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kpodcast · 7 months

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Minji talks about the kpop song Domino

Okay sure, but which one? Let's talk about song titles and musical reflections of lyrical content.

All these songs are titled Domino - but how are they using the concept of dominoes in their lyrics? How is that reflected in their musical choices? Featuring: Stray Kids, Seventeen, WayV, Kai, ITZY, and JUST B.

DOMINO - Stray Kids

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This song focuses on the chain reaction element of dominoes and that nothing can prevent it once it's started. Stray Kids is gonna make waves and they are making their way in the scene whether you want them to or not.

The melody for the word "domino" rises. They are going up! Musically, there is so much sheer POWER in this. The opening hits that repeat throughout the song are so strong. The heavy and busy percussion also emphasize the strength and power that they are emanating. They aren't going down, but you will fall down like a domino from the waves they're making.

Domino - Seventeen

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This is such a romantic little song. I will follow you anywhere; if you fall, I fall; I'm so tuned into you that if you even touch me I'll fall.

This song has SO many downward gestures! Beginning with the first second with that messy piano gliss - it's not "clean" in a musical sense, it's got a lot of crunchiness to it. The melody line for "domino" is descending, and, excluding the chordal content and the bass line, a lot of the instrumental lines are descending. The verses are pretty unbalanced, too. Dynamically, it's soft then SUDDENLY LOUD! Just like dominoes - it's quick and sudden! They don't fall slowly.

Domino - WayV

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This song is all about unrequited love. There's almost a resentfulness to it - why don't you crumble when you see me like I do when I see you? You push me over so easily, why can't I push you at all?

The music is so somber, and understated. It isn't loud and in your face, but it's not sweet, either. The song still has an edge to it, and I think that has to do with the mode. It's not minor (aeolian), but it's definitely not major. There are also a lot of minor-like musical lines in the instrumental.

Domino - KAI

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This one is such a groove. And the lyrics really reflect that! Just let things happen, let's just dance. Let everything else fall like dominoes. No worries.

The structure supports this: the chorus is the intro, and is heard FIVE (and a half) times total. The groove of the music is so deep and very danceable. The beat is simple and doesn't have any big surprises, so there's nothing to worry about. Just vibe :)

DOMINO - ITZY

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This song is another sweet love song. The theme here is that they "ain't falling like a domino." We're stronger together, we aren't going to fall down if we are together.

The instrumentation starts simple and grows as the song goes on (as 'we' are together<3), but it never gets heavy or too loud. It's light and joyful. The melody of the word "domino" actually rises (we're going UP! not down)! The mode of this song is major (ionian), and it just gives such sweet vibes.

DOMINO - JUST B

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They start lyrically with talking about how dominoes are spaced perfectly apart, and continue with deciding to not be like dominoes! Let's run away and cause a huge domino effect, and it'll be okay because that's the only way you can meet your true self anyway. Break the mold, and make waves!

The melody of "domino" is falling, but in a strong purposeful way. The instrumentation starts relatively reserved, but it really kicks up into something much stronger quite quickly, with loud guitars and drums. I don't know of that many kpop groups that really embrace the heavy rock sound (I can name a few, but if you know of any.. send them my way), but JUST B is really running with their controlled loudness and making waves :)

#Stray Kids #Seventeen #WayV #Kai #Itzy #Just B #admin Minji #Minji's music

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the-takosader · 11 months

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TMMSOTI Ramble

Can I just mention how weirdly unsettling it is to know that we've got a partially lost media that we're trying to find the origin of? Now, I know we found the "origin" of it. Darius S.'s broadcast recording from 1984 on NDR2. But in this case, that's not enough.

Now, I know you might be wondering, "Why's he on about this? What's with the massive topic shift from the post he made on Sunday?" Well, it's because I mentioned TMMSOTI in the image, if you were mad enough to go so far as to look closely at the image (It's the normal orientation of the Gas Station dream, next to the biggest text on that image.), but that's not important.

What is important is that it feels weird to know that this song exists, has existed for close to 40 years now, and no one is even close to figuring out its origins. Granted, the search only started 4 years ago, but still. And the strange thing is, they can't even find NDR's official record of the broadcast!

"Strange." Heh. As if I didn't know that's not nearly the worst case of record-keeping out there. The BBC has a much MUCH worse history of record-keeping, especially from the mid-50s. Most of early Doctor Who's serials are audio only now, and who knows how much of Hartnell and Troughton's acting was lost because of the BBC deciding to wipe without backups. (Side note: those are REALLY British names, even to me, a Brit.)

