouth. She placed a hand over the dark red stain on his stomach. Seamus let out a pitiful cough. “You —” he swallowed hard. “You two need to get out.”

“We need to bandage your wound,” Ginny argued. She looked around at Harry, the demand for first aid supplies dying on her tongue as he emerged from the nearby loo with gauze wrap and medical tape.

“It’s the best we have.” Harry knelt beside her. He scooted her hands out of the way and lifted Seamus’ shirt. Ginny nearly vomited at the sight. Seamus’ pale Irish tone had been repainted red.

“There is no point.” Seamus batted Harry’s help away. “I won’t.” He coughed again, this time blood coming out of his lungs. “I’m not gonna make it.”

“Shay.” Harry looked like a kicked dog.

Seamus shook his head once, his eyes fluttering closed. “There is a car in Ma’s garage. Key under the passenger side mat.” He slumped further down the wall. His breathing became more labored. “Go.”

It didn’t feel right. Ginny wanted to help him, she needed to at least try. She looked at Harry and saw her own hesitation reflected back at her.

“Shay,” Harry said again, his hand coming up to grip the dying man’s shoulder.

Seamus slowly opened one eye. “Go.”

Ginny knew it was up to her to make them leave. Harry would never be able to leave his friend in this state without helping. She used her clean hand to turn Harry’s cheek. His green eyes were filled with turmoil. All Ginny wanted to do was hold him close and never let go. This man had been through so much, and there didn’t seem to be any end in sight.

She didn’t speak, but Harry clenched his jaw before nodding. He rose and took Ginny’s hand. As they walked down the stairs, Ginny swore she heard Seamus let out a deep sigh before the corridor went silent.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Harry looked around the corner of the old shop wall. They had been treading across the compound, each with a gun in hand. The air was filled with smoke, making visibility low. Add that to the overwhelming sounds of pained screams and Ginny might as well have been deaf and blind.

She could feel Harry’s presence more than see it. Though the atmosphere was already hot, Ginny swore that Harry’s body next to her warmed her another five degrees. “Okay, we’re gonna make a break for the building across the street. You ready?”

The real question was if she would ever be ready? “Yeah.”

Harry nodded once, which gave him a distorted look in the clouded air. “Okay. Follow my lead.” He turned back to check if the coast was clear a final time, then he took off at a jog. Ginny was hot on his heels. In the middle of the once populated high street, a Jaguar XJ burned.

They reached the other side, swiftly ducking into an empty alley.

“Where did Seamus’ mum live?” Ginny asked.

“Should be the next street over.” Harry paused at the end of the lane, again peering around a building’s wall to see the road view. “We’ve got three — no four figures.”

“Figures?” Ginny pressed herself into Harry’s back, lowering her voice. That wasn’t vague at all. “Friendly figures?”

“Doesn’t look it.” Harry pulled his entire body back behind the wall. He spun around, his face now incredibly close to hers. “They are right in front of Seamus’ mother’s house.”

Ginny let out a groan, stifling it in Harry’s chest. “Of course they are.” His hand came to rub her back lightly. “What’s the plan?”

Harry’s hand stilled for a millisecond before resuming its comforting motion. “I don’t want to risk shooting them. The sound might attract more people and not to mention a lack of visibility… I hate shooting in the dark.”

She lifted her head. “So, let's try to sneak by them.”

He mulled her idea over for a second. “If we stay low to the ground they will be less likely to see us.” He licked his lips and Ginny’s eyes followed the motion. Her mind drifted back to only a few hours before. What those lips had been doing to her… and that tongue. Not the fucking time, Ginny!

Ginny took a deep breath, hoping the oxygen (no matter how poor it was) would bring her back to reality. “We stay low to the ground and if we have to, knock a few heads in.”

Harry let out a low laugh. “Alright, we’ll go with your plan. But you have to follow my lead, got it?”

“If it will make you happy.”

Harry’s unchaste smirk had no place in their situation. No, that was the way he had looked right before his head had disappeared between — For fuck’s sake, Ginny! Get your mind out of the gutter.

At this rate, she was going to be shot because she couldn’t keep her thoughts out of her knickers.

“I wouldn’t say it makes me happy.” Harry didn’t seem to notice impure war raging in her mind as he spoke. “But c'est la vie.” He shrugged one shoulder. Then before Ginny could do more than question why he’d spoken French, his warmth enclosed her, his lips covering hers with urgency.

As quickly as his welcomed intrusion to her personal space had started, it ended. Harry still had that dirty grin on his face. “That’s what makes me happy.” Then in the blink of an eye, he turned back to the task at hand. “Alright, they all have their backs to us. Let’s go now.”

Ginny did as he said, practically stepping on his heels, as they dashed across the open street. She never took her eyes off the shadows. The closer they got to the other side of the road, the clearer the figures became. All men, if their bulk was anything to go by. And now Ginny could see a prone figure… an unmoving prone figure.

The men's voices were now carrying over the sound of flames and crying victims.

"I can't believe you killed her." One of the men (if you could call monsters like them that) had a raspy voice. "We could have taken her back with us. Can't remember the last time we had something to play with back on base."

"She was trying to escape!" This time a deep voice spoke. "Our orders were to kill everyone."

"He wouldn’t know about one girl, now would he?”

Ginny suppressed a shudder at the meaning of their words. This was the world they lived in, where people thought they should be able to take whatever they wanted, no matter whose rights were violated.

As he took a high step in order to get over the curb, Harry pointed towards one of the houses that lined the street. They moved past the wide-open front door and Harry guided them into a small study off of the main corridor, shutting the door behind them.

Harry let out a long slow breath. Ginny could only see his outline, the closed window blinds letting in little of the light from the inferno outside. “Fuck.”

Ginny nodded. “You could say that. Which house was it again?”

“The one adjacent to this one.”

“Right.” Ginny moved slowly to the closed door and placed her ear against the wood. No sounds. No footsteps or voices. She turned the knob slowly, praying the door wouldn’t creak and alert any unknown enemies.

“Gin!” Harry’s voice was quiet but sharp. She turned her head, putting a finger to her lips to shush him, her eyes locked onto his. The was a beat; no noise was heard from inside the small room, but many things were said.

