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juniaships · 3 years

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Actiontoongorlz's Top 8 Canon x OC Ships 💖💖

I've been looking at OTP/Couples memes for a while and decided that it's time for me to make my own! For an extra surprise I'm not putting Ben Tennyson x Jora Holiday on this list because I focus too much on them anyways & I want my other OCs & their loves to have the spotlight for a change. The timing couldn't be more perfect as we're close to Valentine's Day!!! If you don't support canon x oc or find my ships displeasing then move along because this is a Happy Place! 😁😁 Again these are couples that I consider my personal OTPs in regards to canon x oc. That and making more content with my ships in general! Be warned the text is long and contains spoilers for certain shows and such!!

Clarify: these are my own ocs so there's not going to be anyone else's oc/canon. I might have to save that for another post in the future! 💚 But yeah these are characters that I came up with :]

Alright I'm done ranting, let's get started!

1. Sonic x Lani: I never quite gave much thought into this pair as I should so I promise to do something with them in the future! I promise! What I appreciate about SonLani is that there's little drama, like everything is super chill because both parties are chill. It's not a big deal and they don't need grand gestures to show how much they care about each other. Unlike Preboot Archie with its carts full of poorly written romance and strangely OOC moments on Sonic's end, SonLani had a lot of time to grow, while keeping his established personality in check. They actually communicate with each other, and stick by each other thick and thin. Lani loves Sonic for who he is & has no plans on changing him. Likewise Sonic has someone he can rely on when things get tough; not to mention he can really be himself around her without going all "iLl sLOw dOWn fOr U." Plus the ship name I gave them is a huge nod to the games ^_^

2. Jason x Vanessa: A recent pair due to Vanessa being a new creation but I'm honestly in love with them right now. In-universe they are regarded as the prime example of 'Opposites Attract' in Odyssey. They didn't get along very well in Jason's first couple of months in town due to his hardheaded self and her aloof demeanor. But through events such as Blackgaard and Novacom they gradually learn to trust one another. They see each other in a different light, Vanessa realising that Jason is a lot more thoughtful than he lets on, and Jason discovering her hidden fun side and kindness. Vanessa provides challenges and a sense of normalcy Jason can enjoy away from spy business. Meanwhile Jason fulfills her thirst of adventure & simultaneous desire for a peaceful life as well as spirituality. They're a equals, regarding each other as such and not to mention the BANTER! Hard to believe a former nun can keep up with a secret agent both physically and trading barbs XD. There's also the Forbidden Love factor of Vanessa being the duaghter of Regis Blackgaard, Jason defending her because he KNOWS she is nothing like her old man. Their friendship and romance overcome so many obstacles. I can honestly say that if Vanessa was canon she'd be the type of person Jason would like to be with especially over Jillian Marshall *gags*

3. Kaysha Wallace x Leo Hamato: Now here's a ship that I want to get more into 😁😁 Honestly I love the idea of this pairing: the serious leadee x bubbly spirit! Kaysha is very perky yet understands Leo's feelings on shouldering so much responsibility (she being the oldest child in her family). She's very willing to support him because she doesn't want to see him get all weary from burden. Likewise Leo can be himself around her, and teach her to be more responsible. He doesn't doubt her potential and sees her as an equal even during those periods where she was not on par with the other ninja. Kaysha shows Leo it's okay to relax and let other people help him out and not shut everyone out. When Leo expresses his ability to give her a safe life she simply laughs it off; the way she sees it him simply there in her life is enough. The most interesting facet is their dynamic varies between shows, so you'd see different scenarios and reactions as well as similarities and differences in their romance subplot.

4. Artie x Rhodanthe: Another couple I seriously need to give more attention to, they're meant to be is the foil to Shrek and Fiona in several ways. Artie and Rho may come from different social classes but they're both searching for a purpose to prove their haters wrong. Artie lacked confidence while Rho was overconfident believing she didn't need help. Together Artie learns to stand up for not only for his kingdom and loved ones hut also for himself; Rho's pride gets tempered by Artie's kindness and willingness to compromise. Another thing I like is that Artie has someone who loves him for him not because he is attractive and of royal blood. Likewise Rho has someone who respects her in spite of her social standing & shares her beliefs in making life easier for the poor & outcasts. While both lacke the physical prowess of Shrek and Fiona they rely on each other's resourcefulness and strategic thinking to get by. Unlike Shrek and Fiona they don't get married at the end of their focus movie, resolving to figure out where to take their relationship next. They still have their own life goals and don't want to rush into a relationship which sends a pretty good message. However they have their disagreements - in fact they got a huge argument that became a plot point in Shrek Forever After - but through it all they rediscover the things that made them fall in true love with each other. I'm really loving the subplot I have planned where they forget their memories and slowly fall back in love again.

5. Finn x Alma: Surprise! Yes8 I have a Cars OC (that was originally a fanon Disney Princess) who is the niece of Tow Mater in my verse and she enters a relationship with Finn McMissile. The thing I love about this pair is that it allows Alma to use her skills to flourish, treating amd healing injured spies. She's also into travel and adventure so she can pretty much keep up with Finn. Likewise Finn realizes she is more than just a pretty face or a one-off fling but someone with the passion to face challenges head on; Finn seems to love a good challenge! But overall they'd make a nice pairing, Finn showing Alma the world and Alma showing Finn some of the more simpler things in life.

6. Alexander Paine & Qiu Jin: Well well well look at what the cat dragged in? If it isn't our first villain pairing? XD Just kidding only one half is a genuine villain. What makes this couple so unique in that their storyline goes way back to before the events of the show, he being a agent and she a mechanic. They loved each other deeply, even to the point of starting a family, but forced apart due to some troubling events. When they do get back together it's not so much a bittersweet reunion as Paine became a full villain and Qiu Jin had spent years in&out mental institution before being released There's visible pain & regret, Alexander desperately wanting a semblance of what they once had. He seeks power not just for himself for to heal her. But Jin refuses to go along with his schemes wanting nothing more than to move on and see their children. Jin is a huge Mortality Pet for him, but his own selfish desires for power is a major obstacle their love can't overcome. It's the more bittersweet of my pairings but an important one nonetheless.

7. Bruce Wayne x Nicola Holden: Ok the Brooding Guy/Gentle Girl trope is a mixed bag these days but I really like this trope in regards to Brucola. Like with Artie/Rho, Bruce and Nicola come from different social classes but has that same compassion and drive to help others. Nicola is someone Bruce can trust but at the same time she lets him know there are boundaries (aka don't use my weaknesses as a contingency plan). I also feel like Bruce needs a sort of normal love interest, while he has canon normal girlfriends most of them were pretty boring. At least with Nicola she has has a life outside being a love interest her own goals and motivations. She also loves Bruce for him, not because of his money and good looks. It's a generally healthy dynamic built on honesty & empathy. Another reason why I find this pair adorable is that it actually matches with the rest of the Trinity; you know, like how Superman is with a journalist and Wondy is with a soldier/agent. Nicola & Bruce having different ways of pursuing justice while still sharing similar moral codes. It helps that Nicola is actually a hero rather than an antihero/villain/straight villain (Bruce dating a villan would only make him look like a hypocrite). Nicola sees all facets of Bruce's life and makes the choice to stay; provides some much needed light not just in his life but also the rest of the Batfam. In turn Bruce has another connection to the normal world that is willing to be in his life and see him genuinely happy. They're mature adults who ground each other and build each other up.

8. Optimus Prime x Malina Lovelace: Okay is it just me or do I think TFA Optimus Prime needs more love? What's funny is that at first Malina didn't like the thought of being outshined by newcomers in her superhero career. Spending time with Optimus makes her realize that there's more to being a superhero than fame. Optimus doesn't look down on her, and is more than willing to work with her and appreciate her work. She becomes touched by his friendliness and aceepts him and the other Bots. At the same time Malina reminds Optimus that it's okay to make mistakes and move on, and that it's okay to cut toxic people out. I even wrote a noncanon ficlet where Malina calls out Sentinel and Blackarachnia for the way they treat Optimus. OptMalina is a romance built on respect despite the obvious differences. Not to mention they have each other's back, and they learn about each other each time. And just like with KayLeo and BatRose there's different continuities which means unique versions of the Optlina pair. The Bayverse *chortle* and Prime versions are a few I'd love to explore in the future!

Miscellaneous

- Chad Charming x Soraya Nedakh: Essentially snobby rich kid who learns to be self sufficient and see past appearances through a positive influence. Soraya helps Chad to understand that being royalty isn't just pretty clothes and parties but actually using that status to help others. And Chad actually has his views challenged: Soraya doesn't back down easily.

- Jetta x Zane: The concept of JettaZane (or A Touch Of Snow/IceMagic) is that the robot teaches the human what it's like to be human. Jetta started out as an extremely cold person and a loner, but her time with Zane - the literal ninja of ice - gradually melts her heart & she becomes more caring and accepting. So the robot programmed to be human helps the human raised to be a cold machine unlearn her toxic traits and reclaim her humanity. Also Pixane is kinda boring imo, like they're only together because they're both robots. Not very compelling if you ask me.

- Brian Crown x Kelly Arbol: The wellmeaning goofball and the beatnik poet are something I rarely see much of, but that pretty much sums up their ship. Brian may be a bit self centered but he has a heart of gold and through Kelly's influence he becomes more confident in being a worthy successor to his dad. Meanwhile Brian respects Kelly in and out costume and teaches her how to have fun. Not to mention Kelly interacts with someone outside her circle, which is a welcome change from the trope of only dating someone within your circle.