But back to business. TMMSOTI is undeniably a product of the '80s. From the sound of it, it's unashamedly synth-heavy, as heard in the chorus, but overall, it doesn't feature electronic instruments all that much. It doesn't feel so much like punk, or "post-punk", as Wikipedia describes it, but I'm not a connoisseur of that genre. The only song I've really listened to from it is London Calling by The Clash (who have enough range to also write such songs as Rock the Casbah and Should I Stay or Should I Go), so I'm in no such way describing myself as someone who does, solidly and truly, know what the hell they are talking about.

If there's a solidly defined bassline in there, I sure as hell cannot decipher it. Transcripts I find on Songsterr do not feel solid about the bassline. Literally the only things that feel solid in that song are the guitar and the drums. The guitar feels solid because it's the main driving force, right the way through the whole song. It plays eighth note power chords in the intro and guitar "solo", and arpeggios in the verses.

AS FOR THE DRUMS. HOO BOY. I don't think I've mentioned this here, but I have a minor penchant for the drums (read: done every Beatles song to the best of my ability). I listen to that, I hear someone who's been playing for a while. Every fill has a different pattern. The timekeeping is rock-solid. About as close to metronome as humanly possible.

So, what's so significant about rock-solid drumming? Well, apart from the fact that it's a grand measure of skill, it's also a sign that this isn't just your average garage band (not to be confused with the app of the same name.)

So it's a semi-professional drummer with a skill for keeping time, and a guitarist that knows his way around some chords. The bassline is obscured by the quality, and the synths are generic enough as is. Some theorise it originated from behind the Iron Curtain, but if that's the case, why send it to NDR2, based in Hamburg, instead of the much closer West Berlin?

In my very VERY limited opinion, I think it's much more likely that it's a small West Germany band that got lucky enough to get their demo featured on Musik Für Junge Leute in 1984, where it was then, unceremoniously dumped into the nearest rubbish receptacle. If anything, had it not been for Darius S. taping that night's NDR2 broadcast, we might not have heard this song... ever, in fact. Hell, even he forgot about the tape for that broadcast until digitising them for an archive 20 years later.

I guess that goes to show how remarkably fickle memory is, where no one remembers the song's title or the band's name. Also has the side effect of being fucking creepy when you think about it, because it's quite existential in a way. How, when all's said and done, everyone might forget about us unless we are immortalised in some way. I guess that it helps that the Internet exists now.

#the most mysterious song on the internet #why did i dedicate a paragraph to dr who and the failings of the bbc #i'm not even a whovian what the fuck #takosader's ramblings #(second in the series but i forgot to demarcate the myhouse one so whoops)#why did i become existential at the end wtf

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allthemusic · 3 months

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Week ending: 3 February 1955

Another two songs, both with some fairly generic titles compared to last week. That doesn't mean they're bad, per se, but I swear we've already had a song called Give Me Your Word (?). Ah, well, it looks like they at least both reached number 1, which, while not a guarantee of quality, is probably a guarantee that they're at least memorable.

Softly, Softly - Ruby Murray (peaked at No. 1)

Okay, perhaps what I said about being memorable was a little hasty. I'm writing this quite close to bedtime, and the overall effect of this song is pretty soporific. It's slow and seems to slow down as it goes down. Add to that the lullaby-like "softly, softly" refrain, and you've got a recipe for snoring.

It's not boring per se, but it's very deliberately gentle and inoffensive. I can imagine grandmothers everywhere finding this perfectly palatable - from the instrumentation, to the sentiment, to Ruby's very clear, generically British-sounding enunciation. It's genuinely a shock to learn that she was Northern Irish - not a touch of Belfast here!

There's a touch of Doris Day to the lyrics - in particular, it reminded me of If I Give My Heart to You as Ruby exhorts her love to "Handle me with gentleness / And say you'll leave me never". The only difference is that Doris has a slightly livelier style. I can't imagine this feeling quite so slow or gentle if Doris were singing it, even if it literally went at the same pace. She'd bring out the vulnerability of it all, or a sense of having been burnt already. Which I don't really get here, to be honest. It's not bad, but it's a much gentler, softer affair than it could have got off with being.

