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prettytoxicrevolver · 4 years

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Damage | Jack Avery

Warnings? Angst? Idk this isn’t good I’m sorry

Requested? Yes! I hope you like it and if you want a part 2 pls let me know!

Summary: Jack and you have been best friends since kindergarten. You two grow up together and eventually you become the photographer for his band Why Don’t We. During your job, you and Jacks bandmate Daniel get together. After a long time of dating though, Daniel gets jealous when fans continue to ship you and Jack and Jack’s feelings can’t help but resurface.

Word Count: 2,308 (it’s a long one with a lot of exposition)

Part Two is here

Five Years Old

“Jack! Come downstairs for your playdate!” Jack comes barreling down the stairs, nearly ramming straight into his mom and she laughs lightly.

“Momma who's coming over?” He asks and she squats down to talk to him.

“Momma's best friend has a daughter your age and we think you guys will be best friends.'' Just as she finishes talking, the doorbell rings and Jack goes running again. His mom takes off after him to catch up just as he's opening the door.

"Hi Jack! Did you get taIIer?" (y/n)'s mom greets Jack warmly and he smiles.

Jack's mom greets (y/n)'s mom and the two get caught up just long enough for Jack to stare curiously at the other girl. Before the two can get too antsy and run off, (y/n)’s mom introduces (y/n).

“Jack, this is (y/n), (y/n), this is Jack,” The two wave shyly at each other and the two moms smile fondly at the sight.

“Why don’t you two go play outside while we catch up?”

Jack turns around and speeds off, (y/n) close in tow. He swings open the backdoor and straight for the giant play set in the back. The two run around, playing a sort of chase, up and down the slide, before getting tired and settling on the swings.

“What’s your favorite color?” Jack asks.

“Pink!” (y/n) exclaims. “What about you?”

“Green.”

The two go back and forth like this and by the end, they’ve decided they’re best friends. When (y/n)’s mom comes to get her a few hours later, she protests, insisting she never wants to leave. The two hug tightly and part with the promise that you'll be over again soon.

12 Years Old

"(y/n)! Jack is here!" (y/n)'s mom yells up the stairs.

Before she can respond, her childhood best friend comes barging into the room. He plops onto her bed, instantly relaxing and she turns from her spot at her desk to look at him.

"What's up?" She asks.

"How am I supposed to ask Anna to the dance?" He sighs dramatically and she smiles. She stands up and lays down next to Jack.

"Just ask her. She obviously likes you." She responds and he rolls his eyes.

The first school dance of the year was this friday and Jack had been freaking out about asking his crush to go with him for weeks. (y/n) had been trying to convince him forever but he insisted she was going to say no.

"What if she says no?"

"Then you're sad for a bit and then you get up and party at the dance with me." That cracks a smile and the two are back to their normal activities.

16 Years Old

“What do you think we'll be doing ten years from now?” (y/n) asks Jack as she rolls over on his bed to face him.

“I'll be a famous singer and you'll be a photographer. We'll travel the world together and live out our best lives.” She smiles, and Jack turns back around to continue working on his new song.

As he works, she takes a few Polaroids of him and judges which ones to keep, add to her portfolio and which ones to give to Jack. Just as she sits back down, Jack's mom comes in and knocks on the door.

“Dinners ready! (y/n) are you staying the night?” She asks and (y/n) looks over at Jack who nods and she copies the action.

“Sounds good,” His mom says before disappearing again.

Ever since Jack and (y/n) hit middle school years, they ended up sleeping over at each others houses. Their moms decided that they trusted the other enough for sleepovers, and soon they became a regularity.

"We'll always be friends right?" (y/n) asks once the two are settled for bed after dinner.

"Always." He smiles and it goes straight to her heart.

Present Day

"What do you guys have going on today?" (y/n) asks as the boys gather in the living room to leave.

"Meetings, interviews, more meetings." Daniel says while sitting down next to you and pecking your cheek. "You?"

"A photoshoot and that's it.'' She tells him and he nods.

"Have fun my love." He says kissing her and standing up again. Jack comes up and kisses the top of (y/n)'s head and tells her to have a good day before leaving with the rest of the guys.

3 years ago (y/n)'s best friend had joined a band and ever since they've taken off. Millions of followers, several eps, an album, and another tour coming up here you were. Her best friend had traveled the world and she fell in love with his band mate. Life seemed perfect.