- Janus Lee x Lenora Rose: Another pair from the same show as Paine and Qiu Jin, there's not much to say on them other than it's one of the most tragic couples. Lenora died a long time ago due to circumstances beyond her & Mr. Lee's control and it's her death that was the catalyst to his gradual descent into evil. As the show goes on we see glimpses of their life together and realize that Lenora is more than the Ghost, she was someone with her own dreams and motivations. She and Janus were outcasts who found companionship in each other, and were able to build a life together using their hard-earned resources to help others. Even in the last few months of her life she didn't go down without a fight, wanting her legacy to be one of love and hope. It's her memory that may be the key to redeeming Mr. Lee in the future of A.T.O.M.

- Ben Florian x Paige: Again not much else to say but they're the antithesis of Mal x Ben. One thing that bothers me about Mal & Ben is that they are supposed to be equals when it's pretty darn obvious from the scenes they were not. With PaigeBen it's clear that they ARE equals who respect each other. Ben's agency isn't reduced to just love interest, he has someone he has good communication with and wants to see him succeed. Paige has someone who shares her interests and see her more than just that One American Newbie. They LEARN to work together without love potions involved. Plus we haven't had a commoner Disney Princess in a while so Paige fills in as someone who works her way into high status then uses that status to help others with Ben at her side.

That's enough of my Canon x OC OTPs! I hope to explore them more throughout the year :) I work hard to flesh out my OCs and their romantic storylines as if they're real 💚😌

I do have KayLeo week planned for Feb 14 to Feb 21 so don't be shocked when I start posting rottmnt stuff or art of Kaysha! Anyways these are my personal ships that I enjoy despite the lack of content I made of them, so hopefully I have the creative juices flowing to make more stuff! Final note I'm working on a platonic oc x canon meme to show that love doesn't have to be romantic. A

#canon x oc #oc x canon #otp #multifandom #actiontoongorlz #oc meme #oc x canon meme #long text tw

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burntcheesepita · 4 years

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new beginning

pairing: ryan howard/reader

warnings: none

wordcount: 1209

a/n: idk this idea has been bouncing around in my head. takes place right after ryan took up jim’s job. tell if u want a part 2 ayyy

You were a new temp stretching your legs in quality assurance, mostly to keep an eye on Creed. You quickly learned that the old man was pretty much completely senile, but absolutely refused to leave, and that you might be stuck at this office job a lot longer than expected.

Everyone was more or less easy enough to get along with, and you noticed that one particular salesman seemed to take interest in you. Ryan smiled at you whenever you met is eyes, and one day noticed you getting your favorite cookies out of the vending machine and since then had always “accidentally ended up with an extra bag” of them that “the stupid machine spit out” that he’d give you just about everyday. To get even, you stood behind him one day in the kitchen and watched him make his coffee. He had turned to you when he was done and asked, “What’s up?” to which you had smiled and said, “Oh, nothing.” and walked away.

And thus began your strange ritual: you made him coffee in the morning and he bought you cookies at lunch. And during lunch, even on your first day as the odd one out, he sat next to you and made friendly conversation. You talked about college, his MBA and your BFA, and how to deal with loans without immediately having a panic attack. You’d talk about what it was like growing up poor near Philadelphia in contrast to Ryan’s middle-class upbringing in Scranton. You discussed the most recent Quentin Tarantino movies, you found Ryan’s somewhat pretentious criticisms endearing. He told you about his love of jazz and how he played saxophone in highschool, you countered with your love of 90s girl grunge and how you taught yourself to play guitar. He liked playing video games and you told him you were really only familiar with Super Mario Bros and Sonic the Hedgehog.

He’d sit near you during Micheal’s superfluous meetings and generally seemed magnetically drawn to you.

During work hours, he went out of his way to ask you questions about the company’s paper suppliers, the difference between one type of paper to another, even how it was made, all for the sake of “helping a client.”

All of this to the dismay of Kelly.

Kelly didn’t seem mad at you as much as the fact that Ryan obviously liked being around you, and told you horror stories. How he always seemed nice at first, but that was to reel you in. He refused to commit. He was disinterested in dates and the wants and needs of his now ex girlfriend (her). He ignores calls and texts. He’s actually mean and manipulative when you get to know him for real. He only wants sex.

You had noticed Ryan had some contempt for Kelly. He tried to wiggle his way out of any conversation she tried to loop him into.

You thought you were getting along with Ryan just fine. Still, you had no idea what to think. You knew very well that guys could be very sweet one minute and absolutely vicious the next. Bad men don’t always seem like bad men at first.

You were thinking about this when you noticed Ryan get up from his desk near reception and walk toward the bathrooms.

You seized the moment, quickly shuffling over to Pam. She smiled at you and you smiled back and said, “Just came over to steal some of your jellybeans.”

You had gotten along with Pam very easily. she was sweet and helpful and you were her newest confidant in office pranks since Jim left. You figured that she might have some insight into Ryan and Kelly’s past relationship. Both of them would be unreliable sources and, most of all, you didn’t wanna scandalize Ryan by asking him if it was true that he was actually awful.

Pam continued to work as you chewed on a stale cherry jellybean.

“Oh, yuck,” you groaned quietly and Pam looked up.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah. Actually, I have a question. Should I go out with Ryan?”

Her expression went blank for a moment before she said, “I mean, he’s really nice to you. I think he might really like you.”

“Really?” you inquired, “Kelly was telling me some terrible things and….”

Pam considered this before answering, “Yeah, they weren’t great together. Ryan never really liked her now that I think about it. She can be a hard person to deal with.“

“What happened?”

“Jim had set them up, actually. He told me Ryan just wanted to have fun and Kelly wanted a committed relationship. But Kelly wouldn’t leave him alone after they hooked up and the whole thing just sort of spiraled out of control.”

You nodded slowly. “Do you think he actually likes me? Or he just wants a hookup?”

“I’m gonna be honest, he’s been far nicer to you than anyone else in this office. Kevin thinks you’re already hooking up.”

You raised your brows at her and giggled.

Just then, you heard the kitchen door open, and Ryan sauntered back to his desk. You smiled at him and was about to make your way back to your own desk when he said, “Come over here a second.”

You glanced at Pam, who shrugged suggestively at you, and you went to lean against his desk next to him. You crossed your arms and looked down at him expectantly.

He pretended to shuffle around his desk, finding a piece of paper and a pen. He looked back up at you and grinned, “Can you tell me the difference between A4 and letter-sized again? I forgot to write it down before and I can’t remember it.”

You quirked your brows at him, “Is that really what you’d like to ask me?”

His bright blue eyes lit up, “Oh, yeah, actually. Wanna come over to my place for dinner? Maybe we could play some video games together.”

You giggled. Video games and dinner? Whatever, you’d take it. “Sure,” you say, running your fingers over his hand where it sat on his desk, “Maybe you could show my some of your signature moves.”

He flushed.

The rest of the day, you were full of butterflies. You paid absolutely no attention to Creed and instead spent your time teasing Ryan. You loved the way he became flustered whenever you would put you hand on his shoulder or winked at him from across the room. No one really cared for the flirting, but at least Pam thought it was funny. She told you that you could be a good influence on him and liked seeing Ryan soften up to a girl instead of being dismissive or overly interested in hooking up. She had said that sometimes when he wants something superficial from a girl, he can become a little strange and overbearing. But you seemed to turn his brain to mush.

You thought about how your little date might go. You could already tell from your time spent with Ryan that he often had a hard time asserting himself and his feelings, but was open to brag about anything he found clout-worthy. Maybe he wasn’t as bad as Kelly says once he’s in the right environment.

#ryan howard #ryan howard/reader #ryan howard imagine #the office imagines #ryan howard oneshot #the office #mine #ryan writing

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fuckheadwitha · 4 years

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Listening to Rolling Stone's Top 500 Albums of All Time

Rolling Stone released an updated list of their top 500 albums of all time and being trapped in the purgatory of covid quarantine this seems like the perfect moment to tackle what an almost completely irrelevant former counter-culture institution has to say about music (we can’t actually blame Rolling Stone for this list, a huge number of musicians and critics voted to make it). I am going to listen to every single one of these, all the way through, with a level of attention that's not super intense but I'm definitely not having them on in the background as simple aural wallpaper. Two caveats though: I can make an executive decision to skip any album if I feel the experience is sufficiently miserable, and I'm also going to be skipping the compilation albums that I feel aren't really worth slots (best ofs, etc.). In addition, I will be ordering them as I go, creating a top 500 of the top 500 (it will be less than 500 since we've already established I'm skipping some of these).

Here are 500-490:

#500 Arcade Fire - Funeral

I can already tell I'm going to be at odds with this list if one of the most important albums of my high school years is at the bottom. That being said, I haven't actually given this whole thing a listen since probably the early 2010s, before Arcade Fire fatigue set in and the hipsterati appointed band of a generation just kinda seemed to fade from popular consciousness. I actually dreaded re-experiencing it, since the synthesis of anthemic rock and quirky folk instrumentation which Arcade Fire brought mainstream has now become the common shorthand of insufferable spotify friendly folk pop. Blessedly, the first half of the album easily holds up, largely propelled by dirty fast rhythm guitar, orchestration that's tuneful rather than obnoxious, and lyrics which come off as earnest rather than pretentious. The middle gets a little sappy and “Crown of Love”, a song I definitely used to like, really starts the grate. And then we get to “Wake Up”, whose cultural saturation spawned thousands of dorky indie rock outfits that confused layered strings and horns with power and meaning. This song definitely hasn't survived the film trailers and commercials which it so ubiquitously overlayed, but the line about "a million little gods causing rainstorms, turning every good thing to rust" still attacks the part of my brain capable of sincere emotion. This album is probably going to hold the top spot for a while, because although so many elements of Funeral that made it feel so meaningful, that made it stand out so much in 2004, have been seamlessly assimilated into an intellectually and emotionally bankrupt indie pop industrial complex, the album itself still has a genuine vulnerability and bangers that still manage to rip.

