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trumpcrusher · 4 years

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An overview of Trump’s numerous ties to Russia

Trump was over a billion in debt and the Russians bailed him out.

► Trump was first compromised by the Russians in the 80s. In 1984, the Russian Mafia began to useTrump real estate to launder money. In 1987, the Soviet ambassador to the United Nations, Yuri Dubinin, arranged for Trump and his then-wife, Ivana, to enjoy an all-expense-paid trip to Moscow to consider possible business prospects. Only seven weeks after his trip, Trump ran full-page ads in the Boston Globe, the NYT and WaPO calling for, in effect, the dismantling of the postwar Western foreign policy alliance. The whole Trump/Russian connection started out as laundering money for the Russian mob through Trump's real estate, but evolved into something far bigger.

► In 1984, David Bogatin — a convicted Russian mobster and close ally of Semion Mogilevich, a major Russian mob boss — met with Trump in Trump Tower right after it opened. Bogatin bought five condos from Trump at that meeting. Those condos were later seized by the government, which claimed they were used to launder money for the Russian mob. (NY Times, Apr 30, 1992)

► Felix Sater is a Russian-born former mobster, and former managing director of NY real estate conglomerate Bayrock Group LLC located on the 24th floor of Trump Tower. He is a convict who became a govt cooperator for the FBI and other agencies. He grew up with Michael Cohen--Trump's former "fixer" attorney. Cohen's family owned El Caribe, which was a mob hangout for the Russian Mafia in Brooklyn. Cohen had ties to Ukrainian oligarchs through his in-laws and his brother's in-laws. Felix Sater's father had ties to the Russian mob. This goes back more than 30 years.

► Trump was $4 billion in debt after his Atlantic City casinos went bankrupt. No U.S. bank would touch him. Then foreign money began flowing in through Bayrock (mentioned above). Bayrock was run by two investors: Tevfik Arif, a Kazakhstan-born former Soviet official who drew on bottomless sources of money from the former Soviet republic; and Felix Sater, a Russian-born businessman who had pleaded guilty in the 1990s to a huge stock-fraud scheme involving the Russian mafia. Bayrock partnered with Trump in 2005 and poured money into the Trump organization under the legal guise of licensing his name and property management.

► In July 2008, the height of the housing bust, Trump sold a mansion in Palm Beach for $95 million to Dmitry Rybolovlev, a Russian oligarch. Trump had purchased it four years earlier for $41.35 million. The sale price was nearly $54 million more than Trump had paid for the property. Again, this was the height of the recession when all other property had plummeted in value.

► Semion Mogilevich was the brains behind the Russian Mafia. Mogilevich operatives have been using Trump real estate for decades to launder money. That means Russian Mafia operatives have been part of his fortune for years. Many of them owned condos in Trump Towers and other properties. They were running operations out of Trump's crown jewel.

► From Craig Unger's AMA: "Early on, a source told me that all this was tied to Semion Mogilevich, the powerful Russian mobster. I had never even heard of him, but I immediately went to a database that listed the owners of all properties in NY state and looked up all the Trump properties. Every time I found a Russian sounding name, I would Google, and add Mogilevich. When you do investigative reporting, you anticipate drilling a number of dry holes, but almost everyone I googled turned out to be a Russian mobster. Again and again. If you know New York you don't expect Trump Tower to be a high crime neighborhood, but there were far too many Russian mobsters in Trump properties for it to be a coincidence."

► So many Russians bought Trump apartments at his developments in Florida that the area became known as Little Moscow. The developers of two of his hotels were Russians with significant links to the Russian mob. The late leader of that mob in the United States, Vyacheslav Kirillovich Ivankov, was living at Trump Tower

► According to a Bloomberg investigation (3/16/2017) into Trump World Tower, “a third of units sold on floors 76 through 83 by 2004 involved people or limited liability companies connected to Russia and neighboring states.”

► In 2013, Federal agents busted an “ultraexclusive, high-stakes, illegal poker ring” run by Russian gangsters out of Trump Tower. They operated card games, illegal gambling websites, and a global sports book and laundered more than $100 million. A condo directly below one owned by Trump reportedly served as HQ for a “sophisticated money-laundering scheme” connected to Semion Mogilevich.

► The Russia Mafia is part and parcel of Russian intelligence. Russia is a mafia state. That is not a metaphor. Putin is head of the Mafia. So the fact that they have been operating out of the home of the president of the United States is deeply disturbing.

► Rudy Giuliani famously prosecuted the Italian mob while he was a federal prosecutor, yet the Russian mob was allowed to thrive. Now he's deeply entwined in the business of Trump and Russian oligarchs. Giuiani appointed Semyon Kislin to the NYC Economic Development Council in 1990, and the FBI described Kislin as having ties to the Russian mob. Of course, it made good political sense for Giuliani to get headlines for smashing the Italian mob.

► A lot of Republicans in Washington are implicated. Boatloads of Russian money went to the GOP--often in legal ways. The NRA got as much as $70M from Russia, then funneled it to the GOP. The Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee lead by McConnell got millions from Leonard Blavatnik. In the 90s, the Russians began sending money to top GOP leaders, like Speaker of the House Tom Delay. Craig Unger's book alleges that most of the GOP leadership has been compromised by RU money.

► At the Cityscape USA’s Bridging US and the Emerging Real Estate Markets Conference held in Manhattan, on September 9, 10, and 11, 2008, Donald Trump Jr. was frank about the tide of Russian money supporting the family business, saying "...And in terms of high-end product influx into the US, Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets."

► Eric Trump told golf reporter James Dodson in 2014 that the Trump Organization was able to expand during the financial crisis because “We don’t rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia.”

► Russian oligarchs co-signed Trump’s Deutsche bank loans.

Trump now gleefully takes cues from Putin:

► At the end of 2018, Putin and his allies started making a strong push for a resolution that would justify their country’s 1979 invasion of Afghanistan and reverse an 1989 vote backed by Mikhail Gorbachev that condemned it. The Putinists’ goal was to pass the resolution by Feb. There is no one on this side of the Atlantic who thinks the USSR was justified in invading Afghanistan. And out of nowhere, on January 2nd, Trump came out strongly supporting Russia's 1979 invasion of Afghanistan.

► Trump went against American intelligence on North Korean missiles. He told the FBI he didn't believe their intelligence because Putin told him otherwise. “I don't care, I believe Putin"

► Trump met in secret with Putin at the G20 summit in November 2018, without note takers. 19 days later, he announced a withdrawal from Syria. As a note, Trump conducted FIVE completely private meetings and conferences with Putin, and has gone to great lengths to prevent literally anyone, even people in his administration, from learning what was discussed.

► Trump refused to enforce sanctions legally codified into law - and in some cases reversed standing sanctions on Russian companies.

► He has denounced his own intelligence agencies in a press conference with Putin on election meddling - and publicly endorsed Putin's version of events.

► Trump pulled out of the INF treaty with no explanation, which allows Putin to create long-range hypersonic missiles that threaten Europe with impunity. The US already has all the weaponry that the INF would ban the development of, so this offers us literally nothing, while allowing Russia to develop powerful new weapons to challenge our allies.

► Demanded Russia get invited back into G7

► Pushed the CIA to give American intelligence to the Kremlin.

► Withdrew from the Open Skies treaty

► Received intelligence in 2019 that Russia was paying bounties for dead American soldiers, and hasn't done anything about it by the time of this writing.

► Announced troop withdrawal from Germany (America's missile defense from Russia and forward operating base against Russian aggression)

► And of course, Trump continues to threaten to pull out of NATO, a move so catastrophically stupid, so inconceivably cosmically myopic, I truly can't express the profundity of the idiocy. Suffice to say, pulling out of NATO would be like the only guy in a prison yard with a shotgun just throwing it over the fence for absolutely no reason, suddenly giving the people with crude homemade shivs complete power.

► Trump commuted the sentence of Roger Stone, a former advisor convicted several charges, including lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstructing a congressional committee proceeding, as part of former special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.

Edit: thanks for the awards, credit should also go to u/victorvictor1 who originally composed this list. Also, please share so that more people can see this

#Trump #donald trump #corruption #russia

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imagine-organization-xiii · 5 years

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Breakup songs, because I need the angst from a bunch of guys that don't have hearts.

There are so many good breakup songs omg and the org members are a bunch of sad assholes.

Okay so I was originally going to make a thing with one song each, but everyone was requesting such good songs that I ended up doing playlists.

Xemnas

Ain’t No Sunshine - Bill Withers

Cry Me A River - Ella Fitzgerald

I Can’t Make You Love Me - Bonnie Raitt

Cry Me A River - Natasha Buré and Riley Elmore

Love Lies - Khalid, Normani

Xigbar

Love Bites - Def Leppard

Call Out My Name - The Weeknd

You Give Love A Bad Name - Bon Jovi

Heartbreaker - Pat Benatar

Wake Up Call - Adam Levine

Xaldin

Call Out My Name - The Weeknd

Fix - Aesthetic Perfection

Gives You Hell - All American Rejects

Heartbreak Hotel - Elvis Presley

Maggie May - Rod Stewart

Vexen

Somebody That I Used to Know - Gotye ft. Kimbra

Here Comes Goodbye - Rascal Flatts

The Scientist - Coldplay

Need You Now - Lady Antebellum

Total Eclipse of the Heart - Bonnie Tyler

Lexaeus

The Man Who Can’t Be Moved - The Script

I Heard It Through the Grapevine - Marvin Gaye

Easy - Rascal Flatts ft. Natasha Bedingfield

Take A Bow - Rihanna

Stay With Me - Sam Smith

Zexion

Skinny Love - Bon Iver

Let Her Go - Passenger

Don’t Speak - No Doubt

Too Little Too Late - JoJo

Stone Cold - Demi Lovato

Saix

Cry Me A River - Natasha Buré and Riley Elmore

Nothing Compares 2U - Sinéad O'Connor

How Can You Mend a Broken Heart - Al Green

It Must Have Been Love - Roxette

She’s Gone - Hall & Oates

Axel

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together - Taylor Swift

Irreplaceable - Beyoncé

Tainted Love - Soft Cell

Bye, Bye, Bye - NSYNC

The One That Got Away - Katy Perry

Demyx

Boston - Augustana

Jar of Hearts - Christina Perry

Un-Break My Heart - Toni Braxton

What Hurts the Most - Rascal Flatts

Everybody Hurts - R.E.M.

Luxord

Chelsea Hotel No. 2 - Leonard Cohen

It Ain’t Me Babe - Bob Dylan

Always On My Mind - Willie Nelson

Big Girls Don’t Cry - The Four Seasons

You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling - The Righteous Brothers

Marluxia

Fuck You - Lily Allen

New Rules - Dua Lipa

‘FU - Miley Cyrus ft. French Montana

thank u, next - Ariana Grande

Hurt - Christina Aguilera

Larxene

Back to Black - Amy Winehouse

Survivor - Destiny’s Child

Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson

Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops!) - Blu Cantrell

Battlefield - Jordin Sparks

Roxas

Stitches - Shawn Mendes

Cry Me A River - Justin Timberlake

I Hate This Part - Pussycat Dolls

Ex’s & Oh’s - Elle King

Tattoo - Jordin Sparks

Xion

Prayin’ - Ke$ha

Happier - Ed Sheeran

Potential Breakup Song - Aly and AJ

Big Girls Don’t Cry - Fergie

Goodbye To You - Michelle Branch

#song headcanon #ask #anon #organization xiii #organization xiii headcanons #kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts headcanons

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hockey-jews · 6 years

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For anyone who wants to learn more about Judaism! Also, kind of a post about how to deal with some Things and Stuff. This is a long post so I’ll put it under a read more for those interested:

This is really for an anonymous message I got that described struggles with things that I think many of us struggle with or have in the past: not being “Jewish enough” in the eyes of other Jews due to your heritage being on the “wrong” side (read; on your father’s side), yet still experiencing antisemitism from goyim. Not learning very much, if anything, about Judaism as a child but wanting to learn more as an adult. Not being comfortable with some traditions or laws of Judaism because you are a) a feminist b) LGBT c) an atheist. Living in a place with few to no Jewish spaces. Not feeling welcome in the Jewish community due to any or all of these things.

