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#John Byrne is a creep

samasmith23 · 6 months

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Massive kudos to Matt Fraction & Tom Brevoort for retconning John Byrne’s creepy weirdo crap with Reed Richards & Susan Storm!

#fantastic four #letters pages #matt fraction #tom brevoort #John Byrne is a creep #reed richards #mister fantastic #susan storm #invisible woman #retcons #trivia #marvel comics

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daresplaining · 2 months

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Heather: "Matt, that super-hero swinging by--! He could almost be Daredevil!" Matt (thinking): "I doubt that, Heather--since I'm Daredevil. On the other hand, whoever our young stalwart is, he's very good..." Iron Fist vol. 1 #11 by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, D. Warfield, Dan Adkins, and J. Costanza *(Flash Iron Fist Fact: The two guys creeping on Heather in the background are Marvel writer/editor Roger Stern and Jim Shooter.)

Here's Heather Glenn/Chris Claremont with some pretty incredible thirty-year foreshadowing...

Today (February 19th, 2024) marks the 50th anniversary of the first appearance of Iron Fist/Danny Rand in Marvel Premiere #15! The above page from almost exactly three years later was, though tiny and brief, technically the first crossover between the Iron Fist and Daredevil series. Danny liked Matt almost immediately when they did eventually meet in-person (Matt took a little more time to warm up to Danny, but that's Matt for you), and they would end up becoming close friends--with Danny, as mentioned, even filling in as Daredevil for a little while during the "Civil War" event and in the Brubaker/Lark DD run.

#Iron Fist vol. 1 #Daredevil #Matt Murdock #Heather Glenn #Iron Fist #Danny Rand #Iron Fist 50th #ID in alt text #Everybody say a big ol' happy 50th to my other guy!

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thebibliomancer · 9 months

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Essential Avengers: West Coast Avengers #38: REDEMPTION

November, 1988

The West Coast Avengers

In their greatest battle ever --

-- against THE DEFILER!

Really? Their greatest battle ever?

Is that what we’re going with?

Also, hi, Mockingbird. Hi, Iron Man.

You back on the team? Is the Redemption you two making up with the Avengers?

No.

This is a fill-in issue, set nebulously Sometime. Sometime before Iron Man quit because of Armor Wars. Sometime after Hank rejoined the team as Dr Pym. But also Sometime when Moon Knight wasn’t on the team. Which is an impossible time but maybe Moony had an errand to tend to.

The issue was written by Dan Chichester and Margaret Clark instead of Englehart.

When Englehart is forced from the book, the official reason is that he was getting behind on deadlines. Having a fill-in issue does sort of support that. Although Englehart himself claims that new EIC DeFalco didn’t like him and gave the book to John Byrne as a favoritism thing.

But this is not the time to get into that. Not when we have the West Coast Avengers’ Greatest Battle Ever.

This issue isn’t totally without context. It opens with the West Coast Avengers (Hawkeye, Wonder Man, the Vision, Scarlet Witch, and Mantis) grimly flying in a Quinjet. Maybe on a quest to help Mantis get her memory back. Maybe on their way back from their part in Evolutionary War.

And Wonder Man, looking exceptionally mulleted today muses about the downbeat mood the team is under since they split up.

Wonder Man: “Boy, things are sure different than they used to be. It doesn’t seem that long ago when we were a real team. Teamwork was the only way we could have beaten the Defiler... the only way that boy Mike could have gained -- REDEMPTION.”

FILL-IN ISSUE!

Mike (that guy in the black vest is Mike) THWAMs that ABSOLUTELY GIANT ARM with a trash can lid and tries to run to safety with Susan (red shirt girl). They need to tell someone what “he’s up to!” Maybe some Avengers. Some Avengers have been flying around the area.

But Mike trips on a pipe and smashes his head on a dumpster. And he’s so woozy that the ABSOLUTELY GIANT MAN catches up.

Defiler: “Now, little ones -- you both owe me -- and it’s about time I collect!”

He grabs and hoists both of them by their necks.

But luckily there really were some random (West Coast) Avengers in the area, just as rumored.

Tigra and Wonder man show up in the random alley and say “ordinary creeps like you we eat for breakfast!” so tell him to let the guy and girl go.

So the Defiler throws the kids aside and beats one motherfucker with another motherfucker.

But after smashing the two Avengers, the Defiler feels drained. While the Avengers are still stunned, he grabs Mike and Susan and drags them off toward a Corruption of Innocence feat. the Defiler billboard.

The billboard becomes a swirling green portal and the Defiler yeets Susan and then Mike into it.

While Susan flies in clean, Mike gets snagged on one of the billboard lights. When Tigra and Wonder Man recover and rejoin with Dr Pym, Iron Man, Hawkeye, and Mockingbird, they spot a chain poking out of the billboard.

Iron Man and Wonder Man yank Mike out of the billboard.

Although, we get a little return to Wonder Man being a dick to Iron Man specifically when Iron Man can’t pull Mike free by himself.

Wonder Man: “Fancy suit not up to the job, Iron Man? Let me give you a real man’s hand!”

Mike is covered in yellow-orange chunky goo but he seems okay aside from that. He insists that they need to save Susan because he got her into this.

And what’s this?

Hard core music.

HEAVY METAL -scare chord-

That’s what the redemption in the title is about. Mike needs redemption. For getting Susan into hard core music.

Lol. Roflmao.

In fairness, his favorite band happened to be hiding a dark secret. And Mike introduced Susan to the Defiler and got them both jobs as roadies for him.

Their friends started going missing and they didn’t realize why until they caught the Defiler yeeting someone into a portal. And that’s what happened today and why they were fleeing.

Hawkeye asks Dr Pym his science opinion and based on nothing, Hank spells out a theory where the Defiler is yeeting people into another dimension in exchange for energy but that the people are probably still alive. FOR NOW.

He’s right but its based on zero backing evidence.

Mike says there’s another concert this very night so they gotta save his thousands of fans.

The (West Coast) Avengers agree to go fight the guy. It’s what they do. But they tell Mike that obviously they’re not going to bring a civilian into it just because he feels bad about getting his girlfriend into the wrong genre of music.

They leave him but he determines to follow anyway.

The West Coast Avengers hit the concert and find that the Defiler is ready for them. An energy barrier stops them from getting too close. And that wily hard core rocker starts sucking the audience into dimensional portals.

Blue grass would never do this.

Since they can’t get through the energy dome, the West Coast Avengers do something I do honestly wish people would try more often when big domes come up in stories.

They just go under it.

They dig into the ground and pop up behind the stage.

Iron Man even gets back at Wonder Man because the Silver Centurion armor is better at tunneling than Wonder Man is.

I have no idea why they’re on this dick waving contest.

Anyway, dig a tunnel. Sneak into the concert. Yeah, and then Wonder Man decks the Defiler. Just fucking punches him across the entire venue.

Meanwhile, the West Coast Avengers take out the screens turned dimensional portals.

Iron Man, rescuing some audience members: “Let me help steer you kids straight -- you can’t let yourselves get sucked into just anything, you know!”

You’re such a nerd, Tony.

But not as big a nerd as Hank Pym.

Scraggin’ flies?

Y’know what? I’m not going to criticize. I adore too much Hank keeping a tiny baseball glove in his pocket in case he needs to make it big to catch something.

I love his magical pockets containing literally whatever.

Since Mockingbird can’t effectively fight the Defiler or knock down dimensional portals, she’s directing people to the exit. So she’s the one that spots Mike trying to sneak into the concert to be part of things.

She tells him to fuck off so he doesn’t get in the way but Iron Man shows up and tells Mike to fuck right back in because he’s essential to saving the day.

Up in the stadium seating, Tigra mocks the Defiler as a slow, clumsy, easy target and yeah she does manage to agile her way out of taking follow up hits. But when Wonder Man flies in to trade blows, the Defiler socks him and boasts that he’s visited other dimensions and drained the energy of their innocents. Its made him strong, donchaknow.

Over at Dr Pym, Iron Man, Mike, and Mockingbird, Dr Pym has a plan. BASED ON SCIENCE.

Since Mike went through one of these dimensional thingers, he might have energy clinging to him. And if that’s the case, he can be used as a key to open up the way for the West Coast Avengers.

And since Mike needs REDEMPTION for listening to heavy metal, he agrees to help.

Dr Pym gets a small piece of rope from his pocket which he embiggens into a bigger piece of rope so Iron Man can anchor the group. And then Mike, Mockingbird, and Dr Pym jump on in.

You’d think they’d take some of their bigger guns to go into an unknown dimension that eats people. But Wonder Man and Tigra are fighting the Defiler, Iron Man is anchoring the others so they don’t get stuck. And Hawkeye is contributing nothing.

Team Pym, Mockingbird and Mike find themselves drawn to an unearthly glow in the distance. Hank speculates that its the Defiler’s main battery and that its drawing energy out of them even at this distance AND drawing them closer.

Dr Pym, Mockingbird, and Mike find that all the captured fans and also hi Susan were trapped in some kind of goo. Which Hank calls an energy parasite. Because he’s just jumping to correct conclusions today.

Mockingbird starts slapping goo to free the folks and Hank PULLS OUT A GIANT-SIZED CHAINSAW!

I know that he can grow things as big as he likes but, like, isn’t that too big to handle? If you slip, you’re gonna cut an innocent person in half, Hank.

But apparently everything goes great.

Since everyone is too drained to walk back to the portal before it closes, Hank grows A GIANT SKATEBOARD FOR THEM ALL TO RIDE ON.

Sometimes comics, even fill-in comics, are great, actually.

Iron Man almost hears Hank’s call on the other side of the portal and yanks the giant rope to pull everyone to safety.

With all his batteries loose, the Defiler starts feeling weak.

He tries to stop Iron Man from hauling people free but Wonder Man and Tigra start kicking the shit out of him.

When the skateboard full of people is pulled loose, the portal starts going nuts. Trying to suck in anyone it can.

And the Defiler decides ‘Welp, time to mosey onto a new dimension’ but Mike gets his REDEMPTION for his evil, sinful decision to bring heavy metal into his sweet innocent girlfriend’s life by tackling the Defiler so he gets sucked into his own portal.

The Defiler: “I can’t go back... dead world... nothing to feed... to drain...”

I’m sure we’ll neverrrrrr see him again.

No, seriously. Villains from fill-ins don’t reappear as often. And this is the Defiler’s first and onliest appearance.

I won’t say he couldn’t be used again in an interesting way but there’s not a lot to him.

After everything settles down, Wonder Man muses that the people rescued from the Defiler were lucky.

Mockingbird: “Luck had nothing to do with it... that kid risked a lot to help us.”

Hawkeye: “Good for all of us there are some things you just can’t corrupt.”

I mean. Yeah, I guess?? He did risk a lot, going into the billboard dimension. And also he tackled a guy.

But playing this up as a big REDEMPTION for Mike? I dunno. His big failing was getting invested in a band that was secretly eating its fans. And his big redemption was tackling a dude.

