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asherlockstudy · 3 years

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How to do perfect staging: a lesson from Italy

I mentioned at some point I might actually make a post drooling over Italy's Måneskin performance and staging. I was kinda bored to be honest and decided against it but then all those trashy rumours that try to bring the winners down seemed so disgraceful and embarrassing to me that I decided again to do it. Now, the truth is that their performance was a little better in the semi-final introduction act. Perhaps this was due to the anxiety of the Grand Final. This is why I am going to use photos and gifs from that act and perhaps this will show to some that the perfect package might need a little bit of everything, and not just slap your language on the audience's ears with the expectation that this alone is always enough. *Did I make this too personal?*

Anyway, I digress. And I don’t mean that the Grand Final performance wasn’t still the best of the night, I just mean it wasn’t at the same God Tier level as the semifinal one.

Here's why the Italians took advantage of the Dutch stage until its very last millimeter and way more cleverly than any other country.

This is the only act that starts from the back of the stage, where the singer Damiano David waits for us alone.

Even with the rest of the 25 competing countries, this intro makes you forget that you are watching a contest with 26 countries as guests. Unlike anyone else, Italy looks like the host, like this place belongs to them and the frontman waits for you to show you around and possibly drag you to the world of Måneskin. In fact, you almost forget it’s Eurovision - this now looks like a Måneskin concert or, even better, a more private space of theirs with an ominous industrial feel. One of the most impactful things now is the lighting. Take a look at it. Almost all contestants throw all the lights on themselves or on some important prop they have prepared. The Italians are the only ones who chose to just light the stage itself. The simple white lights on the black stage give the impression of depth and it is the only act which shows emphatically the size of the stage. Why this? Well, we already established that in the first seconds the viewers feel they are in a new space belonging exclusively to Måneskin - the lights make us feel that their area is vast and dark and we are about to be drawn to its depths.

Damiano indeed guides us to the front as he sings, where the rest of the band are on the top of a platform. The other members won’t come down and join Damiano until he sings the appropriate verse “Buona sera, signore e signori” (=Good evening, ladies and gentlemen) and accompany it with a theatrical flamboyant bow (that feels very Italian). That’s when, technically introduced to the audience after the official greeting, bassist Victoria de Angelis and guitarist Thomas Raggi come off the platform and join Damiano.

There’s nothing excessive about the visual effects. Only the use of white lights that give the perception of depth and in the background the big shadows of the group’s silhouettes. They are in the front and they cast their shadows in the back; they create to you a feeling of being trapped by them but do you really want to escape?

When the second verse starts, Victoria and Thomas take the paths left and right of the stage and leave Damiano alone. They take even more advantage of the stage and in a typical classic rock band way. These two play with the side cameras but the focus is more on Damiano, whose verse sounds more like a tongue-twister. Since the cameras are rightfully on Damiano, I must now address the elephant in the room. Damiano is particularly attractive. In fact, the whole band is almost mind-bogglingly attractive and they clearly take a lot of care about how exactly they are going to look but Damiano, as the frontman, does especially so. So let’s talk about the outfit. They all have essentially the same outfit, however it is cut differently for each based on the person’s looks and personality. Isn’t it fantastic?

Damiano, who oozes confidence and sex appeal, has accordingly the most “provocative” outfit of the four. His chest and arms are bare so that his many tattoos can be seen. I’ll talk about the other outfits later as they all have their place in the... uh... white lights.

During the second chorus Victoria and Thomas return at the center and after the chorus it is time for the first solo; Victoria’s. The cameras are now on her but the lighting remains modest to accentuate the dark beat of her bass.

Victoria is the only girl of the group and the most dressed of them all - how refreshing! Her outfit is more similar to Thomas but she is buttoned up in the front. How does she wish to underscore her uniqueness as the woman of the band? But of course, with long flamboyant girly sleeves that come to delicious contrast with her aggressive stomping and her wide strides. Both her hairstyle and her outfit is inspired or basically just outright 70′s classic rock look.

It’s time for the bridge of the song right after her solo and Damiano has his attention on her and also draws the viewer’s attention to her some more. This part of the song is lower and softer - in relative terms - that’s why Damiano “chooses” her to sing it to. The lights now turn red, the intensity rises but there’s light flirtatiousness between them, with many smiles to each other and the camera that turns around them as they launch at each other playfully.

Then the song gets darker, more intense, the guitar stronger than the bass and Damiano’s voice turns to a scream. For this part, he turns to his bro, guitarist Thomas and he now draws the attention to him.

He grabs Thomas by the neck in an intense, intimate way (that doesn’t mean sexual, just intimate. His interaction with Victoria wasn’t sexual either). It is clear that through different ways Måneskin want to stress how good and close their relations are and that their singer, who is apparently a show stealer by birth, wants to ensure that they all get equal amount of attention from their audience. I love this.

True enough, nobody is left behind! The last chorus starts with a drums solo and Damiano goes up to the platform to now meet and introduce to us Ethan Torchio. Ethan stands up and his giant shadow is on the now blue background: this is the moment for the - so I hear - somewhat shy drummer to shine in his own aesthetic. The Italians leave none of their assets to fall down and Ethan’s impressive hair rightfully steals the show.

Just like Victoria and Thomas look alike, so do Ethan and Damiano, that’s why their costumes are the most similar. Ethan has a vest that covers him more than Damiano but leaves his arms bare. Because whose else the arms do you need to see if not the drummer’s?

This song has something peculiar because it was not a song originally written for Eurovision; it slows down in the end and does not end on some impressive note from the singer as usual but with the last solo we expect, that of the guitarist, because everything is fair in Måneskin! The focus has to leave Damiano, so now it’s the time for the visual effects to finally catch fire, literally, because nobody is allowed to take their eyes off them! Måneskin use a huge amount of pyro that however feels appropriate for the intense chorus and the ending guitar solo.

Thomas steps up for his solo and I forget we are in 2021. This is the most 70s thing I would ever hope to see.

In a hell of pyro, Thomas looks like he was tranferred right from a 70s rock ‘n roll concert. His outfit would be gladly taken by Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones. The unbuttoned jacket with this boho tie, such a classic 70s fashion touch. His haircut and even his FACE are the epitome of the 70s - what an ending sequence!

But hey we reached the end and this is Eurovision, the song slows down dangerously. Like I said, the Italians forbid us to get distracted. The attention must return to Damiano ASAP. Damiano says one last line and takes the audience with him to the very end with a death drop.

There you have it. Måneskin had me holding my breath for the full three minutes and I did not want to take my eyes off my TV. There are countless shows that are awesome - in this very Eurovision as well - but I was impressed by how they seemed to have found the perfect balance for everything in every single moment. They found the perfect stage concept for the song, they relied on visual effects only when they needed them and they stressed every twist and turn of their sound with a perfectly fitting move or interaction. They also all effortlessly could hold your attention and they made sure that they all would, with members often helping bring out other members. This performance was beautiful and, above all, clever which is why it was undoubtedly the worthiest of the win.

#eurovision #eurovision 2021 #esc 2021 #eurovision song contest #italy #italy 2021 #maneskin #damiano david #victoria de angelis #ethan torchio #thomas raggi #music #songs #zitti e buoni #flashing tw #more

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thatbanjobusiness · 3 years

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Bluegrass Basics #1

WHAT IS BLUEGRASS?

I realize that, what with this being a bluegrass blog and all, I should probably start by explaining... this.

If you’ve hung out with me in the last year and a half, then you’ve been subjected (probably against your will, kicking and screaming) to a Haddock Talks About Bluegrass conversation. Within seconds, you may be bombarded to an inescapable wall of sound as I shriek about G runs, five-strings, and dudes wearing hats named weird stuff like Lester, Burkett, Arthel, Dorris, Junebug, Haskel, and Chi Chi. Understandably, to cope and survive, your mind might have blocked out the worst of the memories... leaving you now with the question, “Well, what is bluegrass? And why does Haddock find it so cool?”

At its simplest, bluegrass is a folk-inspired genre of music originating from the Southern United States that utilizes a core group of acoustic string instruments: guitar, banjo, string bass, mandolin, fiddle, and dobro. However, bluegrass is not a direct preservation of old folk music. Its biggest influences are Scots-Irish fiddle tunes, African-American blues, and gospel music, and in that you can hear a lot of "old" sounds. But bluegrass also began within a commercial setting. Most people date it to the mid-1940s—yes, it's that new!—and it not only integrated new compositions and contemporary songs, but it brought about innovative instrumental techniques that most audiences had never heard before. Since its inception, bluegrass has been a music of unique juxtaposition; it's simultaneously homespun and commercial, simple and technically complex, straddling tradition with truly progressive innovation.

Also. Unlike almost every other genre that exist out there ever, bluegrass can be traced back to and centralized around a *SINGLE* human being. Yeah. That’s right. ONE dude essentially started his own motherfucking genre.

Enter: the Father of Bluegrass. Mr. Bill Monroe (1911-1996).

This guy.

1. HOW THIS SHIT GOT STARTED

Bill Monroe’s music at the time was considered hillbilly music. (“Hillbilly” was the name of the genre before we changed it to “country”). He was a radio star starting in the 1930s, and by the late 1930s, Bill and his band had become members of a popular, wide-reaching hillbilly music program, the Grand Ole Opry, whose radio signal stretched across the American South. Bill’s music wove together several influences: in particular, he combined the sound of old Scots-Irish fiddle tunes with the pitch bends, syncopation, and blue notes of African-American blues. For good measure, he chucked in four-part gospel songs, threw his singing into the high tenor stratosphere, and pushed the music forward with an urgent drive.

And the name of his act? Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys.

Hmhm... something sounds familiar here... something to do with “blue” and “grass,” maybe.

Bill’s music underwent changes, different personnel, different instruments. Every musician’s contribution is important and worth noting, but regrettably my post would be too long if I talked about them here. I will, however, mention what’s often considered the last piece of the puzzle. On December 8, 1945, Bill introduced a new musician he had just hired, a twenty-one year old banjo picker whose style of playing was so unexpected to audiences that you could barely hear the music above the amazed cheers and shouts from the live crowd. People who heard it on the radio talked about the banjo picker all week; some blokes debated about whether one person was playing or several, or if it was even a banjo at all. I know peeps today don’t tend to think of banjos as “cool” and all, but he was shredding up the instrument like some banjo Jimi Hendrix, as far as they were concerned. It was so exciting. Bill was already a popular performer; under this ensemble he had between then and 1948, he was launched to even more popularity.

I’m not trying to focus just on the banjo, but my point here is to emphasize how bluegrass did invoke monumentally new ideas.

That 1946-1948 group is what we usually consider the first-ever bluegrass band. They created the initial blueprint by which a unique band style emerged. Now, some standard musical features of the genre got locked in during the 1950s after several seminal Blue Grass Boys bandmates left and formed their own band. But this original group’s sound started A Movement™ that trickled down over the decades. New-budding musicians began imitating Bill’s sound in their bands. And also, Bill’s band had constant turnover, meaning that a ton of people went into the Blue Grass Boys, got influenced by Bill, then left to form their own ensembles, carrying with them the musical ideas they’d learned from Monroe.

(And by “constant turnover,” I mean—no joke—Bill had something like 200 official band members over the course of his career.)

^^^ The “Classic Band” of Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys, c. 1947. From left to right: Bill Monroe (mandolin), Chubby Wise (fiddle), Birch Monroe (bass), Lester Flatt (guitar), and Earl Scruggs (banjo). When talking about the classic band, the bassist usually listed is Cedric Rainwater, but here (and legitimately part of the band at the time) is Bill’s older brother Birch.

In the late 1950s and 1960s, mainstream country music had to find a way to compete with the new and oh-so-frustratingly-popular rock-and-roll. Mainstream country music strayed away from scratchy fiddles and banjers and moved to smooth, pop-inspired, electric guitars and background orchestration. And if you didn’t sound like that, you probably weren’t going to be played on mainstream country radio. But there was a notable cluster of acoustic string band musicians who had been left behind... those people and groups who had branched straight off Bill Monroe. By this point, they were distinct enough that their music began to be regularly referred to as... yeah, you guessed it... bluegrass music.

Having been ignored by radio, bluegrass continued through other means, such as festivals that began in the late 60s and 70s. Many musicians brought their own instruments to jam, and to this day, bluegrass is a genre in which it’s common to both pick tunes with friends and family as a social event and go out to see professional performers.

As new generations have entered bluegrass, new ideas and sounds have funneled into it. However, I feel like the theme of combining tradition with innovation remains. For instance, in the 1960s with the Folk Revival, second generation bluegrass musicians simultaneously inserted more several-centuries-old folk songs into the bluegrass repertoire (ex: Fox on the Run), and brought in contemporary rock and pop elements to their bands’s sounds. And while today you may meet bluegrass purists who want to stick with what they heard in the 40s and 50s, you’ll see just as many if not more musicians continue to innovate and expand the genre.

