#im just listening to synth pop late at night

[kalicocal]

Saw you were looking for music recommendations so I thought I'd share some of my faves! I'm not the best at describing genres, and I love all kinds of music so I'm just trying to give a dec2nt smattering for you to explore lol

St. Lucia: bright dance pop, synths, 80s vibes

Sasha Sloan: indie sad girl shit (lots of these songs are very Leah Rilke vibes)

Simon Curtis: gay, POP! So much fun! And the falsetto! A true male Brittney

Doublecamp: good vibes, positive lowkey jams

The Brummies: indie rock, very sweet and chill

girlfriends: modern pop punk! Very fun

Upsahl: idk what you call music thats not exactly rapping but has that kind of flow, but she's dope and her lyrics are witty!

Remi Wolf: upbeat, goofy pop, her music videos are truly so cool because they're so weird!

Public: your standard pop rock that's heavier on the pop

Starset: this band is space themed, all their music feels like the soundtrack to a Sci fi epic, rock with a touch of screaming. If this sounds appealing at all, I highly suggest listening to their album Transmissions front to back at night, preferably while driving (bonus if it's raining) it's truly the most optimal way to experience this record lololol

The Struts: I mean they're basically modern day Queen in their style, rock and roll baybee!

Will Jay: a songwriter who's not afraid of making each song its own genre, his lyrics are great!

Ok so sorry that was probably way more than you wanted or expected, I just wanted to give you a bunch in hopes that something will strike you! Let me know if you find anything you dig!!

first of all, i know i just didnt catch you saying sorry for sharing this! in fact, i owe you a massive THANK YOU for curating this lovely bundle of new music and your descriptions, this is a treasure trove!!! so yeah, thank you and i really, really appreciate you for taking time out of your day to share this music with me and everyone else here 🥺💛

i just gotta say, this is such an impressive list since almost all-apart from sasha sloan, starset, and upsahl-of these artists are new names to me (sorry for the late reply btw, i wanted to give them a listen before answering you)

i'm currently up to remi wolf (i didnt know that THAT tiktok song is by them until now!) and i fell in love with the brummies and doublecamp! im gonna take some time going over their discography to find some more songs but yeah im really into them so far 💛

and if by any chance you're also looking for new music, i humbly suggests these artists that i hope are new names to you too in exchange for this lovely list :

glass animals - ik theyre popular now but i much prefer their earlier moodier sound in their album ZABA that i think is right up your alley

allocai - dark, mysterious, intimate vibes

bülow - the songs 'first place' and 'revolver' specifically

gabrielle aplin - i think this is how i found out about sasha sloan when i used one of her songs as a radio

cigarettes after sex - essentially what i thought of when i heard 'alone with you' by the brummies

babygirl - happy chill beats + sad lyrics

that's it from me ahahaha i just wanna thank you again for this, i've been enjoying listening to them ☺️ and i hope you have a lovely rest of your week, anon 💛💛

#lovely asks #music recommendation #not art

[suit-boys]

A vibe

#kajagoogoo #i know nothing about them #orher than one of the singers #went onto make the theme for neverending story #im just listening to synth pop late at night #& needed to share #neverending story #the neverending story

[stresseddepressed-student]

Artist you should be listening to and what they’re music makes me feel like

Sports Team:

music makes me feel like im at a party grooving with my friends, getting wasted. slightly funky but mostly 80′s with a lot of synth. slightly beach boys with the guitar strumming. 

recommended song(s): M5 and Camel Crew

Jacob Noah:

music is rad to be driving near the beach at night with the windows down and the salty air stinging your nose. I can literally smell the sunscreen and sea water. sort of 80′s funk but sounds more like Dayglow mixed oddly enough with The NBHD

recommended song(s): If It Wasn’t (For you)

Fran Vascilic

music similar to Frank Ocean with white boy vocals. slow drive to the airport at 3 in the morning. feels like when you’re coming down from a bad trip. has slight Joji vibes with the guitar picking and vocal fry. musical progression feels akin to the “Up” sad song (you know which one i’m talking about)

recommended song(s): It’s Been a Fun Ride, but it’s Time to Say Goodbye and Day 39/167

Maris

super underrated I think. Jazz. straight up Jazz. she is absolutely fantastic. I’m in a Smokey bar with red lipstick and a cigarette I’m not even smoking hanging off my finger. Or in at a funeral in New Orleans. there is no in-between. she is an acquired taste, but you can really get into it. 

Recommended song(s): Two Part Invention

Gatton: 

a new age Sam Smith. I know we’re all a little tired of it, but he’s worth listening to. Listen to him while in your shower, turn the lights out, and lean dramatically against the wall. influenced by Christianity but he’s not a Christian artist. 

recommended song(s): When Scars Become Art and They Just Exist

The Ugly Boys

They are not ugly, just a forewarning. you will probably develop crushes. late 90′s pop. heavily influenced by boybands but with a funky vibe. imagine if the Wallows were a boyband. the boy who cruises on his skateboard in a wife-beater and dickies in Venice beach probably listens to this song. they also rap, but white boy rap. The guitar progressions sound influenced by The Eagles.

recommended song(s): Run Away!, Down Down Down, and Smoke and Sunshine. 

#the ugly boys #gatton #maris #fran vasilic #jacob noah #sports team

[rorybergstrom]

    hello, it’s nora again…. hitting u with another child. this one is more rough around the edges in therms of development, cos he is brand spanking new for lockwood. a longhaired softboi who deserves tenderness. has a burner phone and doesn’t use social media. help me mould them into a fleshed out member of the human race with love and tender kisses. as is tradition, here’s the pinterest board x

application.