It’s not landing for me. The redemption angle.

Mike isn’t much of a character and I don’t feel like his offense was offensive enough to warrant big, bold all-caps REDEMPTION as a title.

And him helping the Avengers out by having been half in a portal means his redemption is kinda passive. Sure, he wouldn’t take no for an answer and follow them to the concert when they told him to buzz off. But the help he gave the West Coast Avengers is that they used him to open a portal. Also, he tackled the guy.

Story was fine. Pretty goofy and pretty inoffensive for a fill-in. I like seeing Hank Pym and his deus ex pockets again. Weird that Moon Knight got dropped entirely out of the story and the story didn’t have a lot for Mockingbird to do.

But apparently it was a moment when the West Coast Avengers worked well as a team and Wonder Man thought they would last forever.

Its a tragic note that in the here and now the team has had a divorce because Hawkeye and Mockingbird can’t have a civil conversation about cowboy manslaughter.

Although, I want to note here. If Hank Pym is on the team as Dr Pym, that means that Mockingbird already did the manslaughter and is hiding it from everyone at this point where the team was working well together.

So it kind of undermines Wonder Man sighing about how those were the days.

Anyway, the plot finally catches up to the West Coast Avengers and the Quinjet starts crashing into the next issue.

It happens.

Follow @essential-avengers because soon the Englehart era will end. Will we miss him? Maybe. What’s to come has its own problems. But either way: like, reblog, comment? I like feedback. It makes me happy.

#avengers #west coast avengers #essential avengers #the Defiler #doesn't defile even once #Hawkeye #Mockingbird #Wonder Man #Tigra #Iron Man #Dr Pym #Hank Pym #Scarlet Witch #the Vision #Mantis #Mike the boy who did a wrong but then redeemed himself #Susan a love interest who was led astray into an evil music genre

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ashthedrawer · 3 months

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DIOLES PLAYLIST

EVERYONE

My Time - Bo En

The Phoenix - Fall Out Boy

The Last of the Real Ones - Fall Out Boy

I’m Still Standing - Elton John

My Alcoholic Friends - The Dresden Dolls

Burning Pile - Mother Mother

A Pearl - Mitski

Wrecking Ball - Mother Mother

Problems - Mother Mother

Hayloft II - Mother Mother

Istanbul (Not Constantinople) - They Might Be Giants

Seven Nation Army - The White Stripes

Fourth of July - Sufjan Stevens

Young - Vacations

Mind Over Matter - Young the Giant

Karma Police - Radiohead

Non-stop - Lin Manuel Miranda

4:00 A.M. - Taeko Onuki

I Hear a Symphony - Cody Fry

Just Take My Wallet - Jack Stauber

Christmas Kids - Roar

Black Sheep - Metric

Love, Me Normally - Will Wood

Young and Menace - Fall Out Boy

Just - Radiohead

Exit Music (For a Film) - Radiohead

Backdrifts - Radiohead

Safe & Sound - Taylor Swift

KICK BACK - Kenshi Yonezu

Centuries - Fall Out Boy

Duvet - Slowed Down Version - Bôa

My Body’s Made of Crushed Little Stars - Mitski

Malmo - Mook

THE BOARD GAME CLUB

Counting Stars - OneRepublic

One Normal Night - Company

Freaks - Surf Curse

Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana

First Rate Town - Good Kid

Blame It On The Kids - AViVA

The Adults Are Talking - The Strokes

Undercover Martyn - Two Door Cinema Club

FELIX

Boys Don’t Cry - The Cure

The Main Character - Will Wood

Brave as a Noun - AJJ

First Rate Town - Good Kid

Action Movie Hero Boy - Lemon Demon

Punk Tactics - Joey Valence & Brad

Shame - Mitski

Motion Picture Soundtrack - Radiohead

Look Away - The Dear Hunter

WINOLA

Bugbear - Chloe Moriondo

No Surprises - Radiohead

Monet Issues - Chase Petra

The Deal - Mitski

JANUARY

Everybody Loves Me - OneRepublic

Can I Get a Witness - SonReal

Say It Ain’t So - Weezer

Family Line - Conan Gray

Seventeen - Marina

Remember My Name - Mitski

When Will My Life Begin? - Mandy Moore

When Memories Snow - Mitski

My Shot - Lin Manuel Miranda

This Is The Life - Son Lux, Mitski, David Byrne

The Ultracheese - Arctic Monkeys

MADDOX

Afraid - The Neighbourhood

Boys Don’t Cry - The Cure

First Love/Late Spring - Mitski

Blue Hair - TV Girl

AKALI

First Love/Late Spring - Mitski

First Rate Town - Good Kid

Blue Hair - TV Girl

Rises the Moon - Liana Flores

BLISS

First Rate Town - Good Kid

The Soccer Journals - Everybody’s Worried About Owen

Daughter of a Cop - TV Girl

AVIL

Other Friends - Steven Universe

Oh Klahoma - Jack Stauber

Aimed to Kill - Jade LeMac

Blue Hair - TV Girl

My Love Mine All Mine - Mitski

ALZENA

I Bet On Losing Dogs - Mitski

Woman - Doja Cat

Poison - Bell Biv DeVoe

Toxic - Britney Spears

Back to the Old House - The Smiths

NYSSA

Better Than Me - The Brobecks

ASTLEY

People I Don’t Like - UPSAHL

Neutral Spirit Hotel - Local News Legend

Honey Whiskey - Nothing But Thieves

A Song Dedicated to the Memory of Stormy the Rabbit - AJJ

Mama’s Boy - Dominic Fike

Bug Like an Angel - Mitski

Crab - Alex G

RORY

Princess - TOPHAMHAT-KYO

2econd 2ight 2eer (That Was Fun, Goodbye.) - Will Wood

Nunemaker’s Parable - Everybody’s Worried About Owen

Sandy - Alex G

WILDER

Creep - Radiohead

Time/Space - Alex G

KUALI’I

Fog (Again) [Live] - Radiohead

Time/Space - Alex G

GUNTHER

Sharks - Imagine Dragons

Step On Me - The Cardigans

Are We Still Friends? - Tyler, The Creator

Back In School - Mother Mother

Rhinestone Eyes - Gorillaz

GOSSIP - Måneskin

I Don’t Smoke - Mitski

Sportstar - Alex G

Sky Like Dreams (SU) - CNML

MR PRADER

History Has Its Eyes On You - Christopher Jackson

I’ll Make a Man Out of You - Donny Osmond

PARADISE

Mad Hatter - Melanie Martinez

I WANNA BE YOUR SLAVE - Måneskin

Just a Man - Jorge Rivera-Herrans

The Man Who Sold the World (Live) - Nirvana

Stick Up - Grandson

Crossfire - Stephen

INDUSTRY BABY - Lil Nas X, Jack Harlow

Outliars and Hyppocrates: A Fun Fact About Apples - Will wood

Suburbia Overture / Greetings from Mary Bell Township! / (Vampire) Culture / Love Me, Normally - Will Wood

Memento Mori: The Most Important Thing In The World - Will Wood

Marsha, Thankk You for the Dialectics, but I Need You to Leave - Will Wood

Blackbox Warrior - OKULTRA - Will Wood

I/Me/Myself - Will Wood

6up 5oh Cop Out (Pro / Con) - Will Wood and the Tapeworms

Starman - David Bowie

FightSong - Eve

Belly Up - Return to Dust

GOSSIP - Måneskin

2+2=5 - Radiohead

Little Dark Age - MGMT

Backlight - ADO

Hate Me - DED

The Principal - Melanie Martinez

Stained Glass Eyes and Colourful Tears - Pierce the Veil

Digital Silence - Peter McPoland

Gangsta’s Paradise - Coolio, L.V.

What’s Up Danger - Blackway, Black Caviar

Filth and Squalor - The Dear Hunter

We’ve Got a Score to Settle - The Dear Hunter

Stranger Than Paradise - Mook

VINCENT

Feeling Good - Michael Bublé

Kiss Me, Son of a God - They Might Be Giants

My Ordinary Life - The Living Tombstone

Ruler of Everything - Tally Hall

Belly Up - Return to Dust

Mr. Malum - The Dear Hunter

Stained Glass Eyes and Colourful Tears - Pierce the Veil

HAVEN

Belly Up - Return to Dust

Ribs - The Crane Wives

Stained Glass Eyes and Colourful Tears - Pierce the Veil

MANON

Mama’s Boy - Dominic Fike

& - Tally Hall

Jerry Was a Race Car Driver - Primus

BORISLAVA

Mama’s Boy - Dominic Fike

Duvet - Bôa

EINAR

Just a Man - Jorge Rivera-Herrans

Stick Up - Grandson

Oh No! - Marina

SHEHANI

Oh No! - Marina

Class Fight - Melanie Martinez

ATIAH

INDUSTRY BABY - Lil Nas X, Jack Harlow

Oh No! - Marina

Murder on the Dancefloor - Sophie Eliss-Bextor

UNA

Oh No! - Marina

PRESSURE BOMB 3?!?! - Jhariah

HIRAYA

Six Shooter - Coyote Kisses

Show & Tell - Melanie Martinez

Brutal - Olivia Rodrigo

Dollhouse - Melanie Martinez

Oh No! - Marina

Teen Idle - Marina

PAISLEY

Full Disclosure - Steven Universe

Brand New City - Mitski

There is a Light That Never Goes Out - The Smiths

Well, Better Than The Alternative - Will Wood

Vampire Empire - Big Thief

I’m Your Man - Mitski

REAGAN

I Bet On Losing Dogs - Mitski

I Want You - Mitski

Full Disclosure - Steven Universe

I Don’t Smoke - Mitski

I Will - Mitski

Drunk Walk Home - Mitski

VENUS

Peace and Love on the Planet Earth - Steven Universe

TINDRA

Escapism - Steven Universe

HARU

Love Like You - Steven Universe

Cop Car - Mitski

REESE

Sugar Pills - I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME

Mary - Alex G

OLIVIA

Never Love an Anchor - The Crane Wives

#Spotify #dioles tag #my ocs #ocs #character playlist

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thelambliesdown1974 · 2 years

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MY RECORDS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER. 2022