And expand it they will.

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2. WHAT MAKES BLUEGRASS MUSIC BLUEGRASS?

As I’ve said before, bluegrass is a somewhat progressive amalgamation and reformulation of older music styles combined with contemporary music. Bluegrass might have been based in part on ideas from British Isles fiddle tunes and African-American blues, but it’s certainly not regurgitating how people played in decades past. Familiar, old elements combine with new, creative, and original concepts. You keep a healthy dose of both old and new.

It’s because of bluegrass that the banjo was completely reformulated as an instrument: changed from a comedic prop that was strummed into an intensely-picked solo instrument. Within bluegrass, banjo performance technique has continued to evolve, new ideas and styles building on top of one another. And let’s not forget the other instruments! The first dobro in a bluegrass band went in extremely unique directions compared to what was heard at the time, taking influences from everything down to banjo technique. At the same time, bluegrass has provided the space for styles like the old-time hoedown fiddle in periods of music where fiddle was ignored.

But....... as you’ve probably been wondering this entire post.... what does this genre sound like?

^^^ The typical instrument set-up for a bluegrass band. In the back is a string bass. In front, left to right, is a banjo, mandolin, fiddle, guitar, and dobro. If you’re not familiar with how to distinguish instruments: basses are plucked and low pitch; banjos sound twangy and play short note values; mandolins are a high-pitched instrument with a mellower sound that often employ tremolo (quickly undulating notes by strumming the strings up and down rapidly); fiddle is... I mean, it’s a violin; guitar is a mellower acoustic instrument that blends sonically with everything; and the dobro (maybe you’ve heard it referred to as a “steel guitar” or “Hawaiian guitar”) has a... uhhh... it’s a unique hound dog tone I have difficulties describing but is very distinct to hear.

A typical ensemble consists of mandolin, guitar, banjo, fiddle, string bass, and sometimes dobro. On rarer occasions, you may see other instruments like autoharp or harmonica (drums are usually considered horrible, forbidden things, even though... for the record... some high-profile bluegrass bands have used them). You’ll notice bluegrass is a distinctly acoustic string band sound.

There are also, of course, vocals, and in bluegrass, there is notable emphasis on tight two-, three-, and four-part harmony. However, what’s interesting about bluegrass as versus, say, other strains of country, is that for bluegrass, it’s about the full band and not just the lead singer. It’s as important to pay attention to the technically-driven solos (“breaks”) that the instruments play between sung verses. Many bluegrass pieces are straight out instrumentals, too.

Every instrument has a role or roles it fulfills in a bluegrass band. In the background, instruments may play rhythm or fills. Rhythm keeps the basic beat. Fills are unobtrusive melodic-sounding fragments that hide behind the vocalist(s) singing the main melody. And when there’s no singing, instruments take turns in the spotlight playing breaks. You can hear any instrument play a break. It’s to note that breaks are often improvised or semi-improvised, which is half of the fun and skill of watching the musicians perform. Ergo, even if the song itself may or may not have simple chord structures and lyrics, it’s also technically advanced with an expectation that every musician can perform fast-paced solos they improvise on the fly.

There’s different types of guitar styles I’ve seen in bluegrass. I’m not a guitarist, so I don’t want to elaborate too far and share incorrect information. However, it’s fair to say that guitar can be anything from a backup rhythm chord strummer to a flat-picked, fast-paced, melodic soloist. There is a VERY distinct guitar fill that happens at the end of lines, phrases, or sections called the G run you’ll hear everywhere. Fiddle I’ve also heard a wide variety of styles. On the dobro side, the dobro tends not to be the “Hawaiian” sound you may be familiar with on a steel guitar, but more geared toward quick, technical, bluesy stuff. Bluegrass banjo has several styles, but the most prototypical is the Scruggs style, where the banjo does rapid-fire, ornamented, three-fingered picking in which a melody line is pulled out at the same time you’re also picking background chord notes.

To describe bluegrass vocals, you’ll sometimes hear the phrase “high lonesome” thrown around. I don’t hear anywhere as much high lonesome sound in contemporary bands as I do first generation, but the high lonesome sound is a description of piercing, high-range vocals. Bill Monroe would even take songs that were usually played in the key of G and pitch them higher into A or B, pushing his and the ensemble’s vocals into a higher range. I remember listening to Monroe and thinking to myself, “Even though it’s male vocals, why is it so easy for me to sing to?” Because I’m a fucking mezzosoprano, and there’s times Monroe hits and holds notes that are at the top of my range. Hot damn.

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Rhythmically, bluegrass tends to be a driving genre of music. A term that gets thrown around a bit is “drive.” Even on the slow songs, you may hear the instruments push or strain forward. Beat-wise, bluegrass tends to emphasize both a strong downbeat and hit heavy offbeats in a boom-chick style. That last sentence might not have made sense to non-musicians, so I’ll explain...

When we listen to music, we can clap to it. We can also count along to any song as we clap. Music has an innate structure where, when we count, the sound seems organized in groups of two, three, or four. So, when we count to music, we’ll count repetitively. One song may be groups of two (you’ll count “One two, one two, one two”), groups of three (“One two three, one two three”), or groups of four. Every time you hit the “one,” it sounds bigger. It’s more emphasized. It’s restarting the pattern or unit of counting that’s inherent to the rhythmic structure of music.

Now, you can subdivide those numbers between your claps. That means you’d count “One (and) two (and), one (and) two (and),” where the “ands” tend to feel smaller and less-emphasized. Those “ands” are called offbeats. In bluegrass, you’ll hear both the numbers and the “ands” clearly hit. The string bass will play the one’s and two’s, while perhaps the mandolin and banjo are emphatically hitting the “ands” in the background.

There are subgenres within bluegrass. You may hear people refer to newgrass, progressive bluegrass, jamgrass, punkgrass, etc. Put a word in front of it, add the word “grass,” and it probably exists. Jewgrass exists and it’s awesome. There’s fusions, too. The Native Howl is a band that combines thrash metal and bluegrass. Gangstagrass is a band that combines bluegrass with hip hop. It’s also to note that bluegrass has long since become international, and there are notable communities and bands of bluegrass from everywhere to Japan to the Czech Republic.

3. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR GETTING STARTED?

Ummhmhmhm I honestly need a separate post to begin sharing videos, bands, periods of bluegrass, and more. It’s diverse and I love everything from the music coming out in 2020 to the stuff heard in 1947.

I realize that this post skews more toward first generation bluegrass and the starting bands in Ye Olde Days. Because of that, I’ll say this much: the Big Three bands of the early years were Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys, Flatt & Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys, and the Stanley Brothers and the Clinch Mountain Boys. Bill Monroe’s music is “the original” and is based, at least in his mind, the most on the fiddle tunes he grew up with. Flatt & Scruggs skew somewhat more toward a popular culture sound with smoother vocals and instruments like the dobro that other early bluegrass bands did not use. The Stanley Brothers lean the most to mountain old-time music. Every band is wonderful in their own way and I love listening to all.

I’ll leave this post with what was my gateway song into bluegrass. This was the first song I listened to with the intent of experiencing bluegrass, not expecting to like it, but being pleasantly surprised. I fell in love with the song and... well... as you’ve seen... I’m a year and a half into the genre and still charging strong.

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I look forward to continuing to learn about bluegrass, refine my understanding of it, and share those discoveries with y’all in my future posts.

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thankchaosforspellcheck · 4 years

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Genius omens au

(aka a Girl Genius/Good Omens crossover because I’m not gonna stop being on this kick until something better comes out. Which nothing has yet.)

So I’ve got at least 2 ideas for this AU, first one goes like this:

Crowley and Aziraphale are both low-rung minions for competing families. Neither are from canon, and while one of them prides themselves on the “help” they spread to the local commoners, the other on the chaos. (they are both pretty chaotic, honestly).

Gabriel and Beelzebub are top-ranked minions who mostly handle all the paperwork.

The actual sparks never appear. The spark for Aziraphale’s family (who is essentially god) is too busy producing brilliant inventions to help the world... and then forgetting to include any instructions or telling anyone how they work. (She actually does this on purpose, as a bit of an experiment to see if anyone will ever actually ask her how they work & to see if they can work it out on their own) Meanwhile, the spark for Crowley’s family (Lucifer) creates horrific inventions meant to insight chaos and disaster on all those who are within it’s aim! ...Which would be a lot easier to do if he had neater handwriting. Or used less obscure scientific terminology. Or didn’t spill coffee on half of it!

So Aziraphale & Crowley’s jobs are essentially to go out and try to figure out how the inventions work without getting themselves killed (the latter bit’s more for Aziraphale for Crowley, honestly. And even then they only say that because they’re the “good guys”, not because they actually mean it), as well as to try to prevent the neighboring family from using their’s.

They are surprisingly good at their jobs though.

Like, weirdly so.

Everyone kind of assumed they were gonna be dead within the first week like all the past minions were.

(what they don’t know, is that they have 2 advantages on everyone else:

1. they met almost immediately and both went “oh shit he’s hot, hEY WHY DON’T I HELP YOU WITH THAT” and not only figured out how each other’s devices worked, but also realized that they negate each other (ex: one is meant to end world hunger, the other is meant to cause massive famines, together they make all the farms have solidly mediocre years)

2. they are actually both minor sparks, not that either has realized it yet. See, Aziraphale’s breakthrough was probably the quietest breakthrough in the history of the world and Crowley just kinda vaguely sauntered his way through a breakthrough, and everyone else was too distracted by the latest disaster to notice (Aziraphale’s breakthrough sparkwork was a quick fix he did on the flaming sword he was given by the family spark (It was so easy, I hardly needed to be a spark to do it) which he immediately gave away to the Spark’s daughter (who’s as mundane as you get) since she’s going to be traveling through the wilderness with her husband. Crowley’s was the Bentley, which is a horseless carriage he bought off a passing spark and fixed up in his spare time (look, there was barely anything wrong with it. I just did a bit of tinkering here, welded a few wires together there, and after some polishing and a good wax she was good as new! Took me forever to finish ‘er anyways, a spark’d hardly take an hour to do what I did).

Both of them have noticed that the other is a spark and revert to minioning when the other gets in a fugue. Neither notices when the other is minioning while in said fugue, and they never actually bring the sparking out up. Because they’re idiots.

Now, The second idea (under the cut because boy howdy did this get long!):

They are both still oblivious minor spark minions (because I just think think this fits them really well) But this time it’s with some known families

Crowley is a Heterodyne Jager, though not one of the ones that’s particularly noticed by people (not one of the oldest, but not young enough for, say, Bill or Barry to have seen him take the Draught)

You know how 99.9% of Jagers take the draught because they are just so devoted to the cause and want to serve the Heterodynes for the rest of eternity? Well Crowley’s that .1% that did it because everyone else was chanting “DO IT DO IT” at the time and he was just like “Welp, it’s not like I have anything else to do” and downed it.

(He’s possibly the only spark to take and survive the drought, no one has any fucking idea so he’s just considered as one of the minor foot soldiers. Which is probably all the better for him, since he would have been on a dissection table in 5 seconds flat otherwise)

He looks more or less like he does in the show, just with scales under his clothes, black claws on his hands (which he generally hides with gloves, and some fairly small (for a Jager) fangs. He definitely still has sunglasses, and if asked claims either “they look cool” or “I’ve got an eye condition and I don’t want a spark to make it worse or put lasers in” depending on who he’s talking to and how much they’ve annoyed him. He also grew some black wings some time after he drank the draught (which, if the Heterodyne knew about, they would be extremely interested in) which he keeps under his clothes and extremely close to his back.

He also doesn’t have too much of a Mechanicsburg accent since he kinda just fucked off on the first mission out of town and away from the Heterodyne that he could get (look he loves his master and thinks they’re creations are fascinating but that doesn’t mean he actually wants their attention)

he’s also part of the same batch that Beelzebub, Hastur, and Ligur came from and hates all of them.

Meanwhile, Aziraphale is a minion of the House of Valois, and has been for quite some time.

See, around the same time as Crowley was made a Jager, someone from the Storm King’s line (probably a von Blitzengaard) Decided that enough was enough and they were going to make their own Super soldiers (but prettier! and with wings and a melodious voice like an angelic choir and-!)

Aziraphale was the only survivor.

(He was not what the creator was aiming for.)

He also looks more or less like he does in canon, with beautiful white wings and white curly hair. He looks strangely normal for someone who went through a version of the draught, honestly. He does, however, still have the increased strength, durability, stamina, and whatever else the brau includes. It just showed up at a much slower rate, so it was put down as a bad job and discarded.

(the reason he survived is because he was the only one out of all the subjects who had even the vaguest of sparks. I think the duality of this is nice. One survives in spite of his spark, the other survives because of it)

So when he fails to be Angel Incarnate he gets a disappointed dismissal from his creator and gets sent out on some away mission he’s meant to never come back from

(he doesn’t, but it’s only because he met Crowley on the way there)

Several Generations later, they are wandering around the wastelands, vaguely hear about the Heterodyne boys recalling all their Jagers and turning over a new leaf, shrug, and disguise themselves so that they can follow the kids from a distance (because they’re still his Heterodynes dammit).