Book recs!

If you’re the kind of person who enjoys reading (or can at least tolerate it) I highly recommend these books! They’re all books that I have either read/started reading/or plan on reading. (Please keep in mind that none of these are Jewish texts such as the Torah or the Talmud and that I do understand the importance of such religious texts but am not recommending them because I feel those are obvious sources of information)

A Bride for One Night if you aren’t familiar with the Talmud, it’s a collection of writings and explanations of Jewish laws and traditions and it’s old as balls. The author of this book, Ruth Calderon, takes a bunch of Talmudic stories and makes them into these wonderful beautiful stories that are easier to read than the original ones from the 3rd and 6th centuries. Even if you don’t know anything about the Talmud this book is so fascinating and fun to read.

The G-d Who Hates Lies is literally perfect for you if you have issues with how women are viewed and treated in the most traditional sense of Judaism. It’s a really great criticism by people who are extremely qualified to make those criticisms (both are rabbi’s and I think they both have doctorates in theology, specifically Modern Orthodox Judaism, which makes for a really cool viewpoint). I can’t find anything about the third author of this book, who is a woman, but it’s comforting to know that a woman had a part in this as well. Obviously these people love Judaism, they just want to see it adapt to modernity. Just in general it’s a really thoughtful book that challenges dogma.

Jewish Literacy was recommended by an anon (thank you!) The rest of the title is “The Most Important Things to Know about The Jewish Religion, Its People and Its History” so like. Ya get what ya see here folks. HOWEVER I did see a review that mentions there is some Islamophobia and hostility towards Jews who are antizionist. It does genuinely look informative and I haven’t read it myself so I can’t attune to whether or not that review is accurate, but maybe be cautious if you read this in knowing that the author may not be objective.

Book of Mercy made me openly weep and feel something tender and weird in my heart and like. Okay so it’s not informative so much as it’s a book of poetry by Leonard Cohen (he was Jewish if you didn’t know!) He calls his poems “modern psalms” and honestly this would be a good read even if you aren’t religious at all because his writing is just so gorgeous. But it does have references to Judaism and his identity as a Jew

Understanding Judaism is really a “building blocks” kind of book to me, if that makes sense? It’s really informative but also really basic and is fantastic for people who know very little about Judaism or just want a well presented understanding of the core aspects of the Jewish religion. Even if you aren’t a Jew who’s looking to learn or someone who is considering conversion it’s still a good book if you’re interested in world religions regardless of your faith or lack thereof. (man I’m starting to sound pretentious lmao I just mean like, if you’re an atheist or Catholic or whatever, it’s pretty interesting and also this guy is kinda dorky-funny so it makes for an easier read than some other books about religion)

Shmooze I think this is meant to be more for a group to read an discuss, and like, also maybe meant for a younger audience (I’m talking about teenagers so not really that young, but if you’ve been reading dull infodumps by 90 y/o Jewish rabbis with doctorate degrees this is gonna be a change of pace lmao) I should mention that I’ve only read like two pages of this book because I saw it at Barnes and Noble and just kinda briefly checked it out so I don’t know a ton about it but it stuck in my head and the reviews look positive so

Obvious I don’t think you have to read all of those because I haven’t even read all of those so maybe just check one of them out if it seems like it could be helpful to you.

Judaism here on tumblr dot com:

Okay so like. This is really my personal diced onion so take it however you will but keep in mind that this really only reflects things I’ve come across and how I feel.

Obviously there are a lot of really great blogs about Judaism but I don’t have any specific ones to recommend I’m sorry :O I really really hate ~Discourse~ and like, in-depth arguments about the Holocaust because I get so wrapped up in it and let’s be honest, tumblr is all about the discourse and ignorance. That being said, I like to follow other people who are Jewish and blog about whatever because that usually leads to safer discussions and also is a great way to find really helpful thoughts and discussions by other Jews about topics like being LGBT, being a woman, being an atheist, etc. These are just nice to read and also if you aren’t familiar with certain Yiddish or Hebrew terms that are commonly used it’s a good way to see how and when they’re used in certain contexts.

I’m going to tag anything like this that I post here as “good info” just so me and anyone who wants can find this stuff easier. No they won’t necessarily have anything to do with hockey.

Also please be very careful when you’re reading a post that is presenting certain things as facts, always double check what someone is saying because misinformation is spread so quickly, and it’s almost always unintentional. The things that I find genuinely helpful/safe/fun involve opinions, common feelings and experiences, little personal stories and jokes, cool stuff like that.

I’m Jewish on my father’s side :0

Me too boo. Unfortunately that’s an unending discussion, and one that is often held by matrilineal Jews and doesn’t actually include patrilineal Jews, nor does it consider our thoughts/feelings/experiences. Without sounding like an idiot, it is absolutely buckwild to me that there are people who have been raised Jewish, have never known anything other than Jewish tradition, have been subject to antisemitism, but still aren’t considered Jewish.

And then this is where I see matrilineal Jews who hold this viewpoint bring up Reform Judaism, which is one of the three main branches of Judaism and does recognize patrilineall Jews as Jews. I’ve seen some discrepancy as to whether or not patrilineal Jews had to have been raised Jewish in order to be considered Jewish. This is all well and good for Jews like me whose family practices Reform Judaism, but for patrilineal Jews who wish to practice in an Orthodox or Conservative synagogue, it gets tricky.

Basically, yes this is a huge topic that inspires a lot of disagreement, and that sucks, but here’s what it comes down to. No one else is allowed to make you feel inferior because of your heritage. So many people, even modern Orthodox Jews, recognize that certain aspects of Judaism need to adapt to today’s society. I don’t want to offend anyone here, but I really do feel that most matrilineal Jews who don’t consider us Jewish are extremely hypocritical (for a lot of reasons but mostly like...y’all really follow every aspect of Jewish Law? Like do you really? All of it? Girl do u? Or are you maybe just being elitist). Learning about your heritage, talking about shared experiences, combating antisemitism, these are all things that are fair game for you (especially for the anon who said they were atheist) and going to Shabbat services, praying, participating in holy days. That’s all yours if you want it, bubbeleh.

Can I be an atheist Jew?

Sure you can! I, personally, am not an atheist so I wasn’t comfortable finding specific resources about this because I don’t really know much about it? It’s fine with me if you’re atheist that’s none of my business, I just don’t want to direct you to a bad source. But yes, many Jews are atheist, many are secular, I’m sure there are many here on tumblr. It’s absolutely okay, Judaism is an ethnoreligion, and while you may experience Judaism different than the rest of us, you’re still a Jew and still belong.

Here’s an excerpt from a short lil synopsis of Judaism:

These three connotations of Judaism as a monotheistic system, as a literary tradition, and as a historical culture are sometimes viewed separately. For example, there are Jews who see themselves as culturally Jewish, but who are also non-religious or atheist, often identifying more strongly with Jewish “peoplehood” than with traditional understandings of God and Torah. Even so, all Jews would recognize that these three points of reference have shaped and guided Jewish experience through the ages.

Jewish “peoplehood” that they talk about is like. Culture, customs, food, art, history, etc.

One last little note on this, you’ll hear a lot that Judaism focuses more on actions than on beliefs. This is an excellent article that is pretty short and worth reading that I want to include because I think that even if you don’t believe in G-d or even if you are seriously questioning, the focus on just. Doing good. Actively doing good things and trying to be a good person (I know that’s objective but bear with me) is a such a huge part of Judaism that you can try to incorporate into your life without having to subscribe to any sort of dogma or beliefs that you don’t hold. “Judaism is certainly a faith-based tradition. Belief in G-d is central to our religion. It just isn’t a prerequisite. If you are Jewish, you are so regardless of belief.”

But I’m a feminist....

As you should be. This is probably another personal statement you gon’ wanna take with a grain of salt, but I think Judaism, especially in the last 50 years or so, has made huge strides in this. Especially Reform Judaism, but that kind of goes without saying.

Example, my synagogue was founded as a Conservative synagogue. Our website still says we are. I’m not actually sure tbqh, like I said, my family are Reform Jews, and so are most other families in our congregation I think but this is literally the only synagoge for like hundreds of miles so. Anyways our rabbi is female (Rabbi Shaina!) and she does great work, we all love her. She’s really adament on teaching kids that gender shouldn’t keep you from anything, that Judaism is for all Jews, that it should enhance our lives. She wears a tallis, lays her tefillin, and reads from the Torah.

My point here is that while this isn’t like, the end of misogyny in Judaism as we know it, it’s still a big deal in most religions to have a woman as their religious leader, essentially a position of religious power. For men to accept a woman as a religious leader is not something that is super common in most religions. And we’re like, a tiny congregation over a hundred miles away from anyone else, technically a Conservative synagogue, that’s super loving and accepting of a feminist running our shit... female rabbis are super common and I think it speaks a lot to how we’re progressing as a religion. Reform Judaism is going to be your best bet when it comes to tolerance but knowing that all three of the main branches are progressing, at least with this, is really comforting to me.

However, that’s an extremely one sided view and doesn’t really show the issue as a whole. This super short article (? not sure) is a bit pessimistic in my mind but presents the other side of things and gives a good explanation of the traditional sources of misogyny in Judaism, so this could further your understanding as well.

By no means are we perfect but we’re workin on it. Look into Jewish Feminism though, if you have the time. That article is just a lil intro to the topic.

I’m Q*eer/LGBT and I’m not sure y’all are gonna be cool with that...

Well this one’s a doozy.

I’ll kick this right off by presenting an article that is objective and does not reflect the author’s opinion, just lays out the issues at hand. It also has some links to other good pieces, including one cool story about a transgender man, Rafi Daugherty, embracing his role as a father and details his experience with pregnancy and giving birth. I should mention that I am cisgender so I’m interpreting this article through a different point of view, but it really does make a point of celebrating Rafi and his daughter and sharing their story. It does include a little cultural background context, but this is a positive story that I think deserves to be shared :)

Then there’s this statement from the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism that confirms its absolute acceptance and support of LGBT Jews.

On the other side of things, there are still homophobic and intolerant Jews. Conversion camps were not just a Christian thing, there were Jewish conversion camps as well, which is horrific. Idk what to say because I think homophobia and transphobia in Judaism is really similar to what you would find in Christian settings.

I’m bisexual and I feel completely welcomed by other Jews who know this about me, and I certainly don’t feel any less Jewish because of it.

I live in a place where Jewish spaces are rare.