It was a brief but telling conversation... one where Ginny asked for trust and Harry, who had always had a hard time relying on others, fell into place. When he nodded, the desire to kiss him, to close the door and show him how much it meant to her that he trusted her, almost outweighed everything else.

Almost.

After a second beat, Ginny was able to draw herself back to the task at hand. She stuck her head out the crack between the door jamb and door. Looking left, Ginny could see the open front entry. To the right was a dark doorway. Dark, but not so dark it seemed like an abyss.

Ginny turned back to look at Harry. She could sense his intense look more than see it. It made her shudder but in a completely different way from before. She leaned in close, keeping her tone low. “Follow me.”

Without waiting for a response, she sidestepped out of the small opening and headed further into the house. The doorway led them into a surprisingly well-kept kitchen. Ginny could tell it was well kept because of the small window over the sink that let in the moonlight. She walked over to it and looked out onto an overgrown garden. A garden tended to mean… She looked into the far corner and saw a door just past the edge of the counter.

“Harry, we can—” Ginny stopped mid sentence, her mind going blank as she turned to the sight of Harry being held still by a knife on his throat.

“Now who might you be?” The man’s voice made a shiver run down Ginny’s spine. “A pretty girl shouldn’t be out alone in these trying times. You never know who might — sneak up on you.”

Harry’s body jerked as the man dug the blade further into Harry’s skin.

Ginny didn’t know what to do. If she reached for her own blade or gun he would slice Harry’s throat. Harry was staring at her and by the light of the window, she was able to understand his message. Run.

She shook her head once, her mind searching for any way out of this. A distraction. Yes, that was her best bet.

Ginny forced her shoulders to relax and tilted her head slightly to the right. She fluttered her eyelashes. “You’re so right.”

On a normal day, the cartoon-like way Harry’s jaw dropped would have made her laugh, but now wasn’t the time or place. She kept her attention on the man, watching for any sign of weakness.

Ginny took a step forward, taking it as a good sign that knife didn’t dig further into Harry’s throat. She moved in close enough to smell the bandit’s putrid body odour. Ginny forced her tone to become sultry. “I mean you would never get caught, a big man like you.”

She had to swallow down the bile that rose in her throat as the man leered at her. “You’ve got that right, darlin’.”

Refusing to let her gag reflex get the best of her, Ginny ran a hand up their assailant’s arm as she circled around him. She let the pads of her fingers trail across his shoulder blades. When she reached his other side, Ginny teased her lips next to his ear. “I don’t doubt it.”

The instant his hold on Harry lessened, Ginny pounced. She knocked the blade away, making it skitter across the floor. At the same time, she used all her strength to push his nose up into an awkward angle. The feeling of breaking bones against her hand had never been a satisfying feeling until that very moment.

“Fuck!” Ginny ignored the man’s cry, more focused on Harry, who had taken his cue to move without hesitation. Before the attacker knew what had happened, Harry’s elbow had collided with his temple. The man crumpled like a ragdoll.

Ginny picked up the blade, which had landed off to her left. When she stood back up she saw Harry feeling at the skin near his throat. “Are you okay, Harry?”

Harry’s hand fell to his side as he looked at her with that piercing stare again. “Thanks to you I am. Gin, You were —” he swallowed, “You were amazing.”

“Thanks,” Ginny smirked at their victim. “I can’t believe he fell for that… I have a type, and he’s not it.”

Harry let out a low laugh. “I sure hope not, seeing as I look — and smell — nothing like him.” He glared at the man. “What should we do with him?”

Ginny considered their options. They could kill him. It would be as easy as one flick of the wrist with a blade in hand, but…

“We should just leave.” Ginny pointed at the back door she’d noticed before. “My guess is that if this house has a little garden —”

“Seamus’ mother’s place might have one too.” Harry nodded. “The garage might even be in the back.”

Ginny started to move towards the backdoor. “That’s what I’m thinking too. So lets —” For the second time, Harry was the cause of her dropped off sentence. This time, though, it was due to his lips covering hers. The way his hands pressed her close to him… Ginny forgot about everything. The fact that the world around them was burning came second to the feeling of his hands skimming down her side to her hips.

Before she could melt into him, Harry pulled back just enough so his forehead rested on hers. “Gin, we never got to talk about — everything. But I just need you to know, it wasn’t — it wasn’t one of those ‘end of the world things’ for me. You know what I mean?”

A lump formed in Ginny’s throat. She hadn’t needed to hear those words from him, she had known it was more than just one of those ‘let’s shag to shag’ situations. Between his touch and the way he’d looked at her before, during, and after, Ginny had known what it had meant to both of them. But to hear him say it…

Ginny nuzzled her nose to his before pressing her lips back to his. “I do. And ditto, Harry. Ditto.”

The relieved breath Harry released made her want to kiss him again, but she knew it would become too addictive and then they’d never the little house. With a great effort, Ginny pulled away from Harry but took his hand as she made for the door again.

“Let’s get out of here.”

#Hinny Doom Days #Harry Potter #harry potter fanfiction #hinny #hinny fanfic #hinny fic #harry potter fan fiction #harry X ginny

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jenniferjapanlitblog-blog · 5 years

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10 Fiction Japanese Books

1. Convenience Store Woman “ incomparable story of Keiko Furukura, a thirty-six-year-old Tokyo resident who has been working at the Hiiromachi “Smile Mart” for the past eighteen years. Keiko has never fit in, neither in her family, nor in school, but in her convenience store, she is able to find peace and purpose with rules clearly delineated clearly by the store’s manual, and copying her colleagues’ dress, mannerisms, and speech. She plays the part of a “normal person” excellently—more or less. Keiko is very happy, but those close to her pressure her to find a husband and a proper career, prompting her to take desperate action” by sayaka murata -176 pages- (barnesandnoble.com)

2. I Am a Cat “Written from 1904 through 1906, Soseki Natsume's comic masterpiece, I Am a Cat , satirizes the foolishness of upper-middle-class Japanese society during the Meiji era. With acerbic wit and sardonic perspective, it follows the whimsical adventures of a world-weary stray kitten who comments on the follies and foibles of the people around him.” by soseki natsume -480 pages- (barnesandnoble.com