(or at least that’s Crowley’s reason. Aziraphale’s reason is that Crowley’s there and that’s good enough for him at this point)

They keep this up on-and-off for a good while whole events with the other and the attack at the castle happen and they lose track of them.

Crowley’s a bit worried, but figures he might as well just wander around the Wastelands like the others are and if he finds them, he finds them.

He was not actually expecting to find either of them

So you can imagine his surprise when Barry shows up near him one day with a toddler following him like a lost duckling.

So he does what any reasonable Jager would never do, and immediately goes up to the two and introduces himself and his husband TRAVELING COMPANION as everything but a Jager and Jager-knockoff.

Barry is, of course, paranoid at these complete strangers that seem vaguely familiar in the weirdest of ways, but they both seem genuinely nice and they both hate the other with a passion so he settles into an uneasy trust.

They both end up showing him their wings and explaining that they’re constructs who were made in such a way that they are immune to wasps.

(Crowley offers to demonstrate by eating one. Barry hastily declines)

They start traveling together and, after that uneasy trust settles into an easy one, he asks if he gets whatever signal that made him decide to start tracking down the Other solo

But Punch and Judy aren’t there. He never managed to run into them at all,

Crowley and Aziraphale, however, are.

Part 2:

Agatha Crowley-Fell has had a very normal, if interesting, life.

She’s raised by her two fathers (uncles, they insisted for a good long while until she points out that they’ve officially adopted her and they’re as much her parents as her biological ones are, and that she doesn’t think they’re replacing them, just adding to them (to which the respond with hugging and crying)) in Beetleburg.

one of which works as a librarian at the local college (where he is more then happy to help anyone who needs anything besides books.)

an unofficial elective is “how to borrow a book from Mr. Fell”. Everyone who passes gets hired by the university on the spot.

Crowley, meanwhile, owns a flower shop where all of the plants are guaranteed to be vibrant and spotless! (or else)

Occasionally, they’ll come to her right before bed and ask to see her locket, “to keep it in the best shape possible” they say. One will take it to another room, while the other sits with her and sings a lullaby until she falls asleep

it’s always back on her neck come morning.

As time goes on, her headaches slowly get better. She’s still never able to finish a project, but it pops up less during mild excitement or frustration.

They’re still incredibly annoying though

And then comes the day when her locket is broken and the Baron comes to town, and her life goes from tame to disastrous in a matter of hours.

#girl genius #good omens #crossover #genius omens au #anthony j crowley #aziraphale #agatha heterodyne

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infinitelytheheartexpands · 4 years

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Going Down the List #4: ‘Les Huguenots’, Montpellier, 1990

As any of you who have been following me for a long time know, this is one of my favorite operas and I am on a quest to find and watch every available filmed production of this opera. As such, this is my eighth production of Huguenots, and I think the best one I've seen. Here goes:

First things first, any review of a production of this opera has to include some commentary about cuts. I’m happy to say that there are very few of them, the most notable of which is the entire Act III ballet, which still isn’t a huge loss. There are minor cuts elsewhere, such as a section of the Raoul/Marguerite duet that I frequently forget exists (the section, not the whole duet), a small cut in the Act I window scene, a couple tiny cuts in ‘O beau pays de la Touraine’, and some of the Act III finale. Urbain’s Act II aria was omitted as well, but since it was an insert aria in the first place, I don’t see it as that huge of a loss even though I do love it and prefer when it is included.

Also, a warning: the video quality is not great. It’s not horrible, but it’s definitely not ideal. It’s still decent, though, especially for what I’m assuming is an upload of a video ripped from a 1990s TV broadcast of an official in-house recording. There are no subtitles either, which really stinks.

With that out of the way, the production: I’d overall describe it as ‘traditional minimalist with really wonderful direction’.

The sets are where the ‘minimalist’ part comes from: there are only really two sets, one of which is almost entirely white and the other of which is almost entirely black. The sets are slightly modified for each scene, but the first set is essentially ‘huge staircase (most of the time also featuring a couple long tables and a ridiculous number of chairs)’ and the second is essentially a huge open space with black walls, a lot of graffiti that is mostly illegible, and some cut-out door openings. Although personally, I’d prefer a little more detail and variety, I do overall like the sets and I think they work well.

The costumes are beautiful period fashion; the problem with them, however, is that apparently the costume designer thought it would be a good idea to dress large groups of people exactly the same. This is especially a problem with the various Catholic noblemen, to the point where it took me a few minutes to figure out who was playing Nevers because all the Catholic noblemen in Act I wore the exact same outfit. (Perhaps this would have been less of a problem if the video quality were better.) Still, they are gorgeous costumes.

If I had to describe the direction in five words, they’d be, “nuanced, vivacious, and emotionally intense”. I especially love how much the chorus actually moves! That may sound silly, but it’s nice to have an actual street riot in Act III or a frenzied, whipped-up mass of Catholic nobles declaring anathema on the Huguenots in Act IV instead of having the chorus just stand there and sing prettily. The chorus also does an excellent job of reacting in general: they laugh at Nevers’ witty comments, they enthusiastically respond to the calls for a massacre, they recoil in horror when Raoul details the scenes of death and destruction. And the way the ending was staged─ you just had to rip out my heart, didn’t you? That’s all I’ll say about that.

There are some togetherness issues between the onstage forces and the pit; however, these are relatively minor. The orchestra (and its soloists) are very good; the chorus is amazing. Whether it’s a particularly fortuitous sound balance or just a really present chorus, they are always a force to be reckoned with on a scale I don’t think I’ve even heard on any other recording. And as I mentioned earlier, they’re not just great singers, but also great actors. Same goes for the various small roles, with a special shoutout to the six supporting Catholic nobles, who all sound good, look good, and work together very well.

Now for the seven leads:

Danielle Borst was a very adorable Urbain who happened to be dressed like she was from The Addams Family or something (including what appeared to be a very unfortunate black bobbed wig). Regardless, she was all cheer and enthusiasm in the classic trouser-role mold (along with the obligatory flirting with everyone) with a really, really fantastic voice, and she lit up the stage whenever she was on it, whether she was standing on a table or chugging a bottle of wine (during ‘O beau pays’) or spying on the ladies-in-waiting from under a sheet. Her ‘Nobles seigneurs, salut’ in particular was one of the best I’ve ever heard, and I think it’s really a shame she didn’t get a shot at ‘Non, vous n’avais jamais, je gage’.

Marc Barrard was a fantastic Nevers. His voice is really nice and lyrical and beautiful, although owing to the fact that the role is a) relatively short and b) doesn’t have any big solos or even small ensembles, he didn’t get much of a chance to show it off. As a result, as with all baritones playing this role, whether his performance succeeded or not depended on his dramatic skill. He delivered. Depending on what was happening, he was extremely flamboyant, official, gentle, and/or morally outraged— and he managed to do that without overacting, which I appreciate.

Jean-Pierre Courtis absolutely nailed it as the Comte de Saint-Bris. His voice is not particularly subtle, but then again, the character isn’t either. What his voice is is commanding and surprisingly beautiful. Seriously. It’s gorgeous. As he should, he absolutely dominated the Conspiracy Scene and came across as very cold, no-nonsense, but still intensely devoted to his country, his faith, and his own ideas about how they should be─ in short, absolutely fanatical. And I said earlier I wouldn’t give away any details about the staging of the ending, but I will here: after discovering his dying daughter, he did something I haven’t seen any other Saint-Bris do that just wrenched my heart: he walked (or to be more precise, backed) offstage. It was pretty ambiguous, but I think it’s the only portrayal I’ve seen that suggested he didn’t really regret anything he did.

Anyway, they were both awesome.

Ghyslaine Raphanel definitely did right by Marguerite de Valois. Her voice is very light and may take some getting used to (it did for me), but overall it’s a beautiful sound that I think works well for this part. In particular, she has some serious coloratura chops, which she took every opportunity to display (including by far the longest ‘O beau pays’ cadenza I have ever heard). She’s also very good at playing the young, charismatic, beautiful royal who wants peace and love but is completely detached from reality, to the point where she still can’t believe what’s happening even when Raoul tells her about the massacre in Act V, scene 1 (the scene ends with her climbing the staircase, turning around, and looking at all the Huguenot noblewomen as if to say ‘…I have no clue what the hell just happened’).

I really loved John Macurdy’s performance as Marcel. His basic voice isn’t my favorite by any means, but I can absolutely say it’s a good voice, with particularly strong low notes. And he’s a great actor! I especially loved his ‘Piff, paff’, for this exact reason: you can hear the hatred Marcel has for Catholicism and women in the way he sings every word. And he has amazing stage presence: even just a little thing, like a gesture at Raoul or the way he put an arm around Valentine and walked her back into the church in Act III, said so much. In other words, he may not be my favorite bass, but he’s a good singer and a virtually perfect dramatic match for the part.

Nelly Miricioiu was a wonderful Valentine de Saint-Bris. Personally, I love her voice although there are some things about it I could see people not liking. Nevertheless, it’s a gorgeous voice that fits the role well, and she’s amazing at everything she does, especially in her two big duets and the final scene. She’s also a very, very good actress who does one of the best acting jobs I’ve seen in this role, and that is no shabby feat, especially in the eyes of yours truly (who once wrote several pages about her character development and posted it on this very blog, although almost no one read it lol). That development I talked about, from very anxious, fragile, and shy to boldly defiant? She absolutely got it.

Gregory Kunde was absolutely phenomenal as Raoul de Nangis. His voice is pretty much perfection in this role, which is especially an achievement considering how many ways the part is demanding─ he has lyric moments and huge dramatic ones alike, and let’s not forget all the insanely high notes! But he nailed it, especially the two arias, which are both very hard in very different ways. Also, his acting was on point: I got all the little bits of his personality─ the romantic dreaminess, the idealism, the moral outrage, the impulsiveness, the stubbornness, all of it. There are so many good little details, from his frequent hesitations at drinking to the fact that even though there’s a massacre going on and he’s trying to rescue the Huguenot nobles, he still takes a few seconds at the end of his Act V aria to bow to Marguerite (and be like, ‘uh, sorry for ruining your big party’) before rushing out. Bravo!

Overall Verdict: Definite recommend; this would be a great first production for anyone wanting to watch this opera, albeit with two caveats: one, there are no subtitles (but I’d be more than happy to send anyone the French-English libretto I have on Google Drive), and two, this production may ruin you for others that are…not of the same quality. 😉

Up next: Due to ongoing difficulties with the Internet at my house, I am going to have to suspend this series until further notice, but as soon as I can, I’ll be doing the 2019 Il trovatore from Beijing!

#opera #opera tag #les huguenots #meyerbeer #giacomo meyerbeer #this was GREAT #going down the list #sorry everyone this series is being suspended until further notice because technical difficulties #but oh well!