I really hate to disappoint with this one but I don’t have any specific sources or anything like that. Alls I got to say is that’s why the internet is so great? I really don’t feel like that’s helpful at all, but I think for the most part, the Jewish side of tumblr is pretty accepting and welcoming. Obviously that’s not always gonna be true though idkdjaskfl;dj

I spose with this one I wanna encourage anyone who has any good resources for involvement or something like that to reply to this post or drop by my inbox and let me know! Or maybe just your thoughts on some Jewish spaces you’ve encountered?

I hope this was helpful

In conclusion, don’t let anyone make you feel less Jewish. Your sexual identity, gender identity, and even your belief in G-d doesn’t take away from your Jewishness. I’d like to say that since I started delving into Judaism a little more I’ve found a lot of peace. And yeah that sounds cliche and also vague but it’s really a breath of fresh air to learn about my family and know more about this community. Also if you’re comfortable with or willing to try prayer, even if you’re atheist, it can be a good way to decompress sometimes, a really therapeutic kind of way to voice your thoughts and feelings and reflect on them.

There’s so much information and culture to delve into but it’s so so worth it to learn and I’m really happy for you that you’re interested in getting more in touch with your Jewish roots.

If any of these links don’t work and you’d like to see them let me know!

#this took 78 years sorry #ok for anyone to rb #there are TYPOS galore I'm sorry #judaism

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carolinabronova · 6 years

Text

Songs.

30 Seconds To Mars The Kill (Burry Me)

99 Souls The Girl Is Mine (ft. Destiny’s Child)

ABBA Lay All Your Love On Me

Adam Lambert Fever If I Had You

Adele Chasing Pavements Rolling In The Deep Send My Love Someone Like You When We Were Young

A-ha Take On Me

Akon Don’t Matter I Wanna Love You (ft. Snoop Dogg)

Alicia Keys If I Ain’t Got You No One

All Angels The Scientist

Ana Carolina É Isso Aí (ft. Seu Jorge)

Angus & Julia Stone A Heartbreak Big Jet Plane Big Jet Plane (Acoustic) Draw Your Swords Just A Boy Paper Aeroplane Yellow Brick Road

A Perfect Circle Counting Bodies Like Sheep To The Rhythm Of The War Drums

Arctic Monkeys 505 Brianstorm Do I Wanna Know? Fluorescent Adolescent I Wanna Be Yours One For The Road R U Mine? Stop The World Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?

Aretha Franklin Say A Little Prayer

Ariana & The Rose In Your Bed (Kevin Drew Remix)

Ariana Grande Almost Is Never Enough Bad Decisions Be Alright Be My Baby Best Mistake Dangerous Woman Everyday (ft. Future) Greedy Into You Jason’s Song (Gave It Away) One Last Time Right There (ft. Big Sean) Side To Side Sometimes

Athlete Rubik’s Cube

Austin Manuel I Just Want You To Love Me

Backstreet Boys If You Want It To Be Good Girl (Get Yourself A Bad Boy) I Want It That Way

Banks Drowning

Bee Gees How Deep Is Your Love More Than A Woman Too Much Heaven Tragedy

Ben E. King Stand By Me

Beyoncé 7/11 Baby Boy (ft. Sean Paul) Best Thing I Never Had Blow Countdown Drunk In Love Ego Formation Hold Up Love On Top Partition Sandcastles Sorry

Biel Demorô

Black Keys Howlin’ For You

Blue Öyster Cult Burnin’ For You (Don’t Fear) The Reaper

BoA Eat You Up

B.o.B So Good

Bon Iver Creature Fear Perth

Bonnie Raitt Can’t Make You Love Me

Bonnie Tyler Total Eclipse Of The Heart

Breaking Benjamin I Will Not Bow

Bright Eyes First Day Of My Life

Britney Spears 3

Bruce Springsteen Dancing In The Dark

Bruno Mars 24k Magic Calling All My Lovelies Chunky Gorilla (ft. Pharell Williams and R.Kelly) Locked Out Of Heaven Talking To The Moon That’s What I Like Treasure When I Was Your Man

Bryan Adams Heaven

Calvin Harris Feels (ft. Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry and Big Sean) This Is What You Came For (ft. Rihanna)

Camila Cabello Havana (ft. Young Thug)

Captain & Tennille Love Will Keep Us Together

Carly Rae Jepsen Run Away With Me Your Type

Cary Brothers Loneliest Girl In The World

Cash Cash Overtime

Charlie Brown Jr. Me Encontra

Charlie Puth Attention How Long Marvin Gaye (ft. Meghan Trainor)

Charli XCX Boys

Cheat Codes Let Me Hold You

Chet Baker My Funny Valentine

Chris Brown Liquor Show Me (ft. Kid Ink) Strip Take You Down

Christina Grimmie Must Be Love

Christina Perri distance

Chromeo Come Alive (ft. Toro Y Moi)

Ciara Body Party

City And Colour The Girl

Claudinho & Bochecha Fico Assim Sem Você Quero Te Encontrar

Clean Bandit Tears (ft. Louisa Johnson)

Coldplay Charlie Brown Hymn For The Weekend (ft. Beyoncé) Swallowed In The Sea Violet Hills Viva La Vida

Colbie Caillat Bubbly

Counting Crows Accidentally In Love

Cyndi Lauper Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Time After Time

Daft Punk Around The World Digital Love Harder Better Faster Stronger Lose Yourself To Dance One More Time Something About Us Technologic

Damien Rice 9 Crimes Delicate Rootless Tree The Blower’s Daughter

Danni Carlos Coisas Que Eu Sei

Daughter Landfill Medicine Run Touch

David Guetta Bad (ft. Vassy)

Dawin Dessert (ft. Silento)

Demi Lovato Sorry Not Sorry Stone Cold

Destiny’s Child Bills, Bills, Bills Bootylicious Independent Women Say My Name

Disclosure Latch (ft. Sam Smith)

DJ Snake Leon On (ft. MØ and Major Lazer) Middle

DNCE Cake By The Ocean

Drake Fake Love Hold On We’re Going Home How About Now Marvin’s Room One Dance Passionfruit Too Good (ft. Rihanna)

Dua Lipa New Rules

Duke Dumont Ocean Drive

Earth, Wind & Fire After The Love Has Gone Boogie Wonderland Fantasy Let’s Groove September

Eden Project drowning.

Ed Sheeran Cold Coffee Drunk Give Me Love Grade 8 I’m A Mess Kiss Me Little Bird One Night She Small Bump U.N.I The Man Wake Me Up

Ellie Goulding Love Me Like You Do On My Mind

Elvis Presley Can’t Help Falling In Love Suspicious Minds (You’re The) Devil In Disguise

Erasure A Little Respect

Escape The Fate Zombie Dance

Etha Franklin At Last

Evanescence My Immortal

Fetty Wap 679 (ft. Remy Boyz) Again My Way (ft. Monty) Trap Queen

Fifth Harmony All In My Head (Flex) (ft. Fetty Wap)

Flight Facilities Crave You Crave You (Adventure Club Remix)

Florence + The Machine Cosmic Love Caught Drumming Song Never Let Me Go Seven Devils

Flo Rida I Cry

Francoise Hardy Voila

Frank Sinatra Fly Me To The Moon If I Had You Moon River

Gabrielle Aplin Home Please Don’t Say You Love Me Start Of Time

G-Eazy F**k With U (ft. Pia Mia) Lady Killers (ft. Hoodie Allen)

George Martin Pepperland - Remastered

Gilberto Girl Vamos Fugir (Gimme Your Love)

Glen Hansard All The Way Down Falling Slowly Lies Say It To Me Now

Grayscale Palette

Gym Class Heroes Cupid’s Chokehold

Halsey Gasoline

Hozier Someone New Take Me To Church

Hudson Thames How I Want Ya

Hurts Illuminated Somebody To Die For Stay Unspoken

Ingrid Michaelson Can’t Help Falling In Love You And I

Iron & Wine Flightless Bird, American Mouth

Israel Novaes Vem Ni Mim Dodge Ram

Ivete Sangalo Quando A Chuva Passar Se Eu Não Te Amasse Tanto Assim

James Blunt You’re Beautiful

Jammil Praieiro

Jeff Buckley Hallelujah

Jeremih oui

João Bosco E Vinícius Chora Me Liga

Joe Walsh Turn To Stone

John Mayer Free Fallin’ Gravity Slow Dancing In A Burning Room

Johnny Cash Hurt

JoJo Beautiful Girls

Jon Secada If I Never Knew You (ft. Shanice)

Jordan Fisher All About Us

Jorge Vercilo Que Nem Maré

Jota Quest Blecaute (ft. Anitta and Nite Rodgers)

Justin Timberlake My Love (ft. T.I) Summer Love

Kanye West Bound 2 Power

Kate Nash Nicest Thing

Katy Perry Birthday

Kendrick Lamar DNA King Kunta Loyalty (ft. Rihanna) Poetic Justice (ft. Drake)

Kid Abelha Como Eu Quero

Kina Grannis Valentine

Kings Of Leon Pyro Sex On Fire

Kodaline All I Want

Kyle Edwards Starboy (Harder Better Faster Stronger Jersey Club)

Labrinth Jealous

Lady Gaga Bad Romance Do What U Want (ft. R.Kelly) Edge Of Glory G.U.Y Just Dance Marry The Night Million Reasons Monster Perfect Illusion Speechless The Cure You & I

Lana Del Rey Born To Die Dark Paradise Freak High By The Beach Love Religion Ridin’ (ft. A$AP Rocky) Sad Girl Serial Killer Video Games West Coast Young And Beautiful

Lauren Aquilina Wonder

Leonard Cohen Hallelujah

Leona Lewis Bleeding Love

Lil Dicky Lemme Freak

Lil Wayne 6 Foot 7 Foot

Linda Ronstadt I Will Always Love You

Lionel Richie Just Go (ft. Akon)

Lissie Everywhere I Go

Little Big Town Girl Crush

Los Hermanos Anna Julia

LS Jack Ô Carla

Lulu Santos Como Uma Onda Sereia

Lykke Li I Follow Rivers Until We Bleed

M83 My Tears Are Becoming A Sea

Madonna Material Girl

Maiara & Maraisa Medo Bobo

Mariah Carey #Beautiful (ft. Miguel) Emotions Obsessed Touch My Body We Belong Together

Marianas Trench Haven’t Had Enough

Marina & The Diamonds How To Be A Heartbreaker Oh No! Primadonna Teen Idle

Marisa Monte Depois

Maroon 5 Feelings Makes Me Wonder Stutter What Lovers Do

Marvin Gaye Sexual Healing

Maskavo Um Anjo Do Céu

Matthew Perryman Jones Only You

MC G15 Deu Onda

MC Leozinho Se Ela Dança, Eu Danço

MC Marcinho Glamurosa

Michael Sembello Maniac

Miguel Adorn coffee Simple Things Sure Thing

Mike Posner Cooler Than Me I Took A Pill In Ibiza Looks Like Sex

Miley Cyrus 23 (ft. Mike Will Made It, Wiz Khalifa and Juicy J) Wrecking Ball

MKTO Classic

MØ Fire Rides - Night Version

Mumford And Sons Little Lion Man Sigh No More White Blank Page

Muse Neutron Star Collision Plug In Baby Resistance Starlight Supermassive Black Hole Undisclosed Desires

My Chemical Romance Helena (So Long & Goodnight) I Don’t Love You The Light Behind Your Eyes

Natalie La Rose Somebody (ft. Jeremih)

Natiruts Me Namora

Nelly Dilemma (ft. Kelly Rowland)

Neon Trees Animal Everybody Talks Mad Love

Ne-yo Closer

NF Got You On My Mind

Niall Horan Slow Hands

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds O Children

Nick Jonas Jealous Teacher Wilderness

Nigahiga Bromance (ft. Chester See) Nice Guys (ft. Chester See and KevJumba)

Ninja Sex Party FYI I Wanna F Your A Peppermint Creams Sex Training The Decision

Oasis Wonderwall

Olivver The Kid Attica ‘71

Olly Murs Dance With Me Tonight Kiss Me

Omarion Post To Be (ft. Chris Brown and Jhené Aiko)

One Direction Fireproof Happily Night Changes No Control Perfect Stockholm Sydrome Strong You & I

Outkast Hey Ya!