( demi-boy ) haven’t seen RORY BERGSTRÖM around in a while. the TIMOTHEE CHALAMET lookalike has been known to be ECCENTRIC & METHODICAL, but HE / THEY can also be HESITANT & DOGMATIC. The 23 year old is a JUNIOR majoring in MUSIC TECHNOLOGY. I believe they’re living in AUDAX but I popped by earlier and no one answered the door. 

aesthetics. 

bed hair from a permanent state of slumber, calloused fingertips from strumming bass into the early hours and djing into the blacklit night, self-help books thumbed once and thrown beneath your bed, battered copies of choose your own adventure books, spliffs passed half-arsed across rooftops while light pollution obscures low-hanging stars, marxist literature in stacks against your bedroom walls, a burner phone twice-shattered and a stash of replacement sim cards. 

connection to tatiana & did they choose her name during the watershed?

never spoke to her but had an unrequited crush on her. morally conflicted and didn’t want to select a name. probably had a chidi-from-the-good-palce-esque meltdown and eventually closed his eyes and selected randomly so he probs doesn’t know who he picked.

half-swedish, half-british. the swedish is on his mother’s side. he’s bilingual but thinks in english. only really speaks swedish around his mother. only child, and kinda put a lot of pressure on himself to be the Perfect Kid when he was young, but his parents are honestly, quite decent? and just want him to have a nice life, they don’t care if he isn’t successful or rich or anything, they’re honestly rather solid. (wow imagine having Nice Parents, a first for all my characters, im literally this meme)

grew up in peckham, a suburb of london. growing up, his mum was a model / actress / waitress who later retrained as a speech therapist and his dad worked in her majesty’s service at buckingham palace. his dad wasn’t allowed to tell his family what his job entailed but rory suspects it’s probably very boring and just involves a lot of…. logistics n security.

was bullied a lot at school. [cole sprouse voice] he didn’t fIT iN AND HE DIDN’T wANT TO fIT iN. unironically wore a trenchcoat to school every day of his life. spent most of his lunchtimes in the library because it was his Safe Space. as a result he knows…. loads of useless information because 30% of his school years were spent reading anthologies on space and the vikings etc. would be good on a game show. obsessively recorded every episode of university challenge as a child.

middle-class and lowkey quite wealthy but rarely talks about money, one of those well-off people who still wears really old shitty shoes and only spends money if they absolutely have to

virgin who can’t drive

into star wars, not into the big bang theory. feminist. can’t watch horror movies

favourite film is where the wild things are. also loves the florida project. thinks kids are the sweetest thing and can’t wait to be a dad to some

has been musical for as long as they can remember. first picked up guitar because he thought it would make this girl esther who he was in love with like him, but he just ended up falling in love with music instead.

formulated several different bands as a kid but ultimately had to give it up cos he was quite controlling and got fixated on making a certain sound so it wasn’t really fun for the others. got into electronic music because it was something he could do basically on his own and keep tweaking until he got it perfect

always drumming their fingers or strumming invisible guitar strings. tends to avoid parties bc he has quite has specific tastes when it comes to music and doesn’t like listening to r&b for eight hours while people throw up into plastic cups.

a techno connoisseur. has been making electronic music since he was about twelve.

after his parents divorce, when he was fourteen, rory & his mother moved to run-down suburban neighbourhood, pittsfield, massachussets.

big into photography. he mostly uses a canon 35mm camera, but occasionally uses disposable ones when he wants that more rustic feel.

moving to the states, their photography became more focused on suburban neighborhoods and are often quite dark and cinematic (think gregory crewsden). here are some shots of pittsfield i really like which rory has on his wall [1] [2] [3]

falls in love 12 times a day. never had a girlfriend or boyfriend. gets sweaty when someone cute looks at him. flirting?? what?? would prefer to idealise them from a distance

gender??? hm. doesn’t really know where they fit yet, sometimes he feels like a guy and sometimes they doesn’t feel like anything at all. isn’t really bothered, cos they think it’s a social construct anyway. uses he/they pronouns interchangeably, but feels like ‘he’ is more fitting. won’t necessarily pull anyone up on it cos he knows having an identity that’s constantly…. in flux.. can be annoying for others … and doesn’t want to be a burden EVEN THO it isn’t at all?? rory internalises guilt

everything is socially constructed. mirrors let you move through time. the whole thing’s a metaphor. he thinks he’s got free will but really he’s trapped in a maze. in a system. all he can do is consume. people think it’s a happy game. it’s not a happy game — it’s a fucking nightmare world, and the worst thing is, it’s real and we live in it

has ocd. tries to let it affect his life as little as possible, but obviously it’s incredibly hard to control a compulsive disorder. was teased for it at school when other kids started to notice. he was obsessed with the number five, would wash his hands five times, count stairs i groups of five, he could only use the corridors in one direction and always had to keep his hands busy. it manifests itself in hyper-fixations (trains when he was a child – specifically steam engines – then later he became obsessed with space and the patterns of constellations, and now he’s obsessed with synthesizers) and repetitive behaviours like counting stairs. doesn’t really affect his social life at all, he can jst get a bit locked-on n hyper-focused sometimes.