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buzzkillmag · 4 years

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ALBUM REVIEW: harry styles, “fine line”

it’s going to be difficult for me to find something to say about harry styles’s fine line that hasn’t already been said by someone much more concise and coherent and articulate than i am in the few days since its release.

this album is more than just twelve tracks for me. on the eleventh of december, i took a red eye flight from ithaca, new york to los angeles, california. thursday the twelfth was a fight for our lives, but at nine o’clock local time, three of my friends and i were sat around the kitchen table at our airbnb listening to “golden” (my personal favorite track on the album). i’d heard snippets of the leaks online after trying desperately to avoid them, but sitting down to listen to the album for the first time still felt like coming into something brand new and exciting.

two and a half years after the release of his self-titled debut, styles gave us fine line, a triumph of a record, a breathing, conscious entity that seems to have fed off of his misery until he was ready to put it to use. this album is much more mature than his first, the subject matter still essentially the same (harry isn’t one to write about much other than his own life experiences, which i respect him for) but displayed with more confidence than he ever had before. golden, the first track, builds with keys and cymbal for nearly ten seconds before harry introduces himself with a “hey!” and some “do do”ing. it’s so easy to see why harry fell in love with camille, the way he talks about her in some of these songs, but in this one especially. he was at a loss for words, resorting to fragments of speech to describe her. it’s an enormous, jubilant ode to love and to falling in love and to the light he ound in his lover and their particular love. my favorite line is “i don’t wanna be alone / i don’t wanna be alone / when it ends, don’t wanna let you know / that i don’t wanna be alone / but i can feel it take a hold / i can feel you take control / of who i am and all i’ve ever known / lovin’ you’s the antidote, golden.” harry knows his lover is becoming an enormous part of his identity (which is called back to in falling, when he says, “what am i now? what am i now? what if i’m someone i don’t want around?”). the breakdown at 2:20 is just...*chef’s kiss*. everything about this song is miraculous. to be among the first to hear it live was life-saving. golden eventually evolves into watermelon sugar, which i can only describe as unashamed, unabashed, open; it’s harry really leaning into and embracing his sexual nature.

adore you is one of the most unique tracks on the album simply because of the entire world harry built around it. it’s hard to listen to it without thinking of eroda, of the music video, of the fish and the pub and the sailboat, and of the boy’s blinding smile. it’s pure funk, harry’s voice breaking through to beg his love to just let him adore her. lights up was the first track harry dropped after a year-long hiatus, when none of us really knew what to expect from his new work, but he gave us almost exactly what all of us needed from him: an anthem about the ways in which he’s come to embrace who he is and all that he’s learned since he went solo. the song culminates in the line “do you know who you are?” which can be viewed as both harry asking his audience and himself this question. his relationship is one of the reasons harry is questioning his identity, as evidence of his dependency on this other person can be found in watermelon sugar and adore you.

cherry is one of the most painful songs on the album. it’s harry’s public apology to his ex - “i, i confess / i can tell that you are at your best / i’m selfish so i’m hating it” - but also a plea to her not to forget him too quickly. it’s almost self-flagulating, as well, the way harry uses camille’s voice at the end of the song, the words fading and becoming obscured, almost as if they were recorded from under water. we never really realize the small ways in which the people we love become completely ingrained in our everyday lives (“i noticed that / there’s a piece of you in how i dress / take it as a compliment”) until they leave us, and often, when they do leave it’s sudden and we’re not given the proper amount of time to adjust, to grieve.

cherry is immediately followed by falling, which 100% claims the title as saddest song on fine line. all of harry’s fears after his breakup are perfectly normal fears, they’re all ones that everyone feels, but no one talks enough about them to know that they’re normal, and that’s what makes them even scarier. what if we never talk again? what if we never see each other? what if you don’t talk about me? he says, “and i get the feeling that you’ll never need me again,” and he’s right - she probably won’t. in an interview with zane lowe, harry said, “I had started to feel myself becoming someone I didn’t want to be, and that was really hard.” before he played this song live for the very first time at the forum, he whispered into the microphone for us to be gentle with him, as it was really hard for him to play. that’s all any of us want, really. for the world to be gentle, to be kind. harry is giving us a part of himself that he never has before, and he’s been so well-received it almost breaks my heart.

to be so lonely is fun, and it definitely stands out alongside treat people with kindness, sunflower, vol. 6, and canyon moon as the most upbeat songs on the tracklist. to try to describe she is to grasp at wind. i love the ways in which he plays with pronouns on this song; you never know exactly who he’s talking about, and it’s meant to be that way. he doesn’t even know who he’s talking about - he knows what his ideal lover is, but not who. and mitch’s three-minute solo at the end of the song is just so absolutely perfect.

if you’d asked me when he first announced the album’s title what i thought he meant by the name fine line, i wouldn’t have known what to say. now that i’ve had an opportunity to listen to it a few times, i would say this: there is a fine line between love and dependency. i think harry used this album as a way to express his love and respect for his ex-girlfriend; to express the ways in which he relied on her - almost too heavily - during their relationship; and his trouble with feeling like himself once more after their breakup. the title track to the album is meant to highlight that theme; in that same zane lowe interview, harry says, “what i hadn’t really experienced before during the making of this record, the times when i felt good and happy were the happiest i’ve ever felt in my life. and the times when i felt sad were the lowest that i’ve ever felt in my life.” at the end of the song, when harry sings “we’ll be a fine line,” the instrumentals build and the lyrics eventually transition into “we’ll be alright,” and i love so deeply that he feels that way.

all in all, fine line is one of the most perfect break up albums i’ve ever heard. knowing how heavily stevie nicks and fleetwood mac influence him, i’m not shocked that he’s created such a perfectly well-balanced meditation on love, dependency, and heartbreak.

#harry styles #fine line #harry styles review #fine line review #emily wrote this

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miasswier · 5 years

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miasswier’s ultimate glee ranking: no 20

20: New Directions

Written by: Brad Falchuk Directed by: Brad Falchuk

Overall Thoughts: The emotions are so high in this episode, to the point where it almost plays like a series finale. And, honestly? I kind of love it. Not as much as the series finale we actually got, but more than most of the season finale’s we got, including the one for this season. It has a little bit for everybody, ties up most of the storylines pretty well, and gives a sense of closure while also managing to give hope, even though the whole point is that Glee club is done.

What I Like:

That the Santana/Rachel feud finally ends. I’ll talk a bit about this in the negative section, but I’m so glad these two are done fighting and are back to being friends. I particularly like the scene in the bathroom, and the way that Rachel is staring at Santana all longingly when Kurt and Mercedes are singing.

Brittany and Santana. These two mofos are so dang in love I cry.

Tina ultimately deciding to go to New York even without a plan, and then getting into Brown! I love Tina in this episode, and I’m so glad she got a focused storyline.

The whole “Chums” dream sequence is pure gold. Klaine making out in pastel, Sam always forgetting his clothes, Rachel having a terrible spray tan, everyone randomly being in New York and working at the Spotlight Diner for no reason? Hell yes. Can I please have twelve seasons of it?

That they sort of address the fact that Holly Holiday is the literal worst.

Blaine getting into NYADA!

Quinn and Puck making it official, and the fact that they were the “last” choir room performance (even though we know they weren’t really). Will is right, it brings everything back full-circle in a way.

Everyone’s faces when Puck talks about Quinn’s “magic garden”.

The graduation ceremony, and how their names are actually called in alphabetical order, and not just in order of who the show sees as more important. It drives me freaking crazy in season 3 how Rachel is the last one called even though her last name is “Berry”. AND this time it also worked with the surprise of Brittany, since her last name is actually the furthest down the alphabet. It’s such a dumb detail but I love it.

Sue and Becky’s hug on stage I fucking love them.

Kurt and Mercedes’s dumb fight over tots they are so dumb.

The video montage + Don’t Stop like damn here come the water works.

In particular I love how they gave Rachel Finn’s part, then Kurt Rachel’s at the beginning. And that Will finally got to sing the song. After all these years, he deserves it. AND how they come on stage based on when they joined. Gosh <3

The final scene, with Will alone in the choir room, and all the voices of the Glee clubbers saying awesome things. Again, all the tears.

What I Don’t Like:

It does sort of frustrate me that the way the Santana/Rachel feud was resolved was with Santana quitting and Rachel essentially getting her way. HOWEVER, I am not as annoyed after the bathroom scene, which shows Rachel actually taking the higher ground, admitting she was wrong to freak out so much about this, and not only offering Santana an olive branch, but also ten shows, which is more than a lot of understudies can boast of. I kind of wish they had let Santana accept that offer because it would have been fucking awesome to see them actually working together on the show as friends. But, that’s Glee for ya.

Kurt and Mercedes basically just being there to make Rachel and Santana’s plot move forward. GIVE MERCEDES HER OWN STORIES.

Mike once again gets nothing to do.

The very idea that Tina would get rejected by Ohio State with the highest GPA in the school, tons of extracurriculars, perfect attendance (or so Glee keeps saying), and salutatorian on her CV is so fucking ridiculous like give me a break. Also, you’re trying to tell me she got into Brown, but got rejected by Ohio State? Come on, Glee.

Holly Holiday isn’t in this episode nearly as much as she could have been, which I greatly appreciate, but I’m still annoyed by her presence nevertheless. Also, what was the point of that super offensive monologue she went on? Jesus Christ.

Songs:

I Am Changing: Starting off with a Kurtcedes duet is always a smart thing to do. I love them, fucking cuties.

Party All the Time: Despite my opinions on Holly Holiday, I do really enjoy this song. I find it so fun and dance-y.

Loser Like Me: SUCH AN AMAZING COVER. It works so well as an acoustic song, and having Blaine, Tina, Sam, and Artie sing it was such an inspired decision. I genuinely enjoy this cover more than the original, and it’s probably my favourite song of the episode.

Be Okay: Another amazing cover. Rachel and Santana’s voices go so well together, and the song is so fun and upbeat. Summery and awesome. Just gives good vibes.

Just Give Me a Reason: I almost feel like this song would have worked better if Puck sang the P!nk part, and Quinn sang the Nate Ruess part, but I still love it, and still think Puck and Quinn should have gotten more than a single duet.

Don’t Stop Believin’: Gosh, I know I should be tired of them covering this song by now, but I am not. This one isn’t as amazing as the Rachel solo, but I still love it so much, and it’s so fucking nostalgic and amazing. God.

Final Thoughts: This is one of those episodes where Glee just got it right. It’s nostalgic, it’s emotional, it gives closure, and it gives hope. I absolutely love it. Well done, Glee. Well done.

#ultimate glee ranking

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bts-love-sweat-tears · 6 years

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Julie’s Love Yourself Concert Diary

Concert Date: September 29, 2018

Written: September 30, 2018

Warnings: I curse more than I should?

Words: 3,330ish-added a few things at the last minute (phew!)

A/N:

[Update: Tumblr couldn’t upload all my photos that I spent awhile choosing and placing, so I’m going to have to pare it down. Sorry bbs! I opted to cut my personal & merch photos in favor of the boys]

So I have one thousand and one things I should be working on-for school, for work, for my eventual job hunt. But instead I am going to write about last night’s experience while it was still fresh in my mind. I was thinking of doing a song-by-song play-by-play, but you can look up the setlist on Wikipedia, so instead I am going to talk about the things that jumped out at me. WARNING: This is essentially one giant spoiler, so I will try to put a “Read More” cut, though it’s been being weird for me lately. So scroll carefully if you’re going to a later date and don’t want to know. All photos taken on my (now ancient) iPhone 6, so I tried to choose the best ones). Will edit as I see typos I made.

I’m a little nervous since I usually write fiction instead of sharing my personal experience. Anyway, full disclosure that this is just my perspective, and I’m (always) happy to discuss things (civilly) if you disagree with me. <3 Photos and opinions are mine.- please don’t re-post anywhere else.

The Background/ Pulling a Namjoon and Leaving my Ticket at Home

Even though I was going to the Saturday show, I flew into LaGuardia using frequent flyer miles on Friday morning. I was staying with a friend in Queens, so I went straight to her apartment. I’m a grad student as most of you probably know at this point, so I spent most of Friday working on a paper that was due. I had two friends I met at last year’s concert going to the Friday concert, and they went for merch promptly at 9, but I had just arrived and had a deadline to meet for school. Around 4:30PM, I decided that I was done for the day and opened Ticketmaster to print my ticket for the next day’s show. When I logged in, I saw the notice that the ticket had been mailed to me. I remembered having seen that when I bought the ticket in May, but in my defense I was jet-lagged and ill on that day. Furthermore, I moved to and from NYC in that time for a summer internship, and SO MUCH HAD HAPPENED. The tickets had been mailed while I was living here and I had never seen them, so somehow it slipped my mind. Obviously I lived too far away, but I didn’t know if I could express overnight them, but I think when I called Ticketmaster, the old ones were deactivated when the guy tried to send me the link.

Anyway, print at home was not an option, so I called Ticketmaster and in a panic explained my situation. They said it happened all the time and offered to send me a link. Luckily I kept the rep on the line, because it turned out that even they couldn’t email a link because of the anti-scalpers/fraud/whatever.

Then the rep said that I could show the credit card, but I had literally cut it up the week prior since the Vendor (e.g. the store that the card was through) had switched their card to a different bank (e.g. Visa to Mastercard), so I seemed shady af, even though I was telling the truth. He said as long as I had a login to a statement showing the transaction (I didn’t, since they had opted to close the account at an institutional level). So I called my mom frantically, and luckily she is the hyper-organized type who keeps paper copies of everything and sent them to me. Seriously, Mom for the win! I run to this print shop as it’s closing and print everything out. I had the Ticketmaster receipt & order #, and two photo ID’s confirming my address. The guy said it should be fine, but I was on the verge of a mental breakdown. This was my one birthday gift and something I had been looking forward to for months. Anyway, my friend and I went out to a local bar near the Halsey (yes, the singer took her name from the station) stop on the L line, and I was super anti-social because I was so upset. I also burst a blood vessel in my eye (it will heal, no worries) because of too much birthday partying the prior weekend, so I’m sure I was a (sour) sight to behold.

I slept poorly for obvious reasons, and left the apartment around 7AM, and arrived to Prudential center around 8:30ish. There were only a few people outside of will call, but the GA line was already wrapped around the building. I made small talk with people outside of the box office, and one woman told me she had gotten soundcheck both days. Seriously, what kind of karma do I need for that to happen to me? She and her friends had been camping out since Thursday, and they were SUPER organized: while she waited in line, one was at merch, and someone else was holding their GA site. I almost wondered if they were a fansite or something. ARMY are a truly organized bunch (except for me, clearly).

Anyway, after another half hour of pure anxiety, they opened up will call and I was panicking, but they were really helpful and gave me my ticket after I verified the order number, showed my id and confirmed some other personal data. I decided then and there that nothing else mattered and I was just happy to be there and be in.