Ever since Jack had taken off in his career (y/n) hasn't been far behind. At the beginning of the band's career she had taken all of their photos. Overtime other artists and influencers have reached out to her and asked her to take photos for their own profiles. She had begun to take off with Jack by her side.

That was also how she met Daniel. (y/n) first started staying with the band shortly after they all moved to LA and she picked up a few photography jobs. Daniel and her hit it off right away and three years later they were here. Taking on the world by storm.

The boys seemed to have never ending meeting that was starting to take a toll. Zach looked like he was going fall asleep, Daniel wouldn't stop tapping his pen on the table, Jonah was doodling, Corbyn was on his phone like he was still in high school, and Jack was daydreaming. They were usually better than this in meetings, but it felt like they had been going in circles for days.

"Last two things," The execs say and an audible sigh can be heard around the room. "Your opener and your photographer. Who do you want?"

"Wait, we can bring a photographer with us?" Daniel perks up and Jack does the same.

"Whoever you want."

The boys come home that day more excited than ever. (y/n) had just gotten home from her shoot and was flipping through the photos she had taken when they came practically crashing through the front door. The loud noise causes her to jump, and she spins around to see them bounding through the door.

“(y/n)!!” Jack and Daniel both yell at the same time and she sits up quickly.

“What’s up?” She asks confused as to what the big commotion has been about.

“You free for the next few months?” Jack asks.

Once the boys settle enough to explain that they would pay (y/n) to tour with them and take their pictures she practically has the same reaction as they did. She had been wanting to do a tour with an artist for as long as she could remember and now to have this opportunity especially with her best friends was a dream come true.

We work out the details and (y/n) leaves the house practically screaming inside and out. This was everything to her and she couldn’t believe this was actually going to happen. She was also so excited to travel with her best friends and essentially make great memories for months.

Two Months Later

“Do you have your laptop?” (y/n)’s mom asks, frantically turning around to look around her near empty apartment.

“In my backpack,” She tells her.

“Your chargers? Enough film? Your SD cards? Did you pack enough socks?” She asks and (y/n) sighs.

“Ma,” She says and her mom smiles. “I got it.”

“Okay baby I love you,” She says and (y/n) hugs her mom tight and promises to call as much as possible. Just as they let go, (y/n) hears the shrill beep from the boys car and grabs her bags.

She heads down to the car, where Daniel and Jack meet her. They grab her bags and put them into the trunk before climbing back into the car and diving head first into a summer they would never forget.

“Are you serious?” She asks.

“Dead. Come on!” Corbyn begs (y/n) and she rolls her eyes but holds her camera up regardless.

Her and the boys were stuck in the airport for at least another half an hour and came up with the brilliant idea to snap some photos while they waited for the plane. Corbyn grips his favorite pillow in his arms, offering a pleading look towards (y/n) as he insists it’ll be a perfect photo for his instagram. She relents finally, and kneels down, getting the perfect angle and snaps shot after shot.

“Flight 247 to Las Vegas now boarding,” The overhead speaker announces and Corbyn and (y/n) spring up.

Corbyn grabs his stuff and she follows, running over to where she left hers to find it gone. Her heart drops for a second before she hears a whistle. She snaps her head to the side, seeing Jack raising her backpack in his hand and she smiles gratefully before running over with Corbyn just behind her.

“Gonna need this to start the best summer ever,” Jack says, handing the backpack over with a wink and (y/n) sighs.

When we land in Las Vegas, we head to the hotel first, dropping off our suitcases and getting everything settled. While (y/n) would get her own room, the rest of the boys had to share one way or another. But they were always on the same floor and ran around to hang out with each other in one room.

“(y/n)! My beautiful!” Daniel yells walking into your room. “Wanna explore?”

“Would love to.”

Daniel and (y/n) head out together with a quick message to the groupchat where they would be. They decide to catch an Uber to the venue and dinner somewhere close considering they haven’t eaten since before they had taken off in Los angeles.

Just as they get to the venue, Daniel takes her hand, carefully intertwining their fingers and leads her around the place. She can’t help it, and takes out her phone and snaps a couple of photos as Daniel walks in front of her and when he hears the familiar click of a camera, he turns around.

“Oh come on,” Daniel jokes and (y/n) smiles sheepishly.