There really aren't many lyrics to this one, either - I'm looking at them, and they're shockingly thin on the ground. Really, it's a verse and a few lines of chorus that seem to have exactly the same tune and half of the same lines. Literally half the lines in the whole thing are "Softly, softly turn the key / And open up my heart". Which is a fine metaphor, I guess. It does the job and doesn't hang around too long.

Huh. Apparently this song was a French number originally, called "La Tamise et mon jardin" ("the Thames and my garden"), and was only adapted into English by an exec at the BBC. So at least it's a homegrown British affair, not some translation of an American original. And you know what, I can admire that.

Give Me Your Word - Tennessee Ernie Ford (1)

Well, after a homegrown British artist and song, Tennessee Ernie Ford has about the most American name possible. The song is pretty American too, though not as American as the other Tennessee Ernie Ford song that I know off the top of my head.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. For now, we've got Give Me Your Word, which, true to its title, starts big and dramatic with a massive string ramp-up. I feel like when we're getting into "solemn vow" territory, you kind of have to go big or go home. And Ernie definitely commits to the former.

Once the big old string intro is over, we get a dramatic, deep voice, proclaiming to his lover that they should "Give me your word / Your love will never die". It's quite the performance, all forceful and passionate, and its perfectly underscored by some rather classical-sounding piano and some strings lifted straight from a James Bond soundtrack. It's great, very melodramatic.

And then, once your attention is suitably grabbed, we drop into a warmer, slightly less intense rhythm with some bass going on. It's a little more chill, but the lyrics do not let up, with Ernie imploring his love to "Give me one hope to guide me" and other such intense clichés.

It's not quite explicitly steamy at any point, but I feel like lines like "Give me your lips / And let your lips remain" are certainly skirting a line. If nothing else, it's definitely hinting at some proper making out, which isn't something we've come across yet. So there's that, I guess. I mean, I could be reading too much into it, but I like the idea that we've hit our first song about snogging already, in 1955.

We seem to be then building to a classic Big Old Ending. In particular, Ernie hits the word "Alwaaaaaays" with enough vigour to sell it, before dropping down for "give me your word". It's terribly effective, especially after such a big opening, since it sort of flips how songs usually work. You open with a closing line, and that lets the song sort of peter out gracefully, with an orchestral swell and a glorious timpani roll, fading then into a thrill of flutes and a hazy sort of resolution that's lovely to listen to. More songs should end with a quieter line and then this sort of hazily unfinished cadence - genuinely! I think it's neat, what can I say?

Well, there's a clear winner for me this time round. As much as I love the narrative whereby the homegrown British favourite beats out the big, American, glitzy song, I just can't overlook the quality and sexy instrumentation in Ernie's song. So...

Favourite song of the bunch: Give Me Your Word

#uk charts #1955 #ruby murray #tennessee ernie ford

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wehatejulietsimms · 3 years

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Hey everyone, TED Talk anon here! I thought it would be cool to just listen to ‘Created From Filth and Dust’ and give my honest opinion on each song since this is a blog about Juliet. I tried really hard to not put any ‘disliking Juliet’ bias in here and to just give my honest, unfiltered opinion about each song (and I’m not going to include the three covers since those weren’t written by her or ‘Bad Love’ or ‘100 Little Deaths’ since those are older songs, not really a part of CFFAD). So here’s my review of ‘Created From Filth and Dust’-

Intro Poem- Not gonna lie, it was pretty cool. Song really a song per se, but a good way to start a new album. Just wish the rest of the album actually lived up to what Juliet was hyping it up to be, though the ‘lyrics’ to this poem made pretty much no sense. It was like Juliet was trying to build up Lilith Czar’s ‘aesthetic’ and tried so hard to be poetic that she forgot to add meaning to the poem. The scream at the end was unexpected and a nice touch, though it was kind of obvious Juliet doesn’t know much about metal screams. It sounded really rough and forced and most likely hurt her vocal chords. She should probably learn how to make screamo before making screamo, or else it’s just going to hurt her voice and it’s not going to come out as good as she wanted.

Feed My Chaos- Catchy chorus, but not memorable. The verses are decent with a pretty basic melody, I liked the guitar in the choruses and the bridge, and the lyrics were actually good, but Juliet’s vocals kind of ruined what could’ve been an otherwise great song. She- as I stated before- tried too hard to get the ‘raspy rocker’ voice that she just doesn’t have and it came out scratchy and hoarse, and it kind of destroyed one of the only good songs off this album (and the only one that could actually qualify as ‘rock’).