3. The Makioka Sisters “Tsuruko, the eldest sister of the once-wealthy Makioka family, clings obstinately to the prestige of her family name even as her husband prepares to move their household to Tokyo, where that name means nothing. Sachiko compromises valiantly to secure the future of her younger sisters. The shy, unmarried Yukiko is a hostage to her family’s exacting standards, while the spirited Taeko rebels by flinging herself into scandalous romantic alliances and dreaming of studying fashion design in France. Filled with vignettes of a vanishing way of life, The Makioka Sisters is a poignant yet unsparing portrait of a family—and an entire society—sliding into the abyss of modernity. It possesses in abundance the keen social insight and unabashed sensuality that distinguish Tanizaki as a master novelist.” by junichiro tanizaki -544 pages- (barnesandnoble.com)

4. The Factory “In an unnamed Japanese city, three seemingly normal and unrelated characters find work at a sprawling industrial factory. They each focus intently on their specific jobs: one studies moss, one shreds paper, and the other proofreads incomprehensible documents. Life in the factory has its own logic and momentum, and, eventually, the factory slowly expands and begins to take over everything, enveloping these poor workers. The very margins of reality seem to be dissolving: all forms of life capriciously evolve, strange creatures begin to appear… After a while—it could be weeks or years—the workers don’t even have the ability to ask themselves: where does the factory end and the rest of the world begin?” by hiroko oyamada -128 pages- (barnesandnoble.com)

5. Once and Forever “Kenji Miyazawa is one of modern Japan’s most beloved writers, a great poet and a strange and marvelous spinner of tales, whose sly, humorous, enchanting, and enigmatic stories bear a certain resemblance to those of his contemporary Robert Walser. John Bester’s selection and expert translation of Miyazawa’s short fiction reflects its full range from the joyful, innocent “Wildcat and the Acorns,” to the cautionary tale “The Restaurant of Many Orders,” to “The Earthgod and the Fox,” which starts out whimsically before taking a tragic turn. Miyazawa also had a deep connection to Japanese folklore and an intense love of the natural world. In “The Wild Pear,” what seem to be two slight nature sketches succeed in encapsulating some of the cruelty and compensations of life itself.” by kenji miyazawa -288 pages- (barnesandnoble.com)

6. The Lonesome Bodybuilder “A housewife takes up bodybuilding and sees radical changes to her physique, which her workaholic husband fails to notice. A boy waits at a bus stop, mocking commuters struggling to keep their umbrellas open in a typhoon, until an old man shows him that they hold the secret to flying. A saleswoman in a clothing boutique waits endlessly on a customer who won’t come out of the fitting room, and who may or may not be human. A newlywed notices that her spouse’s features are beginning to slide around his face to match her own.” -224 pages- by yukiko motoya (barnesandnoble.com)

7. Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination “Japanese Tales of Mystery & Imagination , the first volume of its kind translated into English, is written with the quick tempo of the West but rich with the fantasy of the East. These nine bloodcurdling, chilling tales present a genre of literature largely unknown to readers outside Japan, including the strange story of a quadruple amputee and his perverse wife; the record of a man who creates a mysterious chamber of mirrors and discovers hidden pleasures within; the morbid confession of a maniac who envisions a career of foolproof "psychological" murders; and the bizarre tale of a chair-maker who buries himself inside an armchair and enjoys the sordid "loves" of the women who sit on his handiwork.” by edogawa rampo -224 pages- (barnesandnoble.com)

8. The Kouga Ninja Scrolls “To resolve a clash over succession, the shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa has devised the ultimate contest. Two rival ninja clans, the Kouga and the Iga, will meet in a battle to the death. The victor will rule Japan for the next thousand years. But in the midst of this bloody war, an unlikely romance blooms between Gennosuke of the Kouga clan and Oboro of the Iga clan. Gennosuke and Oboro are the next leaders of their clans and their fates are inextricably bound with that of their families. In the colossal fight, the star-crossed lovers are faced with a fatal choice between true love and destiny. Can romance conquer a four-hundred-year-old rivalry? Or is their love fated to end in death?” by futaro yamada -336 pages- (barnesandnoble.com)

9. Togakushi Legend Murders “When the body of one of Nagano Prefecture's most prominent businessmen is found propped against a tree on Poison Plain, home of the legendary Demoness Maple, Inspector Takemura finds himself searching for the killer with the help and hindrance of an esteemed Tokyo professor and a beautiful university student. As the bodies begin to multiply in the sleepy mountain town of Togakushi, the three learn that the resemblance of the murders to those of regional folklore is more than a coincidence.” by yasuo uchida -312 pages- (barnesandnoble.com)

10. Confessions of Love “In this novel Uno Chiyo has created one of the most memorable love stories in Japanese literature. It is the story of Yuasa Jōji, a famous artist who returns to Japan after many years in Paris. Once back in Tokyo, he receives love letters from a fervent young woman who begs him to meet her--importunings that start him on a bizarre round of romantic adventures. Writing here at the height of her powers, one of Japan’s foremost women writers explores both the folly and the inevitability of human passion, leading the reader to a startling revelation of how lives can be destroyed by the compulsions of love.” by chiyo uno -168 pages- (barnesandnoble.com))

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yall-cant-handel-this-blog · 5 years

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Blog Post 8

*Disclaimer*

I’m sorry this is so long, I got carried away and I enjoyed learning new things about someone I’ve grown up referencing, but never knew much of anything about!! (nerdy I know).

“Beethoven” The Greatest German Composers

1. What is the main idea of the first section? (1 sentence)

Beethoven may have experienced a life riddled with afflictions, yet due to these afflictions, he became one of the most unique, yet popular, composers of all time.

2. How old was Beethoven when he wrote the Eroica (No. 3) and Pastorale (No. 6) Symphonies?

Beethoven was born in 1770 and he wrote Symphony No. 3 “Erocia” between 1805 and 1808, meaning he was around 35 years old.

Interesting how he didn’t start composing until age 35 when Mozart was only able to compose till age 35.

3.Eroica means hero. Describe what happened between Beethoven and his admiration for Napoleon. How does this relate to Enlightenment thought? This work may be the first “romantic” work as we see a shift from absolute to programmatic music.

So through reading this chapter, and some use of the Wikipedia page on this lesser known symphony, I discovered that Beethoven was a fan of Napolean Bonapart in his earlier days during the French Revolution and Enlightenment (taking place during Beethoven’s life) when Napolean was in support of the movement against the monarchy and toward democracy. Thus, Beethoven wrote this symphony as a kind of love song to Napolean, indicating a rendering of the new programmatic (story-telling), and romantic kind of composition.