“I can’t help it! You look great and the lighting is unique.”

She gestures for Daniel to move and she plops down, snapping a few photos. When Daniel has had enough, he moves towards the girl and pretends to come at her like he’s gonna tackle her. She falls back and Daniel ends up hovering over her, a wide smile plastered across his perfect features.

He leans down, placing a light kiss on her lips and (y/n) reciprocates by leaning up to deepen it. Just as she goes to reach her arms around Daniels neck, someone clears their throat. The two separate and Daniel rolls over to sit down next to her.

“Am I interrupting?” Jack asks walking over.

“A little,” Daniel says and (y/n) rolls her eyes. She raises a hand and Jack helps her up.

“What were you guys doing?” He asks once she’s standing.

“Oh I was just taking some photos of Daniel,” (y/n) explains gesturing to the scene around her and Jack nods. Over the years he had gotten used to spontaneous photoshoots and could practically spot a perfect picture spot as well as she could.

“By the way, the fans are obsessed with our photos on instagram,” Jack mentions and Daniel tilts his head to the side. By now he’s moved so he has an arm around (y/n)’s waist and is staring curiously at the younger boy.

“Corbyn wanted to use my camera so I let him take a few photos of me and Jack,” (y/n) explains looking at Daniel. “How bad are the comments though?”

“Well,”

For the past three months, every time Jack and (y/n) posted a picture together on either one's social media the fans went nuts. They “shipped” Jack and (y/n) like crazy and blatantly ignored (y/n)’s current relationship with Daniel. Some fans really just had no boundaries and Daniel was honestly getting tired, (y/n) was hoping to do damage control, and Jack was hoping his secret crush of 13 years wouldn’t get out.

“Come on man, did you really have to post the photos? You know how bad the fans have been,” Daniel complains and you turn in his arms.

“Woah, it’s not Jack’s fault they have no boundaries,” (y/n) says defending her best friend.

“And you can’t tell me what I can and can’t post,” Jack snaps back.

“Jack chill,” (y/n) says fully stepping out of Daniels arms to get in between the two boys.

“What’s your damage?” Daniel asks and Jack takes a step forward causing you to take one back.

“I think you know exactly what my damage is. Don’t act like you didn’t ask for this.”

“You had your chance man. Don’t act all high and mighty now,” Daniel says and Jack rolls his eyes.

“You’re one to talk,” He declares and pushes past Daniel and storms off. (y/n) stares at where Jack walks off for a second, shocked at the random argument that occured before turning towards her boyfriend.

“What the hell was that?” She asks.

“Something you don’t want to get into,” He responds before walking away.

(y/n) stands there for a moment, unsure of what to do or even who to choose. What was that argument even about?

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bettycooperoutfitwatch · 4 years

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4x09 Chapter Sixty-Six: Tangerine

We’re awake.

Present day Betty starts and ends the episode in bed.

The gray and pink henley first showed up in 105 (yes, that long ago), but we last saw it in 315.

MAYbe the tartan flannel pants she wore in 407, maybe not.

Well. I saw this sweater, instantly leaned forward and said—out loud, alone, to my computer screen—’that sweater.’ The first thing I thought of was Monet’s Water-Lilies, and so I’ve been thinking of it as the Monet sweater ever since. (Please see catalogue numbers 1789, 1803, and Water Lilies (Agapanthus)—that links to the far right panel of the piece, please do use the super zoom.)

Hard to be so precise on the jacket in her arms—she’s got a number of fuzzy-collared numbers. Perhaps it’s the plum-collared bomber with the pink collar that first popped up in 313—the stripe on the cuff is similar.

She wears this navy-and-green tartan crewneck—and this gorg coppery gold eyeshadow—for most of the ep.

But this coat pops up! Please see also 315, 318, etc.

🗣 TANGERINE

living reflectionsssssss of a dream 🎶

Okay.

The FBI, ladies and gentlemen.

... (What could go wrong? This is going to be the best Christmas Walford’s ever had! etc)

Bébé Betty returns, looking much like we left her back in this moment in 405.

Might this be...~foreshadowing~

Back to reality. ‘Reality.’

(Windowpane blanket, cozy. Who’s maintaining all the fires in the Cooper-Jones house? When’s the last time someone had that flue swept? I have questions.)

Truly can’t stop won’t stop.

(They really got their money’s worth with these overhead shots.)