#499

Rufus, Chaka Khan - Ask Rufus

Before she became a name in her own right, Chaka Khan was the voice of the band Rufus, and it’s definitely her voice that shines amongst some spritely vibey funk. That’s not to say that these aren’t some jams on their own. “At Midnight” is a banging opener with a sprint to the finish, and although the explicitly named but kinda boring “Slow Screw Against the Wall” feels weak, this wasn’t really supposed to be an album of barn burners. This was something people put on their vinyl record players while they chilled on vinyl furniture after a night of doing cocaine. “Everlasting Love” is a bop with a bassline like a Sega Genesis game, and the twinkling piano on “Hollywood” adds a playful levity to lyrics that are supposed to be both tackily optimistic about making it big out in LA and subtly realistic about the kind of nightmare world showbiz can be. “Better Days” is another track that manages to be a bittersweet jam with a catchy sour saxophone and playful synths under Chaka Khan’s vamping. This album definitely belongs on a ‘chill funk to study and relax to’ playlist.

#498

Suicide - Suicide

We’ve hit the first album that could be rightly called a progenitor for multiple genres that followed it. Someone could say there’s a self-serving element of this being on a Rolling Stone list (the band was one of the first to adopt the label ‘Punk’ after seeing it in a Lester Bangs article) but the album’s legacy is basically indisputable. EBM, industrial, punk, post-punk, new wave, new whatever all have a genealogy that connects to Suicide, and it’s easy to hear the band in everything that followed. But what the band actually is is two guys, one with an electric organ and one with a spooky voice, doing spooky simple riffs and saying spooky simple things. Simplicity is definitely not a dis here. The opener “Ghost Rider” makes a banger out of four notes and one instrument, and the refrain ‘America America is killing its youth’ is really all the lyrical complexity you need to fucking get it. “Cheree” and “Girl” have almost identical lyrics (‘oh baby’ vs ‘oh girl’) but “Cheree” is more like a fairy tale and “Girl” is more like a sonic handjob. “Frankie Teardrop” has the audacity to tell a ten minute story with its lyrics, but of course there is intermittent, actually way too loud screaming breaking up the narrative of a guy who loses everything then kills his family and himself. The song is basically a novelty, and I think you can probably say the whole album is a novelty between its brevity and character. But for a bite sized snack this album casts a huge shadow.

#497

Various Artists - The Indestructible Beat of Soweto

The fact that this particular compilation always ends up in the canon has a lot to do with the cultural context it existed in, being America’s first encounter with South African contemporary music during the decline of apartheid (it wouldn’t end until a decade later in 1994 with the country’s first multi-racial elections). Music journos often bring up the fact Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the all male choir singing on the album ender “Nansi Imali”, sang on Paul Simon’s Graceland like their virtue is they helped Paul Simon get over his depression and not, like, the actual music. But also like, how is the actual music? Jams. Ubiquitous, hooky guitars propel the songs along with bright choruses over low lead vocals, but I didn’t expect the synthesizer on the bop “Qhude Manikiniki”, nor the discordant hoedown violin on “Sobabamba”. “Holotelani” is a groove to walk into the sunset to.

#496

Shakira - Donde Estan los Ladrones

So this is the first head scratcher on the list. It’s not like it sucks. And I think I prefer this 90s guitar pop driven spanish language Shakira to modern superstar Shakira. But I mean, it’s an album of late nineties latin pop minivan music, with a thick syrupy middle that doesn’t do anything for me. The opener and closer stand out though. ‘Ciega, Sordomuda’, one of the biggest pop songs of the 90s (it was #1 on the charts of literally every country in Latin America), has a galloping acoustic guitar and horn hits with Shakira’s vocals at their most percussive.

#495

Boyz II Men - II

So, if you were alive in the 90s you know Boyz II Men were fucking huge, and the worst song on the album is the second track “All Around the World”, basically a love song to their own success, and also the women they’ve banged. You can tell it was written specifically so that the crowd could go fucking wild when they heard their state/city/country mentioned in the song, and I’m not gonna double check but I’m sure they hit all fifty states. Once you’re over that hump though you basically have an hour of songs to fuck to. “U Know” keeps it catchy with propulsive midi guitar and synth horns, “Jezzebel” starts with a skit and ends with a richly layered jazz tune about falling in love on a train, and “On Bended Knee” has a Ragnarok Online type beat. Honestly this album can drag, but you’re not supposed to be listening to it alone in a state of analysis, you’re supposed to have it on during a date that’s going really, really well.

#494

The Ronettes - Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes

A singles compilation of the Ronettes, the only ones I immediately recognized were ‘Be My Baby’ and ‘Going to the Chapel of Love’, the latter of which I didn’t know existed since the version of the song I knew was by the Dixie Cups, which was apparently a source of drama since the Ronettes did it first but producer Phil Spector refused to release it. I feel like as a retro trip to sixties girl groups it’s full of enough songs about breaking up (for example “Breaking Up”) getting back together (for example “Breaking Up”) and wanting to get married but you can’t, because you’re a teenager (“So Young”).

#493

Marvin Gaye - Here, My Dear

This album only exists because Marvin was required by his divorce settlement to make it and provide all of the royalties to his ex-wife and motown executive Anna Gordy Gaye. It’s absolutely bizarre, phoned in mid tempo funk whose lyrics range from the passive aggressive (“This is what you wanted right?”) to the petulant (“Why do I have to pay attorney’s fees?”). There is a seething realness here that crosses well past the border of uncomfortable. I don’t think it’s an amazing album to listen to, but it’s an amazing album to exist: Marvin Gaye is legally obligated to throw his own divorce pity party, and everyone's invited.

#492

Bonnie Raitt - Nick of Time

I have never heard of Bonnie Raitt before but apparently this album won several grammys including album of the year in 1989 and sold 5 million copies, which I guess goes to show that no award provides less long term relevance than the grammys. The story around the album is pretty heartwarming, it was her first massive hit after a career of whiffs, and Bonnie Raitt herself is apparently a social activist and neat human being. I say all this because this sort of 80s country blues rock doesn't really connect with me, but the artist obviously deserves more than that. I unequivocally like the title track though, a hand-clap backed winding electric piano groove about literally finding love before your eggs dry up.

#491

Harry Styles - Fine Line

I do not think I have ever heard a one direction song because I am an adult who only listens to public radio. I’m totally open to pop bands or boy bands or boy band refugee solo artists, but I don’t like anything here. It’s like a mixtape of the worst pop trends of the decade, from glam rock that sounds like it belongs in a car commercial to folky bullshit that sounds like it belongs in a more family focused car commercial. This gets my first DNP (Does Not Place).

#490

Linda Ronstadt - Heart Like a Wheel

Another soft-rock blues and country album which just doesn’t land with me. But the opener “You’re No Good” is like a soul/country hybrid which still goes hard and the title track hits with the lyrics “And it's only love and it's only love / That can wreck a human being and turn him inside out”.

Current Ranking, which is weirdly almost like an inverse of the rolling stones list so far;

#rolling stone #500 greatest albums of all time

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getallemeralds · 5 years

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NEXT PART IN THE TEAM INFODUMP: TEAM COMEBACK!! despite Team Horizons being very important, Team Comeback has pretty much all of my favourite OCs that aren’t Sik so they get a lot of focus xD;;

left to right: Aile Graff the Otter, Dallas “Copy” Perrow the Maned Wolf, Dallas “Double” Perrow the Maned Wolf, and Evan Vent the Android!

these guys have one big mess of a story so its. gonna be fun to untangle lmao

Aile is kinda just some random guy, like he’s the type to just show up in crowd shots to add variety? except then he got kidnapped and roboticized, but thanks to a power failure was able to escape mostly intact save for his arms and some other bits wired into him. his main goal is a) undoing that and b) finding his friend, Brooke, who was also kidnapped. he kinda comes off as “the sane one”, especially next to Vent, but that’s because out of the entire hero team he’s the most... average. he’s the Power member! because his robotic limbs give him super strength. Copy and Double are... weird. ive talked about them a bit before! Double used to work for GUN before it was wiped out by Infinite during the 6 month timeskip in Forces, and now he just kinda hangs out with Team Comeback. He likes weapons and building things, and has zero social skills. He also used to be friends with Wayne before he became Infinite, so the entirety of Forces is kinda “ouch oof my bones” for him. He’s the Custom Hero / Avatar! so he ends up being friends with Sonic and they fist bump and all that. initially it seems like he has no powers whatsoever beyond “is good at Wispons”, but it turns out he’s able to boost the powers of anybody he’s in physical contact with. it’s not something he has the hang of. Copy, meanwhile, is an AU of Double with a special interest in multiversal theory, and he managed to cross over to Chaosverse and... sort of got stuck? And by the time he actually gets in touch with people on the CV side who can help him out with that, he’s gotten attached to Team Comeback and doesn’t wanna leave. unlike Double, he has electrokinesis! or, rather, he has innate lightning magic, but magic isn’t really a thing in CV like it is in his home universe so he’s given up and just goes “yeah i have lightning powers”. he’s very very dorky and very very excitable, and likes to talk a lot and help people! honestly if Double got over his “accidental asshole” issues they’d act pretty similar lmao aaand finally, Vent! Vent is... Vent is a bucket of spoilers. Double found him when he was sent to investigate a GUN lab that was actually working for Eggman and using GUN as a cover, except by the time he got there it was already blown up and Vent was the only thing still standing. somewhat. Vent was broken. despite it being sort of a bad idea, Double fixed Vent and got a new friend out of the deal! he’s very friendly and makes a lot of bad jokes, and is also a walking superweapon along the lines of Neo Metal Sonic mixed with a Gizoid-- meaning he’s made of liquid metal and can copy+integrate abilities, fighting styles, weapons, etc after being exposed to battle data, as well as being a shapeshifter. despite being the most OP and dangerous OC in the setting, Vent’s just a chill dude with no memories of why he was built or where he comes from, and doesn’t really care about it and just wants to hang out with everybody. Later he ends up dating Aile and it’s cute.

these guys provide a Lot of the story that isnt just an adaption of the games, like obvs Double is custom hero but there’s a whole storyline about what happened to Aile, where Vent comes from, and it all links together in a really fun and cool way and. aaaaaa i love these guys THEYRE ALL DWEEBS

#img #leo chirps #leodoodles #leos ocs #oc: aile the otter #oc: vent the android #oc: double the maned wolf #oc: copy the maned wolf #chasing velocity

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clowngremlin · 5 years

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i have been neglecting my good things lists because i have been so tired or i forgot....so i will break it up into days!! under a cut because its long!!

wednesday:

-went to trans group and there were some new people and it was fun!!! we talked about art and shit and the guy who runs it introduced me to a parent who’s daughter is going to my school in the fall and also to talk to her a bit about bein trans!!! it was nice!!! then i took the bus home with some pals and it was nice!! i love going to group and like yesterday, my best friend said that all the kids think im really cool and look up to me and it just like warmed my heart!!!