Waiting in line/Logistics/Staff

I left the box office, and got into the GA line. It was probably around 9:15, and the line had already doubled-back on itself all the way around the building. The woman from earlier told me that her friend had got #1000 and was only 3 rows back, so I still had some hope. Basically, you line up to get your spot in line- though it’s kinda dumb that you have to line up twice, it makes security go faster and guarantees that there isn’t a huge surge/stronger people cutting in line later.

I wore what I thought were my most comfortable shoes, but after standing on concrete for hours, I don’t think it makes a difference. People were so friendly though- I never once felt awkward even though I was by myself. The same was true last year- the friends who had gone up for merch on Friday I met while in line at last years’ Wings concert. I chatted with people around me, drank the two bottles of water I had, and looked at my phone. Bring an umbrella for shade and sunscreen though-I didn’t and am rocking a nice farmers burn/tan today. It wasn’t humid though, and it wasn’t raining, so it could have been so much worse.

Even though there were tons of people, everyone was well-behaved. I didn’t see any altercations, though as the day went on the staff seemed a bit overwhelmed with crowd control. I didn’t see too many people selling unofficial merch like last year, though I did buy a few necklaces (Joon and Chim, ofc).

After 3.5 hours, I finally got my wristband. They told us to be back by 2pm to line up for real, as they were going to try to open the doors at 3 instead of 3:30 (didn’t end up happening).

Merch

I then ran to merch, but there wasn’t much left. The fans/pickets were selling out as I got in line, and people were basically yelling “NOOOOOOOO” everytime the staff put up a “SOLD OUT” sticker. I bought what I could that was left, including a bracelet, which I’m actually in love with, the eco-tote (super overpriced tbh, $50 for a canvas bag), but the shopper bags were gone and I needed something to carry the box and batteries V3 ARMY Bomb I bought. I had one from last year that I also forgot, but I think the new version was cool because they are synced up with the music so you can change colors and patterns along with everyone else. Overall, it’s EXPEN$$$$IVE, but if anyone’s worth it, it’s Bangtan.

Newark

I was getting super tired after this, so I kinda passed on the photo studio table, big poster, and UNICEF stuff. I tried to go to Starbucks, but even though it was the middle of the day, I didn’t feel that safe, even though it was like 11:45 in the middle of the day. I’m a 27 year old who’s lived in Latin America (which is generally stereotyped for violence), solo traveled around the world, and I’m from the Rust Belt (aka home of true urban decay), but that part of Newark sketched me the heck out. Probably it would have been fine, but I opted for caution, and went to a Dunkin Donuts and empanada place right around the corner. The timing was actually good since we had to get back pretty quickly to line back up.

The second line was where the staff struggled, telling people to back up and get in order, but it seemed like staff were doing different things. Plus, if they wanted people to back up, they should have created room at the back first, before telling the front to basically “back that ass up” on the people behind them.

GA vs. Seated

I can say this- if you are short, you probably want a seat. Or if you have any kind of knee, back, or joint problems- I stood for approximately 14 straight hours on concrete yesterday. I am just under 5”5” but I was probably one of the taller people in the crowd, so I had a pretty good view. Even though they asked people to not take videos or record, you WILL be looking through a sea of cell phones. I could see pretty well, but sometimes when they were on the main stage I had a hard time seeing around other people’s arms.

Last time I had P2 seated, and the view was wonderful. I went to the bathroom, charged my phone, and ate nachos (lol), so it was generally a more chill experience. I was still super close but up a little higher and could see absolutely everything. But last night I was SO close I could see Joon’s dimples irl, and got splashed by both Jungkook and J-Hope when they threw the water bottles. Probably 100 people think this, but I’m also pretty sure Yoongi (and maybeeee Jimin) saw me jumping and singing along like crazy since I was one of the taller people. At the very least, Yoongi keep looking in the general direction I was in. Ofc I looked gross af with my messed up eye and crazy hair, but what I loved about the concert is that I was 100% able to forget all the insecurities I carry around with me on a day to day basis and have an AMAZING time.

Of course the whole place is crazy high energy, but I feel like last night was INSANELY high. I’m not sure if it was the overall vibe or if that was the GA influencing my opinion. It just depends on what kind of experience you want to have. Also, if you are claustrophobic, you should probably pass on GA. The guards kept forcing people to back up, at one point even coming in with a flashlight, and people would surge forward whenever a member came close. But someone said the night before was chill, so maybe it’s just luck of the draw.

The Show

The show was absolutely amazing. They opened with IDOL, which got people hyped from the get-go. Their dancing was ON POINT as always. People were chanting during the intro videos and chatting as it filled in, so it was a great vibe once again- just super happy feeling. The audio visual part was AMAZING, though I’m no pro, and I loved all of the concert outfits, especially Jimin’s super sparkly sweater. Lots of jumping, and lots of screams. I didn’t have earplugs and was fine, but if you’re sensitive to loud sounds I definitely recommend them. ISTG I remembered hearing a mashup of FIRE, but maybe not? Wikipedia seems to think not. But they played a few older ones too, which made me so soft and nostalgic.

More on the members during the concert

Kim Namjoon

Ok, this is so so so biased, let me start with that. If you’ve followed me for any amount of time, you know how much I love this man. Seeing him smiling and happy was amazing. And they had a professional translator for this concert, so I felt like Joon was able to relax a little and enjoy himself instead of worrying about translating for everyone else. He is just as tall and proportional as everyone says he is. Everyone talks about how soft he is these days (and I love it), but he has undeniable charisma when he raps. Plus him in sunglasses, ddaeng. Seeing him so close was akin to something spiritual for me (I SAW THE DIMPLES WITH MY OWN EYES), as were people shouting along with him to “Love.” At the end, he commented how we were all sharing the same air, and hearing him think the way (I know at least some of ) us think was so heartwarming.

Also during some of the videos, there were some NOT AT ALL subtle Minjoon moments.

Kim Seokjin

The crowd last night ADORED Jin and gave him all the attention he deserves to have all the time. People were chanting his name SO LOUDLY during instrumental breaks in Epiphany. His voice was phenomenal, particularly the high notes. it’s clear how hard he’s worked to make it sound so effortless. I noticed that people weren’t moving as much during some of his notes and I can only think it’s because we were literally transfixed. It’s well established, but I don’t think this man has any bad angles. Even in the still pictures I took while dancing, he DOESN’T look awkward in any of them. #impossible.

Min Yoongi

Suga was clearly happy about something last night- he was SO cute and happy. Other ARMY on the train back to the city agreed with me. His rapping was fire (duh), but he was really smiley and took out his earpiece a number of times to hear us screaming. “Seesaw” starts with him laying on a couch and I can think of no better way to capture his true soul (lol). He was extra attentive to fans, and I feel like what Tae mentioned in Burn the Stage, he was trying to memorize ARMY’s faces and live in the moment. I felt bad because there were clearly parts where he wanted us to sing along, but we couldn’t necessarily keep up with his tongue technology :P But people definitely tried their best.

Jung Hoseok

Idk what I can say here that’s new. J-Hope is one of the most charismatic members on the stage. And there’s something in the American air that turns him into Jay Hope. Seriously, he’s hard to move your eyes away from. “Just Dance” was the first solo track if I remember correctly and he did not disappoint. His glasses at the end were adorable, and one of the other members called him a “happy grandfather” or something like that. Seriously, if you’re still sleeping on Hobi, we can’t be friends.

Park Jimin

Jimin was ethereal as always, and the choreography for Serendipity was…..salacious, to say the least. Like if you thought the “Take Me Down” cover from last year’s Festa was too much, then idk what to tell you. Bring holy water or something. Despite the free water that fans were providing to others (ARMY are seriously the best) there was a different kind of thirst occurring, if you smell what I’m stepping in. Jimin is pure charisma, like J-Hope. Obviously their styles are totally different, but when they move, you stop whatever you’re doing and watch. Again, I didn’t even see many ARMY bombs moving during Serendipity- I think we were too entranced. I personally thought that he killed his vocals and did great, but he seemed a little tired or like he was working hard at it. Jimin was also the one (at least that I saw from my angle) that got the closest to the fans, crouching down and leaning over the teleprompters/fans/lights/ whatever the black boxes were at the edge of the stage.

Similar to Tae and Yoongi, I saw him looking at fans A LOT during the show. He was exactly how he seems in V Lives and cameras, and I’m fairly certain I would spontaneously combust if I ever ran into him irl (even if I didn’t know who he was)- he just radiates warmth and friendliness. Seriously, if I believed in magic, I feel like he would be able to influence people’s emotions.

Kim Taehyung

So many fic writers have this ultra primal (for lack of a better word?) for Tae, but all I see is a cute sweetheart. Obviously I’ve never seen someone create as much tension with their own arm as he does during Singularity, but when he’s not dancing, I just got a super innocent, cutesy vibe from him. His voice was so smooth last night. I mean, I knew, but now I KNOW. He actually was shooting hearts at one fan (how lucky they are), and pretended to fall down when they shot him back! They were further back in P2 as well so he really does work hard at paying attention to everyone. He actually called over another member (maybe Yoongi or Jimin? I was too busy trying to remember how to breathe, to see whatever he was seeing).

At the end he whipped a heart out of his beanie (how I pray to god someone got that moment on camera) a la Jin. He just seemed really comfortable in his own skin last night, and I was so grateful for it.

Jeon Jungkook

I had a hard time seeing most of his Euphoria performance as it was relatively early on and people were taking a shit ton of videos. He also stayed mostly on the main stage, rather than come out to the extension area near where I was. His abs are just as great in person, and the screams were (as is to be expected), absolutely deafening. They’ve talked about it in shows, but his voice is SO stable. Obviously they stopped at times and don’t use too much backing vocals, but it sounded EXACTLY how it does on the album. He threw something into the crowd (I think a banner) at the end, and it FLEW so far-back to P2 or further. They’re not kidding when they talk about how strong he is.

Final thoughts

At first, I was a little exhausted after my emotional trauma of the prior day, and from standing for so long but the minute it started I forgot everything else. I was salty when I couldn’t see that much bc of people recording (esp when they asked us not to), but I understand the specialness of the moment and wanting to have some tangible evidence that you were there. By the time the concert was over, I realized how special GA was, even if it’s more difficult logistically (since I went solo and didn’t have parents or friends to stand in). I still don’t know if it’s hit me that I was like 10 feet away from them, max. It reaffirmed how important they are to me. I didn’t write this to brag, but to hopefully share my perspective and let others live vicariously through my experience. If you want clarification or anything else, write to me!

#love yourself tour #newark day 2 #bts #bts army #concert diary #concert musings

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thirst-refinery · 6 years

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Disneyland Headcanons {Solo Triplets x Reader}

A/N~ In December I visited my best friend @faestae ( @faestae-writes ) in California! She’s such an amazing friend and took us to... you guessed it, Disneyland! During our adevnture, and much time spent waiting in lines, we came up with headcanons for what it would be like to visit the most magical place on earth with the Solo Triplets. So here they are folks! I hope you enjoy them, and make sure to give lots of praise to Fae; because she essentially wrote all of these.

• Matt plans for Disneyland weeks in advance. He made a paper countdown chain to hang over his door and everyday he tears a link off with you until there’s none left.

• According to Matt’s meticulous plan, you’d be sharing part of the day with each triplet. Ben in the morning, Matt in the afternoon, and Kylo in the evening.

• Ben drags you directly to Fantasyland, choosing to spend his time with you there.

• Taking advantage of the morning’s short lines, you hit as many rides as possible and King Arthur’s Carousel is first. Ben skips like a happy child to the front of the line and makes sure your horses are next to each other. Like a proper prince, he helps you up and gives your horse a pat before leaping up on his own. Locking hands in the middle, you go up and he goes down, admiring you in the early morning light. On Peter Pan’s flight he puts his arm around your shoulder like he was Peter himself pretending to sprinkle pixie dust into your hair as the pirate ship takes off. He looks on London and the island of Neverland in awe, leaning precariously over the side of the ship. He tells you one of the lovely mermaids in the lagoon remind him of you. And despite the unnaturally long line for Small World, it’s a must. It was his grandmother’s favorite ride in the park and as you cruise around the happy world with his hand in yours, he remembers her.

• Afterwards you take a break, choosing to get beignets as a late breakfast. Ben practically eats his whole then watches as you take your time enjoying the sugar topped pastry.

“You’ve got something-” he gestures to your powder sugar covered mouth after you finish. “Here let me take care of it.” He leans over taking your chin between his fingers, and licks the sugar off your lips. “All clean.”

• After breakfast Ben takes you to The Mad Tea Party. Just before your turn Ben begins stretching as if he’s an athlete about to compete in the Olympics. He lunges low, bringing an arm across his chest and holding it there for a few seconds before switching to the other. He continues the process, asking you to pull his elbows back, then stretching each arm behind his head then swinging them in front of him, shaking out his wrists as the cast member allows you to pick a cup.