What’s really funny is how Beethoven revoked his dedication of this symphony to Napolean and gave it to someone else, because Napolean was a mean little man who wanted to defy democracy and ended up joining the aritocracy. Beethoven = real big democracy fan.

4. How would you describe Beethoven’s personality after reading this chapter?

From reading this chapter I get a few different indications of Beethoven’s personality traits. First and foremost I think he is probably an Introvert, because of the descriptions from his contemporaries indicating he often lashed out or hard to read. This also just shows that he’s plain grumpy and mean. However, reading his journal entries we can also understand that under that mean exposition he is struggling with the immense emotional pain of losing one’s hearing. Especially, someone who values sound so much such as Beethoven must’ve. So, was Beethoven mean? Maybe, but I also think he was just a deeply sad man grappling with a handicap. They also said he was determined, and highly passionate and an extremely hard worker when it came to his compositions.

Heiligenstadt Testament

1. How does your perception of Beethoven’s character change after reading this if at all?

This testament that Beethoven wrote to his brothers when he was about 29 before his composer career took off, initially made me sad for him.

I can’t imagine what it would be like to go through losing one’s hearing later in life after already knowing how beautiful some sounds can be *cough cough music cough*. He just felt so lonely, and just think of this time period in which I’m almost positive ASL (or I guess German Sign Language) was fairly nonexistent. He couldn’t communicate with anyone efficiently and then you are perhaps able to understand the source of passion for his compositions.

So again, was Beethoven mean? No. I still think he was really sad a lonesome and very passionate.

He also tells his brothers that he wants them to obtain his *small* (lol little did he know) fortune after his death and also that any animosity between them had been relieved. Beethoven here shows indication of a caring, even loving disposition.

Hearing Beethoven

*page 28 first paragraph has a psychology reference that makes me happy lol*

1. What did the physicians of Beethoven’s day say was the problem?

Originally Beethoven had abdominal and ear problems and his doctor was able to fix his belly aches, but not his hearing. He was installed with false-hope that his hearing would slightly return, but history shows it never would.

2. What are some of the explanations of today?

Today we know that Beethoven most likely suffered from the hearing implementation of tinnitus which is like an incessant ringing noise that would drive anyone nuts, (indicating his mean disposition and madness). We also know that it was not loud sounds that caused this to happen but rather a sickness that caused nerve damage to the inner ear functions. Also, another explanation is a weird overgrowth of the small ear bones. Indicating that his hearing loss was likely in part sensorineural.

On the other hand, besides medical causes, some speculations have been made that it was self-inflicted, or possibly due to alcoholism, or even lead poisoning.

All symptoms point back to life long digestive tract problems.

3. What does the author say about his familial relationships (dad and nephew Karl)?

First, we learn that Beethoven’s dad was an alcoholic that just wanted to basically use Beethoven’s talent for his own personal gain. Because of this Beethoven grew up thinking his success was his fathers, putting immense pressure on him. Leading to a life of living for validation.

Second, we learn about Beethoven’s struggle to obtain custody of his nephew Karl, after his brother died. He became so dedicated to this that he lost some focus on composing. However, he later got right back into it with new vigor, maybe by inspiration from the love for his nephew.

4. Wallace speculates about how Beethoven was able to write so many masterpieces toward the end of his life and nearly 20 years after the Heiligenstadt Testament. Which were you most convinced by?

Wallace references a few reasons why Beethoven may perhaps have been able to compose so many great pieces later in his life. First Wallace suggests based on evidence that Beethoven wasn’t completely deaf but rather just really hard of hearing. For this reason his compositions would require Beethoven to use a combination of methods. I think I am most convinced that he in part used vibrations from the piano, his imagination, all fueled by his passion.

The Piano Sonata No.14 in C# minor “Quasi Una Fantasia” Opus 27 No.2 (Moonlight Sonata)

1. What would you say is the texture of the 1st movement and why?

I think the first movement is homophonic because there is a lot going on, like both a melody and a harmony.

2. I am assuming most of you have never heard the other movements of this sonata. What is your initial reaction to the second movement?

The second movement was completely new to me. I kind of wish I knew the motives behind this Sonata because it kind of didn’t fit with the themes of the first and third themes. I wouldn’t have grouped these songs together if I would’ve heard them seperately. I definetly didn’t enjoy the second movement as much as the first and I especially enjoyed the third.

3. How about the third? Around 13 minutes a few things happen that make this ending even more rewarding. Using musical terms and your own words, what happens?

I really enjoyed this movement it was kind of crazy to listen to and watch at how much skill takes to play this piece. The tempo made the song very entertaining to listen to. There were also a lot of crescendos and decrescendos that made it rewarding to listen to because it kept you on the edge of your seat.

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harjii · 5 years

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2018 Music | My Faves

This is a bit delayed but @genjitsu-no-yume reminded me to create a list of my favourite music in 2018. I’ve split this list into 3 sections; favourite songs, favourite albums and throwback discoveries because I am constantly discovering music releases months (sometimes years) after they’ve been released OTL.

By no means is this a list of what I think was the best. This is simply a list of the music I discovered which I loved and none of it is in any particular order. There’s constantly so much being released and all of it is so wonderful, how to possibly pick between it all?!

Anyway, without further ado, here’s a list of my favourite music in 2018!