Panic! At The Disco Death Of A Bachelor Nine In The Afternoon

Papas Da Língua Eu Sei

Paramore Ain’t It Fun Misery Business Still Into You

Passanger Let Her Go

Paula Fernandes Não Precisa (ft. Victor e Leo)

P.Diddy Last Night (ft. Keyshia Cole)

Pentatonix Can’t Sleep Love Fantasy I Need Your Love La La Latch Love Again Natural Disaster

Pink F*cking Perfect Please Don’t Leave Me Sober So What Who Knew

Player Baby Come Back

Post Malone Rockstar

Psirico Lepo Lepo

R5 Dark Side

Rae Sremmurd Black Beatles

Raleigh Ritchie Bloodsport

Redfoo New Thang

Rich Homie Quan Flex (Ooh, ooh, ooh)

Richie Campbell Do You No Wrong

Rihanna Can’t Remember To Forget You (ft. Shakira) Don’t Stop The Music FourFiveSeconds (ft. Kanye West and Paul McCartney) Love On The Brain Needed Me Russian Roulette Te Amo Unfaithful Where Have You Been Wild Thoughts (ft. DJ Khaled and Bryson Tiller)

Rise Against Savior

Roberta Campos Minha Felicidade

Robin Thicke Get Her Back

Robot Koch Nitesky (ft. John Lamonica)

Ryan Adams Wonderwall

Sam Smith Nirvana Palace

Sarah Jaffe Clementine

Scorpions Rock You Like A Hurricane

Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox Stacy’s Mom

Scouting For Girls Heartbeat

Seal Kiss From A Rose

Selena Gomez Bad Liar Fetish (ft. Gucci Mane) Good For You Hands To Myself Perfect Wolves (ft. Marshmellow)

Seu Jorge Carolina Mina Do Condomínio

Shania Twain From This Moment On Man! I Feel Like A Woman You’re Still The One

Shawn Mendes There’s Nothing Holding Me Back

Shura Touch (Canvas Remix)

Sia Cheap Thrills Elastic Heart

Simon & Garfunkel Bridge Over Troubled Water

Skank Ainda Gosto Dela Tão Seu Vamos Fugir Vou Deixar

Sleeping At Last As Long As You Love Me Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic Venus

Snoop Dogg Sensual Seduction

Stevie Nicks Edge Of Seventeen

Stevie Wonder Isn’t She Lovely

Story Of The Year Until The Day I Die

Talking Heads Psycho Killers

Taylor Swift Blank Space Love Story Safe And Sound (ft. The Civil Wars) Style Wildest Dreams

Tears For Fears Everybody Wants To Rule The World

The 1975 Chocolate FallingForYou Somebody Else UGH! The Sound

The Archies Sugar, Sugar

The Barr Brothers May 4th

The Bird And The Bee How Deep Is Your Love

The Black Eyed Peas Meet Me Halfway

The Black Keys Howlin’ For You

The Beach Boys Good Vibrations Wouldn’t It Be Nice

The Beatles Hey Jude Yesterday

The Black Eyed Peas Meet Me Halfway

The Cataracs Ready 4 The Weekend (ft. Icona Pop)

The Civil Wars Poison And Wine

The Cure Boys Don’t Cry

The Glitch Mob Between Two Points (ft. Swan)

The Irrepressibles In This Shirt

The Jackson 5 I Want You Back

The Killers Human Somebody Told Me When You Were Young

The Last Shadow Puppets Miracle Aligner

The Lonely Island 3-Way (The Golden Rule) I’m So Humble (ft. Adam Levine) Jizz In My Pants Spring Break Anthem

The Maine I Must Be Dreaming Into Your Arms

The Middle East Blood

The Neighbourhood Daddy Issues #icanteven (ft. French Montana)

The Platters Only You (And You Alone)

The Police Every Breath You Take Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic Roxanne

The Pretty Reckless You Zombie

The Script Breakeven

The Turtles Happy Together

The Weeknd Acquainted A Lonely Night Earned It I Feel It Coming Often Or Nah (Stwo Remix) Starboy The Hills Wicked Games

The White Strips Seven Nation Army

The Zombies Time Of The Season

T.I Whatever You Like

Tim Maia Descobridor Dos Sete Mares Gostava Tanto De Você Não Quero Dinheiro (Só Quero Amar)

Tinashe Superlove Quit You (ft. Lost Kings)

Tom Odell Can’t Pretend

Toni Braxton Un-Break My Heart

Toto Africa

Tove Lo Cool Girl

Tribalistas Aliança Já Sei Namorar Velha Infância

Troye Sivan Fools for him. Wild (ft. Alessia Cara)

U2 One (ft. Mary J Blidge)

Usher DJ Got Us Fallin In Love Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home) U Remind Me

Van Halen Why Can’t This Be Love

Vinicius Cantuária Só Você

Wesley Safadão Aquele 1% (ft. Marcos & Belutti) Camarote

What So Not Jaguar

Whitney Houston I Have Nothing I Wanna Dance With Somebody I Will Always Love You

xxyyxx About You

War Why Can’t We Be Friends

Yvonne Elliman If I Can’t Have You

Zara Larsson Ain’t My Fault I Would Like So Good

Zella Day Hypnotic (Vanic Remix)

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therandombanjo · 4 years

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Songs From 2019 (one per artist)

Another mixed bag of stuff i either enjoyed a lot, thought was excellent or interesting (regardless of taste… sort of), emerging artists to maybe look out for, and generally music that for whatever reason connected with me in some way, including the odd earworm i just couldn’t shake. Some artists are left off just to vary a little more from some other popular lists. Hope you enjoy some of this too and find something new to be taken by. Please do buy their music if you can and hopefully from a local independent record store if possible to support their work. There’s a spotify playlist (below) for easier listening but I’ve also posted a few links to extra things on some of them if you want to check them out. Spotify:

(As ever…. as i don’t tumblr or blog or anything (besides this list), this won’t be seen by many (if any?) people so if you like it or think it’s of any worth in any way, please do share this along)

In Alphabetical order:

A.A. Bondy - Killers 3 Abdallah Oumbadougou - Thingalene Alasdair Roberts - Common Clay Alex Rex - Latest Regret Andy Shauf - Try Again Angel Bat Dawid - We Are Starzz Angel Olsen - All Mirrors bonus. her collab with Mark Ronson “True Blue” Anne Müller - Solo? Repeat! Antoinette Konan - Kokoloko Tani Arthur Russell - Words Of Love Asmâa Hamzaoui and Bnat Timbouktou - Sandia Baby Rose - All To Myself BCI - Grateful Bedouine - When You’re Gone Benny The Butcher - Crowns For Kings ft. Black Thought Ben Walker - Afon Better Oblivion Community Center - Chesapeake Beverly Glenn-Copeland - A Little Talk (from a reissue of her 2004 record Primal Prayer) Bibio - Curls The Big Moon - It’s Easy Then Big Thief - a. Not b. Cattails (from 2 excellent albums released in the same year: “U.F.O.F” and “Two Hands”) Bill Callahan - a. What Comes After Certainty b. The Ballad Of The Hulk Bill Fay - Filled With Wonder Once Again Bill Orcutt - Odds Against Tomorrow billy woods - a. Spongebob w/ Kenny Segal b. Western Education Is Forbidden ft. Fielded (From 2 excellent records this year: “Hiding Places” with Kenny Segal, and “Terror Management”) Black Country, New Road - Sunglasses Blu & Oh No - The Lost Angels Anthem ft. Kezia Bon Iver - Hey, Ma Bonnie “Prince” Billy - Beast For Thee Bonny Light Horseman - Bonny Light Horseman (”supergroup” of the great Anaïs Mitchell, Eric D Johnson & Josh Kaufman) Brent Cobb & Jade Bird - Feet Off The Ground Brighde Chaimbeul - O Chiadain an Lo Brigyn - Oer Brittany Howard - Stay High (the video for this, with Terry Crews, is a delight) Bruce Hornsby - Voyager One ft. yMusic Burd Ellen - Sweet Lemany Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and Thomas Bartlett - Kestrel Caribou - You and I Caroline Polachek - Door Cate Le Bon - Daylight Matters Caterina Barbieri - Arrows Of Time Clairo - Bags Cochemea - Mitote comfort - Not Passing The Cool Greenhouse - Cardboard Man (a pretty hilarious song about David Cameron) CRAC - You Can’t Turn Your Back On Me (Unreleased old track from ‘76) Cross Record - PYSOL My Castle CZ Wang and Neo Image - Just Off Wave Damon Locks / Black Monument Ensemble - a. Rebuild a Nation b. Power Daniel Norgren - The Flow Danny Brown - Dirty Laundry Daphni - Sizzling ft. Paradise Daughter Of Swords - Fellows (Mountain Man member Alexandra Sauser-Monnig’s 1st solo record) Dave - Psycho David Kilgour - Smoke You Right Out Of Here David Thomas Broughton - Ambiguity (from the 15th anniversary reissue of his remarkable debut album, The Complete Guide To Insufficiency) Denzel Curry - RICKY Destroyer - Crimson Tide Dry Cleaning - Dog Proposal Dubi Dolczek - Do The Gloop Durand Jones & The Indications - Long Way Home Ela Orleans - The Season (From 2012 but on a career retrospective, Movies For Ears, put out this year) Elkhorn - Song Of The Son Emile Mosseri - a. The Last Black Man In San Francisco b. San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair) ft. Mike Marshall (both from the wonderful score for the wonderful film The Last Black Man In San Francisco, the latter a cover of an old song sung here by the guy who sang “I Got 5 On It”!!) Erland Cooper - Haar Ernest Hood - Saturday Morning Doze (from a re-issue of his “self-released proto-ambient masterpiece” in ‘75) Fat White Family - Feet Faye Webster - Room Temperature Fennesz - In My Room Fernando Falcão - As 7 Filhas Da Rainha Sumaia (reissue from ‘87) FKA twigs - cellophane Florist - Shadow Bloom Flowdan - Welcome To London Fontaines D.C. - Roy’s Tune Four Tet / KH - Only Human French Vanilla - All The Time Gang Starr - Family and Loyalty ft. J. Cole Georgia - About Work The Dancefloor Girl Band - Shoulderblades The Good Ones - Will You Be My Protector? (of Rwanda) Grand Veymont - Les Rapides Bleus (of France) Gyedu-Blay Ambolley - Sunkwa (of Ghana) Hailaker - Not Much HAIM - Summer GIrl Hana Vu - Actress Hand Habits - placeholder Hannah Cohen - Get In Line The Harlem Gospel Travellers - If You Can’t Make It Through A Storm Hayden Thorpe - Diviner (Former Wild Beasts frontman’s debut solo record) Helado Negro - Running The Highwomen - Redesigning Women Hiss Golden Messenger - I Need A Teacher Holly Herndon - Frontier Homeboy Sandman - Far Out Hoops - They Say Hotel Neon & Blurstem - Language Of Loss House and Land - Rainbow ‘Mid Life’s Willows Ibibio Sound Machine - Wanna Come Down IDER - Saddest Generation The Innocence Mission - On Your Side International Teachers Of Pop - I Stole Yer Plimsoles ft. Jason Williamson (of Sleaford Mods) Jacken Elswyth - The Banks Of Green Williow Jaimie Branch - nuevo roquero estéreo Jake Xerxes Fussell - The River St. Johns Jamila Woods - ZORA Jayda G - Leave Room 2 Breathe Jenny Hval - Ashes To Ashes Jenny Lewis - Red Bull and Hennessy Jesca Hoop - Outside of Eden ft. Kate Stables (of This Is The Kit) and Jesca’s 12 year-old nephew Justis. This live performance is so sweet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUPmE_hU7Ss Jessica Pratt - As The World Turns Joanna Sternberg - This Is Not Who I Want To Be Joan Shelley - Cycle John Blek - North Star Lady Jordan Rakei - Say Something bonus. under his DJ pseudonym: Dan Kye - Focus Jo Schornikow - Incomplete Joseph Shabason - West of Heaven Julianna Barwick - evening Junius Paul - Baker’s Dozen Kali Malone - Spectacle Of Ritual Kate Teague - Sweetheart Kate Tempest - a. Firesmoke b. People’s Faces Kelly Moran - Halogen (Una Corda) (from a record full of all the bare piano parts she played for her prior record before all the editing and processing) Kim Gordon - Air BnB Kindness - Hard To Believe ft. Jazmine Sullivan KOKOKO! - Buka Dansa (Congolese collective upcycling discarded materials to make their instruments) Konradsen - Baby Hallelujah (of Norway) Lambchop - Everything For You Laura Cannell - a. Sing As The Crow Flies b. Flaxen Fields Laura Stevenson - Lay Back, Arms Out Le Groupe Obscur - Planète Ténèbres Leonard Cohen - Happens To The Heart Leo Svirsky - River Without Banks Little Simz - 101 FM Lizzo - Tempo ft. Missy Elliot Loren Conors & Daniel Carter - Departing Lou Roy - Bite Low Chord - Walkk Lower Dens - Galapagos Mahalia - What You Did ft. Ella Mai Majja - Black James Dean Maria Somerville - This Way Maria Usbeck - Amor Anciano Mary Halvorson & John Dieterich - Vega’s Array (Mary the recipient of the MacArthur “Genius” Grant this year, because she is) Mary Lattimore & Mac McCaughan - IV Matana Roberts - As Far As The Eye Can See Meitei - Ike Melanie Charles - Trill Suite, No. 1 (Daydreaming/Skylark) The Menzingers - Anna Messiahs Of Glory - No Other Love (from a collection of rare black gospel from the Midwest between ‘65-’78 put out on Tompkins Square) Mica Levi - a. Hosting b. Lobo y Lady (from the excellent Colombian film Monos) Michael Abels - a. I Got 5 On It (Tethered Mix) b. Pas De Deux (both from the terrific score to the excellent Jordan Peele film, Us) Michael Kiwanuka - Living In Denial Michael Nau - Poor Condition Mike Adams At His Honest Weight - Wonderful To Love Minor Pieces - Rothko (duo of Ian William Craig & newcomer Missy Donaldson) Modern Nature - Footsteps Molly Sarlé - Twisted (Mountain Man member’s 1st solo record) Moodymann - I’ll Provide Moon Duo - Stars Are The Light Moor Mother - After Images Moses Boyd - Stranger Than Fiction Moses Sumney - Polly Mount Eerie & Julie Doiron - Love Without Possession MSYLMA - Inqirad (Rihab-U Dhakir) (Saudi Arabia) The Murder Capital - Don’t Cling To Life Nardeydey - Freefalling The National - Rylan ft. Kate Stables (of This Is The Kit) The New Pornographers - Falling Down The Stairs Of Your Smile Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - a. Waiting For You b. Bright Horses c. Night Raid Nivhek - After Its Own Death: Side A (Liz Harris of Grouper) Noname - Song 32 Octo Octa - Move Your Body ODD OKODDO - Auma (Kenyan/German duo) Øyvind Torvund - Starry Night (Norwegian composer) Pet Shop Boys - Burning The Heather Petter Eldh - Fanfarum for Komarum II Porridge Radio - Give/Take PREGOBLIN - Combustion Purple Mountains - a. Snow Is Falling In Manhattan b. All My Happiness Is Gone c. That’s Just The Way That I Feel Quelle Chris - Obamacare Quinie - Whas At The Windy Rapsody - Ibtihaj ft. D’Angelo & GZA Reb Fountain - Faster Rian Treanor - ATAXIA_A1 Richard Dawson - Two Halves Robert Stillman - All Are Welcome Róisín Murphy - Incapable Rosalía - Milionària Rosenau & Sanborn - Saturday Rozi Plain - Symmetrical Ruth Garbus - Strash Sam Lee - The Moon Shines Bright ft. Elizabeth Fraser (of Cocteau Twins) Sam Wilkes - Run Sandro Perri - Soft Landing SAULT - Smile and Go Seabuckthorn - To Which The Rest Were Dreamt serpentwithfeet - Receipts ft. Ty Dolla $ign Sessa - Flor do Real (of Brazil) Sheer Mag - Hardly To Blame Shit and Shine - No No No No Sinead O Brien - A Thing You Call Joy Siobhan Wilson - Plastic Grave Six Organs Of Admittance - Two Forms Moving Sleaford Mods - Kebab Spider Slow Meadow - Artificial Algorithm Snowy - EFFED ft. Jason Williamson (of Sleaford Mods) SOAK - Knock Me Off My Feet Solange - Binz Sophie Crawford - A Miner’s Life Squid - Houseplants bonus. Their cover of Robert Wyatt’s “PIgs..... In There at End of the Road Festival) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DktZtQbo-YU Stella Donnelly - Old Man SUSS - Ursa Major Swamp Dogg - Sleeping Without You Is A Dragg ft. Justin Vernon & Jenny Lewis Tami T - Birthday Tenesha The Wordsmith - Why White Folks Can’t Call Me Nigga Theon Cross - Activate ft. Moses Boyd & Nubya Garcia Thom Yorke - Dawn Chorus Tierra Whack - Wasteland Tim Hecker - That World Tiny Leaves - Respair Toya Delazy - Funani (of South Africa) Twain - Death (Or S.F.?) Twin Peaks - Dance Through It Tyler Childers - All Your’n Vagabon - Water Me Down Vampire Weekend - This Life Vanishing Twin - Magicians Success Velvet Negroni - Confetti Vendredi Sur Mer - Chewing-Gum (of France) Victoria Monét - Ass Like That Vieo Abiungo - Cobble Together Visible Cloaks - Stratum ft. Yoshio Ojima & Satsuki Shibano Warmduscher - Midnight Dipper Weyes Blood - Andromeda Wilco - Love Is Everywhere (Beware) William Tyler - Our Lady Of The Desert Willie Scott & The Birmingham Spirituals - Keep Your Faith To The Sky (from a collection of obscure 70′s era gospel on Luaka Bop, “The Time For Peace Is Now - Gospel Music About Us”) Xylouris White - Tree Song Ye Vagabonds - The Foggy Dew Zsela - Noise

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manifestomindset · 7 years

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Who watched the Watchmen? I did. And it sucked.

So I finally got around to viewing Zack Snyder’s 2009 film adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ 1986 graphic novel Watchmen. His, his proudest achievement. The movie who’s title is uttered in confidence to anyone who dares question or critique the artistic merit, intelligence or worth of film auteur Zachary Edward “No, Batman [Begins]’s cool. He gets to go to a Tibetan monastery and be trained by ninjas. Okay? I want to do that. But he doesn’t, like, get raped in prison. That could happen in my movie. If you want to talk about dark, that’s how that would go.” Snyder. The much lauded adaptation of the so-called “Unfilmable comic”. How does it fare you ask?

It’s a fucking embarrassment.

Zack Snyder’s Watchmen, is like....having an edgy teenager attempt a shitty recreation of the Mona Lisa in MS Paint and then calling that a proper adaptation. It’s like having the Chainsmokers do a cover of a Beatles song. Watchmen is nothing more than a self-congratulatory hollow shell of it’s source material with a severe lack of self awareness and understanding of Moore and Gibbons’ work.

From the opening fight scene between Ozymandias (a poorly casted Matthew Goode, who’s poor American accent turns Ozzie’s already forced monologues into distracting rants) and The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), to the modified ending, it is abundantly clear that not only does Snyder completely miss the point of the original graphic novel, but yes, Alan Moore was right, Watchmen was not meant to be adapted into a film (more on that later).

Unlike the comic, which portrays violence in brief yet brutal moments of time suspended within comic panels that are drawn to highlight the mortality and limitations of the character’s within, Snyder almost fetishizes it, slowly panning the camera over the broken bones and gore, filling up every action scene with redundant slo-motion and speed up edits, ridiculous “whooshes” and deafening “thuds” (it’s important to note that the original comic omitted all sound effects that you would normally see in a standard cape-comic at the time), and exaggerating physical feats to the point of it being laughably cartoony, which is literally the exact opposite of what Moore and Gibbons were going for! Snyder and co. even go as far as using said cartoony sfx in Silk Spectre I’s rape scene which completely deflated any dramatic weight the scene would’ve had on the narrative ( “Just make it sound awesome,” Jenkins recalls of Snyder’s reply to his Day 1 question: How do you want the film to sound?). If the scene was executed without those sfx and filmed tastefully it might’ve you know, actually meant something but I guess that’s asking too much of Snyder. Keep in mind that Snyder thinks that scenes panning over a blood and skeleton-encrusted ceiling is him “restraining” himself, Jesus Christ.

It’s also important to note the awful soundtrack of this film. Literally every song used is so on the nose with what tone and reaction they’re trying to elicit from the audience I wouldn’t be surprised if Snyder came out and said that when he was a kid a classmate named “Subtlety” used to bully him. It’s the only explanation I can think of for the music choices, and really his entire directorial style. It almost feels like every track was used as a place-holder, like when planning the scenes out Snyder wrote “I want a song similar in tone to All Along the Watchtower when they’re walking up to Ozzie’s base”, but instead of finding a more subtle song to enhance the scene they just....went with the most obvious choice. And in many cases said song choices are incredibly distracting. Take for instance, the use of Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen and Jennifer Warnes during the NiteOwl, Silk Spectre sex scene, a scene that was supposed to show how much of NiteOwl’s masculinity and personal complications are tied to his superhero persona (and if you’re invested in his character, elicit a feeling of satisfaction when he finally gets that p u s s), but instead I just ended up laughing at how fucking stupid the juxtaposition was. A song like Hallelujah should only be used in a sex scene if it’s centered around a horny teenage nerd losing his virginity in a raunchy comedy, not a deconstruction of how masculinity ties in with a man’s alter ego. It’s the same with the use of Ride of the Valkyries when Dr. Manhattan is fighting in Vietnam, that shit’s been parodied so much overtime that using that in a sequence meant to show how powerful he is comes off as comedic.