-my best friend bought me mcdonalds!!!

-bought a delightful clown mug

not much else happened on wednesday tbh

-my dad showed me a delightful little dog that we are going to adopt!!!

thursday:

-got a garf sweat top AND a clown shirt!!! the clown shirt was $5 babey!!! i also got an e.t. necklace and some misc teeth!!!

-worked on my comic a lot and did got everything i needed to finish that day done!!!!

-got some neat toys at the thrift store, including a certain type of teddy bear that my grandma collects and they are usually really expensive and it was fucking $4.....a steal.....i bought it for her and i told her and she was so happy!!! it was so nice!!!

-wore an extremely good outfit and got many compliments on it!!!

friday:

-took my new adhd meds and they worked really well!!!

-worked on my comic for a bit

-saw a friend on the way to school and they complimented my hat!

-ate an extremely tasty chocolate bar

-went to my one of my best friend’s house and watched her play sonic forces and we ate pizza and it was a really great and fun time!!! i really love sonic and sonic forces was so fun.....i liked the character creation and that u could give ur lil character outfits and i always had on a fun outfit and we changed it every time we went to play as the character and got new stuff!! i also got to meet my best friend’s gf for the first time!!! im sad that i had to go because she got there around 10:45 and i had to go home so i only got to meet her briefly but she hugged me and that was nice :> also my best friend’s cat who i adore so much kept sitting in my lap!!!!

-got an extremely cursed garfield at the thrift store

saturday (today!!)

-saw my sister and my mom for lunch at my favorite restaurant for my sister and i’s birthday!!! it’s not today, but tuesday but we did something today for it!!! my mom didnt write my birthname on my card, but she also didnt write any name on it, but i suppose that’s a step up. she did only call me my birthname when we were out and about which was upsetting and i didnt like it but i told her it upsets me! but not in a way that would have ruined the day or anything!!

-went to a local flea market where one of the vintages stores i like was selling some stuff, and they were having a $5 hat sale which is the whole reason i went because when i got my clown mug on wednesday, the lady running it mentioned that they have cool vintage clown baseball caps and that they will be at the flea market for $5 and i cant pass up a good deal......i also got some hand made, bright yellow, glittery eye shadow for $4!!! it was so bright and pretty and i was like....hrrnnng i need it

-got many compliments on my garf sweat top that i wore today as well as the button down shirt i was wearing under it to be more fancy for lunch with my mom!

-got a mesh top to wear underneath my shirts, a pair of fishnet tights to wear underneath my pants with the rips in the knees, a really cute pair of earrings, and a gothy sort of choker at this neat lil store in the city!!! the people there were super helpful and friendly!!

-had my manager at work tell me im good at sampling when i went in to grab a tea while i was at the mall!!

-got some new jewelry for my tragus piercing!!!

-also got some rainbow shoe laces for my creepers that were $2.....wrow....what a deal!!!

-had my left over spaghetti from lunch for dinner!!! two spaghetti meals, babey!!

-it was nice out!! i was worried it would rain or be really cold but it was nice and sunny and i got to have a nice lil walk around china town!!!

#the wretched gremlin strikes again #spencer's good things list

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dailyexo · 7 years

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[NEWS] 170825 Billboard: “How EXO's 'The War' Came Together: A Song-By-Song Breakdown With the Band, Its Producers & More”

A behind-the-scenes look at what went into making summer's hottest K-pop album.

From the frenetic synths of “Going Crazy” to the dreamlike melodies of “Walk on Memories,” EXO's latest album, The War, held nothing back from fans. Pulling inspiration from funk, reggae, EDM, trap and more, then weaving it all together through top-notch production, it proved a logical progression in their sonic journey and a summer-friendly successor to the group's darker previous album, Ex'Act.

With The War, EXO topped Billboard's World Albums chart for two consecutive weeks and went on to sell over 1 million copies globally, proving that the EXO-L fandom is sticking around for the boy band's evolution.

Learn what went into the hottest K-pop album of the summer from the members themselves and some of the producers behind its hottest tracks.

“The Eve”

Mike Woods: I was one of the producers on “The Eve” which was originally titled “Black Dress.” I wrote it alongside Kevin White, Andrew Bazzi and Henry Lau. Originally the song was for Henry Lau's project, but we all felt that it going to EXO would be best for everyone as it was a perfect record for them. The sound came about from us wanting something sexy and melodic, but also performance driven. We wanted to paint a dark and mysterious vibe, hence the title “Black Dress.” We wrote the song during a writing camp for SM [Entertainment] -- we basically write one to two songs a day for about 10 days and see what we come up with. “The Eve” came about on the fourth day of the camp and only took us one day to complete, from conception of music and lyrics to the final composition. We recorded the demo for the song the same day of conception.

“Ko Ko Bop”

Styalz Fuego: I went out to Seoul early November last year. It was maybe 10 of us ... and basically we were all put in the the SM studios for a couple of weeks. It was my first time out there. [You're] basically hearing a quick [overview] of the whole scene and everything that's going on in K-pop and then you're put in the rooms every day to just write songs. “Ko Ko Bop” was maybe the fourth of fifth day in. The first couple of days I was trying to get a hang of [it.] I listened to a lot of K-pop, but still, it's a different scene to write a song [for] because it's so much more complex. [K-pop songs] have so many more moving components to them, than say, if you're out in L.A. writing, trying to make things very simple and trying to get to the core of the lyric and have the beat as simple as possible.

I kinda knew as soon as we'd done the song and we played it back for everyone, just from the response we got to the song it was gonna be something, but I had no idea it'd be [EXO's]. Going into writing that song, it was basically to do something with the reggae feel, that was the main thing we were aiming for. It took a whole different direction with the crazy drop section after the chorus. We went into this doing a reggae-pop song and it transformed into what it is.

I don't think it was ever for EXO -- I think it was more for a female group. Shaylen [Carroll, co-producer] did the demo. When they did the playback for everyone at SM, [we thought] they would essentially understand this is for one of the girl groups. A girl is singing it and it's in the range of what the girls can sing. The song was actually in a higher key -- I think three semitones higher -- so it was more fitted for a female [group] originally.

But I guess it worked out well because we had a few of our voices in the song spread out, so I guess when they started picking where the song could go, it made sense for EXO because there are so many different sections vocally.

Shaylen Carroll: I wrote the lyrics and melodies with Tay Jasper, then I sang the demo. It's a “feel good” type of track, so the melodies came easily. Styalz's stuff is easy to write to. When I was recording some melody ideas I kept on singing nonsense phrases and one was “Shimmy shimmy Ko Ko Bop,” which we all thought was super quirky and catchy. So we built off that and turned it into something real. The song is about not worrying about things... Sometimes you just gotta go with the flow! Don't worry about the haters.

Jared Cotter, Shaylen's manager: [SM Entertainment] let us know it was being considered for a girl group.

Carroll: [I] definitely never thought it would get flipped to EXO, but obviously we are thrilled it did. We [knew] it was special when we finished it. I am really glad it found the home that it did.

Chen: [The members and I] wrote the lyrics separately and worked on putting the lyrics together for the song afterwards. We worked on the song using a special method, where we gathered all three of our lyrics for the song and selected which lyrics would suit the song the best. I don't think I have any regrets or wish that it could have better since it's the best result produced through all the effort that our members and other various writers have put into the process. Through the lyrics, I wanted “Ko Ko Bop” to have people shake off all their stress and enjoy themselves just as who they are.

Baekhyun: I felt that a lot of our fans were unable to fully enjoy our concerts or performances because they're conscious of what others would think. Since “Ko Ko Bop” is a reggae and EDM genre and it's easy to groove to, I wanted my lyrics to have people to become more carefree, release their stress and dance away with the music.

“What U Do?”

Ronny Svendsen: The song was written in Seoul last December. We went over to Korea to do a camp for SM with our, at the time, new publishing company called Ekko Music Rights. We tried to create a song that would be danceable and organic sounding with emphasis on real instruments -- bass, guitar, piano. The song was really based around the guitars and a simple chord progression. Sound-wise we had a reference from another boy band of SM Entertainment's called NCT, which we originally aimed for: danceable, but not “synthy.”

“Forever”

Greg Bonnick of LDN NOISE: This was written in Seoul with Kenzie and Adrian McKinnon. We knew the vibe was perfect for EXO so we worked on it for about a week on and off to get it right, trying different chords and toplines. The intro part was initially the chorus. We thought, “Great, we nailed it,” but once we listened back, it needed to go up another gear. We then added the extra section, which is now the chorus, and it came to life and made it so much bigger.