A ~foreshadowing~ rock. A Rock of Great Portent.

PINK. I defo have a lipstick this color. This coat is new and lovely. Her sweater’s got ruffled cuffs, something we’ve seen on Betty before (notably, first in 106), and a blue sunflower-esque knit.

We’ve seen the boots, they’ve got the sturdy rubber soul.

Pity the poor mf’er who finds Jason’s half-burned, bullet-hole ridden, water-logged, and taxidermied corpse somewhere down the river.

Please take this moment to appreciate Betty’s appropriately citrusy bed linens. She’s actually been sleeping on these for several episodes, but we must admit they have a nice resonance here.

I think Betty wore this pink v-neck in 405; lighting makes it a bit difficult to confirm. As it is—not the first time we’ve see her wear a pink v-neck to bed.

The blue polka dot pants are new though!

SING IT

(Is this 2013??)

Doing some gentle math, and yet acknowledging that Riverdale exists in its own...time bubble, this places the murder-y flash-forward bits in February? And the arrest-y ones later on in the spring semester.

But February break is not spring break!!!! Spring break typically coincides with Easter, but is usually standardized to March or April in the US (it varies by state, because states run their own educational systems.) February break—winter break, also a week long, isn’t even taken in some states, poor bastards—has never to my knowledge had the connotations of fun in the sun that ‘spring break’ does. This is retcon, surely.

It’s the Maple State, don’t dwell on it.

🕵️‍♀️

Hold up. You’re telling me Betty beaned her beloved with a rock in a dissociative fugue state à la Caramel?

That rock looks like a potato 🥔

W a i t. Is that.

FUCK. It’s a dinosaur. What’s with the dinos??? This is the second instance this season. We’re one away from a motif. How’d we let this happen guys? I just don’t know how to interpret this. A paleontology hobby has never been mentioned.

Whatever. Dino’s presence here adds yet another bomber/letterman-style jacket to Betty’s seemingly infinite array of outerwear (it’s a twin of her other reversible Coach jacket.) Her bedroom closet presumably has Narnia-level dimensions.

The turtleneck appears beige-ish, and the plaid mini seems apropos, as she is ‘killing’ Jughead, Plaid King of Riverdale. Jk, but as has been mentioned several times, Betty in tartan is often a nod to Jughead—and she wears it (by my count) three separate times throughout this episode. Just observations.

Summary: Lucky seven. Two sets of pajamas, one outfit for bébé Betty, and one flash-forward look—homicide casual.

I Own This: Did I stalk Monet sweater over the holiday season, and did it finally hit 50% off, and did I buy it? Reader, fuck yeah I did.

Backpack 2.0?: Betty doesn’t even appear at Riverdale High this episode.

The fucking dinosaur count: I can’t believe it’s come to this.

Best outfit: Mm. Tartan sweater? I like navy-and-green. Pink coat? Monet sweater. They’re all solid.

#4x09 #s4 #riverdale #betty cooper #betty cooper outfit watch #long post #cw blood #cw zeppelin 3 #cw dinos

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precuredaily · 5 years

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Precure Day 133

Episode: Futari wa Precure Splash Star 35 - “The FInal Round is Here! Fight, Nagi Jr. High Softball Team!” Date watched: 17 June 2019 Original air date: 8 October 2006 Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/6r2R12Q Project info and master list of posts: http://tinyurl.com/PCDabout

vimeo

Now that’s an epic game turnaround

It’s a sports tournament episode. You’ve seen this a dozen times in shows and movies from all over the world. This story is pretty universal. So how does Splash Star manage to make it resonant? Very carefully. Obviously, after 35 episodes, we’re invested in Saki and her friends, and want to see them succeed. They don’t waste time getting to the game, either, we jump right into it after the cold open and intro. And right off the bat (no pun intended), and similar to something Max Heart did once or twice, we see that their opponents are every bit as competent, because they get a run on YJH immediately.

Saki takes it personally because she’s the pitcher, but the captain, Izumida (who may have appeared before but has never been named) tells her to brush it off. They manage to get a triple out on the opposing team (see video) and Izumida takes a minute to further encourage Saki to relax and just play her best.