King- The melody of the verses broke my ears. I’m sorry, but it was just flat-out bad. It sounded like something from a cliché teen movie. Instruments were kind of bland, nothing really catchy. As for the lyrics, I’ve already discussed this before, but they are honestly the opposite of feministic. With the lines ‘Who's to say a woman can't think with her dick?’, ‘Don’t test the switchblade in between my legs’, and ‘If it’s a man’s world, I wanna be king’ plus the actual song title ‘King’ make it sound like she’s saying that men- or at least masculinity- are stronger and better than women, like you have to be masculine to be tough. As for the line ‘If it’s a man’s world wearing the crown’, god I hate that line. It’s basically like she’s saying she’s giving up on ‘feminism’ and ‘women empowerment’ and instead saying ‘It’s a man’s world, we can’t change that, guess I got to act like a man to earn my place now’ instead of actually promoting female empowerment and gender equality. Overall, I hate this song. It’s toxic masculinity, internalized misogyny, and promoting sexist masculinity in women dressed as a femme fatale, and it’s not very appealing to the ears, as well.

Anarchy- Pretty catchy, not gonna lie. The lyrics are good, the drums are catchy, but I can’t really hear the guitar or bass. The only problem I have with this song is that the melody of the chorus and verses are the exact same, like Juliet got lazy and decided to use the same one. It’s not rare in the music industry, per se, but it typically shows that the artist just wanted to get the song over and done with. Other than that, the song was actually pretty good, Juliet’s vocals weren’t as bad as the others, and it was quite memorable. She should’ve stuck with writing songs like this, cause the direction she went in after this one was just awful. Probably the best song off this album but the 'If you fight me you're fighting a whole army' line makes me laugh. Fighting which army, yours or Andy's?

Lola- Kind of boring, not really notable, special, or catchy. Her vocals were decent, the chorus was okay, and the lyrics actually had some sort of meaning, but I’m really indifferent with this song to be honest. Not the best, but not the worst.

In My Head- Meh. The intro guitar was catchy, but the whole time she was more speaking than talking, so it wasn’t really all that entertaining. Also sounds like something from a cliché drama movie, and the lyrics were so confusing. I couldn't tell if she was horny or depressed. It was like she was trying to mix the two and it just wasn’t working. Also it sounded like she was trying to be all ‘edgy’ but that honestly just ended up sounding like she was glorifying mental illness or something, like she’s commending herself for having a ‘fucked-up mind’ or whatever and acting like being messed up in the head makes you a badass.

Unholy- Sounds like it would be in the sex scene of a bad country movie. I don’t really have an opinion on this song. The lyrics are raunchy and personally not for me, her vocals aren’t terrible, the melody isn’t really good, and the instruments are pretty generic. Nothing horrible but nothing special about this song. It has nothing to do with this ‘Lilith Czar’ character Juliet has made (and honestly, neither do most of the songs).

Diamonds to Dust- Kind of boring to be honest. I know it’s supposed to be a sad, slow song but it wasn’t remarkable or artistic in any way, and it low-key sounds recycled from ‘End Of The World’. A pretty crummy way to end an album in my opinion, like a failed ‘Save Rock and Roll’ situation. The lyrics actually made somewhat sense and Juliet’s vocals were pretty good (definitely not to her best potential, but good), but the emotion wasn’t there. Juliet tried to make a sad, touching, and emotive ending to her album but her voice just wasn’t in it. She didn’t show any emotion whatsoever, like she was just reading the lyrics off a page. It overall wasn’t that great of a song.

Overall, I’d say this album was a huge flop. Most of the songs I forgot the melody to right after listening to it, some I straight-up disliked, and the few that were actually good were ruined by one factor or another. The album didn’t have any significant meaning and none of the songs had any deep, important messages to send, or they sent the completely wrong ones. Most of the instruments were kind of generic with a few quality exceptions but Juliet tried so hard to sound like a badass, raspy rocker chic that she forgot to sound good. Also the Lilith Czar thing sort of bugs me. She built and hyped up this character so much but never actually used her, and she didn’t create Lilith just as a stage name like ‘Andy Black’, but as an alter-ego and forgot to so much as mention her after ‘Intro Poem’ or use her supposed symbolism as a feministic female patron (correctly, that is). She changed up the genre every single song, two of the songs aren’t even hers, two of the songs were some of her old ones, and another is just a poem and not even a song. That’s only seven songs with seven original lyrics, seven original melodies, and seven original instrumentals, and even then a lot of them sounded recycled from her old songs or they sounded generic and dull, and Juliet acts like it’s rock and metal but in reality it’s more pop with a few rock influences here and there. All in all some of the worst music Juliet has ever made and I would never recommend this to anyone. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk ✌🏽

oh my gosh i love that you did this. i was actually going to do posts for each of her EPs (both Juliet & Lilith's) giving my opinion on each song. i was just waiting until i had a day off work (bc my weekend is actually thursday and friday lol) but maybe i'll do it when i leave today!