To be honest, we wanted to make a “Monster” 2.0 but still be different and bigger, you know? We always have fun when we can mix hard hip-hop verses with a bright chorus, and for a group like EXO, it gives it the perfect balance.

We wanted to make a statement: this song, this album, it's EXO forever. We feel really connected to this group and the fans so it's important we got it right, and the feedback has been amazing, so we are very happy.

“Touch It”

Denzil Remedios: From what I recall, “Touch It” came to Ryan [Jhun]'s hands first. He got the song originally from the Jackie Boyz [Carlos and Steven Battey] and the Fliptonez. I think they sent it to him while we were still in Korea and this was actually more than a year ago now, maybe close to almost two years ago when they sent that record, and it just kinda connected right away. We heard what it could be -- it already sounded like the guts of a smash was there, at least something we could put into a big group's hands. From there, Ryan and I did what we normally do, which is pick it apart and say, “Hey, what parts could get stronger? What could we do extra with the production to pump it a little bit more?” That's how we got the record, and then we just worked on all those elements over probably months back and forth.

“Touch It,” when we first heard it, already had such a non-today-ish vibe -- a classic vibe. It's not like the everyday pop EDM electronic-y sound that everyone's doing, which was refreshing when we first heard it. We were like, “Yo, this sounds like an old Justin Timberlake, almost Michael Jackson type of thing.” That old school vibe. We didn't wanna change the production or toplining to the point where it didn't sound like that anymore. When we were hearing it, sonically we were like, “Cool, this can be something that a group like EXO can take and use for the album and it doesn't sound like everything else they would normally be putting out.”

We were thinking stage performance at the time too. It's just a really fun track that doesn't have to be too serious -- you don't have to have crazy choreography where they drop from the top of the stadium.

Chen: My imagination provides the most inspiration for the lyrics. For “Touch It,” I played out the lyrics in my mind as if it is like a scene from a movie when writing it. After completing the draft, I worked on it by fixing awkward pronunciations by singing along the lyrics with the music. This helped me figure out more suitable and comfortable words that would enhance the groove when listening to the song.

“Chill”

Otha “Vakseen” Davis: We went to a song camp last year -- I wanna say it was November -- and it was probably the third camp my team has been on. Anytime we go to song camps at SM, they usually have a focus for us as far as what to work on and I know we worked on some things for EXO. For any creator, you always wanna try to make an EXO project. We fell in love with the vibe and the energy[of “Chill”] in the studio and SM's team felt the same way about the record. That happened to be one that everybody loved -- the guys loved it ultimately when they heard it.

There were certain elements like the breakdown in “Chill” that was added at the camp, but we came with the ideas already fleshed out. Ultimately, [the breakdown] was to serve as a dance breakdown. K-pop acts, especially EXO, are very performance-oriented, so you wanna have sections to show out. You wanna make something that feels good but still can allow them to move.

Chanyeol: Usually it's common to work on the lyrics based on a demo guide, but for the song “Chill” I worked on the lyrics with an empty track without demo lyrics. I think that’s part of the reason why the lyrics were able to come out pretty naturally.

“Walk on Memories”

Albi Albertsson: In late 2015, Wassily Gradovsky, who was actually interning for me as a producer at that time, brought an instrumental to me, which was later to become the instrumental for “Walk on Memories.” He had recorded a loop on the upright piano I have in my living room and incorporated it into this smooth R&B style beat.

I immediately liked the chord progression and the vibe of the track, so I sent it to Justin Reinstein, a writer from New York who we had just started working with at that time. He had a very smooth topline and vocal style that I thought would be perfect for this track, so he worked on the instrumental to craft the melodies.

From then on it was only finalizing the song: I added stacks of vocal harmonies and other details to make it work better for a group performance and make it more “K-pop,” added some vocal adlibs and then finalized the production by adding more instruments and finalizing the mix.

When I sent it to EXO's A&R, he immediately loved it but wanted a more distinct intro that reflected the fantasy theme he had in mind for the new album. So instead of the very basic intro the track originally had, I came up with a new, more mysterious and vibey intro, which is the intro you can hear in the final version of the song.

Wassily Gradovsky: The track was influenced by the genres of '90s R&B and jazz, reimagined with contemporary sounds. The arrangement of the piano chords -- being arpeggiated from bottom to the top -- was inspired by Justin Timberlake's “Cry Me A River,” but with a lighter and more positive tone. The slightly melancholic bridge, which is modulating into the final uplifting chorus, represents an uplifting, “happy ending” twist to the story.

“Going Crazy”

Otha “Vakseen” Davis: It was something that we did maybe around February of 2016. They loved it and for some reason could not find the right topline for it -- I think they had one originally and it didn't work at the end of the day. So they had this track, it was already placed on EXO and my team was presented with the opportunity to write to it. So I had one of my writers go in and do what he does. Funny enough, it was supposed to go on the Ex'Act album. It was something that they loved, but it didn't make sense then. We were persistent. Between myself and my business partner, we [would say], “Hey, what about this one? Don't forget this record!” Fast forward to now, the new album was coming out, [and] we were finally able to get them to connect. I think we had to make a couple of edits on it between that year or so passing just to make sure it was as fresh as possible.

The track's over a year old -- there's something so special about it because you drop it now, 2017, and it's still hot, still relevant. And that's the goal: create timeless music that can be good any time.

Credit: Billboard.

#EXO #EXO K #EXO M #170825 #t:news #fs:billboard #comeback:War

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acehotel · 7 years

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Interview: Justin Strauss with Joe Goddard

A founding member of Hot Chip, the 2 Bears, Greco-Roman Records and flying stag under his own moniker — he just dropped his solo record Electric Lines — Joe Goddard is considerately humble about his myriad of music-making accomplishments. Having produced some of the most sparkling, genre-defying electro-pop in the past decade and a half, he continues to flex his curiosity for sound through remixes and DJ sets. His is a wunderkind mind. For this episode of Just/Talk, renowned New York City DJ and music producer Justin Strauss sat down with Goddard to discuss the genesis of Hot Chip, his love for Destiny’s Child and what to do when there’s just too many good ideas.

Justin Strauss: Can you tell me how Hot Chip formed and what inspired it?

Joe Goddard: Alexis Taylor and I had met each other when we were 12 at the playground at our school. We would eat our packed lunch and play football together. Owen from Hot Chip as well, the three of us, and a bunch of other people — our friendship group started that first year at secondary school in Southwest London in Putney. We became friends and both of us were already very passionate about music.

JS: What were you listening to? Was there a band where you both said, "Oh, you like that?"

JG: The Beastie Boys was one we bonded over very early on. And a lot of hip hop. I had an older friend, Samir, who introduced me to New York hip hop when I was really young so I was listening to a lot of New York stuff like Nas and Wu-Tang Clan, all of early 90s hip hop which I'm really passionate about. We bonded over things like Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul that Alexis was also into. He's got two older brothers who are massively into music themselves so he got passed down a lot of this great stuff.

JS: Was that music current at that time?

JG: It was mostly current. And Alexis introduced me to Prince — he's been passionate about Prince since he was a really small kid. And then we both got into a lot of the contemporary indie music like Pavement, Smog, Bonnie Prince Billy, Royal Trux, these American Drag City bands. We would go and see them live when they came to London and ended up going to shows together all the time. A lot of it was inspired by Kieran Hebden (Four Tet) who was two years above us at the school.

JS: Where was this all happening?

JG: It's a comprehensive school in Putney which is a little bit suburban, you know, a bit out in terms of the actual London. By no means the countryside, but a little out there. But we would travel together all the time into SoHo to buy records and go around Camden to see shows, all of that normal stuff. We used to get together on the weekends and play acoustic guitars and sing Neil Young songs or whatever. As teenage boys do. And pretty quickly that developed into making music together.

JS: Were you studying music at school, or is it something you just picked up?

JG: I never studied it. Alexis studied it. Alexis is more trained as a musician. He knows music theory. He had guitar lessons and piano lessons from when he was young. I just had an acoustic guitar that was at my house which my Dad kind of left around, but I was always into computers. My Dad had computers in our house when we were really young kids, so that stuff came pretty naturally to me, that's always been my kind of thing, being the dude at the computer.

JS: So were you in charge of recording early demos and things like that?

JG: We’d just get together after school and go to the local record shops. There was a Beggar's Banquet record shop in Putney that we always used to hang out in after school most days. Then we’d go back to my house and try to make music together. And some of it would be really kind of folky, gentle like Neil Young or Bonnie Prince Billy, something inspired by that sort of thing. But other stuff would be experimenting with beats, etc.

JS: And were you aware or listening to dance music at that time?

JG: In those very early days, talking about like 94, 95, 96, I wasn't really aware of dance music. The first dance music that I got into was jungle when that became super big and exciting in London.

JS: Kind of a natural progression from your hip hop.

JG: I feel like jungle and drum & bass have sonic similarities to rock music. It has that same kind of energy. That was the first dance music to really speak to me and I used to go to Drum & Bass clubs like Metalheadz which was in the Blue Note just around the corner from here. So that was the first time I experienced clubs and dance music culture, but that didn't really transfer getting into disco and house music and garage for another few years.

JS: So you're at school and you're hanging out; how did you start writing songs together?

JG: Well, the school was quite good at putting on events like concerts in the evenings. We would go see Kieran play in his first band at school and we would rehearse in the music department after school.

JS: It was the three of you at that point?

JG: Yeah. And maybe there were a couple more people. In those early days, there were a lot of different people in the band for a little bit and then they would drop out.

JS: This is Hot Chip?

JG: The band was called Hot Chip from like...

JS: Day one?