Favourite Songs Released in 2018

Tell Me - Infinite

Till Sunrise (feat JW of Nell) - Kim Sunggyu

The Chance of Love - DBSK (TVXQ)

Crossing A Line - Mike Shinoda

Caste of the Nine - A9

Who We Are - FAKY

Get It - PRISTIN V

Forever and a Day (Lean On Me) - WANNA ONE

Dear My Friend (Feat. Washio Reina from E-Girls / Flower) - MACO

Warrior (Feat. John Cooper) - Ledger

HELP ME - NU’EST W

Heroine - Sunmi

Sleeping Beauty - Epik High x Sekai no Owari

Shoot Met - DAY6

Sober (feat Ummet Ozcan) - HYO

F E E L S - Safetysuit

Almost Love - Sabrina Carpenter

Growing Pains - Alessia Cara

Fakeshow - Da-iCE

If It’s Okay With You - Nam Woohyun

La Fiesta - THE RAMPAGE from EXILE TRIBE

Woman - BoA

Fake Divine - HYDE

Love Bomb - fromis_9

Upside Down - BIGFLO

Black Heart - UNB

Tempo - EXO

Pretty Sin (Oh! My Mistake) - APRIL

Hope Torture - NELL

Spring Breeze - WANNA ONE

Favourite Albums Released in 2018

1. Post Traumatic - Mike Shinoda

Having been a Linkin Park fan since I was 13, Chester’s passing hit me really, really hard. Every Linkin Park fan can relate to the heart break felt but when Mike started releasing music, it became therapy for us all. The album dropped half way through 2018 and by then, he’d already released a fair number of the tracks as E.P.’s beforehand. Even though we’d heard many of the songs by this point, listening to the album as a whole was so much more emotional and so moving. Mike’s emotive lyrics, the strife he went through after losing someone so close to him is a pain we all felt we could connect to. Truly, I’m so thankful to him for releasing this album. I replayed it so much for weeks and weeks and the more I listened to it, the more I felt myself healing. The music is incredible; as always Mike has his own unique touch when it comes to creating music and the lyrics really tell a story of grief, sorrow, heartbreak, anger but most of all, hope. It’s this hope that we’re left hanging on to by the time the album ends and if that isn’t the perfect way to end an album, I don’t know what is.

Favourite tracks: Over Again / About You (feat. blackbear) / Crossing A Line / Hold It Together / Make it Up As I Go (feat. K.Flay) / Running From My Shadow (feat. grandson)

2. DON’T MESS UP MY TEMPO - EXO

Honestly, I was too immersed in NU’EST to give EXO a second thought as both groups debuted at the same time but I’d always known of EXO and always had a distant appreciation of their talents. However, when they started releasing teasers for their comeback my EXO-L friend started sharing her excitement with me. I went with it, intrigued to hear what they’d release. The moment I watched the MV for ‘Tempo’, I was instantly sold. I was so sold that I couldn’t stop re-watching the MV for days and days, to the point that I was trying to find signal in the Bermuda triangle that is the staff room at work just to stream it during lunch breaks! Safe to say, I fell pretty hard. Then I listened to the whole album and I was blown away. My only question was-why hadn’t I listened to them properly in the first place? Every song on this album is a mature progression for the group and their harmonies are just unyielding. I honestly can not praise this album enough. Mostly I’m just so thankful that it exists because it got me into EXO’s music properly, after long last!

Favourite tracks: Tempo / Ooh La La La / With You / 24/7 / Bad Dream / Oasis

3. WHO, YOU - NU’EST W

Picking a favourite album by my boys was difficult because they released 2 stellar mini albums in 2018, however I had to go with ‘WHO, YOU’ in the end because my goodness was every track blindingly fantastic. In fact I’d go as far as to say that every song on this album could be released as a promo track and every song would chart well. NU’EST W did a brilliant job in the composition and tone of this album. It’s somewhat moody whilst also incorporating EDM which just blends so effortlessly. I really can’t fault any song on this album. And don’t even get me started on the title track; ‘Dejavu’ was a masterpiece! Prior to release NU’EST W had stated that the title track would include Latin tones since that was quite a big musical trend throughout 2018. As expected, they incorporated the Latin tones so subtly that it created such a infectious and trendy song. Also that bass in the chorus-bridge is so funky! Just amazing. NU’EST W’s musical development in 2018 was such a marvel and this album really proved that.

Favourite tracks: Signal / Dejavu

4. WARNING - Sunmi

As a Wonderful, naturally I was excited every time Sunmi released anything. However seeing just how her popularity soared after ‘Gashina’ was released filled me with so much inexplicable joy because yes, this is what she deserved; RECOGNITION. This woman has only ever worked hard to challenge herself and grow as an artist and ‘WARNING’ is certainly proof of that growth. Comparing the musical tone of ‘WARNING’ to her first mini album ‘Full Moon’ you can really hear the stark difference in styling both musically and vocally. Sunmi has always had a unique set of vocals but in her ‘Full Moon’ mini album, they were masked greatly by the production I felt. But having more musical control after leaving JYPent, Sunmi has proved release after release what a capable song-writer she is and how she can work with the production team to create an album that not only appeals to the large majority but is true to her artistry. This entire album is testament to her talents and to know that she snatched so many music awards for it fills me with nothing but pride. Every award and achievement with this album was well deserved.

Favourite tracks: Siren / Curve / Gashina / Heroine

5. The Pains of Growing - Alessia Cara

I’ve been a fan of Alessia’s music from the moment I heard ‘Scars to Your Beautiful’, introduced to me by my sister. That was one of the rare times where she had shared music I actually loved! Ever since then, I’ve patiently waited for Alessia to release some new music, so the moment ‘Growing Pains’ was released as a single, I was instantly hooked. I replayed the song so many times in one day I lost count. I just knew that her new album would be equally if not better than her first album. She certainly matured in her lyric writing and musicality because ‘The Pains of Growing’ is such a fantastic conceptual album. The trials and tribulations of transitioning into an adult can really be trying but Alessia took all those experiences we all go through and placed them in song. Listening to the songs on this album just makes me remember those difficult times yet at the same time, there’s a fondness in the crazy and ridiculous emotions and moments which took place. That is what this album does; it takes you back to those times if you’re already grown. But for those who are growing still, it’s something you can find comfort in and relate to.

Favourite tracks: Growing Pains / I Don’t Want To / Trust My Lonely / Nintendo Game

Throwback Discoveries

1. EVOLution - Sabrina Carpenter

I didn’t mean to completely fall helplessly in love with Sabrina Carpenter’s music especially since I just looked her music up after binge watching ‘Girl Meets World’, but that’s exactly what happened. In fact I listened to her music non-stop for so long, my sister got fed up of constantly listening to Sabrina (she should’ve been thanking me really //rolls eyes). Her first album ‘Eyes Wide Open’ was such a sweet and soft album, I really enjoyed it a lot but her second album ‘EVOLution’ really was a level up in her styling both musically and physically. It’s very experimental and you can tell that Sabrina was still finding her feet and figuring out what kind of music she wanted to release, but I always love the journey. The albums which portray the journey, the experimenting, I always end up loving them the most and this album is exactly that. Lyrically, I really love what Sabrina did on ‘Thumbs’; singing about society and humanity the way she did was brave and I couldn’t help but love her even more after hearing this song. Every song on this album holds its own and is such a fantastic testament to Sabrina’s progression as an artist.