• You end up in a blue one, and as the ride starts Ben places both hands firmly on the wheel in the center.

“Hold on tight, kid.”

It starts gradually, but in a matter of seconds the cup is spinning so fast you fear falling out. Ben’s hands are flying flying around the wheel, arms flexing as he uses every ounce of his power to turn spin around and around. As Alice chimes in that the tea party was coming to an end, Ben leans back with an exasperated sigh, panting as he wipes the sweat from his brow.

“How did I do?”

• Next is Matterhorn. Ben may be fond of children's rides, but Matterhorn is a guilty pleasure. He screams with delight on every whipping turn

• As Ben’s time comes to a close you’ve ridden almost every ride in Fantasyland, except one; Snow White’s Scary Adventures. You insist that you can’t ride everything but exclude one. He disagrees as he glares at the Evil Queen in the window.

“I’ve never liked this ride, ever since I was a kid.”

It takes some convincing, but he agrees to ride it with a promise that you’ll reward him later for his bravery. Ben sits as close as possible in the already compact cart, holding your hand so tightly his knuckles turn white. Your cart traverses each dimly lit scene, and each time the Evil Queen pops up, Ben throws a protective arm in front of you; cursing under his breath.

• Finally it’s Matt’s turn. He meets you at the entrance to Adventureland and Ben hands you off to him with a kiss before joining Kylo. Matt asks where you’d like to go first, listing off a few things, but you already knew where he wanted to go. You take him by the hand and bring him to his favorite, Indiana Jones: Temple of the Forbidden Eye.

• The lines are much longer now, especially for such a popular ride, but you don’t mind; after all you have each other for company. Old forties music plays over speakers while you wait and when he sees you swaying, he smiles. Matt takes your hands, swaying with you to the tune of the music. Before long you’re in his arms, dancing in what little space you had, shuffling forward with the line

• The wait goes by faster than you’d expected and soon it's your turn to board a Jeep. When you’re buckled in, Matt turns to you with deadly seriousness.

“Whatever you do, don’t look into the idol’s eyes.” he says, “Promise me.”

You locked pinkies on it. And when the time came, the idol beckoned you to sneak a peak with its sinister voice. Matt quickly covered your eyes, and you did the same to him.

• After Indiana Jones, you stop at Jungle Cruise; another one of Matt’s favorites. He helps you into the boat, and you find a place to sit right in front. The guide’s jokes throughout the ride are terribly cheesy, but Matt bursts into deep laughter at each one, muffling his giggles into his hand.

• Eventually you find yourself in the Adventure Outpost, Matty following you through the shelves of toy snakes and jungle inspired fashion. You get a prescription from a mechanical witch doctor, that you thought was a fortune teller at first, and when you go to find Matt you catch him trying on a hat identical to Indiana Jones with a matching whip.

“Look at you!” you laugh as he poses like he’s on a movie poster.

Despite his gentle insistence that you didn’t have to, you bought him the hat and whip.

• He didn’t take them off, even when getting pictures taken with Disney characters. You ran into Jasmine and Aladdin outside of their oasis and you couldn't help but stop to talk with them.

“What a handsome adventurer you have!” Jasmine had said.

Matt grinned proudly in his new hat.

“He’s the best,” you agreed “I’m very lucky.”

•The sun sets, signaling Kylo’s turn. You meet him outside The Haunted Mansion, which he’s already acquired two fast pass tickets to.

• In the elevator Kylo stands behind you, tickling your sides at the scream and lightning strike. You leap up in surprise and Kylo catches you, chuckling into your neck with a kiss. Kylo helps you into the Doombuggy, and when he settles in beside you, you admire his handsome profile in the dark. You can’t stay mad at him and when you lean apologetically against him, he puts his arm around you. In the descent to the graveyard is the only time you’ll ever hear him sing, his deep voice mumbling along. You make a silly face in the mirror and he makes one right back and to the ghost sitting between you.

• You grab something for dinner at The French Market, the two of you sharing a bread bowl of hot gumbo to save room for the churro. You break the churro in half for Kylo, then take his hand for the stroll to Tomorrowland

• You start with Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, in line Kylo boasts about his unbeatable high score; a true Astro Blasters sharpshooter. He shows you all the secret targets but you always forget—desperately trying to follow his aiming so he slows down his usual target blitz to show you the secret target on the roof of the red hallway. When you see that he beat you anyway by a long shot, he shrugs and insists he went easy on you.

• On the Astro Orbiter Kylo sits behind you, letting you work the controls. He holds your waist, resting his chin on your shoulder as you take the ship as high as it can go. From here you can see the surrounding area twinkling with lights as you go around and around. You point out the things you recognize while Kylo hums in acknowledgment. As the ride ends and your little ship returns to ground level, he pecks your cheek before hopping out.

• After dragging Kylo to Star Trader, you spy a pair of classic Mickey ears that light up in sequence. Mesmerized, you simply hold them up to him and he rolls his eyes as he fishes for his wallet. When he asks you if you want anything else, you grab another pair for him. Begrudgingly he agrees, but secretly loves the accessory.

• The last thing on your to do list is the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. Kylo protests your decision, hating the thought of being enclosed in a small space underwater, but you push the vision of the ride at night to him anyway. Clearly, you really want to go, so he goes.

• Inside the submarine, you and Kylo share a window cheek to cheek. You look out, pointing gleefully at each display of vivid color and plastic reef.

“Kylo, look!” you motion to the window, but he only shakes his head.

“I know.”

You turn to him in the dim light and he stares back at you, dark eyes taking each detail of your form. He admires the way your face seems to glow with absolute joy.

“Try and enjoy yourself a little.” you tease.

Kylo smiles, his face barely an inch from yours; to him it was just the two of you in this submarine. “I am.”

Bonus: When your feet get sore from standing in line, they each put in effort to alleviate your pain. Ben gets down on one knee as if proposing and offers you his lap to sit on. He rests his arms around you, nuzzling his face against your neck and occasionally peppering you with sweet kisses. Matt wraps his arms around your middle, lifting your feet barely off the ground as he leans against the nearest wall or pillar for support. Kylo dead lifts you, picking you up like a child and cradling you against him until your feet feel better.

#solo triplets #triplet au #triplet Ben x Reader #triplet Matt x reader #triplet Kylo x reader #Ben Solo x reader #matt the radar techician x reader #kylo ren x reader #solo triplets headcanons #triplet ben headcanons #ben solo headcanon #triplet matt headcanons #matt the radar technician headcanons #triplet kylo headcanon #kylo ren headcanons

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the-dark-side-of-the-blog · 7 years

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Top 25 Greatest Cover Songs Ever

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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falsedescent · 7 years

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1 In The Wee Small Hours by Frank Sinatra (Capitol) 1955

Actually, the very first 'concept' album. The idea being you put this record on after dinner and by the last song you are exactly where you want to be. Sinatra said that he's certain most baby boomers were conceived with this as the soundtrack.

2 Solo Monk by Thelonious Monk (Columbia) 1964

Monk said 'There is no wrong note, it has to do with how you resolve it'. He almost sounded like a kid taking piano lessons. I could relate to that when I first started playing the piano, because he was decomposing the music while he was playing it. It was like demystifying the sound, because there is a certain veneer to jazz and to any music, after a while it gets traffic rules, and the music takes a backseat to the rules. It's like aerial photography, telling you that this is how we do it. That happens in folk music too. Try playing with a bluegrass group and introducing new ideas. Forget about it. They look at you like you're a communist. On Solo Monk, he appears to be composing as he plays, extending intervals, voicing chords with impossible clusters of notes. 'I Should Care' kills me, a communion wine with a twist. Stride, church, jump rope, Bartok, melodies scratched into the plaster with a knife. A bold iconoclast. Solo Monk lets you not only see these melodies without clothes, but without skin. This is astronaut music from Bedlam.

3 Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart (Straight) 1969

The roughest diamond in the mine, his musical inventions are made of bone and mud. Enter the strange matrix of his mind and lose yours. This is indispensable for the serious listener. An expedition into the centre of the earth, this is the high jump record that'll never be beat, it's a merlot reduction sauce. He takes da bait. Dante doing the buck and wing at a Skip James suku jump. Drink once and thirst no more.

4 Exile On Main St. by Rolling Stones (Rolling Stones Records) 1972

'I Just Want To See His Face' - that song had a big impact on me, particularly learning how to sing in that high falsetto, the way Jagger does. When he sings like a girl, I go crazy. I said, 'I've got to learn how to do that.' I couldn't really do it until I stopped smoking. That's when it started getting easier to do. [Waits's own] 'Shore Leave' has that, 'All Stripped Down', 'Temptation'. Nobody does it like Mick Jagger; nobody does it like Prince. But this is just a tree of life. This record is the watering hole. Keith Richards plays his ass off. This has the Checkerboard Lounge all over it.

5 The Sinking of the Titanic by Gavin Bryars (Point Music) 1975

This is difficult to find, have you heard this? It's a musical impression of the sinking of the Titanic. You hear a small chamber orchestra playing in the background, and then slowly it starts to go under water, while they play. It also has 'Jesus Blood' on it. I did a version of that with Gavin Bryars. I first heard it on my wife's birthday, at about two in the morning in the kitchen, and I taped it. For a long time I just had a little crummy cassette of this song, didn't know where it came from, it was on one of those Pacifica radio stations where you can play anything you want. This is really an interesting evening's music.

6 The Basement Tapes by Bob Dylan (Columbia) 1975

With Dylan, so much has been said about him, it's difficult so say anything about him that hasn't already been said, and say it better. Suffice it to say Dylan is a planet to be explored. For a songwriter, Dylan is as essential as a hammer and nails and a saw are to a carpenter. I like my music with the rinds and the seeds and pulp left in - so the bootlegs I obtained in the Sixties and Seventies, where the noise and grit of the tapes became inseparable from the music, are essential to me. His journey as a songwriter is the stuff of myth, because he lives within the ether of the songs. Hail, hail The Basement Tapes. I heard most of these songs on bootlegs first. There is a joy and an abandon to this record; it's also a history lesson.

7 Lounge Lizards by Lounge Lizards (EG) 1980

They used to accuse John Lurie of doing fake jazz - a lot of posture, a lot of volume. When I first heard it, it was so loud, I wanted to go outside and listen through the door, and it was jazz. And that was an unusual thing, in New York, to go to a club and hear jazz that loud, at the same volume people were listening to punk rock. Get the first record, The Lounge Lizards. You know, John's one of those people, if you walk into a field with him, he'll pick up an old pipe and start to play it, and get a really good sound out of it. He's very musical, works with the best musicians, but never go fishing with him. He's a great arranger and composer with an odd sense of humour.

8 Rum Sodomy and the Lash by The Pogues (Stiff) 1985

Sometimes when things are real flat, you want to hear something flat, other times you just want to project onto it, something more like.... you might want to hear the Pogues. Because they love the West. They love all those old movies. The thing about Ireland, the idea that you can get into a car and point it towards California and drive it for the next five days is like Euphoria, because in Ireland you just keep going around in circles, those tiny little roads. 'Dirty Old Town', 'The Old Main Drag'. Shane has the gift. I believe him. He knows how to tell a story. They are a roaring, stumbling band. These are the dead end kids for real. Shane's voice conveys so much. They play like soldiers on leave. The songs are epic. It's whimsical and blasphemous, seasick and sacrilegious, wear it out and then get another one.

9 I'm Your Man by Leonard Cohen (Columbia) 1988

Euro, klezmer, chansons, apocalyptic, revelations, with that mellifluous voice. A shipwrecked Aznovar, washed up on shore. Important songs, meditative, authoritative, and Leonard is a poet, an Extra Large one.

10 The Specialty Sessions by Little Richard (Specialty Records) 1989

The steam and chug of 'Lucille' alone pointed a finger that showed the way. The equipment wasn't meant to be treated this way. The needle is still in the red.

11 Startime by James Brown (Polydor) 1991

I first saw James Brown in 1962 at an outdoor theatre in San Diego and it was indescribable... it was like putting a finger in a light socket. He did the whole thing with the cape. He did 'Please Please Please'. It was such a spectacle. It had all the pageantry of the Catholic Church. It was really like seeing mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral on Christmas and you couldn't ignore the impact of it in your life. You'd been changed, your life is changed now. And everybody wanted to step down, step forward, take communion, take sacrament, they wanted to get close to the stage and be anointed with his sweat, his cold sweat.

12 Bohemian-Moravian Bands by Texas-Czech (Folk Lyric) 1993

I love these Czech-Bavarian bands that landed in Texas of all places. The seminal river for mariachi came from that migration to that part of the United States, bringing the accordion over, just like the drum and fife music of post slavery, they picked up the revolutionary war instruments and played blues on them. This music is both sour and bitter, and picante, and floating above itself like steam over the kettle. There's a piece called the 'Circling Pigeons Waltz', it's the most beautiful thing - kind of sour, like a wheel about to go off the road all the time. It's the most lilting little waltz. It's accordion, soprano sax, clarinet, bass, banjo and percussion.