1. listen - a flock of seagulls

2. deep sea skiving - bananrama

3. abbey road - the beatles

4. beast the in the basement - leon berry

5. dear catastrophe waitress - belle and sebastian

6. girls in peacetime want to dance - belle and sebastian

7. the life pursuit - belle and sebastian

8. crimes of passion - pat benatar

9. precious time - pat benatar

10. the best of the great songs with a folk-country accent

11. paranoid - black sabbath

12. american utopia - david byrne

13. high n dry - def leppard

14. on through the night - def leppard

15. pyromania- def leppard

16. some great reward - depeche mode

17. a christmas together - john denver and the muppets

18. slow down world - donovan

19. another side of bob dylan - bob dylan

20. you are free - cat power

21. i cannot believe it’s true (single) - phil collins

22. lungs - florence and the machine

23. melt - peter gabriel

24. scratch - peter gabriel

25. a trick of the tail - genesis

26. duke - genesis

27. genesis - genesis

28. invisible touch - genesis

29. nursery cryme - genesis

30. the lamb lies down on broadway - genesis

31. ghostbusters 2 soundtrack

32. great ghost stories

33. two by two - danny kaye

34. the poetry and voice of gallway kinnel

35. computer world - kraftwerk

36. songs by tom lehrer

37. froot - marina and the diamonds

38. comedy is not pretty - steve martin

39. great white north - bob and doug mckenzie

40. strangebrew soundtrack

41. anarchy in the u.k. (single) - megadeth

42. killing is my business… - megadeth

43. so far so good so what - megadeth

44. chante… - yves montand

45. you, me, the music, and me - rick moranis

46. international morse code course

47. pictures at eleven - robert plant

48 the pleasure principle - gary numan

49. the odd couple sings

50. marching in time - oingo boingo

51. organ cameos

52. a day at the races - queen

53. news of the world - queen

54. jazz - queen

55. vo, vo, de, oh, doe - tony randall

56. fly by night - rush

57. love - sesame street

58. parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme - simon and garfunkel

59. sounds of silence - simon and garfunkel

60. abracadabra - the steve miller band

61. pieces of eight - styx

62. chicago, august 28, 1978 - talking heads

63. remain in light - talking heads

64. 77 - talking heads

65. creep on creepin on - timber timbre

66. hot dreams - timber timbre

67. timber timber - timber timbre

68. the music for unicef concert

69. the who by numbers - the who

70. close to the edge - yes

71. fragile - yes

72. 36 new songs for Jewish children

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therecordchanger62279 · 7 months

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THE HALLOWEEN MASTER PLAYLIST

Halloween is my favorite holiday, and listening to some spooky music and watching horror films is mandatory if you’re really going to get into the spirit of the thing. (I eat candy, and dress like a hobo year-round, so that part of it was a given.) So I thought I’d post a master playlist of seasonal music a few weeks early in case any of you wanted to put something together for your own enjoyment, or maybe a Halloween party you might be planning.

Thinking outside the box (or coffin, if you prefer) I managed to do it without using Monster Mash or The Purple People Eater. But, there are roughly a hundred titles here, and I promise you if you turn down the lights, and close your eyes when you begin listening to it, you’ll have turned every light in the house back on, and double-locked every door.

Happy haunting.

Halloween Theme (Main Title) – John Carpenter

Alison Gross – Steeleye Span

Black Magic Woman – Santana

Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath

Bloodletting (The Vampire Song) – Concrete Blonde

Black Night – Deep Purple

Dancing With Mr. D. – Rolling Stones

(Don’t Fear) The Reaper – Blue Oyster Cult

The Ghost – Fleetwood Mac

Jekyll and Hyde – Renaissance

Knife Edge – Emerson, Lake & Palmer

L’America – The Doors

Rainbow Demon – Uriah Heep

Runnin’ With The Devil – Van Halen

Witchy Woman – The Eagles

Welcome To My Nightmare – Alice Cooper

Witch’s Promise – Jethro Tull

Tubular Bells (Opening Theme) – Mike Oldfield

Bad Moon Rising – Creedence Clearwater Revival

Burn – Deep Purple

The Creature From The Black Lagoon – Dave Edmunds

Frankenstein – Edgar Winter Group

Ghost Town – The Specials

Headless Cross – Black Sabbath

Hungry Wolf – X

Marquee Moon – Television

Moon Over Bourbon Street – Sting

Rhiannon – Fleetwood Mac

Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) – David Bowie

The Super-Natural – John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers

Voodoo Child (Slight Return) – Jimi Hendrix Experience

Werewolves of London – Warren Zevon

The Wizard – Black Sabbath

The Witch Queen of New Orleans – Redbone

Dark Shadows Theme/Collinwood - Robert Cobert Orchestra

The Shadow Knows – Link Wray & His Wraymen

Billy The Monster – The Deviants

I Want Candy – The Strangeloves

Spooky – Classics IV

Crimson Witch – The Moving Sidewalks

Psychotic Reaction – Count Five

She Lives (In A Time of Her Own) – 13th Floor Elevators

Fire Poem – The Crazy World of Arthur Brown

Fire – The Crazy World of Arthur Brown

The Witch – The Sonics

Tombstone Shadow – Creedence Clearwater Revival

Sympathy For The Devil – Rolling Stones

Children of the Grave - Black Sabbath

Jack The Ripper / The Black Widow - Link Wray

Mr. Crowley / Bark At The Moon - Ozzy Osbourne

Riders On The Storm - The Doors

Lock Up The Wolves - Dio

Distant Ghost - Del Shannon

Might Just Take Your Life - Deep Purple

There's No Way Out of Here / Murder - David Gilmour

I'd Swear There Was Somebody Here - David Crosby

We Are The Dead - David Bowie

I Scare Myself - Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks

Run Through The Jungle - Creedence Clearwater Revival

Prelude-Nightmare - The Crazy World of Arthur Brown

Don't Put No Headstone On My Grave - Charlie Rich

I'm Your Witchdoctor - Chants R&B

Sway - Carla Olson & Mick Taylor

Evil - Cactus

The Jezebel Spirit - Brian Eno & David Byrne

Black Night - Bob Seger

Man In The Long Black Coat / The Wicked Messenger - Bob Dylan

I Love The Night / Hot Rails To Hell - Blue Oyster Cult

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath / Electric Funeral / Lady Evil / The Devil Cried / Devil and Daughter / Evil Eye - Black Sabbath

Black Cat Moan - Beck, Bogert & Appice

Red Temple Prayer (Two Headed Dog) - The Barracudas

Devil In My Car - The B 52's

Devil's Answer - Atomic Rooster

Sign of the Gypsy Queen - April Wine

The Four Horsemen - Aphrodite's Child

Black Hearted Woman - Allman Brothers Band

I Put A Spell On You / Little Demon - Screamin' Jay Hawkins

Evil Ways - Santana

Evil Hearted You - The Yardbirds

Evil Woman - Doobie Brothers

Evil Woman - Spooky Tooth

Evil - Edgar Broughton Band

Black Cadillac - Joyce Green

Black Angel's Death Song - Velvet Underground

Angel of Death / Raining Blood / Silent Scream / Spill The Blood / Hell Awaits / Death's Head - Slayer

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supermanshield · 1 year

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What if I made graphs and pie charts of the comics I read in 2022?

Well, I've already done it:

I've read 641 comics in 2022. That's an average of 1.8 comics per day or 53.4 per month!

Anyway, figures and stuff under the cut because most of you are probably not interested in this

I read the most comics in January (99). I read the least amount of comics in November (25).

Yeah, you can definitely tell there was a lockdown at the beginning of 2022, I had a bit more time to read in the summer, and in October I started my new job so I didn't have that much time anymore. I also read a lot of the John Byrne superman comics in january, february and march.

The single day I read the most comics was on january 29, when I read all of On a Sunbeam on the train.

The character I read the most of was, unsurprisingly, Batman (ugh could you imagine) Superman. Though I did also read a lot of superman/batman team-ups (all under world's finest), which featured both Clark and Bruce (and Dick).

Characters that I read less than 5 appearances of have been grouped into 'other'.

I read 200 comics featuring Superman as the main character, 86 featuring the world's finest, and 74 featuring Tim Drake. I started my re-read of Tim's Robin series in 2021 and finished it in 2022.

Batman is still creeping up to that 4th spot, but that's mostly because I read a bunch of Batman comics before seeing The Batman.

I mostly read DC, but also some Image comics, which is mostly because I finally read all of Sex Criminals this year. And a couple other publishers.

I only read The Many Deaths of Laila Starr from Boom! Studios, but it still makes for 0.62% of all reading.

It's fun to get some insight like this! Definitely doing it again for 2023. And I hope to have some Stormwatch on there then, as well as more Superman, and more of the other publishers beside DC.

#im a data analyst it's what i do #I wish i started doing this in 2020 already but alas #doing it again for 2023 and clark will come out on top again (prediction)#if i'd done this in 2021 Invincible would have probably come out on top lol

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waldoirby · 2 years

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day 34, this miserable little creep. there are a lot of reasons why both Dark Phoenix movies were bad... but the omission of Mastermind is one of the big ones, imo.

Uncanny X-Men #134 (June 1980) writer Chris Claremont, penciller John Byrne, inker Terry Kevin Austin, letterer Gaspar Saldino, editor Jim Salicrup

#mastermind #jason wyngarde #xmen

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theoriginalladya · 2 years

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As Luck Would Have It (chapter update!)

Summary: What do a mini-Irish invasion, a murdered leprechaun, and an old flame have in common? Joker’s not amused by any of them.

~~~

Fandom: Mass Effect

Rating: Teen and Up

Relationships: Male Shepard & Kaidan Alenko, Male Shepard & Abby Williams, Male Shepard/Kaidan Alenko, EDI/Jeff "Joker" Moreau, Steven Hackett/Karin Chakwas, Steve Cortez/James Vega, Jack|Subject Zero/Samantha Traynor

Characters: Caleb Shepard (O'Connell - OC), Tadhg Shepard (O'Connell - OC), Niamh Shepard (O'Connell - OC), Kaidan Alenko, Karin Chakwas, Steven Hackett, Samantha Traynor, Jeff "Joker" Moreau, John Shepard, EDI, Ashley Williams, Zaeed Massani, Steve Cortez, James Vega, Garrus Vakarian, Urdnot Bakara - Eve, Urdnot Grunt, Urdnot Wrex, Kasumi Goto, The Illusive Man - Jack Harper, Jacob Taylor, Kelly Chambers, Rahna, Brigit O'Halloran (OC), Jack|Subject Zero

Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Hallmark Movie AU, St. Patrick's Day, Past Relationship(s), Green Beer, bartending, Fluff and Angst, Humor, Shenanigans

Series: The Town of Norman

Chapter 4: Day 2

Excerpt:

He’d gone looking for his pen. He’d assumed Kasumi had run off with his pen.

He hadn’t expected the cat to return with his college boyfriend.

The man had aged, changed his hair, swapped out his old cable knit sweater for a denim jacket, but it was still Caleb.

“Caleb. Byrne. Bit far from home, aren’t ya?”

“Um…” Meredith’s nervous voice from his left tugged Kaidan back into the present. Into his clinic. Into a town on the wrong side of an ocean and ten whole years. “Mr. O’Connell says his shoulder’s been hurting him.” She handed him the clipboard with the New Patient information on it, holding on to her end until she was sure Kaidan wouldn’t drop it.

O’Connell.

Blue eyes outlined from years of smiling. The slightest tilt to his stance - his hip must have been hurting him recently. And he knew that smile; knew it like his own.

Name change or not, this was Caleb. His Caleb.

Watching the eyebrow start to creep up, Kaidan coughed and shook his head. “Ah, um. Mr…O’Connell?”

Gesturing back to one of the examination rooms, Kaidan waited for the man from his past to pass. He ignored Meredith’s curious look and shot a look of uncharacteristic annoyance at Kasumi. “I need that pen back.”

The cat gave him a yawn instead and went back to cleaning her paws.