has insomnia. barely ever sleeps. finds it hard to switch off from work / writing / gaming / whatever’s preoccupying him in that moment. he’s always awake at 5am and quite often sleeps in through classes but still gets really good grades because he’s very good at his course. rarely attends classes. prefers to work independently. doesn’t really trust his tutors are intelligent enough to be teaching him, and is particularly suspcious of the lockwood tutors. a music snob tbh

secretly a small-scale drug dealer, only does weed n some party pills. had cannabis plants growing in brifghton but basically lost most of it in the fire. rollerskates around campus dealing cos they dnt have a car

long haired, aesthetic is like... timmy in lady bird n beautiful boy

aesthetics: bed hair from a permanent state of slumber, calloused fingertips from strumming bass into the early hours and drumming into blacklit night, self-help books thumbed once and thrown beneath your bed, watching vine compilations until your eyes turn square, battered copies of choose your own adventure books, spliffs passed half-arsed across rooftops while light pollution obscures low-hanging stars

likes: techno, the webpage cats on synthesizers in space, allen ginsberg, vintage gramophones,  floating points, lcd soundsystem, marijuana, soft dogs that let you pet them, late-night strolls talking about the universe, independent films, cigarettes, herbal tea, gallows humour, long showers, brown eyes, tchaikovsky, dr. seuss, constellations, photography, late night jazz, vintage game boys and girls who could rip his still-beating heart out of his chest and use it as an ashtray. dislikes:  weddings, funerals, formality, button-up shirts that people actually button-up, bananas, hot coffee, social media, people who watch and play sports, rap music – especially of the misogynistic variety, indie wankers in wire-framed glasses that play ed sheeran songs at open mic nights. 

plot ! with ! me ! i’d say all the usual “exes fwb hookups spiel” but rory... has never hooked up with anyone... i feel like a deer in the headlights of love....... so give me 

study buddies, 

people who are also into techno and are music snobs about it, 

people who love all kinds of music, 

people who are in bands that maybe rory’s recorded and produced stuff for, 

people he actually jams with (he plays bass and synth), 

unrequited crushes!! 

someone they met at a knitting club in freshman year and have remained friends with despite no longer going to it

 people rory knows from open mic nights and gigs

library girlfriends / boyfriends that he stares at longingly while paging through leatherbound volumes

gamers !!! social recluses !!! hermits !!

people he deals weed to on his rollerskates (why r all my characters obsessed with rollerskates)

skaters. rory is really shit at skateboarding. like really shit. help the smol

#water:intro #hi i changed his fc to timmy bc he's..... perfect for rory so soft so smol so tired so fluffy

[rozenmich]

Tae, The cat. Introduction

~Ladies and Gentlemen, peers, mah dudes.

Welcome to the shitshow. Sorry I already failed. I'm supposed to just inform you that the content below is full of profanity, dumb jokes and shounen ai content. That means romantic cutely sweet guys being gay. Cause this is my love story. Or some shit like that. So go ahead and enjoy.

Or hate it. I don't know. I'm not your mom. So far actually it's just about me and my bestie. But we will get there people. Baby steps. Baby steps.

Do please show your love if you are interested in my story, cause even tho I find it creepy. God. Or more like the loser writing this story, likes attention and it's a deeply flawed person with no self esteem.

So yeah

-Love, Tanner

~

"Tae... Tae!..." Her voice was being suffocated by the loud music coming from his headphones. He was staring to the table in front of him, a blue tray with food siting between his arms. Suddenly a third arm appeared slamming the table scaring the living shit out of him. But he immediately recognised the caramel brown flawless skin of his best friend Isabella, God damn her and her naturally soft skin, who then pulled from the cord of his headphones, them falling on his shoulders, Tae pouted following her with his grey eyes as she sat on front of him, she seemed upset. He could tell by the way the strand of hair in the top of her head curled, and not really from the wide eyes, heavy breathing and frown she was dedicating him.

"Dude! What the hell?!"

Yeah she definitely was upset, Tae's dyed light blue and pink cat ears lower themselves in guilt as he realised what was wrong. He quickly grabbed his phone and pause the music. They usually walked to the cafeteria and had lunch together, but Isabella, a teacher's pet, was talking with the science fair coordinator and Tae after class just went his own way.

"I'm sorry man, I-" Tae began explaining but Isabella shaked her head shushing him while she took a bite of her mash potatoes, She knew Tae had trouble reading people, he was clueless when it came to normal human expressions, but she was the exception, they had known each other for so long that Tae knew by heart her other tells about her mood and her usual triggers, so she could guess what he was about to say.

"Man, it's not only that you left me behind. You have being distracted lately. Are you Okay?" The tone of concern in Isabella's voice scared Tae, and also surprised him. He tilted his head trying to think how to phrase his worries as he grabbed a fork and started eating with her.

"It's San Valentine's Day soon..." Tae started explaining looking at his food, avoiding her gaze "I usually don't care too much but. It's the first time I will spend it completely alone eating Cheetos on my pyjamas while playing Final Fantasy all day. That's a really sad thing to do in a day for friendship and love you know?"

Tae had just started living on his own, no family, no roommates. And he felt unexpectedly lonely.

Isabella open her eyes in surprise, hearing those words coming out of shy, scared of people, awkward Tae was truthly amazing. Isabella thought that the scenario Tae just described would be heaven for him, but she wasn't one to dismiss the worries of her best friend.

"But Final Fantasy are all about friendship!" Isabella joked which made Tae just look at her like 'seriously?' with a smirk as he still found it funny, she thought about it for a moment leaving the joke behind.

"Since when you became a sad cliche? Tae, come on, I would totally crash at your place if you want me to!" The young girl said with a soft smile trying to cheer him up, Tae looked at her lifting one of his cat ears in interest.

"Mmm? I thought you where going to this concert with your boyfriend"

Isabella chuckle softly and shrug. "Yeah that was the plan. But he didn't want to go once he heard who the band was and where it was. I can't blame him, he's not the one for those kind of things." Isabella pulled her backpack from her back and started rummaging through it. It was blue and was full of pins with nerdy puns and chemical symbols, just the sight of it gave Tae a headache as school wasn't exactly the favourite thing in his life. Finally Isabella handed him a ticket.