13 The Yellow Shark by Frank Zappa (Barking Pumpkin) 1993It is his last major work. The ensemble is awe-inspiring. It is a rich pageant of texture in colour. It's the clarity of his perfect madness, and mastery. Frank governs with Elmore James on his left and Stravinsky on his right. Frank reigns and rules with the strangest tools.14 Passion for Opera Aria (EMI Classics) 1994I heard 'Nessun Dorma' in the kitchen at Coppola's with Raul Julia one night, and it changed my life, that particular Aria. I had never heard it. He asked me if I had ever heard it, and I said no, and he was like, as if I said I've never had spaghetti and meatballs - 'Oh My God, Oh My God!' - and he grabbed me and he brought me into the jukebox (there was a jukebox in the kitchen) and he put that on and he just kind of left me there. It was like giving a cigar to a five-year old. I turned blue, and I cried.15 Rant in E Minor by Bill Hicks (Rykodisc) 1997Bill Hicks, blowtorch, excavator, truthsayer and brain specialist, like a reverend waving a gun around. Pay attention to Rant in E Minor, it is a major work, as important as Lenny Bruce's. He will correct your vision. His life was cut short by cancer, though he did leave his tools here. Others will drive on the road he built. Long may his records rant even though he can't.16 Prison Songs: Murderous Home Alan Lomax Collection (Rounder Select) 1997Without spirituals and the Baptist Church and the whole African-American experience in this country, I don't know what we would consider music, I don't know what we'd all be drinking from. It's in the water. The impact the whole black experience continues to have on all musicians is immeasurable. Lomax recorded everything, from the sounds of the junkyard to the sound of a cash register in the market... disappearing machinery that we would no longer be hearing. You know, one thing that doesn't change is the sound of kids getting out of school. Record that in 1921, record that now, it's the same sound. The good thing about these is that they're so raw, they're recorded so raw, that it's just like listening to a landscape. It's like listening to a big open field. You hear other things in the background. You hear people talking while they are singing. It's the hair in the gate.

17 Cubanos Postizos by Marc Ribot (Atlantic) 1998

This Atlantic recording shows off one of many of Ribot's incarnations as a prosthetic Cuban. They are hot and Marc dazzles us with his bottomless soul. Shaking and burning like a native.

18 Houndog by Houndog (Sony) 1999

Houndog, the David Hidalgo [Los Lobos] record he did with Mike Halby [Canned Heat]. Now that's a good record to listen to when you drive through Texas. I can't get enough of that. Anything by Latin Playboys, anything by Los Lobos. They are like a fountain. The Colossal Head album killed me. Those guys are so wild, and they've gotten so cubist. They've become like Picasso. They've gone from being purely ethnic and classical, to this strange, indescribable item that they are now. They're worthwhile to listen to under any circumstances. But the sound he got on Houndog, on the electric violin ... the whole record is a dusty road. Dark and burnished and mostly unfurnished. Superb texture and reverb. Lo fi and its highest level. Songs of depth and atmosphere. It ain't nothin' but a...

19 Purple Onion by Les Claypool (Prawn Song) 2002

Les Claypool's sharp and imaginative, contemporary ironic humour and lightning musicianship makes me think of Frank Zappa. 'Dee's Diner' is like a great song your kid makes up in the car on the way to the drive-in. Songs for big kids.

20 The Delivery Man by Elvis Costello (Mercury) 2004

Scalding hot bedlam, monkey to man needle time. I'd hate to be balled out by him, I'd quit first. Grooves wide enough to put your foot in and the bass player is a gorilla of groove. Pete Thomas, still one of the best rock drummers alive. Diatribes and rants with steam and funk. It has locomotion and heat. Steam heat, that is.

#tom waits #music #pop and rock #culture #bill hicks

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gocchisama · 7 years

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Pairings in Keyakizaka46

Pairings. Or also called, OTP ( One True pairing). The definition goes by: “your favorite relationship in a fandom”, or “the relationship that match the best”. AKB48 already proved the existence of pairing like Atsumina, Wmatsui, or Sayamilky. Keyakizaka46 is no exception.

Why is it so particular? why does pairing influence fandom culture so much? I have already defined Idols in 3 relationship. Idol x herself, idol x fans, and idol x idol. Pairings is one aspect of the third relationship. Fans are keen to watch members interaction because it is different from what they can possibly have with the idol herself. The friendship, bond between members shows aspect of your oshimen that you would never imagine. This is the magic of the OTP.

Before we get started, i want to point out that those pairings are just my opinion and are by no means a judgement on who is closest to who. Being close is a huge factor, but i also works on the pair chemistry.

“Za cool is the name of the tandem Shida manaka/Watanabe Risa”

I’ve been lurking Japanese fandom for quite some time and the most well known pairing is undoubtly “Za cool” or also called “MonaLisa”. It make sense because Keyakizaka has been built on a cool image and both of them have natural assets like great, lean figure and slim silouhette. It’s not really about the interaction between the two ( correct me if i’m wrong) but for what they represents in Keyakizaka; they are the symbol of classy, good looking girls that japanese teenager aspire to be.

It’s about the looks, but also the manner. In individual PV, both of them traded the usual cute and appealing idol video to make more personal, in depth short movies to assert their cool personalities ( One is doing martial arts, the other is making a fashion show in her living room). When you think of it, there is cool members in the 48group but none of them stand out better than a whole pairing. I would not be surprised to see both of them in fashion magazine, like true cousins of their senpai of Nogizaka46.

Something to notice, Nogizaka and more recently Keyakizaka have a sizeable amount of female fans. Cool members that convey self confidence are very popular among them. And when Za cool cultivate a “strong, reliable” character ( close to danso) you can be sure members and fans match perfectly.

“Yuichanzu has already 2 B-sides up their sleeves, and fans are asking for more.”

Born from management’s wish to operate Kobayashi and Imaizumi Yui musical talents, the duo Yuichanzu has evolved into a distinctive musical aspect of Keyakizaka, the pop-folk tune of the group. No management have put as much faith in a musical sub-unit in the past, and it tells how important the duo has become for Keyaki.

Yuichanzu is even more of a deadly weapon when you take into account the global consensus of musical landslide AKB group releases have become. Not only Keyakizaka stand out with their powerful main track (hello Silent Majority), but they take the luxury to open their musical range by releasing ballad like the musically acknowledged “bob dylan wa kaesanai”. In a world dominated by visual and Auto-tune, Yuichanzu stand as a new refreshing effort to set back music as the main concern of a group. Even for idols.

This tandem success also come from an efficient blend between them. Yuipon is kind/quiet type, almost shy, while Zuumin has this cheerful, almost bewildering personality. Together, they sing in harmony, making way to one of their best performance .

The perspective to bring Keyakizaka this so much awaited musical variety is what makes Yuichanzu so valuable. Not only it defends the idea that idols are also artist ( and not ONLY marketed musical product) but it hugely helps other girls than the center develop their personalities. “Idols you can see grow” has never been more true than the present day.

“The Sun and the moon. What do they have in common? They both shine.”

TechiNeru relationship has been slightly elaborated here. But it still has to be mentioned. This is my own belief that Neru is Yurina’s rival; from the opposition of their styles, from their close level of skill. From their respective stories and role in the group. What made Batman so popular as a Hero? Because he had lot of powers? In that case green lantern would win hands up. Then No. The real answer is that he had charismatic enemies and rivals, like Joker. In the same logic, This duo will climb to new heights thanks to their rivalry. This is passion.

Something that i have omited to talk about, is the bond between them. Neru has chosen to defy her parents when becoming an idol, defying at the same time the path she chose over the path chosen for her. Yurina became an idol to forget about an alleged painful past. To pour all her energy into a “new her” was a way to not look behind ever again. It comes from her famous quote “Whatever happened in the past, i have no choice but to only look forward.” Despite their clear contrast as orthodox and unorthodox idols, they share the same resolve : To face the future with a challenging heart.

Then probably, Nagaham Neru is the member that understand Yurina the most. Only a center can understand a center, as you bear the overwhelming pressure of fans and management expectation in your shoulders. Both have solo songs, both lead a generation. One can suffer from the eternal comparison between the two ( Watanabe Miyuki mention her painful experience as being Yamamoto Sayaka eternal number 2) and this is why the link between them is so strong. During Keyakizaka one man’s live performance, Yurina was on the verge of tears, overwhelmed by the emotion of sharing this last performance with fans. You can catch a glimpse where Neru quickly hug Techi to cheer her up during the next verse.

“The OTP without name. What about the two pillars?”

The appearance of this duo has been quite recent, precisely during the sports festival in Keyakitte, Kakenai? episode. There was the blue team led by Sugai Yuuka who represented the “my pace” team, while the red team was led by Moriya Akane, the “gachi” (serious) team. This is probably the most accurate representation of this tandem. You have on one side the kind, caring member that makes you comfortable ( the mother), and on the other side the strong, reliable member that pumps you up ( the father). In any case, the “Yuukanen” duo is the pairing that all keyaki members look up to.

I chose the two pillars because the two have the potential to be captains. To ensure good communication between member, to represent the group in talk session ( especially Yuuka), to call people out when members are slacking off during practice ( Akanen), to set a good role model for members to follow. This is the necessary sternness that helps Keyakizaka keep their high level of performance.

Those two are the self-consciousness of Keyakizaka46, essential to make the group operate backstage. We’re not even talking about their SUPER high level of aesthetic and own individual appeal ( Sugai sama and her noble persona, Akanen the big sister that hates to lose). Their awareness and sense of responsability framed the group into the right path. Keyakizaka was a rookie group without senpai, and the two of them assumed this role just naturally. The very definition of idols are people you admire and respect; Yuuka and Akanen absolutely fit those requirements.

“Boke&Tsukkomi is an absolute reference of Japanese comedy”

Now we’re entering non-established pairings, but that holds potential in the future. The limitless ponkotsu personality of Watanabe Rika and the variety talent of Oda Nana makes the pairing extremely potent. It’s true that Berika can make any situation laughable on her own, but Oda nana presence frame those funny moments, making them less awkward and more elaborated.

In japanese entertainment industry, the workforce mainly consist of actor/actress and singer, but also people you call “talento”, like Becky or Lola. They don’t have any particular skills, except that they are extremely good at talking. To give good rythms and atmosphere to a variety show, you invite those kind of celebrities. And it works! Only thanks to selling their image and smooth talking, the best of them are very popular and can endorse as much as 10 brand advertisement. This is important to understand japanese culture.

So yes, they don’t have the musical talent of Yuichanzu or the visual of Za cool, but Oda Nana and Watanabe Rika are the living ground of an excellent Boke&Tsukkomi pairing. The “boke” make stupid nag, while the “tsukkomi” correct him/punish him, make the situation hilarious. This concept is so popular that best comic duo like Downtown or 99 originated from this. Well, Watanabe Rika&Oda Nana holds this tremendous potential of talking and comedy.

“If you marry weirdness and cuteness together, how will it blend?”

This is a personal wish of mine, to see more of those two. To pair those two is like making a step in the unknown. But since Keyakizaka taught me that everything is possible in the line up, i’m willing to hope. Nogizaka’s sister group is filled with great individuals which explain Ozeki and Uemura’s mixed visibility in the group ( they are often in the third row), but i’m convinced it is not because of their lack of personality.

In a group heavily cool oriented, to be extremely cute is an advantage. Uemura rina can benefit from it. But what she needs is to overcome her fear to stand out, and it is not an easy feat. But this weakness can be filled with Ozeki’s natural outgoing personality (someone who is not ashamed to turn herself into ridicule). Ozeki style. An underrated genius in comedy that probably would rise tenfold if given the proper tool to shine. It is understandable that comedy is not Keyakizaka top priority, but i’m eagerly waiting for her to take the group by storm.

Ozeki helps Rina to believe in herself, and Rina helps Ozeki in the visual department. And despite their opposite personalities, i have noticed a great relationship between the two; as they take 2 shot regularly together or holding arms during variety shows. If they helps each other’s out i’m sure they will find their rightful place within the group. Oh, and, i genuinely think BOTH are cute!

Conclusion

As you might have expected, Keyakizaka draw his strength from the richness of the girls color and personalities, going from visual and music aspect to comedy and presence. The young group also beats the odds by running backward current trends that promote individuality ( Sayanee, Sasshi, Jurina) in successfuly highlighting a group unity. ( thanks to their group choregraphy and huge line up). Indeed, to have 3 times Techi as center is also promoting individuality, but what makes the difference is that compared to 48group, Keyakizaka doesn’t suffer from shuffle and dilemma between old and new gen promotion (because the girls all start from the same point). It ends up with all those strong pairings mentioned above.