~~~

Read Full Chapter || Read from the Beginning || Read Series

Spotify Playlist

What started as an offer to lend out my Irish Shepard, Caleb, for some St. Patrick's Day shenanigans has turned into a full blown collaborative effort with @happychica, and I couldn't be more delighted! Thank you, my friend, for allowing Caleb, Tadhg, and Niamh into your sandbox to play! This has turned into such an amazing adventure, and we've only just gotten started! And huge thanks to @screwyouflightlieutenant for the fabulous commercial breaks! (I love these soooooooooo much!)

#As Luck Would Have It #collaborative fanfic #Caleb Shepard (O'Connell - OC)#Kaidan Alenko #Day 2 #Kasumi the cat #mass effect fanfic #mass effect AU fanfic #The Town of Norman #happychica #screwyouflightlieutenant

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samasmith23 · 6 months

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The Retconning of Aunt May's death from Amazing Spider-Man #400... aka, screw John Byrne!

Wanna know something else we can criticize John Byrne for aside from his general creepiness and bigotry? He undid Aunt May’s death in the beautifully written Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #400, "The Gift," aka one of the best stories to come out of the entire infamous Clone Saga era.

Like... when Linkara reviewed the Web of Death storyline, one particular complaint he brought up was how all of the all the beautiful & emotional moments between Peter Parker and comatose Aunt May were severely undermined in hindsight due to the later retcon that this wasn't actually May Parker, but instead an highly-skilled actress whom Norman Osborn replaced Aunt May with after her stroke and made resemble Peter's aunt through cloning technology.

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And the person who was responsible for this controversial retcon? None other than John Byrne!

Byrne apparently refused to even initiate his divisive 1999 Chapter One and The Next Chapter reboots of the Spider-Man titles unless he was allowed to utilize Aunt May as a member of Peter's supporting cast. Consequently, this meant completely retconning Aunt May's lovely and tragic send-off by J.M. DeMatteis & Mark Bagley in ASM #400, even though that issue was highly regarded and celebrated by even the most hardened detractors of The Clone Saga era as a whole.

And you know what made the retconning of Aunt May's death even more stupid? It directly contradicted Norman Osborn's own recounting of The Clone Saga from his perspective in The Osborn Journal one-shot after he was revealed to be the true mastermind behind the whole saga. Writer & editor Glenn Greenberg specifically made sure to include these passages from Norman's private journals:

-"And as luck would have it, the clone -- Reilly -- learned of May Parker's stroke and returned to New York to be near her during her final days. This saved me the trouble of concocting some elaborate scheme to lure him back to the city."

-"Then the old woman finally died, delivering a major emotional blow to Parker and his wife. My only regret is that I was NOT the cause."

Yup, Greenberg wanted to make sure that DeMatteis' brilliant work from ASM #400 wouldn't be undone by having Norman himself state in his private journals that May's death was strictly due to natural causes instead of another part of his behind-the-scene's manipulations. Which makes sense considering that the entire issue was dedicated to Peter & Aunt May's final days together as she revealed to her nephew that she had always known he was Spider-Man and was deeply proud of him before passing away in her bed right besides Peter, Mary Jane & Aunt Anna, with Peter's final words to his surrogate mother-figure being him quoting his favorite childhood novel Peter Pan to her, telling Aunt May:

"Let go. Fly. 'Second to the right... and straight on until morning.'"

Its honestly one of the most simultaneously heartbreaking & beautiful scenes that I've personally ever read in a comic. The silent panels of Ben Reilly crying to himself on the roof of the house, unable to be by his Aunt's side during her final moments since he's only a clone of her nephew, especially tug at my heartstrings (poor Benjy)! And its an issue that resonates with me even more deeply today than back when I initially read it a few years ago, since I now know what it feels like to lose a dearly beloved relative, with both my paternal grandmother (Nana) and maternal grandfather (Paps) having since passed away.

But then John Byrne decided in his infinite wisdom to screw it all up, ignoring all of that emotional weight and feelings of down-to-Earth loss by not only revealing that the Aunt May Peter watched die was actually just a random actress whom Norman Osborn "genetically modified via the Jackal’s cloning technology" (which again… makes ZERO sense), but that Osborn apparently now lied in his own personal diaries or something?

So yeah, the resurrection of Aunt May by John Byrne during the Spider-Man: The Gathering of Five/The Final Chapter arcs is easily one of the most insulting retcons that I've ever encountered since it spits in the face of one of the most beautifully written single-issues that I've personally ever read (both because of how it personally resonates with me as someone who's lost two grandparents, and because is J.M. DeMatteis is among my Top 5 favorite comic book writers).

But trust me, this is the LEAST of John Byrne's problems, which fellow comic creator Ramon Villalobos made an excellent thread discussing in detail if you want further information:

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theeverlastingshade · 3 years

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Favorite Albums of the 10s

25. Shaking the Habitual- The Knife

The Knife made a name for themselves with their third and most celebrated LP, Silent Shout, but it’s their fourth LP, StH, that pushed their idiosyncratic blend of electroacoustic synth-pop to the furthest, most far-flung places that they’ve gone yet. The record deals with a diverse range of topics from the surveillance state, to fracking, pollution, gender discrimination, and unchecked greed with colorful, ketamine-fused candy cotton synth work and ritualistic percussion. There are long passages of ambience like the menacing build of “A Cherry on Top” dispersed between roaring apocalyptic dance numbers like the astonishing industrial eruption “Full of Fire” and the electro-acoustic freak out “Without You My Life Would Be Boring”. With the exception of the mid-album ambient epic “Old Dreams Waiting to Be Realized” every song on StH justifies its length with consistently engrossing arrangements that sustain their momentum without compromising an ounce of their potency. Everything about the record lives up to its title, from its thematic ambitions, to the breadth of the sonics, pacing, and performances themselves. StH if the full manifestation of the darkness that was lurking beneath the surface of their music from as early as their breakout single “Heartbeats”, but thankfully the music never collapses under the weight of their thematic concerns. Their resilience remains inspiring all these years later, and if Karin and Olof never reunite for a fifth LP we couldn’t have asked for a better send off.

Essentials: “Full of Fire”, “A Tooth for an Eye”, “A Cherry on Top”

24. XXX- Danny Brown

Hip-hop grew to remarkable heights throughout the 10s, and yet there were few rappers that displayed the level of growth and consistency from record to record throughout this past decade quite like Danny Brown. The Detroit native spent the aughts hustling the mixtape circuit, finally catching a spark with 2010’s The Hybrid, his strong debut LP. But a year later Brown returned with his sophomore LP and magnum opus XXX, a twisted rap odyssey that ignited the blogs, and signaled that a new era of hip hop was beginning to emerge. XXX found Brown rapping over an assortment of wonky boom-bap instrumentals courtesy of Bruiser Brigade producer Skywalker that fused classic hip-hop, trap, baroque pop, and techno into shapes far more disorienting than the beats that the vast majority of his contemporaries were rapping over. While it was evident beforehand, XXX really cemented the notion that Brown could rap over anything. The beats here are generally extremely impressive, and there are plenty of singular stylistic touches like the slurring violin stabs of “Lie 4”, the menacing synth lurch of “Monopoly”, or the distorted brass loops of closer “30”, that really stand out, but the appeal is first and foremost Brown’s rapping. His voice alone is one of the most versatile and unpredictable instruments in hip-hop, but aside from his masterful vocal alteration, always perfectly synched to the tone of any given moment on any given song of his, he’s a naturally gifted writer, as thoughtful as he is straight up hilarious. Whether bragging about his destructive lifestyle (“Die Like a Rockstar”), describing how much he loves cunnilingus “I Will”, mourning the desolation around him “Party All the Time”, or reveling in his come-up “30”, Brown is a thoroughly engaging presence throughout the entire album. On XXX profanity and profundity march gleefully hand in hand with one another, casting Brown as one of the last decade’s most singular voices.

Essentials: “Die Like a Rockstar”, “Monopoly”, “30”

23. House of Sugar- Alex G

On Alex G’s latest LP, House of Sugar, his concoction of warm guitar pop and warped electronic production reached a new peak. The songs on HoS detail the misdeeds of various characters succumbing to their greed, and the vignettes that he paints are growing increasingly well-realized thanks to a continuously sharpening songwriting voice and a plethora of tasteful pitch-shifted vocals that help imbue his characters with color and personality. HoS opener “Walk Away” provides a reasonably sonic barometer for what’s to come before dropping us into a series of the most immediate pop songs that he’s ever penned. “Hope” and “Southern Sky” are nimble acoustic guitar pop songs that are almost disarming in their immediacy, and framed around references to the real life death of a friend of his due to opioids and a dream he had, respectively. By the time we reach acoustic guitar and sitar-drone of “Taking” the pitch-shifted vocals are at the forefront of the music and HoS shifts gears into its abstract middle section which owes a lot to the new-age beat deconstruction of avant-garde electronic producers, specifically Oneohtrix Point Never. On the instrumental “Sugar”, a sublime concoction of pitch-warped whispers, dissonant strings arpeggios, and creeping acoustic guitar plucks, HoS reaches the depths of its depravity. The next song, “In My Arms”, leads us to the suite of sublime acoustic reveries that close HoS, arguably peaking with the gorgeous acoustic love ballad “Cow”. The dramatic sonic left-turn that HoS takes midway through may leave some new listeners a little cold, but for most Alex G fans nothing about the eclecticism of HoS should come as a surprise. Nor should the overwhelming quality of the songs here. From Alex G’s debut, Race, in 2010 up through HoS, he released a remarkable catalog of some of the most eclectic, and vital indie rock of the century, and I have no reason to believe he won’t top HoS at some point.