"Maybe we should go after all. I didn't thought about inviting you sooner since I thought you don't like this kind of music either"

Tae was one hundred percent more into foreign pop music and indeed heavy rock wasn't much of his style so he was a bit doubtful at first. He grab the ticket and inspect it more carefully. Late at night, some shady basement, several bands from town but different schools...

"Maddo Pinku?! Oh for the love of spaghetti with meatballs dude!" Tae's tail started to wave in excitement as he lifted his eyes to look at the other side of the cafeteria where a small group of eccentric people had gather lively talking about something Tae wasn't able to hear from so far away. The girl was obviously the center of attention. The table shined with the glitter of popularity and social status. The girl had way too much eyeliner listening to the bassist yelling the loudest he was all over the place, the drummer which had a face mask resting under his chin to be able to eat, was having a more chill conversation with the guy on the synth trying his damn hardest to not listen to his bandmate's rambling and yelling. Dispite them all going dressed in black they managed to stand out.

That was Maddo Pinku, or at least the girl dressed like a Gothic lolita, the rest of guys where her band mates.

"Yep, That's Taylor alright." Isabella replied with a sweatdrop. Maddo Pinku is just her stage name, but she insisted on being called that to everyone even teachers as she hated deeply the name Taylor. "I didn't imagine you like their music"

"I do!" Tae said turning to her but then shaked his head relaxing a bit "Well not exactly, I like the style of kawaii metal, obviously" Tae made a sign to Isabella to look at him, light blue with pink coloured hair, glasses, a lilac hoodie with a Hello Kitty pattern and some black jeans and finger less gloves. Of course also his cat ears and tail but that was just a biological advantage for his aesthetic. Isabella rolled her eyes with a smile "but heavy music does hit me hard so..." Tae looked back at the ticked and ended up shrugging sliding it into his pocket "What the hell let's go. If we are lucky they end up being terrible and at least we get a good laugh out of the whole deal"

Isabella gasped pretending to be shocked putting her hand on her chest as she laughed, happy that she had someone to go with "Tanner, you evil maniac" Isabella wasn't exactly fan of Maddo Pinku but of music in general. It had a lot more power than people realize.

She stuck her tongue out at Tae, who's full name is indeed Tanner, in a teasing manner.

Tae could relate to Taylor, as he also disliked his name but he didn't had a cool stage nickname like Maddo Pinku for people to call him by instead. But hey Tae was pretty dope too.

Their table was completely empty, Isabella and Tae where nerds, different kind of nerds but nerds nonetheless and their friend circle was... Limited. Apart from Isabella's boyfriend no one else talked to them much unless they had to and they both where perfectly okay with that. It's not that there weren't other gamers in school, geeks or even weeabos, but Isabella and Tae where shy people, and just with one friend was enough, so they never forced themselves to get more. They where sort of invisible most of the time and they found comfort in that.

Isabella had her boyfriend but Tae... Only had Isabella. When he found himself unable to sleep late at night, when Isabella wasn't in class, when he was picked last on the science fair he realised.

He was lonely.

It was completely different, more cold, than being alone. Lonely meant he had no one around to share his happy moments with, and it was starting to weight on him. He didn't want to overwhelm Isabella but he also didn't undestood too well the art of making friends. He wasn't streight up weird however, or 'that' kid, so he still had some hope about making a new friend dispite his struggle to understand people's intentions. He wants to step out of his comfort zone and live the best life he can.

Even Isabella was just a happy accident he didn't plan. After Tae was failing chemistry he was tutored by Isabella and they ended up making a lasting friendship after Tae drag her with him into the vast void of procrastination.

"How did you got this tickets anyways?" Tae asked suddenly which disoriented Isabella for a moment, but she then smiled proudly.

"I won them in a podcast giveaway! I love listening to podcasts" Isabella mimicked being a DJ making a funny face that made Tae laugh.

"Really? I'm kind of surprised"

"Yeah! I like to hear them while im working, the voices make me feel more comfortable"

Tae smiled softly nodding in understanding, he took a deep breath in a bit of relief. The fact that Isabella had a similar problem made him feel a little bit better. There was always the possibility she couldn't relate and ended up judging him a bit for it but Tae knew Isabella isn't that kind of person.

Tae looked up at the band group eating together again, he found himself actually looking forward to it. Not because the band but because he would have a lot of fun with Isabella.

Adventure. Friendship. Music. It was perfect.

More perfect that he could even imagine.

#lgbt #lgbtq #cute #kawaii #pastel boi #pastel boy #pastel #writing #original fiction #my fic #short story #introduction #shounen #gay story #cute story #love story #romance #romance story #original #original character #ocs #nekomimi #kenomimi

[itwashotwestayedinthewater]

sams songs 2017

ive listened to music this year. here are the top tracks. from any years.

https://open.spotify.com/user/teleguide/playlist/7BhpdJ33dLNBv5PlMt8NM6

Grouper - Headache

i love grouper. i love her and her music! this song from last year absolutely kills me and is perfect music and audio wise. abandoned church in a forest at 6am dawn breaking music.

The Jesus And Mary Chain - Something’s Wrong

when i first listened to psychocandy 2 years ago i hated that shit. the start of this year i came back to it and now its one of my fav albums of all time. the harsh noise of the poppy boys ruins my ears in a beautiful way. this song is the peak of that

Nick Drake - Place To Be

You’ll know this. i love nick and regret not getting into him sooner

Frank Ocean - Nights

Long piece of R&B that i love with all my soul and has at least 5 seperate amazing bits in it that i always come back to and thank frank for every day of my life

John Fahey - Poor Boy

late last year i listened to john fahey, creator of american primitivism for the first time and didnt think much of it, until i heard this song early this year. it literally spurred me to start learning guitar seriously and for real. Without it i wouldnt have started practising blues fingerpicking every day 7 months ago and actually be at a decent place in guitar playing! so thanks john.