JG: Yeah, really, really early when it was just the two of us playing guitars.

JS: Any significance to the name or you just like the sound?

JG: I honestly don't remember. It kind of feels a bit stupid to me...

JS: It fits. I think you've grown into it.

JG: Most of the time in these early concerts we were covering other tracks. We covered the Velvet Underground and Pavement, Spacemen 3. And then we started to write stuff together. I think Alexis had already been writing songs, folk songs, really. And I started to do the same. We were probably writing our own material by 1996.

JS: Were you writing together or did you each bring your own kind of songs to the band?

JG: It's always both of those things.

JS: Like a Lennon/McCartney kind of vibe? You would help out with the middle eight or something?

JG: That happened with Hot Chip even in those days, the way it worked was some songs Alexis had just written and brought to me and I just helped to produce them. Other ones I wrote and Alexis would add a middle eight, another section, or some words. And then, generally, I would make the the more dancey, upbeat electronic stuff and he would listen to the demo and write words over the top.

Those were the ways we wrote together and it's always been like that. And it’s still the way it is today.

JS: How did it progress from playing in school band to getting a record released?

JG: Again, it’s to do with the older guys at school. Kieran, Ardem and Sam had their band Fridge signed to Trevor Jackson's label Output pretty early. We used to go and see them play all around London in the pubs, The Bull Inn, The Dublin Castle, all the kind of classic pub gigs.

JS: And they kind of inspired you to say, "Oh, we can do this."

JG: Exactly. That was a pathway we knew existed, we knew how to do it in a certain sense. And Stephen Bass, who runs Moshi Moshi Records, became friendly with Kieran and Sam and eventually signed them to Go Beat Records — they put out one of their Fridge records on Go Beat. I think Adem passed Stephen our demo and then Stephen became an incredibly important supporter and helper. As well as running Moshi Moshi, which released the first Hot Chip record, he was essentially our agent for a while. He would get us gigs, he was kind of our manager.

JS: And then Moshi Moshi released the first Hot Chip single?

JG: Yeah, they put out “Down with Prince” and, prior to that, we kind of self-released a few Hot Chip things. We used to make fifty CDRs and take them to Rough Trade and ask them to sell them, that type of thing. We were inspired by small, independent labels and wanted to try and do it ourselves. So there are a couple of Hot Chip releases before Moshi Moshi, but that's when everything became a lot more serious. Stephen is really plugged into the music industry, he worked at major labels at times and worked at Island Records for a while — which I also worked for a short period after I left University. He really opened a lot of doors for us and helped us out.

JS: When the first single came out, what kind of reaction did it get?

JG: It was funny. It got a good reaction, it got good reviews and people were kind of into it.

JS: Hot Chip has a very unique sound. When you hear a Hot Chip record, it doesn’t sound like anything you've heard before.

JG: I think part of it's because we never went into a professional studio. For years, we never set foot in a real studio, we were doing it all ourselves and I had no experience of mixing records.

JS: Where you just using a computer to record on?

JG: Yeah. I had an early version of Cubase which is what I still use today. And I had a four track tape prior to that. But with Hot Chip, I was on Cubase; we just had a box full of crappy kid instruments that we got from charity shops and whatever we could find that was inexpensive. We had a couple of very cheap Casio keyboards and a tambourine, whatever we could get our hands on. I just did my best, you know?

JS: Did you use drum machines?

JG: In the early days, I did all the drums in Cubase, which is actually still kind of what I do often. Later on, we borrowed an MPC from Fridge and used that in the live show but yeah, I just did everything on Cubase, to be honest.

I was inspired by hip hop and Destiny's Child and when garage music became super big in London, I really loved that as well. So I was attempting to make records that sounded a little bit like that but, because I had zero experience, they came out a lot more rough and ready, the mix is pretty crazy. But I think that it helped the records to stand out in a certain way.

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JS: Yeah. It's funny that you say you were influenced by those things because hearing it, I wouldn't have thought —

JG: No. It sounds more like beat happy trying to make an electronic record.

JS: Do you remember when your first record came out, was it super exciting for you guys? Was it like, "Wow. We're onto something here.”

JG: Oh yeah. Absolutely. That was the extent of our ambition at that point. As is the case for a lot of artists, I guess. You're just looking forward to the first 7 inch, and then the first 12 inch, and then a CD, and they all feel like incredible milestones. We were serious about it. We were ambitious, and the whole way through our teenage years, we worked hard at it. We used to record together all the time and play gigs whenever we could, rehearse, do everything that we could.

JS: Did you have a lot of songs to pick from that eventually became the first album?

JG: Yeah. There's tons of unreleased demos and other tracks and I have an archive of other stuff...most of which is not very good. It's kind of like outside finding our feet, I guess.

JS: The best stuff made it to the record.

JG: Pretty much, I reckon. There's a couple of unreleased things that Stephen from Moshi is always asking if we could do a special compilation of. But I don't think that there are many hidden gems.

JS: I had interviewed Jonathan Galkin from DFA Records and he was telling me the story of how he heard the Moshi Moshi album and was blown away and wanted to sign you guys to DFA Records, which was a very exciting label in New York for me because I was really uninspired with what was happening with dance music around that time. DFA came along and kicked it in the ass again. It made me want to get back into it, produce music, remix records and DJ — it felt really great. Were you aware of what was going on with them?

JG: Yes. It's really interesting because “House of Jealous Lovers” caused massive amount of excitement in London and I wasn't going to all of the early parties. “Return to New York” and some of the early London parties were playing that early 80s New York music again. That stuff became super relevant and fresh for people. I wasn't at all those events, but I remember them. We went to some, hearing Trevor Jackson play the Rapture’s “House of Jealous Lovers” seemed incredibly exciting to me and it was all over the press.

JS: Trevor Jackson’s label Output released the first DFA records in the U.K.

JG: Yes, of course. LCD Soundsystem’s “Losing My Edge,” that was a massively exciting track. I really love the sense of humor on that record and still love playing it.

JS: That's an amazing record.

JG: Yeah. I love it. And then when Yeah came out, that was a massive 12 inch for me, really inspiring. That became my blueprint for the Hot Chip music after the first album. I was hearing these DFA tracks and just being blown away by them and so I'm making things over and over, being inspired by those early DFA records. When DFA got in touch it just felt amazing.

JS: And how did Moshi Moshi feel about that?

JG: I can't remember. I think they were slightly worried about what was going to happen, but I think we had ambitions to move on to a bigger label anyway. We were excited about the possibilities and I was crazy excited about meeting Tim and James.

JS: How did it happen? I mean I heard the story from Jonathan, how he tried to get James to listen to Hot Chip because Jon Galkin really wanted to sign you guys and devised this whole plan he told me, having it playing in the office when James came in. And it worked and James heard it and loved it.

JG: Right, there was a time when we got asked in a magazine about how DFA heard our music and Alexis said, "Oh yeah, James discovered us and agreed to sign us." And I remember Jonathan being kind of pissed off, like, "No, man, that's not what happened. It was me. It was all me." We have a lot to thank Jonathan for.

JS: Then they flew the whole band over to New York to record the album?

JG: Yes, and we just hung out for a while. It was in January, really deep snow everywhere, and it was amazing. That's where we recorded this version of our song “(Just Like We) Breakdown.” We made that with James & Tim Goldsworthy.

JS: Jonathan was saying that at first the band didn't like the DFA version of the song.

JG: Yes, but what happened was that we were in a separate room, a kind of rehearsal room, and we were working on this version of the song which was pretty angular and broken, pretty off the wall. And we played it for them and they were like “okaaaaay.” And then, slowly over the week that we spent with them, they re-mixed it into more of a house track. I think James played the drums on it, and it kind of morphed into this thing. They made the bass line out of a Simmons drum machine, tuning the toms to make the bass line which was awesome.

And I stayed with that process. I was kind of into disco and house at the time and I went in every day and worked with them. But some of the other guys in the band kind of didn't get why they were changing the track. It was slightly awkward for a little bit. Actually, there was a period of time when everyone else in the band didn't want that track to come out.

Then, Tim Sweeney took the unreleased demo to some gigs in Germany and came back saying, “you need to release this, this is a good version of the track.” And then everyone listened again and was like, “okay yeah. Cool.” Everyone got a bit more used to the change.

JS: It’s hard at first being “produced” after you’ve done it yourself up till that point.

JG: Yes, it's hard at first. When you're a young band and you essentially have producers giving you that kind of feedback, it's hard to deal with at first. But it ended up great.

JS: It's an amazing record.

JG: Yeah I love that version. I think we already had a couple of the tracks when we went to New York that trip. We had already made demos of “Over and Over” and “Boy From School,” and the DFA guys heard them so we went back to London and finished that record.

JS: On your own.

JG: Just in my bedroom. I think I lived with Felix at the time in Camden, so we had a little recording set up in our living room. We finished that record and then it was mixed by someone else.

JS: So DFA didn’t end up producing the whole album?

JG: No. Just the “Breakdown” track. I would have loved for that to have happened but we just did it ourselves. And this was exactly the same moment that LCD signed to EMI. When LCD signed to EMI, it seemed like the whole DFA family was moving to EMI, then EMI got interested in signing us as well because DFA were interested in signing us. We ended up on DFA and kind of on EMI. It was crazy.

JS: That's a perfect kind of situation.

JG: Yeah, it was great.

JS: You have the DFA indie vibe with the EMI muscle.

JG: Exactly. It worked out great.

JS: And that was an amazing record. The thing about Hot Chip is that the songs are always just really good songs. Full of amazing chord changes and progressions but is still danceable. It's something lacking in a lot of dance music today. It's great to just have a cool track, but it's also nice to have something that you can sink your teeth into as far as a song goes. You guys are really good songwriters.