Favourite tracks: On Purpose / Thumbs / Run and Hide / Mirage / Don’t Want It Back / Shadows

2. Holiday Night - Girls’ Generation

Work became quite stressful for me last Spring and for a whole week, I found that ‘Holiday’ by Girls’ Generation kept popping into my head. The odd thing about this was that I’d only heard the song a handful of times and I’d never listened to the album-so then why was it in my head? How? I put it down to the fact that I actually needed a holiday, ironically (I really did though //sobs). In the end, I decided to look the album up and give it a listen. So I did. And then I listened to it some more. And before I knew it, I was just listening to it on repeat for weeks. Honestly, I’d never gotten in Girls’ Generation properly (aside from absolutely loving their Japanese album ‘Girls and Peace’); I’d just casually listened to them over the years so I was quite taken aback by just how much I loved this album. It just made me feel so happy and made me feel so good, especially after long tiring days at work. This then propelled me to look into their discography a little more...that is until I got a little sidetracked...

Favourite tracks: Holiday / Only One / One Last Time / Sweet Talk / Love Is Bitter

3. The Voice - Taeyeon

So whilst listening to more Girls’ Generation, I thought, “Oh yes, solo work!” And I don’t know why, I went with Taeyeon’s solo work first. That’s basically where I got completely sidetracked and completely forgot to check the other members because W O W! Taeyeon has some amazing pipes!! I had watched her MV for ‘I (feat. Verbal Jint)’ years ago but just not taken to it as much; after re-watching it, I then watched the MV for her song ‘Make Me Love You’ and that’s where I fell for her music. It’s such a simple song melodically but the way Taeyeon’s vocals build throughout the song from one octave to another, gaining more and more strength and confidence just fits the meaning of the song so perfectly. I was so blown away when I heard this song that I needed more. I downloaded her album in the end and gave it a proper listen. Every song had me hooked but the song which got me the most was ‘Time Lapse’. When I saw that Kim Jongwan from Nell had written the lyrics and helped with the composition I just knew I’d love this because I love Nell, and I did love this! SO MUCH! But it wasn’t just the song structure and melody, but Taeyeon’s voice is so vulnerable in this song. When she hits that high note towards the ends of the song, it gives me goosebumps every time. Honestly, it left me breathless. No wonder her first full album was entitled ‘The Voice’ because really, Taeyeon’s voice is exceptionally. To add to it, she covered Nell’s ‘Time Spent Walking Through Memories’ which was an additional bonus track on the physical album and what a cover it is-WHAT A COVER! I’ve nothing but so much love for Taeyeon’s talent, truly.

Favourite tracks: Make Me Love You / Fine / Cover Up / Time Lapse / When I Was Young / Live in Color / Fire / Time Spent Walking Through Memories (Nell Cover)

4. Tree - SEKAI NO OWARI

What I love doing at conventions is picking up random album, just to discover something new and exciting. Although in this case, I knew about SEKAI NO OWARI already and I absolutely loved their song ‘Death Disco’ and their collab with Epik High, however beyond that? I knew very little of their music. I came across the limited edition of this album at a convention and thought, “Wow, I know this is rare so I should just get it. Yup.” Plus it was a great opportunity to expose myself to more of their music, so why not? I do think music is about timing because if past me had heard this album, I don’t think I’d have appreciated it half as much as I appreciated listening to it in 2018. SEKAI NO OWARI’s musicality is just so unique; I’ve never heard anything else like it! The more I listened to this album, the more I found myself in a trance just repeating it. I’m a big fantasy lover so when listening to this album, I realised it was like listening to something from another world, something mythical and sometimes ethereal but mostly just-unusual, in a good way. It’s very difficult to explain the way SEKAI NO OWARI’s music sounds but if you know it, you know what I mean. If you don’t know it, you should go check them out.

Favourite tracks: Snow / Magic / Fantasy / Mermaid Rhapsody / Pierrot / Death Disco / Dragon Night

5. The War - EXO

Having finally given into EXO, I basically spent all of November and December listening to their entire discography. ALL OF IT. The hilarious thing is that my first impression of ‘The War’ was, “I’m not entirely sure what I feel about this album”. Then I re-listened to it more and more...and more...and more, until i realised the entire album had grown on me at an alarming rate. In fact, the point at which i realised just how much I loved this album was when I was trying to create a playlist of my favourite EXO songs and I put 7 out of 9 songs on this album in that playlist. What’s even funnier is that I liked ‘Forever’ and ‘Diamond’ the least when i first heard them, but after listening to the album so much, they became two of my favourite songs! This doesn’t happen often, where I end up liking an album I didn’t like much to begin with so much but this album really knocked me for twenty! I could probably write reams and reams for every single track on this album but what I will say is that this album really shows just how much EXO grew musically since their first album ‘XOXO’. I really feel like you can hear EXO coming into their own on this album like-they sound comfortable with the music they’re singing, as if this is what they’ve wanted to create for so long. They exude so much confidence vocally on this album that you can’t help but fall for every single track. At least that’s what I found!

Favourite tracks: Basically the entire album. Don’t even ask me to pick!

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shellfish-honkon · 6 years

Text

Perfume: English Translation of the Interview on Ongaku to Hito 2018.09 (vol.4)

Vol. 4

A group interview for Perfume

Interview: Perfume

At first, I thought the whole album would feature Future Bass, but... (Kashiyuka)

Where the hell has Future Bass gone!? LOL!! (Nocchi)

- This is my first interview to you since "If you wanna", so I've got various things I'd like to ask other than the album.

A: Yeah, you can ask anything!

- First of all, let's talk about "Reframe". That was a superb show, but at the same time, it was a kind of show that was difficult to write an article of.

A, N, K: LOL!!

A: We recorded the sub audio of the show the other day. And there was a tons of stuffs we had heard for the first time there, LOL!!

K: It was too technically advanced to understand, and we could only let the audience to grasp their impression because we didn't have MC.

A: But I really thought it opened a new door for our performances. I really wanted to try something like that!

N: We hope to hold shows like that more. We were a bit worried that we might get the audience left behind, but actually it didn't happen.