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - She’s Leaving

Something else that has come to me in 2017 is the long awaited love of early 80s new wave/post punk/synth music. I’ve always known OMD but this song really made me go “oh fuck” and accept new wave into my braine and music library.

Airiel - In Yr Room

this is a 9 minute long shoegaze pop masterpiece and i love it. nothing gets me like that fucken chorus. i never notice its length. im always in my room when i listen to it :~)

New Order - All Day Long

Here we are in the 80s again. I properly listened to this for the first time while quite zooted and it sounded massive. like 4 synth drums in a massive plane hanger. i just pissed!

XTC - Senses Working Overtime

1     2     3     4    FIVE          SENSES WORKING    O   VER      TIME          thanks dad!

Big Thief - Objects

my frend xandre sunbeame showed me big thief and this album owns! my fav is this. i love the drum mixing on this whole thing

Nite Jewel - Nothing But Scenery

Chillwave Heiress nite jewel comes back and kills me with a subby subtle bassline and well placed kicks. she inspires me nd this song owns.

Slowdive - She Calls

Self explanatory

Alvvays - Lollipop

ur my lollipop! :-)

Kendrick Lamar - LOVE

It’s good. fuck u

Elizabeth Cotten - Freight Train

she’s the real reason i play guitar like i do. a wonderful woman who defined blues, delta blues, piedmont blues, country blues, and playing instruments and singing without needing training

[xianoquendo]

a year wrapped: 2019 MUSIC

the wide ground of music is inescapable. i have been a chameleon for this field when it comes to preference. every year, unexpected new artists surface with the vigor and might to conquer, they come and dismantle or improve my taste, but at the same time, some old artists have the strength lasting long enough to enamor my ears as they resurface. classics and new arrivals in the game. they mix and match, a mishmash that forms music for me... i know it's really late for this, but these are my top 2019-released songs (in order);

20. In My Room - Frank Ocean

Frank Ocean was a weirdo for the music industry last year, surfacing on the edge of 2019 to release surprise songs that none found favorable. In My Room seems to be a departure from the emotional Blonde but also appears to be an entrance for a new world. Its heavy beats are drowning for my ears, but the lyrics, as usual, hits a pang of sentimental world. A journey again through Ocean's experiences. "Quit being violent with me. You make me violent. My room. My roomie."

19. Dance Monkey - Tones and I

Dance Monkey saw a world-wide smash lasting its waves until the start of 2020. It's another product of TikTok-enables-hits. It's nothing but an eargasm, no more than those. Is this song beautiful? I don't know either. But one thing's sure: It surely is catchy. I remember playing this all the time as I take a bath. The vibes are strong with Tones and I's out-of-this-world voice.

18. Banaag - Munimuni

Banaag is one of the few entries of Munimuni in this list. The OPM was simply not the same as it was when Munimuni released their debut album: the bars are now set higher. Banaag exhibits a beautiful prose partnered with overwhelming flutes and lovable strums. It offers a view of how an undying love persists. The instrumental interludes are breath-taking and alluring. It brings you to another world. No one will match Munimuni's lyricism. A fluent, elegant and colorful boasting of Filipino. They live up to tell that our music is more as they use the power of our own language. This is a song about true love, and you are ought to feel how true it is by simply listening. "Magmaliw man ang araw, magtago man ang mga ilaw, ako ay mananatili kailan pa man." - no one ends a song as dearing as this one does.

17. Too Much - Carly Rae Jepsen

The pop market is alive again thanks to Carly Rae Jepsen. Too Much is just one of Carly Rae Jepsen's songs in this list. When she released Dedicated during the first quarter of the year, it became an inescapble experience for me, just like what her Emotion album did. It's always a cycle with her. With this song, Jepsen successfully defines the perils of loving too much. It defines a fear but only in a way that a popstar always do, through dancing it all out with the powerful beats and synths. The solitude percolates out of lyrics, both being personal and relatable. "I'll do anything to get to the rush. Now im dancing, and im dancing too much. So be careful if you want this touch. Cause when I love you, then I love you too much... Is this too much?" - It is a reflection under the disco lights. It is what you feel when you are both happy and worried about falling in love.

16. Blame It On Your Love - Charli XCX ft. Lizzo

Another true popstar releasing a full album last year, is Charli XCX. Blame It On Your Love is a carefree promotional single, not in a bad way but in the good way. A careless exhibition of just singing away all your thoughts. The beat invites you to jive along with it as it reveals careless sentiments like blaming lovers and saying that you are done with all the pain. Lizzo plays out an empowering rap. It appears to be a girl-power anthem, but the gays and guys won't mind if they dance along too.

15. Dulo Ng Hangganan - IV Of Spades

IVOS' debut album was another mythic scenario for the OPM last year. They cemented their way to become a stable archetype of edgy pop band. Dulo Ng Hangganan is like the successor of Mundo, only it staggers with too much emotions. It is painful but it manages to coat itself with beauty. Zild's voice is something to live up to.