A perfect example of a film using music to highlight tones and themes within a specific scene would be Goodfellas. That film has three album’s worth of music spread evenly throughout and it worked beautifully. Martin Scorsese used snippets of music (all of which were period specific too, none of the songs were released after whatever time period a scene is taking place in) to effectively highlight and enhance the mood of whatever’s going on in the scene, beautifully punctuating them, unlike Watchmen’s soundtrack, which does nothing beyond distracting the audience from what’s going on in a poor attempt at trying to manipulate an emotional response. Fuck like, I don’t even like the Guardians of the Galaxy movies but even I can admit that James Gunn was able to organically integrate the soundtrack into the plot of the movie and make it poignant.

Visually its a mess too. Part of what made Watchmen a touchstone of American comics is how well Dave Gibbons stitched it together and how it flows visually. The original graphic novel is brimming with numerous visual motifs and cues, alongside a beautifully realized world that effectively and subtly feeds the audience information about the setting and story without needing to verbally beat us over the head with it. The panel-to-panel flow that Gibbons used (in this case a 9-panel-per-page format inspired by Steve Ditko) could easily be translated to film but somehow Hack Snyder, Larry Fong and William Hoy couldn’t even get that right.

Let me reiterate: the director, cinematographer and editor of Watchmen collectively could not even take the visual flow of the comic---the element of the comic that is the easiest to adapt from one visual medium to another, and adapt it properly.

People who say that Snyder’s films are like “comics come to life” either have a poor understanding of comics, don’t know that Speed Racer fucking exists, or just think that empty, meaningless homages to comics that lack the context and meaning that made said comics work count as “coming to life”. Probably all fucking three.

It’s also interesting to note how poorly the film is designed overall. It’s almost as if the set designers, costume designers, cinematographer and director were all on different pages when making this film, which again, kinda proves Moore’s claim that the comic is “unfilmable”, given that Watchmen was largely the collaborative effort between three guys (five including the editors Len Wein and later Barbara Randall, whom Gibbons claims didn’t really effect the production of the comic beyond “traffic control”) whereas a feature film involves hundreds of people throughout it’s production cycle. The set designs were either uninspired or blatantly obvious (The Comedian’s apartment is so blatantly on the nose, filled to the brim with Silk Spectre iconography that really adds nothing to his character given that the film doesn’t comment or do anything with it), and it’s worth pointing out that the sets and costumes originally had the same bold color palette as the comic (another staple of Moore’s work is the retention of some of the more “traditional” aspects of whatever genre he’s riffing to add more dramatic weight when the character drama begins to unfold, in Watchmen’s case it was the goofy costume designs and bold colors of traditional cape-comics), but was later desaturated in post. Why the fuck have all of these designers go through all of this fucking trouble to stay accurate to John Higgins’ original coloring if you’re just gonna make everything fucking monochromatic.

I thought it was really neat that a bunch of veteran comic artists (Adam Hughes, David Finch and John Cassaday to name a few) contributed some of their own modern takes on Gibbons’ original designs, but Ryan Meinerding was the final concept artist and you know what that means: Needlessly complicated superhero costumes!!!!

Look, I love Meinerding’s artwork but ever since the end of Marvel’s Phase One all of his costume designs have been getting increasingly monochromatic and convoluted. Just look at his designs for Cap alone between The First Avenger and Iron Man 4: Age of Ultron and you’ll see what I mean. Here, his designs aren’t bad but in the cases of Silk Spectre, NiteOwl and Ozzie they’re so disconnected from the characters and the story.

The entire point of Dan Dreiburg’s character is that he’s an everyman schlub who’s heroism from within transcends his own self-loathing and fears and helps him move past his limitations. Dressing him up in a really cool, slick Batman costume and having him execute these powerful, cartooney action scenes robs him of the everymaness that his character is based upon.

Silk Spectre is, for some reason, covered in latex, (which doesn’t make any sense given that her costume was created in the 60′s and thus looks like something an aspiring legacy hero would adopt while staying truthful to the themes of sex appeal in her predecessor’s costume) and rather than use this clear difference to push her character forward (the primary conflict of Laurie Jupiter’s character is that she’s tired of living in a confusing world created by her mother and her contemporaries and is sick of just being an object her mother can vicariously live through) by having her name herself, I dunno, “The Latex Lady” or something in an attempt to distance herself from her mother its just there for....sex appeal I guess.

And then there’s Ozymandias’ costume, a much more Hellenistic take on the character that sports both molded body armour and an obvious parody of Joel Schumacher’s infamous “bat-nipples”. This misguided design undercuts the most important aspect of Ozzie’s character: the fact that yes, he’s the real deal. The entire comic (primarily through Rorshach’s personal thoughts towards him) builds Ozzie up to be somewhat of a charlatan. Something’s a bit suspicious about him but overall he seems to be nothing more than an incredibly successful business mogul with an amazing physique. Moore and Gibbons essentially constructed him to be the personification of what was the ideal form of masculinity in the 80′s, which in the cynical world that Watchmen builds meant that all of the nonsense about him being “the smartest man on the planet” who could “catch a bullet with his bare hands” was just hyperbole. The moment Ozzie actually fucking catches the bullet shot by Silk Spectre is the moment Moore and Gibbons solidify him as an antagonist bigger than anything the characters have faced before, and essentially one-ups Dr. Manhattan as this world’s only “real” superhero. When he’s clad in kevlar it removes the dramatic tension in being shot, thus undercutting his big character moment, and pasting nipples on his costume in an attempt to parody a movie that was already a decade too old (and that fans had essentially moved past with the release of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight) ended up being nothing beyond a stale joke.

And then there’s the modified ending. I have no problem when an adaptation of a source material changes details from said materiel to create a new story or allow said adaptation to stand on its own, so long as that change is at least well thought out and justified within the logic of the adaptation. Changing the ending so that instead of a really interesting, horrifying Lovecraftian/Cronenbergian squid destroying NYC to tricking Dr. Manhattan doing the same thing seems smart and ideal for a film at first.......until you realize that, in both the comic and the film, Manhattan agrees completely with what Ozzie has done, which begs the question as to why Ozzie had to go through so much trouble when he could’ve just asked Manhattan to destroy NYC for him. In the comic, Moore and Gibbons justify this by setting it up so that Manhattan would be both benign enough to just go along with American interests while at the same time be vulnerable enough to be controlled through a romantic interest. And from Ozzie’s perspective, it made sense to just create a threat from the ground up that’s sole purpose (down to the brainwaves it fucking emits) was to elicit fear and horror amongst the planet’s superpowers to unite and prevent any possibility of nuclear conflict, rather than use someone like Manhattan, who can actually be reasoned with. We, as a species, fear the unknown, and as powerful as Manhattan is, everyone in the world of Watchmen know everything about his life and his creation (which would subsequently lead to the eventual discovery of how to actually defeat him as Ozzie was able to do, briefly.)

(art by Nick Perks)

It also removes the most metatextual aspect of the original work. When it comes down to it, Watchmen is about a bunch of superheros attempting to stop a giant monster from destroying NYC. At it’s bare bones the story within Watchmen isn’t all that different from your average Silver Age Marvel or DC team book. Part of what made that story brilliant is that Moore and Gibbons gave that story weight and consequences. What if superheros actually existed in real life? How would that effect WWII and the Cold War? What would the world look like? What would motivate these superheros? How would the US government react? What kinds of villains would exist in this world? etc etc etc. Moore and Gibbons answered all of these questions and framed them around really well constructed parodies of Charleton Comics characters. That’s what makes Watchmen good, not it’s violence, or its sexual content, or how “gritty” and “serious” it is.

Speaking of Dr. Manhattan, I do not like Billy Cudrup’s performance of him at all. This isn’t Cudrup’s fault, Cudrup’s a great performer, its just that Snyder doesn’t know how to direct actors. We’re talking about a director who somehow made Henry Cavill, a man who oozes charisma, into a plank of fucking wood in both MoS and BvS. (Not so friendly reminder that Snyder honestly thinks that Superman, on a whim, can become as disconnected as Manhattan. If that doesn’t explain why Superman is such an inconsistent plank of wood in the DCEU or tell you how fucking ignorant he is towards both characters, I don’t know what will).

I understand that Manhattan is supposed to be subdued and disconnected from everyone and everything around him but would it’ve killed them to add some reverb to his voice or something? Cudrup, left aimless by an inept Snyder, has nothing to do but read out his lines like a fucking text-to-speech program. If I was blind I’d assume Dr. Manhattan is just a stuffy philosophy professor. Every scene with him is like the “Bueller.....Bueller.......Bueller....” scene from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, but instead of being funny it’s meant to be meaningful and deep, maaaaan.

This bland performance undermines Manhattan's “big scene” so to speak, when Manhattan is confronted with the possibility that he’s been giving everyone round him fucking cancer an is so distraught that he leaves the fucking planet. At this point in the comic the portrayal of Manhattan alongside the driving forces of the plot have us invested towards what’s going on, but since the movie chooses to make Manhattan boring as possible and truncates the plot significantly, we don’t fucking care. Instead of the scene coming off as a dramatic turn for the character that leaves you breathless in awe and anticipation, it just comes off as weird and sudden, especially with that hard cut to Manhattan on Mars.

Back to the subject of changing aspects of an adaptation from it’s source material, Watchmen also fails at fixing the problems of the original graphic novel. The best adaptations of a piece of work should be able to stand on their own from the respective source material and also learn and improve from said material’s mistakes. The Godfather is an often used example of an adaptation that transcends it’s source material not only by remaining largely faithful to it but at the same time greatly improving on the original novel’s faults. That’s not to say that Watchmen is as deeply flawed or as boring as Mario Puzo’s original Godfather, quite the opposite in fact, but my point is that every adaptation has a responsibility to improve on the mistakes of it’s predecessor. In Watchmen’s case, it’s the sexual assault of the first Silk Spectre by The Comedian.

Some of you may be asking “Wait, how is that a ‘mistake’?” The entire point of the assault in the novel was to help exemplify the paradoxes of human behavior (specifically Silk Spectre I forgiving and even going so far as loving The Comedian despite him sexually assaulting her) while also celebrating the miracle of human life (in this case Silk Spectre II, Laurie, being the result of their seemingly impossible relationship) which, in turn, restores Dr. Manhattan’s faith in humanity in the third act of the book when him and Laurie discover that she is in fact, the biological daughter of The Comedian, a man she learned to hate.

However, the question should be raised: Did Silk Spectre I need to be sexually assaulted for this specific plot point to work? I ask this because one of the many consistent problems with Alan Moore’s writing, from his run on Marvelman, to Lost Girls, is his very callous and flippant use of rape and violence against women as a plot point in his stories (“We know Alan Moore isn’t a misogynist but fuck, he’s obsessed with rape”-Grant Morrison). In Watchmen specifically, the whole Spectre-Comedian dynamic could’ve still worked without n explicit sexual assault, provided that another sufficient event occur between the two characters supplant the rape scene, and be polarizing enough to make the birth of a child between the two character’s nearly impossible. Again, the entire point of that sequence was to paint very complex portraits of The Comedian and Silk Spectre I, while also setting up Silk Spectre II’s birth to be seen as a miracle in Dr. Manhattan’s eyes enough for him to actually give a fuck about humanity.