- You also held the first fan club tour after a long time.

K: The first fan club tour in 8 years! That's pretty insane, isn't it? LOL!!

N: And there still has been people joining our fan club! They are the ones who truly love Perfume, we really appreciate it.

K: People joined our fan club 7 years ago had not been able to attend any fan club tour before, even a single time, LOL!

A: So, we performed many nostalgic songs in return of their loves.

K: Like "Take me Take me" we performed for the first time since the Budo-kan concert, "Take me Take me" performed by totally grownup 29-year-old ladies, LOL!!

A: If 20-year-old girls sing "Take me Take me", it's kind of cute, right? You'd go like "Aha, right! I'm gonna take you!" But when a 29-year-old is singing like "Take me Take me", it sounds pretty heavy and serious, LOL!

K: She must have some reasons for not being taken until her age, LOL!!

- As you grow up, the meaning of songs changes, LOL!

A: Recalling the choreos were pretty tough, too. Since we hadn't danced them for a long time, we felt like we were dancing them for the first time.

K: We were so desperate, for example, we watched videos and wondering "What the hell was I doing during this part!? It's cut and I can't see!", LOL!!

A: However, that time we recalled old choreos was such a lovely time. We felt as if we were facing our old selves. Being able to think like "What a lovely time this is" might probe that we have grown up. And we also really appreciate that there're people who have wait for those songs to be performed again, since that means they love our old selves, as well as our present selves. So, that was a very, very warm time. No matter what we play, they gave us back the best reactions, we felt as if we were talking to our parents.

N: That's true. They could respond to any reminiscent talks we did.

K: We actually asked our fans to check our old memories, LOL!!

A: We asked them like "Didn't we do something like this and like that before?" from the stage, they shouted back like "That was ○○ you did back in 20xx!", LOL!!

- Wow, they're like Wikipedia, LOL!! After the performance, did you realize like "Ah, I've turned to a grownup"?

N: I did. When we practiced our old dances, the choreos were totally different.

K: Yeah, we actually danced in the style of that time. When we recalled the choreos, we realized the way we used our bodies was different from now, for example.

A: We became our young selves, yeah.

K: And we also learnt we could no longer perform twice a day. Our knees got wobbly, LOL!!

A: Our knees were shaking all the time at the end of the show, LOL!!

- I didn't want to hear episodes like that from you, LOL!!

A: 2 shows in a day wearing that heels is tough. "We'll never perform twice a day!", we decided it at Makuhari, LOL!

- For me, you seem to be 21 years old forever.

A, N, K: LOL!!!

K: Happy to hear that, LOL!! I wish I could stay like that! LOL!

- This is your first album release in 2 years and 4 months.

A: For us, however, it was a blink of eyes. "COSMIC EXPLORER" seems to be quite recent.

N: We've got another masterpiece.

- What kind of stuffs did you talk to Nakata-san at a usual dinner meeting you always hold before album production?

K: 80% of the conversation was silly things, LOL!!

A: For example about HIKAKIN-san (A famous Japanese youtuber), like "Did you watch his video?" and things like that, LOL!

K: He also told us like "If you put "Mitaina Koi (A love like...)" at the beginning of a sentence, you can write a Nakata Yasutaka-ish lyric"*, LOL!!

(Translater's note: In the original text, it's actually written "at the end of a sentence" instead of "beginning". This is due to the difference of the word orders between English and Japanese. For example, Japanese Lyric of Polyrhythm "Plastic mitaina koi" is "A love like plastic" in English)

N: Yeah, he also told us sometimes he starts to imagine a story from that phrase.

- You talked things like that, and about the album at the end?

K: Yes, briefly at the very end, LOL!!

A: We only talked about the album for 5 minutes. Adults around us started to exchange glances like "Ah..., shall we start discussions about the album?" while eating deserts, LOL!

N: It was held right before the release of his solo album. He let us listen his own album to let us know what kinds of songs were recorded. Then he told us about what he wanted to have in our album, for example, tempos, melodies and things like that.

- More concretely speaking?

N: When we released "If you wanna", 3 of us were not familiar with future bass yet. But in the global charts, music of the genre had already been acknowledged. So he wanted us to play a future bass song to spread the genre to the world, he said.

K: "If you wanna" was made in a basic style of future bass because he wanted to let the world know that Perfume played future bass. But for the album, he was going to add his own arrangements to bring the music to Nakata-san's own genre, he told us. So when we heard that, we thought the whole album would feature future bass.

- Yeah, right? That was what I imagined, too! Because I heard you talking like that in the interview of "If you wanna" But then...

A, N, K: "Huh?", right?

A: I can understand that, LOL!!

N: Where the hell has Future Bass gone!? LOL!!

K: We imagined that we would have pretty few parts for recording since we thought the album to be strongly feature future bass. But when we were handed lyrics, we were like "What!? We've got so many lyrics!", LOL!!

A: We were surprised since the first song we recorded was "Tenku"

K: We still went like "Ah, we understand, there has to be at least one song like this. But the next song will be future bass" But then, the next song also had so many vocal parts, so we went like "What? What?"

N: It was "Let Me Know"

K: In the middle of recordings, we convinced that even though this was not what we had imagined, not all songs leaned toward that side.

N: I really liked "FUSION", so I thought somewhere in recordings, we would receive a strong, cold kind of song with even less lyrics than that. But actually, "FUSION" was the most aggressive song in the album. That made me think he must have gone through so much thinking to figure out the best way to make this sound good.

- Did his song writing go smoothly?

A: It took times!

N: He took more times than ever, I guess.

K: Throughout the whole process of album production, all of the songs were a bit behind the schedule, respectively. The last song we recorded for the album was "Future Pop", but the recording was actually postponed for 1 month.

A: He was so obsessed about this song.

K: Exchange like "I've finished making DEMO. Moving onto lyrics" "I'll make it again from scratch" was repeated again and again. Before the recording of the song, he told us "The next song will be the title track of the album" So, I guess he was willing to determine a direction of the whole album with this song.

A: We visited his studio for the recording, knowing this song would be the title track. When we received the lyrics there, the title "Future Pop" jumped out at us. Even though we didn't know a genre called future pop actually existed, we thought it must have been his message for us to name "Future Pop" for the album featuring future bass, saying we were to make a history. We were totally fired up by that. We felt as if it showed us a new path to move on, like "You've got to move forward with this!" I was like "The words used for the title was familiar to us, but still sound new. He must be a genius to come up with a title like this!" and so moved. But when I looked at him with wobbly eyes, I found messy Yasutaka Nakata, LOL!!