Essentials: “Gretel”, “Sugar”, “Walk Away”

22. Sea When Absent- A Sunny Day in Glasgow

A Sunny Day in Glasgow may be one of the 21st century’s most underrated bands, but not even Pitchfork could resist the coveted BNM tag when it came time to review their fourth and strongest LP, Sea When Absent. Building off of their first three idiosyncratic LPs that superbly fused electronic pop with shoegaze and dream pop, A Sunny Day in Glasgow moved into decidedly more psychedelic territory with their fourth LP while still retaining the sharp melodic sensibility of those first three. Much of the shift is easy to credit to vocalist Jen Goma who joined the group on their third LP, Autumn Again, and here her soaring vocals deliver rich melodies that are more fleshed out and focused than anything on their past releases. SWA sidesteps the kaleidoscopic sprawl of their 22 song sophomore LP, Ashes Grammar, and instead delivers 11 tight, stargazing pop songs. Whereas on the prior records it more often than not felt like the band were throwing ideas at the wall to see what stuck (with primarily successful results) on SWA the band commit more thoroughly to their ideas, writing songs that are well within their wheelhouse but have never been so well-realized. “Byebye, Big Ocean (The End)” and “Boys Turn Into Girls (Initiation Rites)” erupt with a wall of dazzling distorted guitars that slowly build into engrossing melodic payoffs while “Never Nothing (It’s Alright (It’s Ok))” and “The Body, It Bends” are sublime, soft spoken breathers that put a premium on texture and melody, and are among A Sunny Day in Glasgow’s most impressive songs yet. Even seemingly inconsequential moments like the “Double Dutch” interlude positively radiant with melodic warmth and joyous energy. Their strain of sun-kissed, jubilant dream pop tonally stands in stark contrast to much of the pop that’s dominated the airwaves this past decade, but their temperament doesn’t sound naïve so much as defiant. They have yet to follow up SWA with another LP, and I can’t blame them if they feel like they’ve said everything that they have to say with SWA.

Essentials: “The Body, It Bends”, “Never Nothing (It’s Alright (It’s Ok))”, “Boys Turn Into Girls (Initiation Rites)”

21. Strange Mercy- St. Vincent

Annie Clark has spent the past decade releasing music under her St. Vincent moniker, collaborating with the likes of David Byrne, producing for Sleater-Kinney, and appearing on the sketch comedy Portlandia. Although she began her solo career in earnest with her strong 2008 debut, Marry Me, in 2011 Clark released Strange Mercy, her third, and strongest record to date. Produced by John Congleton, SM is a compelling fusion of art rock/and chamber pop that often lands with a jarring, visceral impact, but is still imbued with a sense of grace that heightens the sentiments of her bewitching songwriting. Her first two records showcased her singular voice and tastefully, ornate baroque arrangements, but on SM Clark begins to let loose and lean into her virtuosic guitar playing. Songs like “Cruel” and “Northern Light” are propelled by her nimble riffs caked in distortion while strings rise and fall in a satisfying sweep all around her triumphant vocals. “Surgeon” brings the pace down to a crawl and gets a tone of mileage out of sensuous synth arrangements as Clark sings softly of depression and carnal desire “Stay in just to get along/Turn off the TV, wade in bed/A blue and a red/A little something to get along” before the song erupts into a furious storm of guitar distortion. The balance between fury and serenity animate the record from start to finish, and Clark seamlessly toggles these impulses from start to finish. On the title track, over a lumbering tom/kick drum rhythm, the incessant ping of a synth, and bluesy guitar licks Clark brilliantly sums up the record’s theme with a scene of police brutality “If I ever meet that dirty policeman that roughed you up/No, I, I don’t know what” that depicts the contraction inherent in the way justice is carried out by police in the west, and the way those contradictions bleed through to our understanding of morality on the whole. SM is a record full of these sorts of messy contradictions, and the music constantly reflected that perpetual sense of disarray with songs as colorful and chaotic as they were controlled.

Essentials: “Northern Lights”, “Surgeon”, “Strange Mercy”

20. A Moon Shaped Pool- Radiohead

Radiohead’s eighth LP, 2011’s solid but unremarkable King of Limbs seemed to cement the notion that while Radiohead may not have another game changer left in them, they were probably weren’t ever going to make a bad record. And with all of their various solo pursuits it seemed plausible that we may never get another Radiohead record, as underwhelming as capping off a career as thrilling as theirs with KoL would have been. Thankfully things didn’t pan out that way, and in 2016 Radiohead released their ninth LP, A Moon Shaped Pool; the platonic ideal of a master stroke from a legacy act. The album is partially composed of older songs re-worked into new forms, such as the tense string onslaught of opener “Burn the Witch” while a few of the newer songs like the gorgeous, ambient “Daydreaming” are string-laden compositions that are as eerie as they are radiant. For a band that’s been prophesizing the increasingly dismal state of the world that we now find ourselves in for the past several decades, they sound increasingly comfortable with their position in the world, and there’s no question that they’re in full command of their craft here. The production is sublime throughout the entire record, with a sense of encroaching doom bubbling just beneath the surface juxtaposed against rich baroque instrumentation. AMSP is the Radiohead album most informed by Johnny Greenwood’s work scoring films like There Will Be Blood and Phantom Thread, and as a result there’s a remarkable sense of immersion at work even for a Radiohead album.

So while there are some recognizable forms from records past, such as the brass-lead krautrock strut of “Ful Stop”, or the twitchy IDM drum work of “Identikit”, the spectral production heightens the potency of everything here. The compositions on AMSP are the most elegant, and nuanced of Radiohead’s to date, and Yorke’s voice continues to age superbly. Yorke’s lyrics touch on familiar topics, more relevant now than ever, such as climate change on “The Numbers” “The numbers don’t decide/The system is a lie/A river running dry/The wings of butterflies” the dangers of unchecked authority on “Burn the Witch” “Abandon all reason/Avoid all contact/Do not react/Shoot the messengers/This is a low-flying panic attack” and the broader, horrific realities of the world that we live in on “Ful Stop” “Why should I be good if you’re not?/This is a foul tasting medicine/A foul tasting medicine/To be trapped in your ful-stop”. What’s more unexpected are songs like the graceful string-led “Glass Eyes” and the devastating ambient closer “True Love Waits”, two songs that are poignant tributes to Yorke’s ex-wife, Rachel Owen, who passed away from cancer in late 2016. AMSP isn’t just a spectacular late-career gem that would make a superb swan song; it’s also the most human record that Radiohead have made yet.

Essentials: “True Love Waits”, “Daydreaming”, “Ful Stop”

19. Eye Contact- Gang Gang Dance

Few bands set the tone for the kind of cross-culture hybridization that would become the sonic norm for music throughout this decade quite like Gang Gang Dance. Throughout the early aughts they cut their teeth in the Brooklyn noise scene alongside bands like Animal Collective, Black Dice, and Exceptor blending noise, experimental rock, and worldbeat into blistering, unconventional shapes. As the years progressed Gang Gang Dance gradually began to open up their sound, folding elements of hip-hop, dance music, and psychedelic pop into a colorful concoction of rhythmically robust, delightfully manic pop music that was just as forward-thinking as it was infectious. The shift really began on their criminally underrated 2005 LP, God’s Money, but began notably on their terrific 2008 LP, Saint Dymphna. On the follow-up to SD, their remarkable fifth LP, Eye Contact, the sound of Gang Gang Dance crystallized into something more immediate and far-ranging than anything that they had done prior (or since so far). On EC, everything that the band had attempted throughout the course of their career (tribal rhythms, eastern melodies, shards of refracted noise) was gloriously combined into a hyper-saturated tapestry of progressive future pop. EC is the peak of Gang Gang Dance’s prior decade of sonic exploration, and nearly a decade later there’s still nothing that sounds anything like it.

Beginning with the astonishing slow-burn intro of “Glass Jar” that finds the band patiently building up what begins as a pent up ambient composition toward something more volatile that eventually rips open midway through, spilling into a calamitous, euphoric release into the song’s second half, EC is bursting with joyous energy and possibility. The melodies are some of the sharpest, and most direct that vocalist Lizzi Bougatsos has ever penned, providing a warm immediacy that cuts through even the most outre arrangements here, and they continually expand into shapes as the songs continue to progress. “Adult Goth” and “MindKilla” are bolstered considerably by Lizzi’s dynamic vocal performances, and the off-kilter, spellbinding synth arrangements of the band’s keyboardist Brian DeGraw, while “Romance Layers” provides an ideal mid-album psychedelic breather.. And on the album’s closer, “Thru and Thru”, the band deliver a send-off that succinctly sums up a prior decade’s worth of experimentation into a nearly six-minute song overflowing with eastern melodies, mesmerizing chants, and infectious tribal rhythms that congeal into a sound that couldn’t possibly be mistaken for anyone else. Although they’ve only graced us with the somewhat underwhelming 2018 record Kazuashita since, when Gang Gang Dance are firing on all cylinders, as they are on all of EC, there’s simply nothing like it.

Essentials: “Glass Jar”, “Adult Goth”, “Thru and Thru”

18. Shields- Grizzly Bear

Although the zeitgeist was already beginning to dramatically shift by the time that Grizzly Bear released their fourth LP, Shields, guaranteeing that it wouldn’t have the same immediate impact that they enjoyed with its predecessor, their 2009 breakout LP, Veckatimest, they still ended up releasing their magnum opus. Compared to Veckatimest’s approachable folk-pop leanings there are moments on Shields that sound downright prog, but the band never let these intricate baroque pop/psychedelic folk arrangements get away from themselves or compromise the remarkable melodic instincts that were undeniable on their terrific sophomore LP, Yellow House. The ten songs throughout Shields are perfectly paced, and there isn’t a single moment that overstays its welcome, but they each develop just as much as they need to. The band’s primary songwriters, Edward Droste and Daniel Rossen, were each peaking as singular songwriters in their own respective rights on Shields, and they both deliver a handful of the band’s strongest songs to date. Droste’s songs tend to creep in ethereal waltzes with delicate baroque instrumentation (“gun-shy”, “A Simple Answer”) unfolding patiently while sustaining a remarkable sense of tension while Rossen’s are jaunty folk rippers that unfurl in unpredictable, and thrilling cacophonies that still retain the grace that the ornate instrumentation demands (“Yet Again”, “Speak in Rounds”) but unfurl in far more complex structures than those on Veckatimest.

Grizzly Bear’s progression from Droste’s cozy lo-fi folk bedroom project to a knotty baroque folk juggernaut was one of the most quietly satisfying of any band from the past decade, and on Shields they hit a gorgeous peak. While Droste and Rossen had peaked as songwriters here, their contributions never overshadowed those of Chris Taylor or Chris Bear, and the chemistry on Shields is sharper than most bands ever come close to achieving. It’s easy to get lost admiring the sheer craft of their meticulous arrangements, crisp production, provoking but elusive songwriting, and the sharp interplay between Droste and Rossen each on their own individual merit, but on Shields everything that previously stood out about their artistry is amplified, and congealed in a way that’s approachable yet inimitable. On Shields Grizzly Bear umped the ante from Veckatimest on both fronts, and proved that they could grow more immediate and melodic while still dazzling with rich compositional complexity. Grizzly Bear followed it up with Painted Ruins in 2017, that while a perfectly good record in its own right is nowhere as cohesive, and most unfortunately, patient. And to be honest, I haven’t heard a baroque folk record released since Shields that’s as consistently engrossing, or one performed with such remarkable execution. Shields isn’t their most immediate, but it best distills their singular essence, and its generosity knows no bounds.