JG: That was definitely always my feeling. I wanted to try and give people a satisfying full package, something that's kind of funky, got some interesting sounds going on, but also has got those chord changes that really get you. And then lyrically, mostly it's Alexis; he's an amazing lyric writer so we’re trying to do something that's very entertaining on these different levels. I can understand people wanting to make dance music that’s more minimal and has less going on.

But the moments in clubs that I really gravitate towards are the ones where they're bigger songs, more emotion, a bit more epic. I love those moments. Sometimes you get a DJ who plays techno for an hour and 45 minutes and then at the end plays a big track that everyone sings along to. And I'm just like, “can we not just have that for the whole set?” I think it's why I love disco so much. Because they essentially do that. It's all the flow, the fun-ness.

JS: You've been pretty prolific as a remixer yourself. Was that an unusual process for you at first or did it feel very natural?

JG: No. It was crazy. There were a few when we signed to Moshi Moshi. One of the other amazing jobs that Stephen Bass did for us was that, because he worked with major labels all the time, he would ask if we could have a go at remixing something for them and I saw it as a learning process. I really loved the idea of getting the stems to a track that was professionally made in the studio. And just listening through the stems and seeing how they did stuff. How they mic stuff and how things are supposed to sound and all of that. Took whatever opportunities I could.

JS: It is the best way to learn. When I started remixing, I was actually working with the original 2″ master tapes.

JG: Exactly.

JS: It's the best school for production I think there is.

JG: I still feel like I'm learning. Working on a remix right now and I'm learning from that as well. I was never taught how to engineer records so I still find it endlessly fascinating.

JS: Were you inspired by any remixers? Were there things that you aspired to when you started?

JG: We're talking about New York people like yourself and Shep Pettibone and Tom Moulton, all of the classic dudes, they take the track and change the context just slightly in subtle ways. Subtle extensions and dubs so that the track works perfectly in the dance. I really love the idea of not trying to change everything about a song and turn it into something that's completely unrecognizable, but just to do a good job of subtly changing the context and the mood. In the space where the record works, that's kind of what I go for. That idea of remixing is a really great way to look at it. Not stamping your own personality on it, but just going with the song.

JS: Back when the budgets were bigger and you had more time, we would always do a version that was more like that. And then do another version that was totally different where you would want to put your stamp on it. And I think that was a nice balance because you got to the people who wanted to just have a nice extended mix of the song, and then you had the people who wouldn't play that.

Nowadays, when you do a remix, many times you don’t even have the full session to work with. You get the acapella and you do your track — that's all well and good, but you're basically re-writing the song. And you're not sharing, most of the time, in publishing or productions.

JG: That's true. I enjoy remixing and see it as a nice challenge. I listen to the vocal, isolate it, and then re-write the chords around it. I like that.

JS: But as artists, Hot Chip and your solo records have had many remixes. How do you feel when someone changes your chords and the original vibe of the original production? Are you comfortable with that?

JG: I think it's pretty difficult. With remixes, I often go back with pretty specific comments and I try to give good feedback. What I find unpleasant as a remixer is when people just come back and say “I want it to sound more golden. Where's the magic?” And you're like, “well that doesn't really help me.”

So I try to give feedback which is specific like, “I loved this segment. This chord I don't feel works so maybe switch that.”

JS: And how do you feel when someone says that to you as the remixer? Have you had that experience?

JG: Yeah, I've been given every comment and every different kind of response. Basically it depends how the feedback is given to me. If it's given in a nice way and presented as constructive, “this is great we just need to work on it a bit more,” than I'm up for it. I'm into it and I'll do my best. But if someone just says “this is no good, I need it to be different,” then I just give up.

JS: You've got the wrong guy.

JG: You've got the wrong guy. Try someone else. But right now, luckily, most people know what they're going to get from me, so I think people are generally satisfied. I guess I generally do a pretty poppy, dance-y new version. I just try to do my best. And a good job of that. I try and do the best that I can.

JS: I think as remixer or as a DJ you have to make yourself happy and trust your instincts, know that they're obviously hiring you because you know what you're doing.

JG: I think I'm starting to get to that point where I think I know how to do this now.

JS: Were you prepared for the reaction the first record received? It was pretty successful.

JG: I think I don't think we were fully prepared.

JS: Was it on the pop charts?

JG: Vaguely. The next record, Ready For the Floor, got to number six on the charts for one week and that was pretty cool. I'm pleased that it got onto a Now That's What I Call Music compilation.

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JS: At some point with Hot Chip the influences became more dance-y, then more rock-y and more hip hop. Was that just natural when you started to DJ?

JG: I think it’s that. We were all DJing more.

JS: Did you always DJ? Or did that come later?

JG: I used to DJ at school. When my friend was having a house party, I would take “Sure Shot” by the Beastie Boys and play it and then around 98, 99, I got into ESG and Liquid Liquid and would go and play that stuff at a party. So yeah, I've been doing it for a while. And when I went to University, I started to DJ a lot and started to get paid gigs sometimes.

But it developed more in 2005, 06, I started doing it more professionally and going to clubs around Europe, playing in a more house music environment. All the guys in Hot Chip were also getting into dance music in a more serious way at that point. We all started to do it more.

JS: And that kind of influenced the sound of the next records.

JG: Definitely. Because, and this is still true for me today, you get really inspired about what to make if you have a great DJ gig. I always come back the next day thinking “I’d really love to try and make a track.” And you're trying to make stuff that you would love to play out, you've got rhythmic ideas, things still in your head from the night before — DJing definitely really informs it.

JS: What's the state of Hot Chip right now? It would be great to hear a new Hot Chip Record at some point.

JG: We're excited about making another one. We've been talking about it. I sent Alexis a new demo last week.

JS: All you guys are busy. Obviously you started the 2 Bears. What was the concept behind that?

JG: It began as I was playing at the Greco-Roman parties by label I helped run. And Raf was a resident DJ for that, which is how I met him. He's the other guy in 2 Bears, and he would come and play this great house music. He's been into house for a long, long time.

He was kind of a resident DJ at the early Basement Jaxx parties playing loads of good new and old stuff, a lot of the New York stuff and a really good mix-up music. I really looked up to him as a DJ and felt like I learned a lot about house music from him. The 2 Bears was me wanting to explore slightly more proper house music, learn how to make it and how to create those arrangements.

JS: And then when did the Greco-Roman label start?

JG: Well, I came out of University in 2001 or 02 and I was doing Hot Chip but I didn't have a job. I was at home a lot, making demos and just having zero money. And then I did some work at Island Records and met the two other guys that I run Greco-Roman with there. One of the guys, Dom, was an assistant in the A&R department and the other guy, Alex, had a job in the marketing department.

We hatched plans to start a label and started to put on warehouse parties around London. It started off mostly as a party, very ramshackle and badly organized. It was around the same time that Hot Chip became a bit more serious. I quit my job and we just doing it full time. I guess it all kind of happened together at the same time.

It's our ten year anniversary this year so I feel really happy it's survived as a label that long because it's super tough to keep a label going and not end up losing a lot of money.

JS: You have the 2 Bears, you have your solo records, you have Hot Chip. How do you differentiate? When you guys get together now for a Hot Chip record, Each one of you have been involved in various other projects. How will that affect the next Hot Chip record?

JG: That's actually one of the best things about it now. Al Doyle spends a lot of time in New York and touring with LCD Soundsystem helping to write and produce that album and play in the band. And when he comes back to Hot Chip, he's got this wealth of new skills — his playing as a guitarist and a bass player has really benefited from being in that band.

And James is, as you know, very particular about the way everything should sound, so I think Al really learned how to play disco guitar and bass from doing that job. It’s always incredible to see how he's progressing. And Alexis is off doing the William Onyeabor band and making crazy jazz records and improvising records, listening to Alex Chilton and coming back an amazing player as well.

And it's the same for all the other guys in the band. Everyone's doing this creative good stuff and it means that when you come back to make a record together, there's loads of good ideas from instruments to use, or techniques, or just the ways to do the recording.

JS: Are there ever times when there are too many good ideas?

JG: Well, we do have moments where we disagree about how something should be, but mostly the way it works is that Alexis and I get together beforehand and make a bunch of demos here or in Alexis' home studio and I do some beats and some bass lines so we’ve built a kind of skeleton of the songs.

Sometimes the songs don't change that much from the demo. We just take them into a proper studio and work on engineering all the sounds to make them better, fuller, and we'll sometimes replace synth and add some live drums sometimes.

JS: And how did you decide that I wanted to do a Joe Goddard solo as opposed to making it a 2 Bears or Hot Chip song?

JG: I started renting this studio so I had all of my gear that I've been buying over the last few years. When it was in my bedroom at home, it was all stacked up and not plugged in. So now I have all the gear ready to use at the drop of a hat and I started really enjoying coming in here and just doing it myself. Seeing how it felt to completely finish the tracks just by myself rather than collaborating.

I wanted to just push myself a little bit and try. It was really exhilarating doing that. And also kind of stressful, I had moments where I just didn't know what to do and I didn't have someone to turn to to give me inspiration or make a suggestion. It was difficult at times but it was cool.

JS: It seems to be working.

JG: I'm really pleased by how people have responded to it.

JS: I've seen you play the live show a couple of times and really works well. It's great to see people singing along with your tracks, they're very catchy. You seem to have really good sense of writing a good hook or something that people can latch onto as well as dance to.

JG: That's important to me. I'm a sucker for pop music, you know.

JS: You have pretty much do it all yourself these days, as the technology has made it possible and the shrinking income from producing music has made it necessary.