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allthemusic · 5 months

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Week ending: 1 July 1954

Two songs this week, both from old friends with Italian-looking names. I'm realising now that this might also be part of the Italian trend - both of today's artists are using their actual names, or at least seem to be blessed with a genuinely Italian-looking name (looking at you Al Mar- sorry, Jasper Cini). But still, it's clearly the sort of name that sells!

Idle Gossip - Perry Como (peaked at No. 3)

This is a slow and fairly subtle song, with a few interesting moments keeping you on your toes, right from the outset. Even there, in the intro, we've got a shift from a major to a more minor chord, arpeggiated in a way that weirdly sounds a bit like a more classical, less synthy version of the Stranger Things theme (no, just me?)

The volume also shifts around, and continues to do so throughout this song, just like the harmonies do - giving a sense of instability and uncertainty, like the song's mistrustful and can't quite settle down. And in among it all, Perry, fittingly, singing about so called "friends" spreading nonsense about him and his partner's relationship: "Should they say our love is through / That's idle gossip".

It briefly makes me wonder if maybe there's a reason for this - is there some reason people are assuming Perry and his love are on the out? The only hint we get is in the next verse, where Perry asserts that "We'll still carry on as though / Our love affair has just begun", purely to prove a point. This suggests to me that they've been together a while, and the insinuation is that their relationship's getting a bit stale? Evidently, Perry doesn't belive this to be the case - and so it's time to take action.

They go out for a walk and kiss, so as to start some new rumours, giving us the supremely cheesy line that "In their idle gossip/ They may say that I love you / And this time / Idle gossip will be true". Cute? Nauseating? Both?

It's nice, but nothing that massively stands out. I like the theme of ignoring rumours or proving something to the world, and I generally like songs about stable, steady relationships that last. I think they're generally very sweet, and I do like the idea of this song. The song's also very pretty, with lots of quiet strings and muted brass in the instrumental section, and shifts to unexpected notes that just kind of work. It doesn't rock my world, but it is nice.

It feels like a Frank Sinatra song, actually - I think because a few lines sound like a specific line from Fly Me to the Moon? It also feels quite Sinatra-esque in its sentiment - I could see him doing a really good, convincing job of this. Perry Como's not quite in the same vocal league, in my books, but he does an okay job.

A solid, okay job, for a solid, okay song.

Wanted - Al Martino (4)

And then, like déjà vu, this song again. I couldn't find this on Spotify, meaning I had to pull it up on YouTube, that's how forgotten and unloved this one is.

I don't think it helps that it's a repeat. These repeat songs feel like a recurring feature, and I don't care much for it, not least because I have to come up with something new to say about each version. The last version was a Perry Como original, and I have to say, it's very similar to this one. Al has not put much of a stamp onto this, like you'd expect from a cover version today.

It's perhaps a little less orchestral and dramatic, less sweeping strings and more creeping double bass, which I think is a slight improvement? I don't know, while I found Perry's backing singers a bit too much, they did at least give the track some interest. This version is pretty dull through to the one and a half minute mark, where a saxophone solo begins.

The sax solo is nice, in a laid-back, swing-y way, and the clarinets near the end are also a nice touch. There are also some cute chimes at the end, which are fun. Still, there's not much that sets this version apart from Perry's earlier version. They both got to the same chart position, so apparently the British public agreed - or were split on which version they wanted, at least.

Al's version is a bit more bloodless, I guess? Perry at least felt like he was trying to get some emotion out of the track. Al's version feels like it's an exercise in writing and singing a metaphor. I don't buy for a minute that idea that he's actually broken up over this woman.

Well, neither of those songs were bad, but I wouldn't go out of my way to listen to them again, especially not the strangely hard-to-come-by Al Martino one. File them under okay, but nothing special. One wins a few points simply for novelty value, though.

Favourite song of the bunch: Idle Gossip

#uk charts #1954 #perry como #al martino

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