Essentials: “gun-shy”, “Yet Again”, “The Hunt”

17. The Money Store- Death Grips

Anyone from future generations looking to hear a band that’s most emblematic of the 10s as a full decade probably couldn’t do better than Death Grips. The trio consisting of vocalist MC Ride, keyboardist/producer Flatlander, and drummer Zach Hill released their abrasive Ex-military tape in 2011, and right out of the gates the trio had a fully-formed sound that plucked unapologetically from west coast hip-hop, industrial, hardcore, and noise. Although far from the first band to draw equally upon genres like these, Death Grips stood out immediately thanks in no small part to MC Ride, who has since proved to be one of the last decade’s most compelling frontmen. His lyrics are cryptic, and intelligent yet visceral, with a deceptively wry edge. Although there’s quite a bit of variety to his delivery, it’s always propelled forth with an overwhelming intensity that can take some time to become accustomed to. Ex-military was received rapturously by critics and bloggers, but as exciting as group like them may have seemed at the time it would have been hard to predict any kind of real longevity for them. And their unrelentingly antagonistic streak (leaking No Love Deep Web, putting a picture of Zach Hill’s dick on the cover of said album, skipping performances or just playing recorded music instead of performing, trolling fans, faking a breakup) would have decimated the momentum of almost any other band, but Death Grips feed on this sort of chaos like a troupe of anarchist vampires. Their arc from Ex-military to 2018’s Year of the Snitch is one of the most rewarding streaks of any act throughout the 10s, and while most of these records are great, there isn’t one that better distills their essence than their 2012 debut LP, The Money Store.

While Ex-military presented them as an admittedly idiosyncratic, yet undeniable product of their environment, TMS blew their sound wide open proving that they had range far beyond sounds of their native state. Right from the bass arpeggios that jolt opener “Get Got” to life, it’s clear the fidelity has improved considerably, but they haven’t compromised an ounce of their fury. This still scans as music custom-tailored for little other than violently thrashing your limbs, and little else from the past decade as been anywhere near as effective at distilling that aesthetic so neatly across the run of a single record. But on TMS Death Grips were still writing actual songs, with memorable hooks, sticky melodies, and conventional structures that served to heighten the potency of their tantrums. Songs like “I’ve Seen Footage” and “Hacker” are shocking for how immediate and unthreatening the band sound despite MC Ride’s sour bark, while songs like “The Fever (Aye Aye)” and “The Cage” showcase early peaks for Flatlander’s immaculate, and underrated synth work. MC Ride is at his best here, whether talking shit and espousing authenticity (“Hustle Bones”), calling out doubters (“Bitch Please”), or just railing against general conformity, he delivers 13 career defining performances in neat succession. Death Grips have continued to relentlessly experiment on all their subsequent records, and while some have come close to matching the excellence of TMS, they’ve all fallen short. Thankfully, the immense exhilaration and urgency of TMS sound more potent with each successive year that we inhibit this desolate hellscape.

Essentials: “I’ve Seen Footage”, “The Fever (Aye Aye)”, “Hacker”

16. Twin Fantasy (Face to Face)- Car Seat Headrest

It shouldn’t come as any surprise that a re-recording of a devastatingly personal LP that Will Toledo recorded at 19, with better production, stronger arrangements, and cleaner vocals, would end up being his best record to date. What was surprising was that he decided to return to the record of his that’s most important to him, and give it the sort of justice that it deserves after having developed into a far more adept talent in the years following its release. And although I’m sure some of those songs (if not all of them) were painful to revisit, the discipline and audacity paid off enormously. Twin Fantasy centers entirely around falling in love with another man at 19, and the arc of their relationship from mourning the distance between them on the opening song “My Boy (Twin Fantasy)” to the newfound acceptance of their relationship’s dissolution on closer “Twin Fantasy (Those Boys)”, detailing the highs and lows with unabashed sincerity. While the original still holds up fairly well, there’s no question that the re-arranging, cleaner vocals, and stronger fidelity overall just heightened the potency of what was already there without diminishing any aspect of the original record. Will’s cleverness, sense of humor, and dynamism as a bandleader elevate TF beyond a melancholic teen drama into a searing document of formative growth, demonstrating craft, ingenuity, and wisdom far beyond his years. More so than any other record released throughout the last decade, TF exemplifies just how potent indie rock still is.

This new version of TF is more of a “re-imagining” of the original record than anything else, and as such the thematic scope as it initially existed, along with the exact same track listing, is held perfectly intact. The record’s two epics, those being “Beach Life-In-Death” and “Famous Prophets (Stars)” are both even longer, and benefit more so than anything else here from their new arrangements. The fidelity has been cleaned up notably, but TF is still far from overproduced, and without any fuzz obscuring a lot of the detail you can hear just how crisp, and superbly layered these arrangements are. The new-wave outlier “Nervous Young Human” practically radiates with a newfound sheen, and is handedly the most radio-ready song the band have ever written, but it still folds seamlessly into the record’s mid-section between the anthemic, distortion-fueled peaks of “Sober to Death” and the record’s mid-album power-pop stunner, “Bodys”. Toledo’s drawing from a great deal here of different sub-genres here, and he manages to land on a remarkably uniform sound that belies the myriad of intricacies at work that prevent these compositions from being crushed underneath the weight of their own ambition. The album’s greatest achievement is how deftly Will manages to tell a story about the most profound event of his life coupled with music that’s as multi-faceted as the human experience being conveyed. TF may be proudly out of step with the current cultural zeitgeist from a sonic perspective, but the sentiments conveyed throughout are sublime missives from a distinctly millennial outlook. As far as concept albums about a single relationship are concerned, Toledo has set the bar this century with TF.

Essentials: “Famous Prophets (Stars)”, “Beach Life-In-Death”, “Bodys”

15. Modern Vampires of the City- Vampire Weekend

Vampire Weekend have come a long way from the indie afro-pop roots of their debut to their pastoral, jam band informed fourth LP, Father of the Bride, but on their third LP, Modern Vampires of the City the band refined their sound to a sublime strain of chamber music and art pop filled with Ezra Koenig’s strongest writing to date. Whereas their first two records were entirely produced by the band’s multi-instrumentalist and not-so-secret weapon Rostam Batmanliij, on MVotC Ariel Reitscheid, a producer known for working with acts like Charli XCX, Haim, Solange, etc joined the proceedings, and there’s a lighter feel to a lot of the arrangements, but everything has more dimension overall, and the low-end really pops on a lot of these in a way that it hadn’t really before. There are plenty of welcome production choices throughout, like the sprinkling of auto-tune on “Step”, or the blistering saxophone solo on “Worship You” that do a great deal to expand the parameters of the band’s sound without ever finding them really going out of their depth. Compared to their prior records there’s a fairly vast tonal gap on MVotC, with a heightened sense of existential dread and fixations on mortality, nostalgia, and faith. It’s weighty stuff without question, and the exceptional pacing goes a long towards helping evenly pack in the melancholic, languid compositions like “Everlasting Arms” and “Don’t Lie” with infectious up-tempo numbers like “Diane Young”, “Unbelievers”, and “Finger Back” that, while far from the best of what’s here are still as immediate as anything they’ve ever released and benefit from the same immaculate arrangement, production, and writing as everything else here even if they don’t break as much new ground. But the best of what’s here are without question among the best pop songs released so this far century.

Both opener “Obvious Bycycle” and “Step” are devastating looks at nostalgia that frame Ezra’s thoughtful character sketches in rich compositions that in the case of the former consist of soft wisps of grand piano, percussion that sounds like a stamp being punched, and surprisingly visceral bass, while in the case of the latter the band opt for gorgeous harpsichord arrangements, and a swaggering bassline. But “Hannah Hunt”, which is for the record the best VW song to date, is on another level entirely. It opens like the sun after the storm with field recording of a crowd of people clearing away for delicate grand piano and the gentle rumble of bass. Ezra sings of a relationship slowly starting to break apart as a couple travels the country together “A gardener told me some plants move/But I could not believe it/’Til me and Hannah Hunt/Saw crawling vines and weeping willows”. The song slowly builds into a rousing baroque pop crescendo over roaring keys as Ezra delivers one of his most devastating lines to date “If I can’t trust you then damn it Hannah/There’s no future, there’s no answer/Though we live on the US dollar/You and me we got our own sense of time”. Rostam left VW in 2016, and although their first record without him, the aforementioned 2019 comeback LP, FotB, his absence was sorely felt. On “Hudson” it almost sounds like Rostam is singing to Ezra, under that lens especially, it’s functions as a poignant, but fitting cap to VW’s first era. As great as FotB, Rostam’s 2017 debut Half-Light, and I Had a Dream That You Were Mine, his 2016 collaboration with Hamilton Leithauser of The Walkmen, I hope that MVotC isn’t the last time the two of them work on a full LP together.

Essentials: “Hannah Hunt”, “Step”, “Ya Hey”

14. Channel Orange- Frank Ocean

Few albums released throughout the last decade have brought about the sort of sweeping sea change that Frank Ocean’s sublime debut LP, Channel Orange, did. Ocean’s kaleidoscopic, self-released 2011 mixtape Nostalgia, Ultra established his artistry as something far beyond that of the go-to hook ghostwriter identity he cut his teeth establishing for himself. A year and a half later, amidst signing to Def Jam, collaborating extensively with Tyler, the Creator, Kanye West, and Jay-Z, and writing a now legendary tumblr post stating that his first love was for another man a few days before releasing his immensely anticipated debut LP, Frank Ocean released that album, and decided to call it Channel Orange. Like Ocean’s music itself, the narrative surrounding his ascension feels both timeless (moving to LA after Hurricane Katrina struck his hometown of New Orleans, ghostwriting and joining Tyler, the Creator’s hip-hop collective Odd Future before releasing his own music, which drew primarily from soul, classic r&b, and funk more than anything that was on the radio at the time) and modern (sampling extensively on N,U, having a few key co-signs that seemed to unlock all the right connections, leveraging the power of the internet along with the rest of Odd Future to build and sustain a fanbase) but none of it would matter if the music didn’t live up to the hype. But all of this is particularly interesting to consider when talking about CO, especially considering that it’s the best debut LP of the 10s, and an absolute master class in songwriting.

CO is a remarkably fully-formed debut LP that finds Ocean in complete control of his craft on all fronts. The instrumentation is a lush palette of analog keys, bass, and strings, and with the exception of a few fairly stripped down ballads, shows a keen command for maximalism that never sounds overwrought. Even a song like the colossal, mid-album change-up “Pyramids”, is saved from complete indulgence after the beat seamlessly shifts into a woozy down-tempo trap instrumental with plenty of space for Ocean’s falsetto to linger in. Ocean would shift gears dramatically with the 2016 visual album, Endless, and his second studio LP, Blonde, trading in the rich, dense analog soul and r&b for a minimal psychedelic soul sound. While the production on Blonde and Endless is more impressive than that of CO, neither record was quite able to match the lush immediacy that seemed to come to Ocean so naturally here. Ocean produced the record alongside the musicians Jonathon Ikpeazu, Malay, and Om’Mas Keith who all provided additional keys, drum programming, and/or guitars. Earl Sweatshirt, Tyler, the Creator, and Andre 3000 are the only guests that provide verses, and while each completely delivers, CO is Ocean’s record through and through. Regardless of whether Ocean is singing about the emptiness of privilege (“Super Rich Kids”), or depicting a tale of someone’s life falling apart due to crack addiction (“Crack Rock”) or delivering the closest thing he’ll likely ever come to a straight forward love song (“Thinkin’ Bout You”) his eye for detail, wit, intelligence, and empathy render the characters as rich, and multi-faceted regardless of what angle he’s coming at them from. The warmth and immediacy of the instrumentation and Ocean’s voice draws you in, but it’s the sheer strength of his songwriting that elevates CO from simply being another immensely promising debut to the classic that it is.