They proceed to the seventh and final inning with a score of 1-0, neither team giving an inch, and in the top of the inning they keep Ohnami Academy from scoring, so all Yuunagi has to do is score 2 runs in their at bat to win the game. Unfortunately, after Izumida makes it to first base, the next two batters strike out. Saki steps up to bat but gets two strikes. The pressure and tension at this point are off the charts, but she hits the third ball and starts running. Time slows down as she hits first base, thinking they’ve finally managed to turn the game around, but as she rounds the corner to run for second she sees Izumida just standing there between the bases, looking to the outfield, and she sees that the centerfielder has caught the ball, getting an out on Yuunagi and ending the game.

Yes, that’s right, after all this investment, you’re expecting a come-from-behind victory but instead they actually had the main characters lose their final game! How often does that happen? It’s a bold storytelling move and I love it. Sometimes you can try your hardest and still lose, whether due to personal blunder or just because your opponent was better than you. As Picard said: “It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness, that is life.” (I’m not a Trekkie but that’s a good line)

Saki is distraught, because she was fighting her hardest to win for all the graduating seniors in their last game, but Izumida is happy that they had a great game, and tells her that even if they lost, there was still meaning and value in the match, a measure of her maturity. However, Kintolesky was in the audience, and he has other ideas. He finds Saki moping with Mai on the dugout bench after everyone else has left, and while he apologizes for intruding on their moment of weakness, he grills her for what he feels is a naive belief that there is meaning in losing. Saki gets mad at the insult, not towards her, but towards the upperclassmen she fought so hard for, and when they transform into Bloom and Egret she chews him out. Kintolesky is unmoved, and uses a liquid metal Uzainaa to thrash the girls about in an honestly impressive fight.

vimeo

Bloom continues to retaliate against his reductive values, spouting the importance of setting high goals and doing your all to reach them. Progress of any kind is a plus! Kintolesky just doesn’t get it and he charges the girls himself, but Moop and Foop release the Spiral Rings, and Bloom and Egret use Spiral Heart Splash to destroy the Uzainaa. Kintolesky tries to block it but he realizes he can’t hold it back and retreats, honestly admitting that today was his loss and there’s no excuses to be made.

Afterwards, Saki heads off for the bus to return to school (why has it been sitting there for hours, it’s dusk now and it was broad daylight when the game finished), but she decides that to prepare the team for next year they should all run back to school instead! Izumida likes this idea and has them do it, and we close on this lovely shot of the team.

I think the biggest flaw of this otherwise fantastic episode is that we’ve never met Izumida before. In FWPC, we met the lacrosse team captain Yumiko on multiple occasions. Even if she wasn’t very prominent, she was established and named. I can’t recall Izumida appearing before this, certainly not named. I suppose this is related to the lacrosse team not having an apparent coach so the captain was more prominent, while Ms. Shinohara takes the mentor role in this season. Anyway, while I respect Saki’s conviction to win the game for Izumida and the other seniors, it would have meant more to me if we were also invested in Izumida herself.

I suppose I also have to criticize Saki’s specific motivation. She feels that she is letting down the graduating seniors at YJH by losing the championship game. But the other school also has graduating seniors who have also worked hard to get to this championship game, and also want to score a victory. They aren’t villains, it’s is a sport, and there will always be winners and losers. Someone has to lose. In this case, it was YJH. I’m not trying to “both sides” this too hard but I think Saki is investing too much into the idea of winning for the sake of her team rather than trying her absolute best to have a good game between opponents who have proved their strength by making it this far. (That sounds like something Kintolesky would say) It’s a lesson Nagisa actually figured out in the latter half of Max Heart.

How about some easter eggs? They seem to have reused a background from FW/MH because in several shots you can see students in the Verone uniforms.

There’s also a lot of reused animation in this episode, from within the same episode but probably also other softball eps. I haven’t paid close enough attention to the various shots used throughout the show, but in this episode I saw repeat pitches, swings, and running to bases. Sometimes they mirrored the shot to cover up the recycling. Also there’s only one still frame of the opposing school’s students cheering that they use two or three times.

What new animation there is for the softball games is average to low quality. The overhead shots are bereft of detail, making it hard to figure out what’s going on. The close-ups are fine. They seem to have put most of the budget into that fight with Kintolesky and the uzainaa, which is really dynamic and fluid. There are some wonderful facial expressions in this one, so be sure to check the gallery.

On the music side there’s extensive use of Saki’s march theme, which is normal for softball episodes. It really gets you in the mood.