JG: I guess that's why a lot of people turn to being a DJ or a dance producer where essentially the idea is you do everything yourself. I do feel like that's an issue, I feel like music has lost something from the days when there were a lot of people involved in the process. You mentioned having a decent budget to do a remix and that you could afford to pay someone to engineer it and help you mix it, having musicians come and feel like it was a collaborative process — the work becomes richer for it. Even though people do incredible stuff on their laptop.

JS: Well, you do both. You have the best of both worlds, you have an amazing band you work with, you get to do your own stuff and you DJ. But it is hard that you have to be a jack of all trades these days just to exist as a musician.

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#joe goddard #the 2 bears #justin strauss #new york city #london #yes #hot chip #dance pop #just/talk #interview #music #DJ #nyc #ldn #just talk

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jeffpennymusic · 5 years

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How and Why to Get Sound Designers in Your Game Early

The bulk of a sound designer’s work is going to be done further into the development process. That is just an unfortunate necessity of the job. However, that doesn’t mean that you need to wait to get one involved. In fact, in a lot of cases, the earlier the better! There are tons of audio ideas that can be fleshed out before a single sound is made. One of the very first things they can do in your production is help fill out the audio section of your game design document (GDD). Or if you don’t have one, they can help explain why it’s a good idea and spend their time convincing you to make one. But in all seriousness, treat them the same way you might treat an artist. At this stage, you might be discussing an ideal color palette for your world. Why not discuss the auditory pallet similarly? This can apply to any part of your game as well. How do you want the GUI to feel to the player? Is it going to be musical and play a little musical sounding chime on interaction? Or maybe it should be more technology like, the kind of feedback you’d expect when using a computer. Or maybe you can make the GUI part of the actual world. Marshall McGee actually has a great video on how Hearthstone does this. This is also a great time to consider the goals for your sounds.

Do you want them to sound realistic and immerse the player in the world? You might think that would be self-explanatory, but there are still considerations to be taken at this stage. What are the focal points of your game? Is it all about guns and explosions? Then maybe those should be the loudest, most impactful elements. Are they just there to serve a plot point? Maybe they shouldn’t be mixed quite so prominently. Even though both choices will make the players think they are hearing a gun, the way they are presented will affect the way the world is received by the player. What about gameplay with elements you wouldn’t find in real life? This might be a good time for the sound designer to talk with the concept artist. This is where sound design begins to overlap with physics. They tend to look at whatever it is and ask, “How is the sound being generated?” Take the example of a monster. Is it big or small? Does it have a mouth? Is there anything obstructing its mouth? Does it move slow or fast? Does it have a hard skeleton or is it more goopy? The questions can go on and on. If you want an example of this in practice, there is a video of the sound designers from Arrival discussing the physics of bones rubbing together and how that was the impetus for what the aliens would sound like. There is also an important question that can be addressed at this stage too: what is the player supposed to be feeling? Even if you went through every possible iteration of that monster, and thought about every aspect of its design that might affect how it sounds, that might not be enough. You need to take into account the emotional response as well. After all, you are likely going to want a scary monster to sound different than a friendly one. If you want the player to be in awe of this creature and where it came from, you might use more surreal sounds. But what if you want this horrible, angry monster to be sympathetic? Maybe you use more familiar sounds, ones you might find in nature so the player has a frame of reference to connect with it. Figuring out what you want the player to feel upon hearing these sounds is important. What about sounds that serve a non-emotional function for the player? Deciding what audio cues can lead a player to their objective is often a crucial part of game design. There is a talk by the audio team of Overwatch that is a phenomenal example of this idea. They discuss how each and every character has a very distinct sound to them. They are so unique that, if you are in a room and hear footsteps coming down the corridor, not only do you now know someone is coming, but you know exactly who it is. This gives the player time to figure out how to prepare or run away. This is just one example, but if you go and play a few games, you’d be surprised by how often audio is helping guide you through objectives and in how many different ways. The best part of these discussions to me is not that the audio is being planned. It is instead the back and forth it creates between disciplines. Maybe discussing the sonic palette of an environment with an artist might spark an idea for how they could paint the world in an even more engaging way. Maybe trying to plan a sonic feedback system helps the quest designer realize a more effective approach to their writing. This type of collaboration is what games are built on, so there is no reason for the audio team to not be a part of this process as well. You could also begin to discuss the more technical side of things at this point. Is there going to be a size limit for files? Is there going to be a limit on how much processing power can be used for effects? Are the files being implemented into the engine? Middleware? A custom solution? Flesh all that out now before there are problems down the road. The final point I want to make, and one you should absolutely discuss, is how the sound effects work with the rest of the game’s audio. If you have ambience, explosions, gunshots, dialogue, and a full orchestra with synthesizers all playing at once, it is likely going to be a complete mess. That is why your audio professionals can take this preproduction time to discuss how they are going to approach their respective tasks. Take tuning sound effects for example. The way you wouldn’t want to listen to two musicians play out of tune with one another, you also wouldn’t want to listen to sound effects and music be out of tune with each other. I won’t go too much into the subject because there are tons of guides on that topic. But you can take as simple or creative an approach as you like to it. You could decide on a simple ducking system based on the priority of sound, and all the sound effects and music are tuned to E minor. On the other hand, you can go absolutely crazy and have the sound effects actually change pitch depending on the music, as heard recently in Super Mario Odyssey. These are just a handful of the things a sound designer can do early in the process, but really the sky is the limit. The more your sonic decisions influence the design of the game, the more engaging they will be. When the sound design is lovingly crafted from the ground up as part of the game world, it can make a world of difference from sounds added after everything else is already done. Of course, making decisions this early means they are going to change, as with anything else. But the key is that they are changing with the game, not because of it. Anything you thought was missing from this post? Let me know and I’ll update it. Anything you think is untrue, or too confusing? I’d love to make the post reflect that. I am posting this to help those of you who have asked me this question, as well as to better understand and learn from it myself. So please, start a discussion! If there are any other topics you’d like to see me cover, feel free to suggest them as well.

#gamedev #indiedev #gameaudio #sound design

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infotainmentplus-blog · 6 years

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The premium content is, of course, available as in-app purchases. The latest in the series, Cytus II, has 60 songs (30 free and 30 paid) with three difficulties each. That's 180 activities. Other excellent arcade rhythm games in their collection include the original Cytus, Sdorica, Deemo, VOEZ, and Mandora. DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY Yep, insert more shameless self promotion here! 15 best Android tower defense games Tower Defense games were one of the first genres on mobile to really capture the mobile gaming audience. The biggest reason is because the games almost exclusively feature simple tap controls. Thus, the controls are … 15 best action games for Android! Action games are among the most popular on any platform. They get the blood pumping, the fingers moving, and it's a great way to test your reflexes and wits. There are a variety of action … SEGA Forever games Price: Free / $1.99 DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY SEGA Forever is a collection of old SEGA games. Some of them are also excellent, old arcade games. Some of the options include Sonic the Hedgehog, Altered Beast, Crazy Taxi, Ristar, Golden Axe, and more. Most games have their own set of mechanics. They are, in fact, ports of old console games. They are easily accessible, free to download (with ads), and relatively solid. Each game can be purchased for $1.99 to remove the ads. You can search for SEGA Forever on Google Play to see some of the titles. DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY Sky Force Reloaded Price: Free with in-app purchases DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY Sky Force Reloaded is an ode to old, top-down shooters. This one has better graphics and mechanics, though. The game includes a campaign mode with many missions. There are also mini-missions, upgrades, power-ups, and more. The mechanics are easy enough to learn. You just glide your finger around to move your plane and shoot bad guys. It's a freemium title. However, the IAPs aren't as bad as we've seen in other titles. DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY True Skate Price: $1.99 with in-app purchases DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY True Skate is one of the most popular skateboarding games on mobile. The idea is that you play as a disembodied skateboard and your fingers are used to skate around and perform tricks. It features a lot of intangible things that add charm to the game, including wear and tear on the skateboard, slow motion replays, and more. You’ll get some places to skate, but you’ll have to unlock the majority of parks and courses using in-app purchases along with tons of other stuff. The game is really fun, even if the the in-app purchase strategy is rather aggressive. DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY Yodo1 Games Price: Free with in-app purchases DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY Yodo1 Games has some of the best arcade games for everybody. Their titles are generally inoffensive, easy to play, and great for kids as well as adults. Some of their titles include Rodeo Stampede, Rooms of Doom,, and more. That includes Peck It Up and Jellyanuts, two games still in development. All the games have similar mechanics and a fun arcade style. Thus, you can't go wrong with any of them. Just pick the one that suits the theme you enjoy most! DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY Various IO Games Price: Freemium (usually) DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY The IO games are a genre of arcade games that people seem to really like. They all have different mechanics, but share a core element. They are all online multiplayer combat games where you duel it out with a bunch of strangers. Some notable examples include sliter.io, Agar.io, Paper.io, Brutal.io, and some newer ones like AXE.IO (linked at the button). The mechanics vary from game to game. AXE.IO is a hack-and-slash game while Agar.io is a smash game where you must smack into players who are smaller than you. These games are usually freemium titles, but most of the core game play is entirely free. You can literally start and stop playing whenever you want. DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY Thank you for reading! We have more game list recommendations for you! 15 best Android multiplayer games Android gaming has been steadily getting better. Before, we had simple puzzle games and we could invite our Facebook contacts to be our friends in games. Multiplayer games used to mean just leaderboards. There are … 15 best puzzle games for Android Puzzle games are among the most popular, ever. In fact, the most popular individual gaming franchise on mobile (Angry Birds) is a puzzle game. The genre has evolved consistently and developers have been finding new … If we missed any of the best arcade games for Android, tell us about them in the comments! You can also click here to check out our latest Android app and game lists! , via Android Authority http://bit.ly/2NiZGKK

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7 Secret Relationship Tips For brief Guys

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