Essentials: “Crack Rock”, “Bad Religion”, “End / Golden Girl” ft. Tyler, the Creator

13. Sunbather- Deafheaven

Deafheaven were far from the first band to blend black metal, shoegaze, and post-rock, but on their stellar 2013 record Sunbather they distilled elements of these genres into a punishing, and breathtaking sound that’s unmistakably theirs. Their solid 2010 debut Roads to Judha showed tremendous promise, but their songwriting wasn’t on par with their ambitions yet. But on Sunbather, Deafheaven lived up to that early promise. Sunbather is primarily a blistering fusion of black metal drumming and shrieks engulfed in walls of shoegaze guitar that often give way to instrumental outros that shine with the radiance of Sigur Ros or Explosions in the Sky. George Clarke delivers the lyrics in an indecipherable shriek that either amplifies the intensity of the surrounding arrangements, or is used as a sublime juxtaposition to their fleeting moments of transcendent beauty. Sunbather is seven songs long, and superbly paced so that the band’s lengthier compositions are evenly split between songs that include a dreamy minimalist guitar/piano composition (“Irresistible”), a menacing baroque-noise march that congeals midway through into a jangly guitar conclusion (“Please Remember”), and an eerie collage of vocal samples and droning strings (“Windows”). This odd assortment of songs may seem random, but they do a nice job of breaking up the surrounding onslaught, and demonstrating the band’s range, while still adhering to the record’s searing aesthetic. It’s remarkably accessible music as far as metal is concerned, and if you can make it past the tone of Clarke’s voice there’s a lot to love about this album.

For all of Sunbather’s seemingly impenetrable harshness, there’s a great deal of beauty glistening just beneath the surface. On Sunbather, Deafheaven managed to strike a near perfect balance between beauty and chaos that, while greater heights were achieved later on, they never quite improved upon. The longer numbers here transition into moments of transcendent, cathartic beauty, and back into frenetic fury so subtly, and masterfully, that the juxtapositions quickly begin to seem less like extreme exercises in contrasting dynamics and tones so much as the fluid spectrum of Deafheaven’s multi-faceted artistry. And while the lyrics throughout Sunbather match the brutality of the corresponding arrangements, they also match their life-affirming, triumphant sense of urgency. Whether Clarke is reflecting on habitual patterns and habits that he just can’t shake “Lost in the patterns of youth/And the ghost of your aches comes back to haunt you/And the forging of change makes no difference” on “Vertigo” or ruing the alcoholism that he inherited from his father “In the hallways lit up brightly but couldn’t find myself/I laid drunk on the concrete on the day of your birth in celebration of all you were worth” on closer “The Pecan Tree”, his lyrics throughout Sunbather imbue his tortured yelps with a devastating poignancy rendered all the more morose by the band’s unflinching, formidable poise. It’s not hard to hear why Sunbather was the best reviewed album of 2013, and a game changer for black metal. Few records, metal or otherwise, have managed to convey such overwhelming emotional intensity through such ambitious composition. Its crushing beauty hasn’t lost an ounce of its potency in the years since.

Essentials: “Dream House”, “The Pecan Tree”, “Sunbather”

12. To Pimp a Butterfly- Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar caught the attention of the zeitgeist with his generation defining sophomore LP, Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City, but that record’s follow-up, To Pimp a Butterfly, cemented his status as one of the definitive musical auteurs of his generation. Whereas the former record was a gripping street epic that seamlessly tucked a coming of age story into the larger fabric of a blockbuster west coast hip-hop record, the latter record blew open the history of black music and wove together a tapestry of disparate styles that congealed to express a more multi-faceted look at the black experience. The beats are composed of live instrumentation courtesy of Terrance Martin, Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, and a plethora of the west coast jazz elite, and they span the likes of jazz, r&b, soul, and funk alongside instrumental hip-hop without showing the seams. The music runs the gamut from uplifting anthems (“Alright”) to bouts of unbridled fury (“The Blacker the Berry”), and everywhere in-between, but thanks to Kendrick’s deft pacing and execution nothing sounds out of place, and there’s no mistaking these songs for the work of anyone else through sheer scope alone. Kendrick’s writing and rapping had increased considerably since GKMC, but throughout TPaB he spends less time trying to prove what a capable rapper he is, and far more time using his ability to explore the nuances of systemic racial issues through the lens of a plethora of different characters. TPaB couldn’t have possibly sounded more out of step with the zeitgeist upon its release, but in venturing beyond what hip-hop in the mid 10s sounded like, and exploring perspectives beyond those of himself, he was able to tap into something far more universally human.

Throughout the course of TPaB Kendrick tackles a wide plethora of topics with music that’s matches the breadth and scope of his thematic ambitions. The g-funk strut “King Kunta” is one of the most immediate songs in his career, and he juxtaposes the song’s infectious backdrop against verses that evoke the resilience of Kunta Kinte in the novel Roots as a through line for the jarring shift he experienced throughout his come-up after growing up in poverty. “u?” brilliantly distills the sort of tragic survivor’s guilt that Kendrick experienced in the wake of his success watching so many of his friends continue to succumb to the perils of systemic racism through harsh free-jazz arrangements, while “i” gains power within the context of the record as an uplifting neo-soul anthem of self-love after the preceding storm has subsided. The uplifting anthem “Alright” has become a canonical protest song in the wake of civil unrest as a result of excessive police brutality while the finale, “Mortal Man”, begins with some of his strongest verses to date before transitioning into a fabricated interview with 2Pac. There’s an absurd amount to unpack within the songs on TPaB, but the album never buckles under the weight of its ambition, and delivers performances that are striking at every turn. Kendrick never shies away from depicting the devastating realities throughout the history of the black American experience, but he finds reasons to persist through these tribulations in the power of community, god, and love.

Essentials: “The Blacker the Berry”, “u”, “Wesley’s Theory” ft. George Clinton

11. Lonerism- Tame Impala

On Tame Impala’s debut, Innerspeaker, the band proved adept at piecing together the finest moments from their record collections into strange, idiosyncratic new shapes, but on their sublime sophomore LP, Lonerism, they began to push their sound into the present moment. The flanged guitars, shuffling drum rhythms, and frontman Kevin Parker’s Lennon-esque falsetto are a hallmarks of classic psychedelic rock, but the spellbinding synth textures, evocative samples, and cavernous production showcase a definitively 21st century sensibility. There was no mistaking them for a pure homage act on Lonerism. With the exception of piano on a few tracks courtesy of Jay Watson, and a spoken word interlude courtesy of Melody Prochet, Lonerism was written, recorded, and produced entirely by Kevin Parker, and it helped signal a major shift from bands being the dominant artistic vehicle in indie music to the solo artist taking up that mantle. Lonerism is a perfectly paced album, and aside from a few breathers, and a few epics, it almost plays like a greatest hits set. There were signs of the disco-prog synth act that Tame Imapa developed into on a few of Lonerism’s more immediate moments, but this is still thoroughly steeped in the lineage of psychedelic rock, acid rock, and blues rock. With Lonerism, Parker began to show signs of the poptimist that he was all along, but he hadn’t yet compromised the instrumental ingenuity that he’s capable of for a strong melody, and so here you get the best of both worlds; the band’s sharpest hooks and most adventurous production. Lonerism is where Tame Impala evolved from a promising project with immense potential into one of the defining musical acts of Parker’s generation.

Lonerism is a record that completely lives up to its title as a concept record about isolation. Every song here finds Parker grappling with some aspect of self-imposed isolation set against hazy, psychedelic pop/rock instrumentation. Some songs like, the disarmingly immediate “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards” spells out his anguish explicitly, with a love interest that he keeps falling for against his best judgement, while “Endors Toi” finds Parker rejecting the hardships of reality for the bliss that’s only possible when you’re literally dreaming. The lyrics rarely go deep, but on a record like this they’re entirely beside the point. Thankfully Parker’s writing works superbly within the context of the concept without detracting from the instrumentation and production. Parker wrote a few strong hooks on IS, but they were the exception, not the norm. On Lonerism, Parker’s melodic intuition had fully blossomed, and the hooks on songs like “Elephant”, “Why Won’t She Talk to Me”, and “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards” were more immediate, and more memorable than anything on the top 40 at the time. The songs on Lonerism are bursting with sonic personality; whether we’re talking about the euphoric streaks of synth that send “Apocalypse Dreams” into the stratosphere, the phaser-smeared guitars and immersive samples that bring “Sun’s Coming Down” to its triumphant finale, or the propulsive drum fllls that propel “Endors Toi”, Lonerism is the most sonically rich record that Parker has ever released. Parker would achieve more audacious and unexpected heights on his superb 2015 follow-up, Currents, but he has yet to top Lonerism’s consistency, and near perfect balance between studio experimentation and pure pop craftsmanship.

Essentials: “Nothing That Has Happened So Far Has Been Anything We Could Control”, “Sun’s Coming Up”, “Apocalypse Dreams”

10. Flower Boy- Tyler, the Creator

Flower Boy may not have come as a surprise to those who closely followed Tyler Okonoma’s progression from the lo-fi hardcore hip-hop days of Bastard and early Odd Future through his chaotic, candy-coated third LP, Cherry Bomb, but for the casual listener it may have seemed like an unthinkable evolution. And no one could have predicted its consistency. The signs of Tyler progressing into melodic, psych-leaning neo-soul were on the wall as early as his terrific 2013 record, Wolf, but on FB his melodic sensibilities, compositional chops, and an increasingly empathetic outward writing perspective all coalesced into an idiosyncratic tapestry of vibrant sound and color unlike any hip hop record ever recorded. It’s the first time that Tyler’s chops had fully caught up with his ambition, allowing him to completely deliver on the promise of a truly genre-adverse opus that Cherry Bomb merely hinted at. The lyrics are somber, and reflective, demonstrating Tyler’s newfound sense of maturity that would have been unthinkable throughout the early OF days. The sincerity and vulnerability of the lyrics go a long way towards heightening the potency of his vibrant, melodically rich compositions. FB capitalizes on all the strange contradictions that have always been inherent in his music, while removing the adolescent excess that have bogged down each prior release. The result is a highwater mark for what hip-hop and neo-soul can sound like unbridled with concern for what music should sound like. That attention to detail and unrelenting creative spirit are what helped propel FB into being the classic record that it ended up being.