On the whole it’s a good episode that could have been improved slightly in a few areas, but it bucks the trend of having the protagonist’s team win their championship and I appreciate that a lot. Next time, Mai is under a lot of stress from her peers and I’ve got some things to say about that. Look forward to it!

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: well there was a “Zekkouchou nani” (”I thought I was in top form”) by Saki, and a “You’re in Top Form” by a teammate, so I’ll count it collectively as one even though she never explicitly said “Zekkouchou nari!”

Miracle Drop Count: 2

#Precure #Pretty Cure #Futari wa Precure Splash Star #FWPCSS35 #PCD133

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secretradiobrooklyn · 3 years

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SECRET RADIO | 11.14.20

Secret Radio | 11.14.20 | Hear it here.

Artwork by Paige, liner notes by Evan except * for Paige

1. The Wizard of Oz - “Ding Dong” Suite

We were looking for a proper song to get this party started, and damned if it didn’t involve a bunch of delighted munchkins! As much as our hopes for the coming years are muted, the relief at not having to contend with a headlong dictator enjoying full-on democratic support just cannot be overstated. DING DONG Y’ALL!

2. David Bowie - “Look Back in Anger”

I’ve been practicing drums a ton during the pandemic, and I just realized that I’m going to have to spend some time trying to get at this pattern. It’s some of my favorite drumming ever, from one of my top 20 albums ever. In fact, this comes from a very special edition of Lodger, via Brian McClelland, wherein Tony Visconti took the original tapes and completely remixed the album as he always felt it should have been mixed if they weren’t be rushed. To someone who has listened to that record many many times, it sounds like I’ve been next door the album all this time, and I’m finally allowed into the room where it’s playing. So clear and focused and modern!

3. Frank Alamo - “Ma Biche”

A “biche” is a doe, we believe. “It’s something about ‘pretty eyes,’” Paige says, “which would make sense.” Further research, though, reveals that the song is about how much he likes her pretty dark eyeliner. I know the feeling!

4. (Not) Rom JongVak - “Monkey”

Well, this has been a learning process. There’s this great song that I thought was called “Twist (Dance Twist)” by Rom Jong Vak, that we played like a month ago — and then tonight I thought I was playing “Monkey,” by Rom JongVak. Buuut, as I look further, I’m learning that the first song was “Rom Jong Vak Twist,” by Pan Ron… And the song here is I guess called “Rom Jong Vak Monkey,” and I have no idea who it’s by! All of the text on the page is in just boxes where Cambodian text would go, so it’s bound to remain lost. Whoever it is, I sure do enjoy that first aggressive drum fill and the whole weird texture of this recording.

5. Luiz Visconde - “Chofer de Praça”

Paige: “The first times that I listened to this Angolan collection, I really just listened to Os Kiezos, because they did “Muxima.” But then I eventually spread out and found this song. It’s from Angola, between ’65 and ’75.”

6. The Velvet Underground - “European Son”

P: We would go to the Beechwood a little bar around the corner from us in Wicker Park, down the street off Milwaukee Avenue. They had a real jukebox, not a TuneBlast or whatever. It was just a great little dive. They had this record in the jukebox, and we would always put on this song. I suppose that could have been read as an aggressive thing to do, but we’d put on other songs too! It was a good way to stretch your quarters, and it loosens the bar up. And I figured, if they didn’t like this song they wouldn’t put it in the jukebox.

Once when we were there on a busy weekend night, something was wrong with the jukebox. It was broken. And the bartender opened it up and put like a hundred bucks on it and said, “Everybody play whatever you want, three songs each. It was awesome. Everybody did take turns too, three songs each, all around the bar. It was a really cool night.

7. Fred Astaire - “No Strings (I’m Fancy Free)”

What a lovely piano intro! This song is from the 1935 film “Top Hat.” It’s one of those movies where the clever protagonist pursues a girl he has a crush on — or terrorizes a stranger until she submits to his will, depending on whose perspective you take. There are a lot of those — “An American in Paris” is another — and they’re fascinating to watch just by flipping that switch back and forth in your own head. Meanwhile, both movies are chock full of beautiful shots, fabulous scenes, gorgeous songs, and glowing stars.