- What do you mean by "messy" Yasutaka Nakata?

A: He had "I put everything I've got into this song"-kind of look. He said "See? Ain't I cool?" in the back! LOL!!

N: He did.

A: Yeah, he did! LOL!! He looked like he was shining to me!

- You felt his passion behind the title so much that he looked like that, I see.

N: We did feel that. We felt his enthusiasm like "Let's make a history!" Nakata-san has confidence on what he makes. So, I felt he named the title like this because Perfume was included in his confidence. So I was like "Yeah, let's do this! Let's make a history!"

A, K: Wow, cool!!! LOL!!

K: I was so surprised to find that there's a word that fits as well as this. I mean, the combination of the words was like, we could have used this combination but actually never did. By combining these single words, we've got the title that fits as well as this and perfectly expresses what we have been doing and will be doing. I had an exhilarating feeling when he came up with this.

- So in a word, you felt like "Ah, this word literally explains what we do"?

K: Yes, it fitted so well. The combination of these 2 single words perfectly express what we want to do and what we want to express.

- The album has many song-featured songs, but there're future bass tracks at the same time. Setting them up as something "Pop" is what you do, you mean?

A: Exactly. Such a wide range of variety we've got, so.

- "Tiny Baby" is a pretty cute song. But its rhyming is very unique.

K: It seems this song doesn't sing anything meaningful. But it makes you wonder and feel fluttery that there might be a deep meaning behind the lyric.

N: It was fun to sing.

A: But the thing this song wanted to sing most is "I'M SO HAPPY (Japanese-English pronunciation)"

A, N, K: LOL!

A: We sang it like that because Nakata-san's tentative vocal he recorded for us sang it like that.

N: I used to think like the faster bpm is, the cooler and easier to go crazy on the beat the song gets. But nowadays, I prefer more relaxed songs like this one.

K: The gap between "FUSION" and "Tiny Baby"!

A: Right! It even made me think like "Aha, "FUSION" might actually have been made for this!" Don't know why, but it's so comfortable.

K: We actually nominated this for MV.

- MV of "Let Me Know" was very nice, too.

- Yeah, I love that song, too.

- The perspective of that song is totally that of the grownups.

N: When we saw those 3 little girls, we were like "OMG, we're adults!"

A: We really are. In a scene of the MV, closeups of the 3 girls appears on a screen one by one and then move on to a scene of us. When I watch that scene, I'm so surprised that we're totally adults. Nothing surprising about it, but it makes us fully realize that. That's a happy thing for me, though. Because I always wanted to be an adult desperately.

- That means you became mature enough to sing a song like this.

A: Yeah, when we were handed "Baby Face", a song singing about a junior boy, it was pretty shocking to us. But nowadays, we're totally used to it.

K: The song makes me feel as if I'm looking back the whole history since we formed Perfume and facing my old self. But at the same time, the song can be applied to anyone's life, I think. The girls in the MV are a bit younger than the age of us entering Actor's School. So, I was filled with a deep emotion like "We have been together ever since their ages..."

N: That's touching, deeply.

A: Yeah, and now we can sing a song like this. "You're working hard to be somebody, so believe in yourself"

- Nakata-san wrote a lyric like that because he felt you've grown enough to say a message like this, I guess.

K: So happy to hear that.

A: I'm getting close to tears and I can only say "So happy to hear that"

- Alright, let's get back to topics of the tracks. What do you mean by "Chou Rai Rin"?

A: Yeah, it makes you think like that naturally. We also thought this must have been a Chinese word when we looked at the title. But when we asked Nakata-san about that after the recording, he just told us like "Huh? There's no meaning for this" And we went like "What the hell!? There's no meaning for this!?"

N: Well, I also thought this must have been Chinese definitely, so I tried Chinese-ish pronunciation. Then I was told there's no meaning for this, I was so embarrassed, LOL!!

- Vibration of "Chou Rai Rin" sounded nice, I guess.

K: There're some words people keep using without knowing their actual meanings, right? Like words that sound nostalgic to adults but new to kids. I found this song interesting because that kind of play is put in this song.

- "Tenku" made me cry, especially the lyrics.

N: This made me cry, too! I'd like everyone to listen to the lyric of the 2nd verse!

A: Yes! Because Nakata-san often writes the most important things in the 2nd verse! LOL!!

K: For him, 1st verses are to explain, LOL!!

N: Therefore, I felt this is a message song for the younger generations, rather than for ourselves.

- You mean telling like "You can fly high like we did!", rather than telling to yourselves?

K: The world-view the song describes is so bright and shinning. But I felt this song sings about the past to look back, rather than the future waiting ahead.

A: It's kind of nostalgic. I've heard Nakata-san put various old stuffs in this song, such as old materials and sounds he used to use. That might be why it sounds nostalgic.

K: This song is like Updating ourselves including the pas.

- I wouldn't have been surprised if 3 of you had sung a song like this a few years ago, but I'd say it has more meanings to be sung by your present selves.

A: That's such a straightforward song. But I don't feel embarrassing at all when I sing this song.

- I don't know why, but it seems you've received more songs with "Kanji (Chinese Character)" titles.

N: I found it interesting. LOL!!

K: Nakata-san actually told us like "It would be funny if we name the album with Kanji after deciding this song order for the album"

A: From the way he said so, I assumed that he might have named it in that way. "Mugen Mirai" was a pretty surprising title FYI.

K: Nakata-san is good at going close to the border line (*of cool and dumb). I had the same feeling when I received "Laser Beam"

- Exactly. "Dream Fighter" was a thing like that, too

K: But the closer you get to the border line, the bigger impact you can leave to the audiences, don't you think?

- Yeah. But you know what? The album does go close to the border line in various aspects, but this album means more to the people who kept watching Perfume, rather than the people who take one step to move on to a totally new world.

N: Ah, that's exactly what I think, too!

K: So glad to hear that!

- This album is the proof that you've faced Perfume and each other as sincerely as that.

A: Yeah, you're trying to make me cry, I know.

#prfm #prfm_um

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