14. Hawak - KOLARERAL, Tao

KOLATERAL was last year's biggest grenade of OPM. It is overflowing with anger, emotions, purpose and quality. It's the only music entity to demand justice and that speaks a lot already. The RnB and Rap industry prospers in full-scale, but when Kolateral came, the game changed and now the industry demands purpose and sense. Hawak is the only non-rap song on the album, it is lightly RnB but doesn't boast much of the heavy beats. It is perhaps the most important song of the album. It is more of a vivid narration, with emotions that can awake all the blind people. A powerful movement and realization rooted from the tragedy of our country. The first time I listened to it, I sobbed. The second time, I still sobbed. It is very powerful, emotional and striking. "Ang buhay ba namin barya para sa katulad nila? Walang laman tiyan, pero katawan namin punong-puno ng tingga. Karahasan ba ang sagot? Karapatan ba ay limot? Anong dahil, anong dahilan ba nito?" - Its lyrics can almost grasp a Palanca trophy. No one can picture injustice as clear as this song.

13. She - Harry Styles

Harry Styles proves to be a wonderful artist, escaping more and more from the dreadful generality of 1D's music. This song shows a new Harry Styles, a reborned daredevil willing to explore new grounds. The mellow of his debut album are now all gone, now there are sensual daydreams and strums of nightmares hidden behind electric guitars. You can drown in his powerful instrumental interludes and escape your reality in exchange for a short time in a bar or under the neon sky of Harry's world.

12. Softly - Clairo

Clairo's debut album solidifies her status as a star. The mellowness of Softly attracts ears ang angels. Her voice is angelic as ever, and more poweful now that it tells stories in her narratives of falling in love. It touches and tickles your heart to beat. It is light. It is glinting. It makes you want to fall in love. She is a touch of youthful joy and an aroma of tender and loving innocence.

11. Cornelia Street - Taylor Swift

Lover didn't live up to meet Reputation or 1989, but it has its deep cuts and special tracks that still make the album tolerable at least. Cornelia Street is one of those deep cuts. Taylor will always be good at narrative tragic lovestories, along with defining the painful waves of that. She makes the most out of street names and apartment doors. With this song, she vividly puts the listeners into the streets of New York, in the windows of apartments, beside our previous lovers, making you feel how it is to fall and how it is to bleed. It sounds personal. It feels special.

10. Maniac - Conan Gray

Maniac is nothing compared to Conan Gray's emotional, sentimental and mellow songs, but that's what makes it beautiful. It is so striking and violent that it makes another image for Conan Gray. It proves that Conan Gray is made up of different ideas and powers. Maniac gives you the power to belittle and bewitch your past lovers. It puts confidence in you as you dance all the pain away. It has something in its beats and lyrics that empowers you as you scream YOU MANIAC! like a true liberated person. It's like being so full with everything and finally breaking out of the cycle. Liberating and amusing at the same time. A move-on anthem.

9. Party For One - Carly Rae Jepsen

2019 was a year of solitude and singularity for me. And I should thank Carly Rae Jepsen for making a song that makes me feel happy and thankful that I am single. Party For One is an anthen for the single people. It lives up to its title: it really feels like partying when you listen to it. It is liberating to feel all the emotions that this song can give you. The beats are perfectly modest to its lyrics, they mix together well to give you a stream of joy and power. "If you don't care about me, I'll just dance for myself, back on my feet!" - exhilarating and exciting. It mocks your pains on love away. It spits at your exes. An unapologetic and naive kind of happiness under the party lights.

8. Venice Bitch - Lana Del Rey

Lana Del Rey was the center of my 2019. Norman Fucking Rockwell! is the album of 2019. It's my album of the year. The emotions and lyricism rooting from womanhood deploys so much fire, spreading the tones everywhere. Lana Del Rey's soft voice hypnotizes you to follow her story of love and longingness. As the lead single of her album, it makes up a bizarre emotion in you and runs a solid entrance to the album itself. The night will simply dance with this song. It's 9 minutes long but you will dive in the song to realize that it is a masterpiece. The breaking beats and high-pitched strums are dazzling. The long interlude puts you in a trance. It is different emotions all in one.

7. Bawat Piyesa - Munimuni

Munimuni crafts the most perfect and honest Filipino love songs, and Bawat Piyesa proves that. Nothing is more moving than a song that overflows with emotions and feelings. Bawat Piyesa rains its listeners with sweetness and pain, it fills one's heart up. It is so honest to the point that it aches your heart to think that someone can craft a lovesong as honest as that. Teej's placid but poignant voice graces smoothly. The instruments perfected a masterpiece, and perhaps this song solidifies and stands out in the whole album. The emotions of Kulayan Natin, as an album, peaks at Bawat Piyesa. A proof that Munimuni's strength propsers in proses of love.

6. Finally // beautiful stranger - Halsey

Halsey's Manic was just released earlier this year, but its beauty already graced us by the end of last year. This song deserves to be more than just a promotional single. It is a step towards becoming a more diverse artist. Halsey has always been wild and rabid with songs that shows her evolution and power as a woman, but with this song, she melts down to be honest and endearing. She sits down with a guitar in an empty bar and sings her heart out. She yearns the affection but is afraid to fall. She is falling for a stranger, and it feels securing but also sad. She perfectly captures everything to formulate a something that everyone would relate to. A picture of raw feelings.

5. Fuck it I love you - Lana Del Rey

Lana Del Rey was indestructible last year with her album, the mainstream media wasn't fully aware of that but the critics know the power of her record. And it was a big robbery that she did not win Album of the Year for the Grammys this year. With FIILY, she casually narrates and spills her emotions out, but with respect to her Americana image (by casually using California as the setting) and the theme of her album. It's overwhelming how she portrays the vulnerability of women when it comes to loving. She is honest with that note. But at the same time, she appears to be a cool bitch who just don't give a fuck. "Turn the radio on, dancing to a pop song. Fuck it, I love you!" - the use of profanity to show how casual she is in terms of loving and in terms of her pains. Lana Del Rey is a true gem artist for this decade. And everyone knows that.