Something about the quality of this recording — a new master or something? — makes it sound like it was JUST recorded. It feels so alive and contemporary, with a lovely little vibrophone solo in the middle. I just

Martial Solal, “Breathless” soundtrack - “L’amour, la mort”

Note: I remember this story in the reverse, where the truckers announced this gleefully to each other as they marched merrily OUT the door and into the late afternoon, headed towards… what? Whatever it is, I hope they found it and everyone had a great time.

8. Johnny Hallyday - “Nous quand on s’embrasse”

Have you seen “The Wild One”? Can’t you see how much trouble could have been avoided if those leathered-up motorcycle dudes were able to rock out to songs like this one instead of trying to jazz their way forward? They should have been twisting the night away! Alas, instead they had to tear up bars and beat people up to get their kicks. Tough break, kid.

9. Lokassa Ya M’bongo - “Bonne année”

I found this while searching for something else, but it was labeled “l’Instant Vinyl” in the same format as our Assa-Cica record, so had to check it out. M’bongo is a Congolese guitarist — a rhythm guitarist specifically, which doesn’t normally get the love that lead guitar gets in this soukous form. Lokassa Ya M’bongo means “Lokassa the money man,” and he became a session man in demand. He was a big part of the “Congolo-Paris sound,” a phrase I just read that I’m going to have to look more into.

Bonne année indeed! Still feeling that relief about hopefully getting out from under the thumb of that giant dummy.

10. Velly Joonas - “Stopp, Seisku Aeg!”

The image of Velly Joonas is pretty heart-stopping: she’s absolutely beautiful, in giant glasses and a striped shirt. The song is so confident and strange in its instrumentation, with keys, organ, fiddle, and a super-tight bass/drum combo. I feel like this could have been a big US underground hit in the ‘90s.

11. Eko Roosevelt - “Kilimandjaro”

Such a sincere song! Eko Roosevelt is kind of hit and miss with me, but when they hit, they get completely stuck in my head! The horn parts on “Me To a De Try My Own” do that to me, and so does the eternal chorus of this song. I love the notes in the bridge as they drop further and further down the scale like they’re descending from the mountaintop. And when he gets to the declarations of love at the end — “I love you, my home! I really do, I really do!” — that’s it, that’s the best.

12. Tonetta - “Yummy Yummy Pizza”

I warn you: look up this video (after you listen to the “broadcast” of course) at your own peril. Not because it’s terrible, but because it is fascinating, and it is just one of SO many. They tease you with tiny shreds of information about this Tonetta person, but never enough that you can get a sense of what the hell is going on with… him? Them? Maybe ask Matt and Brian from Tok about it — they got obsessed enough to record an EP of Tonetta songs, which is how I heard about this all in the first place.

13. Prewar Yardsale - “AU Base”

Paige: I was loading a five-disc changer at Jeffrey’s and something about the cover, the name sounded interesting. I put it on and it’s pretty freakin rad. It stood up to my blind listen expectations. I think this is produced by our friend Matt Mason.

14. Eugenius - “Mary Queen of Scots”

Matt Mason and Jeffrey Lewis make me think of Schwervon!, which makes me think of the Vaselines who they toured with several times, and that brings me to Eugenius, headed by Eugene Kelly. This was a mainstay in Sean’s room when we all lived together, singing the harmonies and air-drumming along. It remains as satisfying as ever, I’m happy to say.

15. Wednesday Campanella - “Aladdin”

This song is sung in Japanese, not that you’d know from context clues. Tim Gebauer introduced us to this strange Japanese shapeshifter. It was hard to tell if I liked her music or was just amazed by her videos (which you should totally check out). Now I believe it’s safe to say we dig this song. I like how many elements of ‘70s international disco it has, while still sounding super modern. What is weirder to me is that I cannot tell if I would like this song if it was sung in English.

Breathless soundtrack

16. Letti Mbulu - “Mahlalela”

Originally South African, Mbulu managed to escape to the US in 1965 and had a hell of a career. She worked with Cannonball Adderley, Hugh Masakela, Harry Belafonte and Michael Jackson. Quincy Jones said this amazing thing about her: “Mbulu is the roots lady, projecting a sophistication and warmth which stirs hope for attaining pure love, beauty, and unity in the world.” Um, that’s really impressive.

17. Christophe - “Aline”

*Really dig this song, partially I think because it’s in a decent range for me to sing along. I love his desperate delivery and tone of voice. We just learned tonight that Christophe passed away this year at 74 after complications with COVID-19.