I just find it appalling that a guy who fancies himself a proponent of “female empowerment” would look at this scene and instead of trying to come up with a better solution to Moore’s morbid fascination with rape in his stories, film it in the same fetishistic way the rest of the fucking action sequences in the film are shot. Who the fuck adds slo mo and cartoony whooshes to a rape scene.

Oh, Watchmen’s violence isn’t exclusively towards women either. Every queer person and POC within the novel is violently killed. The Silhouette, Hira Manish, Joey, little Bernie, and Dr. Malcolm Long all dead by the end of the novel, which is incredibly (ahem) problematic. What do Snyder and co. do to remedy this problem? Fucking nothing. Wait actually, they did do something; greatly mitigate or completely erase said characters’ significance within the narrative of the film.

Again, part of this stems from the narrative of Watchmen being greatly condensed to a feature-length film, as many of these characters are secondary and tertiary within the plot and where thus cut out to provide more focus to the main characters and their conflicts and backstories. That being the case, would it’ve killed WB and the casting department to maybe cast more people of color for the main cast? Literally none of the main characters absolutely needed to be White, all of their conflicts and characteristics aren’t exclusive to White People. Ozymandias is probably the only character out of the bunch who’s Whiteness ties in with the construction of his character (given that, again, he is constructed to be a parody of what the 80′s thought was the “ideal man”, it makes sense that said man would be an incredibly fit, business savvy White guy). Hell, even the subplot of Silk Spectre I being embarrassed by her Polish heritage (and Laurie’s subsequent reclamation of said heritage) can be applied to any ethnic group within the United States.

Back to the modified ending, I think the worst part about the ending is how it doesn’t challenge you. Rorschach is constructed from the very beginning to be this unlikable, creepy weirdo. He’s a far right libertarian, the realization of what a vigilante like Batman would actually be like with the personality and thinking process of guys like Alex Jones, Peter Molyneux and Paul Joseph Watson, the exact opposite of a decent human being. It would’ve been much easier to have NiteOwl be the central character, but Moore and Gibbons chose Rorschach because at the end of the day Watchmen looks you in the eyes and asks “Hey, if Alex Jones/Peter Molyneux/Paul Joseph Watson were all actually right about the world, would you follow them?”. Ending the movie with a fucking Desolation Row by MCR acts like some sort of definitive victory by Rorschach and not an ominous question that hangs in the air and that’s supposed to make you sick.

The biggest irony about Watchmen is that rather than revolutionize the superhero subgenre of films the same way it’s source material did (said honor instead goes to The Dark Knight which set the tone of what cape-movies would be like until The Avengers came in and ushered the next “Age” so to speak of superhero films), it falls disastrously short and instead almost acts like a morbid blueprint of all of the shitty decisions that would plague the upcoming DCEU

Obvious music choices that are so on the nose with what emotions they’re trying to elicit from the audience that it’s almost to the point of parody? Check (Suicide Squad)

Tone deaf fetishization of violence? Check (Man of Steel, Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad)

Talented but occasionally misplaced cast that has no idea what to do because the directors and writers don’t fucking know how human beings work? Check (all of the above)

Awful costume designs that sits between “bland” and “overcomplicated” and occasionally fail to further the characterizations or themes within the film? Check (this also applies to most of the MCU given that Ryan Meinerding is the head of Marvel Studios’ Visual Development Department)

Really fucking pretentious, over written, lofty dialogue that attempts to elevate the events of the film and the one dimensionality of the characters? Check (all of the above)

A complete lack of understanding and respect for the specific books they’re adapting? Check (all of the above)

Really stupid “Hhhuur durrr, wat iff sooper heeros weer GODZ?!?!?” (a detail that, coincidentally, is barely touched upon in Watchmen and is shoved in by Snyder) shit that again, is used by Snyder and co. to “elevate” the source material and genre they’re so embarrassed to be in? Check (MoS and BvS)

Needlessly convoluted, dumb “”””””””plot”””””””””? Check (all of the above)

Attempts at sociopolitical commentary that falls so hard on their face it’s almost impossible to believe that the films were made by 30+ year old adults and not a bunch of 14 year old boys? Check (all of the above)

A one-dimensional antagonist that spews out empty platitudes? Check (all of the above)

Very obvious, terrible attempts at world building and feeding the audience information through visual language? Check (all of the above)

Awful fucking editing that harms the already broken narrative even further? Check (BvS and SS)

Uninspired, bland and obvious cinematography that looks like something a first year film student would make? Check (MoS and BvS)

Tone-deaf narratives that don’t make sense a post-9/11 world? Check (all of the above)

Need I say more? Ironically enough Watchmen suffers from all of the problems that it’s source material was making fun of and indulges in all of the stupid “grim-dark” tropes that largely defined superhero comics in the 90′s.

It’s not entirely Snyder and co’s fault that Watchmen is shit, we also have to acknowledge the fact that making a Watchmen movie in 2009 would’ve been a bad idea no matter who was helming it. The primary reason that Watchmen was so electrifying and engaging in 1986 was because it pushed the boundaries of what established superhero comics even further than their contemporaries could and took well established tropes and ideas within the genre and again, gave them weight, consequences and turned them on their head. Given that Watchmen is a movie and not a comic book, it lacks the framework that it needed in order to be a valid and relevant deconstruction. The contemporary superhero genre in film at the time was only 9 years old and had barely began to coalesce into the superhero genre that dominates tv and movies that we know today. Back then there were very few established franchises that were relevant at the time, a majority of which were just mediocre, pale adaptations of their comic book counterparts, so there wasn’t much that a Watchmen movie built from the ground up could work with. In 2009 Watchmen was too late to ride the wave of relevancy the original graphic novel had created but also too early to plant itself as a deconstruction of a genre that had barely reached its adolescence in the film industry. Not only that, a narrative as dense as Watchmen would’ve never worked as a feature film, and the movie we got is clear evidence of that, forced to truncate its plot to fit within a reasonable running time.

This is partially why superhero tv shows are and have been so successful, and why the upcoming HBO adaption of Watchmen does have some promise. Superhero stories are, by nature, episodic, which is part of the reason why The Adventures of Superman, Batman ‘66, Wonder Woman ‘77, The Flash, Supergirl, Luke Cage, The Flash, Legion, Jessica Jones, Powers, Daredevil, The Tick, The uh, The Tick, etc are such great adaptations. Adapting Watchmen to TV is a massive step forward.....the only problem is they hired Damon Lindelof, who, may I remind you, was the mastermind behind such quality products such as Cowboys and Aliens, Lost, Prometheus, Tomorrow Land, World War Z, and Star Trek: Into Darkness. Yeah. Doesn’t inspire much confidence, hiring a man who’s infamous for making already complex narratives more confusing and pretentious. Let it also be known that this man is also partially responsible for Tomorrow Land being shit and because of that Disney cancelling Tron 3 and all of their future live-action movies that aren’t a Star Wars film, a needless remake of one of their own animated properties, a Pirates of the Caribbean film or a Marvel Movie. Let that fucking sink in.

This also bring up another important question: Did Watchmen even need to be made? For one, its important to address one of the more prevailing criticisms of this film. One of the many notable things Alan Moore is infamous for is his complete disdain and subsequent renunciation of any film adaption of his work. While some might argue that this is a bit hypocritical (especially towards the use of Moore’s concepts and characters by other writers such as Grant Morrison and Geoff Johns, which is pretty fucking stupid from Moore to hate on them for creating stories using his ideas considering so much of his fucking work is derived from other peoples work but I digress), it still stands that the primary creative mind behind Watchmen didn’t want this film to be made. This is an issue considering how much blind support this film receives by so many supposed fans (Snyder included), which in my eyes is quite disrespectful towards the original work’s author. If you truly loved a property and the people behind it, why would you support an adaptation one of the creators openly disavowed, and a shitty adaptation at that?

Now is it surprising that Snyder doesn’t really care or understand why Moore didn’t want this film to be made? No. This is the same guy who later, blindly praised Bob Kane for his creation of Batman, which was a pretty tone-deaf move considering that most of Batman’s mythos was created by the much underappreciated and abused writer Bill Finger (fuck, most of the art credited to Kane was allegedly done by “shadow artists” or stand-ins while Kane was down in Florida chasing pussy), and most of the industry and fandom largely resents Kane for the slimey opportunist he is. Whatever, Snyder doesn’t understand half the shit he’s adapting anyway, why should we expect him to respect or fully understand the creative elements behind them? Anyway, this film really only exists to make money, not because there was a strong demand for it or a cultural need for it to exist.

This leads to my secondary point: Even if there was a more earnest, sincere creative motivation for this film to be made, there’s almost no point considering that there were other superhero properties that have already adapted many of the subject matters and themes of Watchmen and did it exceedingly better than this shit film.

The Incredibles gets the most credit for beating Watchmen to the punch (Justice League Unlimited also heavily dabbled with Watchmen’s themes and naturally understood it better than this shit film. Friendly reminder that both of these properties were aimed at kids and in JLU’s case explicitly exist to sell fucking toys. Remember that next time a DCEU stan jerks off Snyder’s shitty work for being “dark” and “mature��) when it came to deconstructing superheros.

It’s almost astounding how much The Incredibles has in common with Watchmen. Both are deconstructions on superheroes based round parodies of popular characters dealing with heavy themes of masculinity, legacy, domesticity, heroism, and nostalgia (while it is important to note that there are much heavier themes of objectivism in The Incredibles compared to Watchmen, who’s objectivist themes are mainly focused on Rorschach alone), framed around a high-stakes mystery thriller set in a world where superheros are forced to retire and are largely regarded with disdain, fighting an antagonist that used to align themselves with the superheros. For all intents and purposes, The Incredibles is a much more effective adaptation of Watchmen, which further negates the need for this film to even be here.

I dunno man. Watchmen sucked. I’m tired and annoyed with it being held as some paragon of superhero films because it’s fucking juvenile and can barely stand to most superhero movies today. I’m tired of the original novel being constantly referenced, poorly imitated, regurgitated, misunderstood and dragged through the mud. I honestly don’t really care for Geoff Johns’ upcoming Doomsday Clock, because it’s end goal is to just reconstruct the superhero genre but Watchmen’s central deconstructions and statements towards the genre were already addressed and rebutted by Mark Waid and Alex Ross’ excellent Kingdom Come, a book that fucking came out 21 years ago, further negating any sort of cultural need for Watchmen to exist. There’s a reason why Waid and Ross started the main conflict of Kingdom Come off by killing almost all of the Charleton characters that Watchmen parodied.

The industry and general community had collectively learned from and moved beyond Watchmen, its DNA can be found in almost every modern superhero comic. Constantly going back to it and revering it as the epitome of cape comics is regressive. It’s like if people kept holding the Subaru 1000 as the absolute best standard for cars when we have 50+ years worth of automobiles that have learned from it and actually perform much better. My final thoughts on the whole thing can best be described by Alan Moore himself:

Get over Watchmen, get over the 1980s. It doesn’t have to be depressing miserable grimness from now until the end of time. It was only a bloody comic. It wasn’t a jail sentence.