4. Bukod-Tangi - Unique Salonga

IV Of Spades may have reached different peaks of charts with their debut album last year, but the uncacalculatable Unique Salonga plays a match by releasing only two perfectly-crafted songs: Lamang Lupa and Bukod-Tangi. And the latter imposes so much emotions and power at its own style. Bukod-Tangi is a gem. It shouts a volume of representation for Unique as an artist: the emptiness of fame and the spontaneity. IV Of Spades may be enjoying their fame with their mainstream songs, but Unique Salonga is spilling his heart out with honest sentiments in his belittling of fame, and that sets him apart and makes him more of a genius and genuine artist. The song blooms with a happy tone and beat but the lyrics connotes a very deep sadness and emptiness, this makes this song unique and fun, it is a paradox. Happy beats + extremely sad lyrics = paradox. "Kahit may paghiyaw sa'king pangalan, at kahit naririnig ang palakpakan, ay ramdam ko ang pag-iisa." - that hits you right through your hearts' guts. I have never felt so alone and empty just by listening to a song. The echoing of "ramdam ko ang pag-iisa" at the end of the song will haunt your soul.

3. Graveyard - Halsey

Graveyard is a typical and regular pop song, but oddly, it spoke a lot to me as a person. I consider it as a love song despite its lack of mellowness and the heaviness of its beats. It is a dedication of yourself to someone, encorporated with one's grit to reach someone, despite digging your own grave - that's love for me. The way the song escalates from slow tune to a fast tumble-down of words feels amazing and sounds satisfying. It shifts from slow to fast to slow again to fast again. Halsey's voice can do that with perfection and ease. Her voice shows so much emotions and the lyricism and add-on sound effects are catchy. No one compares the warning signs to the butterflies except for Halsey. And no one gasps in a song record except for Halsey. A true powerful artist for our generation.

2. Norman fucking Rockwell - Lana Del Rey

Do I need to say something more? I already told a lot about Lana. And this song? With an intro saying "Goddamn manchild, you fucked me so good that I almost said 'I love you'", this song already proved its power. It's just what Lana do. She is a witch bitch. She will make you cry just by singing. She is THAT woman.

1. Real Love - Carly Rae Jepsen

Carly's Dedicated showcases too many emotions connected to love: the pain of it, the joy of it, jealousy, carelessness, youth, womanhood, everything. The album gives you the ups and downs of loving. And with Real Love, Jepsen was able to make you feel the lack and yearning for real love. It is brutally honest in a sense of fun. Something about yearning for love makes one sad but also hopeful at the same time, of what he/she will be facing when he/she finally reaches that love. "I go everyday without it, all I want is real real love." - Jepsen confesses neediness. Her demand for true love in this song will make you feel the sincerity of Jepsen as an artist. "Im not even scared about, all I want is real real love. But I don't know a thing about it, all I want is real real love." - you can feel the genuine desperation for affection, but the innocence and yearning wraps up in a drop beat after the line, and then everything else, just like how Jepsen does it, is under the disco, in a jive. It's fun how she puts alluring and amazing drop beats to her songs that will make you jive and dance and jump, but it's more amazing how the emotions of the song don't diminish despite the presence of these drop beats. Jepsen has made me feel how it is to yearn for love and dance at the same time, and with that notion itself, Jepsen has solidified me as a person through the 2019. A boy who wonders aimlessly trying to search for a thing that would satisfy him, while dancing through all the pains of its search. A brief touch of youth at its full strength.

[writingguide003-blog]

Songs of the summer 2018: our writers pick their favourite tracks

New Post has been published on https://writingguideto.com/must-see/songs-of-the-summer-2018-our-writers-pick-their-favourite-tracks/

Songs of the summer 2018: our writers pick their favourite tracks

As we reach that time of year when debates heat up over which track will be named most likely to soundtrack the hotter months, which songs are Guardian writers picking?

Ariana Grande No Tears Left to Cry

There is a fine art to the ballad banger. From Gloria Gaynors I Will Survive to Robyns Dancing On My Own, they require equal parts defiant survivalism and a bruised vulnerability. No Tears Left to Cry the first comeback single from Grandes forthcoming album Sweetener does both, filling summer dance floors with a beat-heavy sway, and also announcing her return in the face of prior tragedy with steely assurance. No Tears Left to Cry is an oath to keep the party throbbing no matter the cost. I just want you to come with me, she pleads. Im pickin it up, loving, Im livin so we turnin up. With twists and turns that keep listeners on their toes, its influence spans genres and eras, from new jack swing to grandiose pop, with Grande stamping her sweet yet vital falsetto all over the track. We way too fly to partake in all this hate is a great mantra for 2018, and all the punchier given the songs sticky hooks. EB

Kacey Musgraves High Horse

Consider this an endorsement not just for High Horse, Kacey Musgraves exuberant country-pop send-off to a man who thinks hes John Wayne, but for the entirety of her record Golden Hour, the most perfect collection of summertime tracks since Frank Ocean dropped Blonde in August 2016. Though it runs mostly counter to the US national mood, and prevailing trends in pop music, Golden Hour is a mature, delightful, gorgeously visual album, one where Musgraves lyrics wrap around her melodies like a vine. Any number of its songs make for good warm weather listening the opening and title tracks, specifically but High Horse certainly lends itself most easily to the coveted song of the summer designation. Marrying a disco beat to Musgraves Texan lilt, it typifies what the singer herself called space country, a cross-genre sound inspired in equal part by marriage and acid trips. JN