18. Zap Mama - “Brrlak!”

Credit to my dad, Larry Sult, for bringing Zap Mama to our attention. He’s been heavily into marimba music, and played in a marimba band in Bellingham for many years; in fact, he spent many years making the instruments for the band in his woodshop in the basement of their home. Zap Mama is adjacent to that music, though certainly very different. This band comes from all over the world. The main gal was born in &&&&& but found herself in a Pygmy society for awhile, which seems to be where she developed some of those low-high yodels. We saw some footage of her playing, and she did this awesome thing where she held empty airplane bottles just below her lips as she sang, creating a resonance that you can hear here. I love that this whole composition is a cappella.

19. The Buzzards - “High Society”

Years ago, I was whiling away my time in Seattle and stopped into Orpheum Records, right there at the corner where Broadway turns into 10th Ave E. After a half hour of flipping through records I had to know what all the killer albums were that had been playing overhead. Turns out they were all from “The Sympathetic Sounds of Detroit,” a collection of Detroit bands put out by Sympathy for the Record Industry. It was recorded by Jack White and Jim Diamond and it’s full of topshelf tracks, but after all the years, this is the one that we turn out to actually enjoy, and quote, the most.

As far as I could tell, there isn’t a version of this song anywhere online, which I personally find disGRACEful!

20. Sleepy Kitty - “Buzzards & Dreadful Crows”

My favorite part of this recording is that I got to sing a couple of guitar parts that I reflexively sing along to on the original.

*This was from a 20th anniversary of “Bee Thousand” tribute show, and we made this recording with Jason Hutto at this studio off Cherokee Street and we recorded a couple others that we did that night. A small run of screenprinted downloads were made.

Teddy Afro, “Mar Eske Tuwa” credit music

21. Ata Kak - “Moma Yendodo”

Some corrections to what I said in the broadcast: Ata Kak is indeed Ghanian, but I think he might have recorded this in Germany. His is a fascinating little story of determination. This recording comes from a tape that he made about 50 copies of total. It was found by Brian from Awesome Tapes From Africa at a roadside stand in Ghana. He loved it so much that he spent years trying to track Ata Kak down. When he finally did, they found that the original master tapes were all ruined, and Brian’s copy was the only one that they could make a new version from! So that’s what you’re hearing here.

22. Spoon - “30 Gallon Tank”

Early Spoon is some of my favorite music ever. This is from “A Series of Sneaks,” an album that changed my life pretty much as soon as I heard it. Harvey Danger stopped at a lot of record stores on tour, and at one of them I managed to stumble upon both “A Series of Sneaks” and (I think) Guv’ner’s “Spectral Worship” — what a day! I put this album on in headphones in the van and just listened over and over and over again. Eventually, when our manager announced that we should spend a few weeks between radio festivals headlining a tour with a couple of support acts and asked if we had any ideas, I had a list with Spoon on top and Creeper Lagoon right below that. The tour that resulted was rough for Spoon — they’d just been dropped by their label and were having an understandably rough time — but a fucking thrill for me, because I got to see one of my favorite bands each night. That still stands as one of the absolute highlights of my time in Harvey Danger. Jim Eno is one of the top drummers in my pantheon because he’s such a great composer for the song, and Britt Daniels plays guitar the way I truly wish I did — which he did at the time all on distorted acoustic guitar!

23. Patrick Coutin - “Fais-moi jouir”

*I meant to put on a different Patrick Coutin song but put this one on by accident and I was like, this is cool, and then I was like “I think he’s saying. . .I think this is pretty. . . explicit. Like Serge and Jane cranked.” As far as I can tell, it definitely is. They don’t teach you these words on Duolingo though. Ha!

24. Dur Dur Band - “Yabaal”

I mean no disrespect to Dur Dur Band when I say that we didn’t dig the first several songs we heard by them, but this song is undeniable. The groove just digs in and doesn’t stop for anything.

25. Mel Brooks - “High Anxiety”

We’re stepping out on a mixed emotional note, but: we’re not out of the woods yet. I hope we can get through the next couple of months as a nation peacefully and productively, but Paige and I are both in a state of high anxiety about what still seems to be happening daily. Stay safe!

*yet staying optimistic! ’Cause we gotta. À plus tard!

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