Why is idol popular? Because idols helps sharing this positive energy to fans, or non fans alike. An energy that encourage you to step forward. This is a constructive energy. Also, from their genuine bond between them helps you recall to value your friendship with those that you loves and loves you in return. Those pairings remind you to be grateful for what you own. It helps you feel generous.

It is only depending on you to have your own OTP. Share this heartwarming feeling. Share the love.

#keyakizaka46 #AKB48 #yuichanzu #za cool #欅坂46 #平手友梨奈 #長浜ねる #渡辺理沙 #渡辺梨加 #志田愛佳 #上村莉菜 #今泉ゆい

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ecoamerica · 24 days

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Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!

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randomvarious · 3 years

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Downchild Blues Band - “(I Got Everything I Need) Almost” Oh What A Feeling Song released in 1973. Compilation released in 1996. Blues / Harmonica Blues

From an excellent 2003 article in the now-defunct CanadianBlues.ca:

Quick - name three things that define Canada. Maple syrup? Okay. Hockey, of course. And then there's Downchild...

Together in one form or another for over 30 years now, the Downchild Blues Band has come to symbolize, not just the blues in Canada, but Canadian music itself. And any Canadian blues fan will instantly offer up their own story, their own encounter with the outfit that's come to be known as "Canada's Blues Band."

Much of Downchild's history is a matter of public record. It all started in the late sixties, a time when there literally weren't any blues bands in Canada. Co-founder Donnie Walsh, who along with his brother, the late Richard "Hock" Walsh, founded what's since become a Canadian institution, admits he didn't even dream of such longevity when the band started out.

"Our minds were on different things back then," he laughs. "We were quite young at the time, and we were thinking of things like writing songs, and girls... beer, and music... and girls! We were young and we were having a great time.

"But the music was the most important thing to me, playing blues music, because nobody around really played the style of blues that I learned from, which was the older Chicago and Texas style blues. So I was concentrating on that, trying to remain true to the way blues was at that time. We've evolved since, of course, but I think we've stayed true to that."

And that they have. It seems that a lot of people aren't aware of this, especially non-Canadians, but between the late 70s and early 80s, the US managed to rekindle its love for the blues again, and you can actually trace the reason for that infatuation right back to the legendary and pioneering Canadian band, Downchild. And that's because of the Blues Brothers, the comedy pair of Saturday Night Live's Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, who were not just superbly gifted funnymen, but also happened to be pretty damn good bluesmen as well.

The Blues Brothers' 1978 live debut album, Briefcase Full of Blues, has managed to sell over seven million copies, according to an obit for Downchild's former lead singer, Richard "Hock" Walsh, and the album sat at #1 on the Billboard charts for a period of time as well. The Blues Brothers were huge fans of Downchild themselves, especially Aykroyd, who's a Canadian native that frequented their gigs quite often, and sometimes performed on stage with them, too. A lot of the Blues Brothers' act was actually based off of Downchild, from the cool demeanor exhibited by brothers Donnie and "Hock" Walsh, to the band's overall sound, including "Hock"'s singing voice.

And Briefcase Full of Blues features three covers of Downchild songs: "Shotgun Blues," "Flip, Flop, and Fly," and "I've Got Everything I Need (Almost)." Now, you may be thinking, "wow, so the Blues Brothers were actually just sort of a ripoff of Downchild, huh?" Kinda, yeah. But look at it this way: Downchild were actually a known entity in Canada before the Blues Brothers came around in the States. Their second album, 1973's Straight Up, spawned the band's first big Canadian hit, "Flip, Flop and Fly," which suddenly transformed them into an act that was spending 300 nights per year on the road.

But that was just Canada. America didn't really know Downchild, and had it not been for the Blues Brothers pretty much singlehandedly reviving the country's interest in the blues, the US likely would've never heard of Downchild in the first place. However, the liner notes in Briefcase Full of Blues went a hell of a long way towards changing that, and I don't know it for a fact, but you have to think that in their banter before launching into Downchild songs during their live sets, Aykroyd or Belushi would've said something along the lines of, "this next number is originally by a band that we love from Canada called Downchild." Plus, who can forget all those royalties 💵🤑 ?!

So, there's, like, a literal give-and-take cycle there. Downchild gives the idea to Aykroyd and Belushi to form the Blues Brothers, and the Blues Brothers take that idea and then grow to be über successful, and through that success, end up giving fame back to Downchild, which Downchild probably would've never earned had the Blues Brothers not decided to perform their songs or base their presentation off of them.

So here's one of Downchild's most iconic songs, the smooth and danceable "I've Got Everything I Need (Almost)," which in 2007 was selected as one of the 125 "essential" Canadian songs and was the only blues number on that list. It's also the first Can-blues song to go gold and is in the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, too. Clearly, it's a landmark recording.

"I've Got Everything I Need (Almost)" is a song that's clearly on a blues revivalist tip as well. That's what Downchild was about in their beginning: not only being the first Canadian blues band, but bringing back a 50s and 60s blues kind of sound and sensibility. And they clearly pulled it off with songs like this one, which sees cleverly delivered lyrics from "Hock" Walsh, in a manner that's somehow both laid back and impassioned at the same time, as he manages to fit certain pitfalls of fame, like having friends who only like you for your money and people recognizing you wherever you go, within his list of all the ostensibly good things that he has and needs. But none of that fame or those riches matter if he can't have the thing that he wants most in this world, which is you, the girl reading this😏.

Sweet harmonica solo sandwiched in this one, too, from Donnie Walsh, who also happens to be an amazing guitarist (although we don't get to hear that side of his talent on this track), and a nice job by the horn section in backing "Hock" as well, which sees both sax and trumpet harmonizing.

One of the most renowned Canadian blues songs ever recorded, courtesy of one of the most renowned Canadian blues bands of all time, whose career received a huge boost in the 70s thanks to Saturday Night Live's Blues Brothers duo of Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi.

#blues #the blues #blues music #harmonica #harmonica blues #blues harmonica #music #70s #70s music #70's #70's music #70s blues #70's blues #70s harmonica blues #70's harmonica blues #70s blues harmonica #70's blues harmonica

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chorusfm · 5 years

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Butch Walker – Sycamore Meadows

Few albums can put a smile on my face as quickly as Sycamore Meadows. That’s probably an odd thing to say, since Sycamore Meadows is not, by most metrics, a happy album. Butch Walker’s fourth solo LP was birthed in part from the California wildfires that destroyed his home, most of his possessions, and the master tapes for every song he’d ever recorded up to that point. The songs catalog breakups, painful journeys of self-discovery, and the record business being irreversibly fucked. The album’s last track is a sobering piano ballad that bears one of the most emotional vocal performances Butch ever put on tape. And yet, Sycamore Meadows still makes me smile. So many of the most important albums in my life are the ones that found me in times of strife and held me together when I couldn’t do it myself. I believe a similar statement would hold true for most other people who love music to the point of insanity. We cherish those albums because they seem like old friends to us. They were there when we needed them most, and so we can’t ever forget them. For me, Sycamore Meadows was not that kind of album. Instead, it was a record that came into the world at a time when everything in my life felt like it was going well. My what a difference a season had made, on that front. A few months earlier, I’d been driving to my first day of school blaring Jack’s Mannequin’s The Glass Passenger, trying to nurse the wounds of a summertime heartbreak. By the time Sycamore Meadows arrived, though, the humid summer swelter had been replaced by a crisp autumn chill, and my sadness over the girl who’d left had been replaced by acceptance. I was in a different place, and I was ready to stop wallowing in sad songs and embrace something more hopeful. On first blush, Sycamore Meadows seems like an odd album to play that role. Many of these songs are crushing. “Vessels” finds its central couple so fractured that they can’t even sleep in the same bed any more, a far cry from the days when they used to lay entwined on car hoods, snuggled beneath the stars. “Passed Your Place, Saw Your Car, Thought of You” finds its protagonist pining over a former flame who left him for another man and then passed away tragically. And “ATL” is a coming home song in its most desperate form, featuring a chorus where Butch begs his hometown to need him just as much as he needs it. If I had been in the mood to wallow some more, Sycamore Meadows would have done the trick. But what really drew me into those songs on those cold November afternoons back in 2008 were the flickers of hard-won resilience. “Going Back/Going Home” both directly addresses the fires that took Butch’s home and recounts his entire career in a mini “rap” section in the second half, but it does so set against a triumphant electric guitar lick and a wash of bells and keys that sounds like a holiday season celebration. “Ships in a Bottle” likens walking away from a doomed relationship to walking away from a pile of ashes and rubble—a few burns on your skin, but your heart still very much beating. And “Closer to the Truth and Further from the Sky” sounds like pure Springsteenian romanticism, a rousing anthem suggesting that redemption and rebirth is just around the next bend of a rattlesnake canyon highway. To a lot of people, Sycamore Meadows sounded heartbroken and reflective. I recall many fans pointing to it as Letters part two, a reference to the album that was, at the time, Butch’s most emotionally intense and intimate work. To me, though, Sycamore sounded hungry and unbridled. It wasn’t an album about ruminating on regret and loss. Instead, it was an album about stepping back, re-evaluating, realizing which things were truly important, and then taking the bold first steps toward a new start. “Closer to the Truth” sounded like rebirth because it was one: this album recalibrated Butch’s career and set him on the path that would lead to brave and unflinching records like Afraid of Ghosts and Stay Gold. The way Butch tells it in his 2011 memoir Drinking with Strangers, he’d lost the plot leading up to Sycamore Meadows. His 2006 album, The Rise and Fall of Butch Walker and the Let’s-Go-Out-Tonites!, played as a wry critique of the L.A. party scene, but Butch admits he was getting swallowed up by that scene himself. He also says he was struggling with writer’s block and becoming complacent and materialistic in his lifestyle. That all ended in November 2007, when a friend phoned Butch to tell him that his Malibu home had burned to the ground. Fortunately, Butch and his family were safe, away for a string of shows on the East Coast. However, aside from a few guitars and a hard drive full of in-progress songs that his buddy had managed to save, everything was gone. The fire burned up guitars and cars and master tapes and photographs. It burned up recording equipment and furniture and family heirlooms. It burned up memories and stability and the life Butch Walker thought he was building for his family. But it also torched his complacency and burned down the walls that had built up between him and his creativity. One of the first things he said publicly after the fire was “I finally know the difference between going back and going home.” That line would become a song and a mission statement for the new album, and ultimately, for the next decade of Butch’s career. Sycamore Meadows—named after the street where Butch’s Malibu home used to stand—is a literal rise-from-the-ashes LP. There are flickers of sadness, but it’s mostly forward-looking, finding plenty of time for raucous fun. (See the bombastic horn-blasted funk of “Ponce De Leon Ave.,” or the runaway train rocker “The 3 Kids in Brooklyn,” still the preeminent concert showstopper in Butch’s catalog.) In the fall of 2008, feeling like I was living my own rise-from-the-ashes narrative, I loved how vibrant and bright Sycamore Meadows sounded. Even the sad songs were fleshed out and colorful—like “Ships in a Bottle,” initially demoed as a devastating acoustic ballad, but awash here in gorgeous 70s-style guitar and a rousing horn arrangement. I especially loved “Closer to the Truth,” a song with so much fire that I immediately wanted to play it loud enough to make good on the chorus, about static singeing the speakers “like a thousand hymns of inspiration.” When I listen to Sycamore Meadows now, it takes me back to those days of optimism: to driving around my hometown as the season turned from fall to winter; to my last performances in my last high school musical; to the realization, as I filled out college applications and wrote bad admissions essays, that my youth was almost gone. I like to say now that Sycamore Meadows was the first record I fell in love with after I really grew up. I think that’s why it continues to mean so much to me, and why it still feels so recent and fresh in my mind—even though I’m currently writing a piece to mark its 10-year anniversary. Sycamore Meadows was never my favorite Butch Walker album. Letters was so formative for me that I doubt anything will ever knock it off that pedestal. But if I had to recommend a starting point for a new Butch listener, I might point to Sycamore Meadows. In a lot of ways, it feels like his best album: the one with the purest and truest songwriting accomplishments, and the one that best distills his influences—Springsteen, Petty, Costello, Prince, and a growing lean toward country music—into a cohesive and emotional whole. It’s also the record that sounds the most like a classic, with gorgeous and carefully wrought arrangements on every track, stacking guitars, pianos, glockenspiel, strings, horns, gang vocals, an explosive rhythm section, and even woodwinds on top of Butch’s honest storytelling. Most Butch Walker albums are loud, loose, and spontaneous, recorded in quick bursts and focused on the essentials of guitar, drums, bass, and piano. On Sycamore Meadows, Butch took his time and worked in layers, even going so far as to cancel a planned tour with Jesse Malin so he could re-record the entire album from scratch. It’s the album in his catalog that feels most like a conscious attempt at making a masterpiece. It absolutely is one. --- Please consider supporting us so we can keep bringing you stories like this one. ◎ https://chorus.fm/review/butch-walker-sycamore-meadows/

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