George Ezra Shotgun

Look, there were cooler songs I could have chosen: one of Risn Murphys brilliant singles with Maurice Fulton. Lizzos anthem-in-the-making Boys. Christine and the Queens immaculate Girlfriend (or to be properly cooler-than-thou, Damn, Dis-Moi, the French version). But I cant lie. This summer Ill be riding shotgun underneath the hot sun with George Ezra, whose ode to razzing around coastal roads in a car packed full of sweaty bodies and crisp crumbs is, I have accepted, essentially perfect. Plus the enjoyably mindless chorus vibrates at the peak frequency that any sunbaked brain can handle. LS

AJ Tracey and Not3s Butterflies

Over the past few years, UK rap has fallen under the spell of afrobeats and afroswing, a shift thats run parallel to the cool-ification of African culture more generally (see: Black Panther, the Nigeria kit). There hasnt been such a love affair with Caribbean music here, however. Enter AJ Tracey, the buzzy Ladbroke Grove MC, and his mate Not3s formerly the Addison Lee guy, now a rising rap star. Africas really well represented now, so hold tight with my African friends but my culture isnt represented, Tracey told the Fader earlier this month. And so the pair created a dancehall-inspired banger with refs to a posterior thats bigger than Jupiter, shooters gettin peeled like a mango, and even a nod to Lethal Bizzles Fester Skank. Could it kickstart a wave of Caribbean-style hits? Maybe. But for now its in an arch and impossibly laid-back league of its own. HJD

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever Mainland

From the possible indie rock album of the year, Hope Downs, this Melbourne quintets exuberant recent single could hardly sound more summery if it came with its own deckchair. And yet, those chiming power-pop guitars and uplifting tambourine bashes conceal an oncoming storm. The song was inspired by singer-guitarist Tom Russos visit to his parents birthplace in the Aeolian Islands, near Sicily, where he read about the Mediterranean refugee crisis. Thus, with vivid imagery of rotting piers and jagged rocks, Mainland reflects on the gulf between the secure and the dispossessed, and the randomness of fate and privilege: We are just paper boats bobbing adrift afloat / While winds of fortune shove us where they will / Woke up coughing on the shore, cold outcrop broken, sore / Back on the mainland, the chimps were coming up trumps. Its a deceptively feelgood anthem with a message for humanity during this hazy, crazy season in the sun. DS

Parcels Tieduprightnow

The de facto sound of summer tends to come with whomping bass and a throbbing kick-drum. It comes from open car windows, through the doors of bars late at night, or played tinnily through leaking headphones on buses. The sound I prefer is less 3am than 6pm, a hazy evening with a cold drink, something that skips rather than hammers. Parcels, from Australia, were noticed last summer when Daft Punk worked with them on Overnight. This years Tieduprightnow is less insistent, but just as lovely: pitched at a place where Orange Juice or Haircut 100 have turned the Chic knob on their amps up to 10, and the Byrds knob down to 0, and paired with a video that suits it perfectly: the band drive around the coast, not doing very much. Theres some surfing, theres a game of beach cricket. It looks how the record sounds: like joyful, aimless fun, the kind of day, and the kind of song, youd be happy to live through forever. MH

Cardi B, Bad Bunny and J Balvin I Like It

Its a bit on the nose, really, but these things often are. The artist of the moment paired with the Latin trap thats commanded the airwaves for a year-plus underpinned by an accessible, widely known sample in Puerto Rican singer Pete Rodriguezs 1967 boogaloo classic. The fourth single off Cardi Bs loaded debut LP, already popular even before Hot 97 started playing it every 10 minutes over the past month, is an irresistible bilingual trap-salsa bop that oozes exuberant summer vibes. Ella Mais Bood Up may be the sentimental choice (never more than after Sundays BET awards), but Cardis most vibrant triumph yet, with memorable assists from reggaeton titans Bad Bunny and J Balvin, is the one youll spend the next few months hearing from car windows. Youd be hard-pressed to engineer a better song of the summer in a lab. BAG

The Internet Come Over

Less of a pool party anthem and more of a rooftop bar scene-setter, the second track from the Internets new album Hive Mind is one of their finest to date, a sexy, slinky Prince-inspired ode to getting an object of desire to stop playing games. The song sees Syds delicate yet distinctive voice imploring a girl to give her the green light to come over, and by the time Steve Lacys guitar solo sneaks in, the sneakily effective argument is impossible to ignore. Theres a seductive sunset vibe to the accompanying arrangement and while the understated mellowness, a characteristic trait of their music as a whole, might not sound out quite as loudly as traditional songs of the summer, the balmy effect will stick around for far longer. BL

Disclosure Ultimatum

After a 15-month hiatus, the brothers Lawrence are back with Ultimatum, a shimmering sonic sunbeam driven by a vocal sample from Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara. While the last Disclosure album, 2016s Caracal, was a singles-oriented affair powered by cameos from pop megastars including The Weeknd, Lorde and Miguel, this new single suggests a return to form for the twentysomething brothers who were praised as the new lords of house music with their 2013 debut Settle and its worldwide hits Latch, F For You and White Noise. Shedding the standard verse/chorus structure, Ultimatum is more dancefloor oriented than those early tracks, and subtle in its moments of tension release, with builds dissolving into synth jazz better suited for daytime parties than darkened clubs. We have been missing you all immensely, Disclosure tweeted with the 17 May track release, so we wanted to share something weve been working on with you now the sun is shining, the trees are green and some dancefloors need filling. Their new album is expected next year; in the meantime, this Ultimatum demands you dance. KB

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us