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the-dark-side-of-the-blog · 7 years

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Top 25 Greatest Cover Songs Ever

How often do you find out that one of your favorite songs by one of your favorite artists was originally by someone else? Happens more commonly than you think, yet it does not really undermine the work because we understand that even with the words already written there is a very precise alchemy needed to create a truly great cover. These are my top 25 best cover songs.

25) Sweet Child O’Mine, Luna (Originally Guns N’Roses): The list is 25 best covers, not 25 covers that are better than original because it would be impossible to do a cover that was better than Guns’ Sweet Child O’Mine. Say what you like about Axl and co (really say what you like) but that is truly one of the greatest songs ever, yet Luna more than do it justice. There cover is certainly a very different interpretation but also not all that detached. In terms of its composition it is not all that different but it takes the more electric energy of the original and delivers something more laconic, which should not work but yet does.

24) I Fought The Law, The Clash (Originally by The Crickets): Now some may have known that there was a version of this song before The Clash’s top 10 cover, in the form of The Bobby Fuller Four but unless you have been on the wiki page you probably wouldn’t have known that was a cover to, no matter The Clash’s version is a punk anthem that still stands up all these years later.

23) Valerie, Amy Winehouse (Originally The Zutons): People knew of this song before it was covered by Amy but her version has endured in ways that The Zutons have not. Mark Ronson displays his unparalleled knack for catchy compositions and beats, but its all about Amy and her voice, which was not only one of the most powerful ones we ever had but full of such personality, The Zutons had no chance (although they’ll thank her for all the money she has made them).

22) Jealous Guy, Roxy Music (Originally by John Lennon): Both versions are great but Roxy music might just edge Lennon out. Ferry is somehow able to infuse the song with an even greater sense of regret than Lennon did, while the rest of the band give the song a jazzier edge with the use of the saxophone, which nicely offsets the use of the piano here.

21) Tainted Love, Soft Cell (Originally by Gloria Jones): Okay it might be harsh to call Soft Cell one hit wonders because Say Hello, Wave Goodbye was certainly a hit in its own right as well, but let’s face it they never got close to what achieved with Tainted Love again. A defining track of the eighties and one of the great covers.

20) Take me to the River, Talking Heads (Originally Al Green): Memorably performed on the great Stop Making Sense live album David Byrne made the Al Green classic a staple of Talking Heads work.

19) Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door, Guns N’Roses (Originally Bob Dylan): Post Appetite a lot of things held GNR back, mostly themselves to be fair, but on a purely artistic level Axl’s lyrics and their ridiculously grandiose quality has always struck me as a problem. Its not to say he’s a bad lyricist, a song like Sweet Child O’Mine has deceptively great lyrics which stop it from being a bland ballad and make it something more poignant, but after Appetite I think he was far too self-serious and over-ambitious. One way to solve that problem is to use others lyrics and who better than Dylan. This cover just makes sense and I may even go as far as to say it is better than the original.

18) Needles and Pins, The Ramones (Originally by The Searchers): Because The Ramones were such a revolutionary band it is easy to forget that they did have influences, some pretty big ones. They did plenty of great covers of bands from the 50s and 60s that Joey and co grew up with but none better than Needles and Pins which among other things highlights what an incredible voice Joey Ramone had, one that goes a little underrated.

17) Superstar, Sonic Youth (Originally by The Carpenters): Superstar is one of those songs that has been over-covered for sure but there is no getting away from what a brilliant rendition Thurston Moore and co delivered. Its heartbreankingly restrained by Moore, communicating a soft desperation with his voice and giving us some of Sonic Youth’s best work of that decade.

16) Girl You’ll Be a Woman Soon, Urge Overkill (Originally by Neil Diamond): Immortalized by its use in Pulp Fiction, if you had never heard or known of Diamond’s version you could never have guessed it was his song from the Urge Overkill version, which is so dark with Kaatrud’s vocals implying so much more than the lyrics actually say. Urge Overkill may have done little else but they will have always given us this.

15) It’s Oh So Quiet, Bjork (Originally by Betty Hudson): It is tough to say if there is any one quality that is key to a great cover, but I think it always to have a unique and identifiable voice and personality bringing them-self to the song and there are few better examples than Bjork 1995 classic. It has a grunge loud-soft quality, but without the angst, almost to the extent of a parody it fluctuates so much, but whatever the case it is unmistakably Bjork and there in lies the greatness.

14) Piece of my Heart, Janis Joplin (Originally by Erma Franklin): For an iconic artist it may come as a surprise to some that both of Janis’ most enduring hits, this and Me and Bobby McGee, were covers. Whatever the case both are great, but it is Piece of my Heart that makes the list and for obvious reasons, a classic that still holds up today.

13) Where Did You Sleep Last Night, Nirvana (Traditional American Folk song): Its funny before Kurt begins his rendition of this 100 year old song (also covered by Lead Belly) he seems in quite good spirits joking about trying to buy the Lead Belly lead singer’s guitar, but once he starts singing all of that changes. This is one of the most incredible performances ever seen, it goes far beyond showmanship and into something far deeper and darker. Neil Young described it as “like a werewolf, unbelievable” and he wasn’t wrong. There is a moment at the end where Kurt opens his eyes and breathes out for just a second and it is one of the most powerful things I’ve ever seen by a performer. It is wrong that we look at everything Kurt through the prism of suicide but with this cover it is impossible to escape the pain he felt and lived with.

12) Stop Your Sobbing, The Pretenders (Originally by The Kinks): The Kinks and The Pretenders are connected by a lot more than just this song, Hynde and Ray Davies had a child in 1983, but that is beside the point. Stop Your Sobbing is the perfect first single for The Pretenders. Hynde’s voice has this almost brutal confidence and assurance as she instructs whoever to “stop your sobbing”, it straddles the line between pep talk and dressing down perfectly and in the process far surpasses the original.

11) Walk This Way, Run DMC ft Tyler and Perry (originally by Aerosmith): I’m at best an Aerosmith agnostic I like some of their songs but they have never been the great American rock band to me. There is no doubting the greatness of Run DMC’s cover of Aerosmith’s defining hit from the previous decade, but there is also no doubting that it wouldn’t be half as good with Tyler’s contributions. Rock and rap have rarely if ever worked so well together.

10) Respect, Arthea Franklin (Originally by Otis Redding): It is a cliche to say when talking about a great cover that the person covering the song owned it but boy did Franklin own this. By changing the perspective of the song from a male to a female one she not only made a feminist classic but one of the great covers and maybe her definitive track (although there is plenty of competition).

9) Hallelujah, Jeff Buckley (Originally by Leonard Cohen): The most over-covered song? Potentially. Whatever the case Buckley’s rendition overshadows all others. Buckley’s vocals are incredible but in a way that is not very flashy. His sound set the tone for the likes of Thom Yorke and while tragedy may have prevented him from amounting the discography his talented deserved Grace is still a great album.

8) What A Wonderful World, Joey Ramone (originally by Louie Armstrong): One of the great musical parting gifts. On Joey Ramone’s first solo and final album he gave us his surprisingly perfect rendition of What A Wonderful World. The cover achieved a certain level of fame for its us at the end of Bowling for Columbine but that may misunderstand. Its use in that movie emphasizes the ironic quality of the cover, Joey Ramone who sang of wanting to be sedated now telling us what a wonderful world it is, but actually there is nothing sarcastic about this at all. Joey’s vocals are fully committed when he sings of love and hope and that’s what makes such a beautiful cover.

7) Wild is The Wind, David Bowie (Originally by Nina Simone): For all of his incredible achievements and strengths Bowie had a pretty bad success ratio when it came to covers. His Across The Universe is alright but not great, same goes for his Let’s Spend the Night Together and the less said about his God Only Knows the better. Amidst the less than inspiring rendition of classic rock anthems though Bowie delivered a haunting, atmospheric and all round beautiful cover of Nina Simone’s Wild is the Wind. The problem with some of his other covers I think is he tries to make them too Bowie, whereas here I feel he lets the song itself guide the way he sings it. It is simply one of the best album closers ever.

6) Nothing Compares 2 U, Sinead O’Connor (Originally by Prince): Throughout the 80s and 90s the music video became a medium for greater and greater innovation, yet a lot of my favorite music videos of that period are the most simple and stripped down ones, where it is essentially just a camera looking at the performer. I’ve always loved the videos that accompany Alanis Morrisette’s Head Over Feet and Radiohead’s No Surprises and maybe the best example of this comes in the form of Sinead O’Connor’s Nothing Compares 2 U. Her raw emotion in the video completely re-frames this break-up song as one really about a much deeper grief, as she channeled the lose of her mother in a tragic accident. Her raw emotion made this cover unavoidable and unforgettable.

5) Killing me Softly, The Fugees (Originally by Roberta Flack) The Fugees cover takes the softness and melodic qualities of the Roberta Flack original but makes it that much darker and beautiful. It is an incredible cover. Lauryn Hill’s voice has this, I find, difficult to define quality but I’d describe it as a knowingness. I think in lesser hands this cover would have overly emphasized the hip hop traits of the song but here that drum loop is enough to make it a distinctly Fugees composition but also subtle enough to not intrude on Hill’s amazing vocals.

4) Alabama Song, The Doors (Originally by Bertolt Brecht): While Light My Fire and Riders on The Storm have endured as The Doors defining hits Alabama Song is the track I return to most. There is this offbeat darkness, it is not the smoothness most refined sound of a band from that era but it unmistakably The Doors and Jim Morrison. He may not have written the lyrics but you don’t need me to point out just how prophetic it was for Morrison to ask to be shown to the next whiskey bar and demanding you “don’t ask why”. So while it may not be Morrison or Kreiger’s words this is the song that I feel best epitomizes what made The Doors so different and so iconic.

3) The Man Who Sold The World, Nirvana (Originally by Bowie): Before I was a massive Nirvana fan I avoided listening to this rendition of what was then my favorite Bowie song (still in my top 5), I even resented people telling me it was better than Bowie’s original. Once I fell in love with Nirvana and put it on I could not believe just how perfect it was. Kurt and co’s rendition is every bit as brooding, dark and unfortunately prophetic as all the best of Nirvana’s work. The title alone feels fitting of Kurt, but it also worth mentioning how this cover is about more than him, the sound created by the band here is fantastic. Suffice to say this is one of those rare things a good Bowie cover, except it is much more than just a good one.

2) All Along The Watchtower, Jimi Hendrix (originally by Bob Dylan): It is rare for such an iconic artist that there most famous song is a cover but while Hendrix was a good lyricist his status as an icon is about more than his words. It was about his voice, his sonic experimentation and of course what he could do with a guitar. Dylan on the other hand was all about his words. All Along The Watchtower sounds like only something Hendrix could compose and play and reads like something only Dylan could write and that is a combination that can create one of the finest rock anthems ever.

1) Hurt, Johnny Cash (Originally by Nine Inch Nails): Hurt was always going to be high on this list but why it comes number one is that I think more than any song on this list it comes to define what an artist can do with someone else’s work. Everything about Cash’s rendition is trans-formative but not just for the sake of being different. There are many covers that completely change the originally but in ways that are ultimately detrimental. Cash’s Hurt changes the sound, the mood and the meaning of the song but in a way that only enhances its power. I talked about Joey Ramone’s What a Wonderful World as the perfect parting gift but this trumps even that. Its sad and introspective but so, so powerful. Cash’s voice has such gravitas and really Trent Reznor said it best when he described how it was no longer his song.

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