Eschewing the lo-fi Neptunes meets MF DOOM beats of his past records, Tyler landed on a perfect blend of neo-soul synths, jazz strings/horns, and drums that split the difference between classic boom-bap and mid-10s trap for FB. The music is bright and vibrant, with a wealth of detail tucked within each mix that rewards multiple listens. There are songs that are completely in Tyler’s wheelhouse, like the frantic, mid-album trap cut “I Ain’t Got Time!”, and a few like the show-stopping psychedelic soul ballad, “Garden Shed”, that dramatically expand the parameters of his sound, but they all cohere together superbly into a fully-realized kaleidoscope of sound. Even the songs like “Pothole” and “November” that seem like more run of the mill Tyler cuts showcase a renewed sense of focus and tight production that belie their simple construction. FB is a record that’s focused on unrequited love, and while themes of abandonment, disillusionment with fame, growing pains, and insecurity emerge as on past records, the bulk of the action is focused on Tyler coming to terms with both his bisexuality and the anguish of a missed connection. Rarely does heartbreak sound so unflinchingly, thrillingly alive. True to form, the music is never mopey or saccharine, but it’s always brimming with the intensity of young love. FB is the record that Tyler has always set out to make, and while I’m sure he’ll top it at some point, it currently stands at the definitive realization of his singular vision.

Essentials: “911 / Mr. Lonely” ft. Frank Ocean & Stevey Lacy, “Garden Shed” ft. Estelle, “See You Again” ft. Kali Uchis

9. Until the Quiet Comes- Flying Lotus

After Steve Ellison, aka Flying Lotus, dropped his masterful third LP, Cosmogramma, it seemed like he could take his sound anywhere, but doubling down and improving on the maximalist excess of Cosmogramma would have proved a near impossible task. Thankfully, on his stellar follow-up LP, Until the Quiet Comes, FlyLo swung all the way in the opposite direction, and despite it being the flavor of the decade minimalism rarely ended up sounding better on any other artist. UtQC is a minimalist electronic jazz/instrumental hip hop record with dreamy meditative arrangements that belie their complexity at every turn. The album is a concept record that finds FlyLo exploring the realms of human consciousness coupled with ambitious arrangements and immersive production that complements his thematic ambitions perfectly. FlyLo is still making beats in a traditional sense, but the compositions on this LP are more rich and varied than the entire discography of most producers, and the music he draws from spans the likes of ambient, psychedelia, r&b, post-rock, progressive rock, and meditative astral jazz as much as his usual instrumental hip hop, IDM, and free jazz touchstones. And so while UtQC is more insular, less immediate, and more likely to necessitate multiple listens than any other record of his, it’s the best showcase of FlyLo’s versatility, melodic intuition, and use of texture.

The compositions are short and sweet, and barely last longer than it takes for FlyLo to introduce an idea, tweak it, thwart expectations, and move on. Like on Cosmogramma, UtQC incorporates live instrumentation weaved throughout various compositions (Thundercat’s bass playing was cemented as a staple element of FlyLo’s sound here) as well as vocal features from the likes of Thundercat, Thom Yorke, Laura Darlington, and Niki Randa. The features are all utilized tastefully, and heighten the potency of the existing arrangements without detracting too much. There are songs like “All In” and “Yesterday/Corded” that just feature FlyLo alone constructing remarkable, lived-in soundscapes from his usual toolkit of drum machines, samplers, sequencers, and keys, while others like the title track and “DMT Song” that commit thoroughly to their minimalism, and coast effortlessly around strong melodies or guest vocal performances. Many of these songs retain the visceral low-end and celestial sweep of his best work, but they don’t serve to overwhelm and disorient as much as they sedate and mesmerize. “Getting There” hits the sweet spot, with and infectious, heavy-hitting low-end juxtaposed against Niki Randa’s sweeping falsetto. UtQC may not go for the jugular as FlyLo’s prior two records, but it’s just as captivating in its own quietly confident way.

And a few of the songs on the back half of the record are some of the most gorgeous that FlyLo has ever composed. The loose and dreamy “Only if You Wanna” provides a simple but sublime bridge from the drum and bass rush of “The Nightcrawler” into the droning r&b mirage with Yorke’s vocals wafting eerily through the crevices in the mix. From there the record moves into “Hunger” and “Phantasm”, two songs that skew the closest that FlyLo has ever veered toward straight up ambience, and they slowly unfurl into gorgeous, unpredictable string progressions as Niki Randa and Laura Darlington deliver understated, ethereal vocals, respectively. From there we’re led into “me Yesterday//Corded”, one of the strongest songs that FlyLo has released to date. It begins in the same somber, minor-key tone of the preceding songs before erupting into a cosmic drum and bass coda with a euphoric melody and pitch-shifted vocals. The final song, “Dream to Me” is a whirring synth and woodwind lullaby that brings everything full circle, leading us right back into the intro, “All In”. UtQC breezes by in nearly 47 minutes, but there’s another singular, self-contained universe of detail packed into this record’s spellbinding grooves.

Essentials: “yesterday//Corded”, “Electric Candyman ft. Thom Yorke”, “All In”

8. Carrie & Lowell- Sufjan Stevens

By the time that Sufjan Stevens released Carrie & Lowell he had already released several classic records and had undergone several stylistic change-ups, but nothing in his discography established the precedent for a masterwork quite like C&L. On C&L Sufjan returned to the sparse chamber folk sound of his superb fourth record, Seven Swans, but he replaced the short vignettes and character studies that peppered that record with an engrossing scope that centers around his tumultuous relationship with his late mother who suffered from substance addiction and schizophrenia. The music is hushed, and minimal, consisting of little more than finger plucked guitar, banjo, ukulele, and an assortment of strings underneath Sufjan’s tender delivery. His music has always radiated a sense of overwhelming empathy, and so when plumbing the depths of his psyche for memories of his mother the tone is often devastating and cathartic in equal measure, but never overly morose or self-pitying. With C&L Sufjan succeeded in honoring his mother’s memory as honestly and as faithfully as he could while his songwriting hit a new peak.

C&L sustains an almost overwhelming poignancy throughout its duration, but it’s never a slog. The heaviness of the sentiments never really subsides, but these songs are each filled with strong hooks, sweeping melodies, and a disarming directness that he’s never quite managed on prior records. Songs like the opening cut “Death with Dignity”, “Should Have Known Better”, and “The Only Thing” soar with warm, infectious hooks and nimble guitar arrangements alongside a few electronic and orchestral embellishments, while songs like “No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross” and “Fourth of July” bring the tempo to a crawl and bask in Sufjan’s falsetto and minor-key acoustic guitar arrangements. It all comes to a head on the devastating centerpiece “No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross”, as Sufjan depicts the self-destructive behavior he engaged in right after his mother’s death “There’s blood on that blade/Fuck me, I’m falling apart/My assassin/Like Casper the ghost/There’s no shade in the shadow of the cross” just so that he could feel closer to her.

Essentials: “No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross”, “Death with Dignity”, “The Only Thing”

7. Some Rap Songs- Earl Sweatshirt

Earl Sweatshirt was arguably the greatest living rapper before dropping his magnum opus, Some Rap Songs, but since its release it’s become much harder to dispute. On SRS Earl runs through 15 songs in 22 minutes, delivering sometimes little more than a hook and a verse per song before transitioning into the next one. The songs operate according to their own logic, and forgo traditional song structure for a loop-based compositional approach. Earl produced the bulk of the record himself, and heavily opted for dusty, de-tuned pianos, shuffling, lo-fi percussion, and a plethora of discordant texture. Earl’s precision is remarkable, and what may initially scan as awkward or clumsy flows slowly reveal themselves to be masterfully sidestepping the rhythms entirely. But for all its challenging aspects, SRS is hardly a precious, posturing sort of record. It demands your full attention, but will reward it several times over.

The songs throughout SRS are bleak missives from a remarkable talent unpacking years of trauma. The record tackles many of the same themes of abandonment, drug abuse, and depression as his past records, but he’s cut out any lingering excess in his prose, distilling only what’s absolutely necessary into each bar. The rapping is lean, and virtuosic, but never showy, and the brevity of the songs themselves is indicative of how succinct and substantial the music there is. Songs like “Red Water” have just a single couplet that he repeats a few times as the ebb and flow of the instrumental sustains the onset momentum, while other songs like “The Mint” are closer to convention, but still unfold along unpredictable loops, and verses that zig zag in and out of the mix at irregular intervals. There are songs like “Cold Summers” and “The Bends” that are the closest that Earl comes to rapping accessibly, and there are those like “Playing Possums” and Peanuts" that owe more to tape loops, ambient, and noise music than anything resembling hip hop. SRS and it’s follow-up EP, Feet of Clay, are easily the most challenging, experimental, and divisive records that Earl has released to date, but they’re also singular masterworks that push hip hop into stranger, and more human realms.

Essentials: “Peanut”, “The Mint” ft. Navy Blue, “December 24”

6. New Bermuda- Deafheaven

After releasing their superb second LP, Sunbather, Deafheaven had become one of the most acclaimed metal bands of the century, and had achieved a level of popularity unprecedented for metal bands. Never mistaken by anyone as purists, Deafheaven began their career flirting with through lines between shoegaze, black metal, and post-rock before tastefully combining them on Sunbather. While they easily could have churned out another LP of post-rock/blackgaze of the same stripe, the band went deeper and darker, and re-emerged with their third LP, New Bermuda, the heaviest, and arguably most melodic, record of their career to date. Across five songs that collectively clock in around 46 minutes Deafheaven continue to expand their parameters of their sound, incorporating heavier tremelo guitars, incendiary blast beats, and sweeping post-rock passages that are more adventurous, expansive, and gorgeous, than what any other bands are doing today. NB may lean the furthest towards the brutality of classic black metal, but the band’s 2015 onslaught still amplifies an immense feeling of transcendence alongside the terror.

Opener “Brought to the Water” rustles to life with the ominous sway of church bells before its lead guitar riff kicks into gear, foreshadowing the premium they place on atmosphere with foreboding timbres. Throughout the next several minutes the band continue to build a scorched earth black metal composition bristling with distortion and rapid fire drumming that eventually slyly segues into a sugary breakdown reminiscent of “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer. It’s disarming, and unprecedented, but a perfectly logical evolution of their sound that reaffirms their status as the most versatile band at the vanguard of contemporary black metal. “Luna” and “Come Back” are two of the heaviest songs that Deafheaven have ever released, and get a ton of mileage out of their seismic guitar riffs and pummeling percussion, while “Luna” boasts one of the loveliest melodies they’ve ever penned, gliding alone a star-dusted, stratosphere-bound guitar riff. Closer “Gifts for the Earth” is a succinct culmination of the preceding 38 minutes, capped off with their most cathartic coda to date with jangly guitar and minor key piano softly swirling around Clarke’s feral shrieks. The warmth exuded beneath Clarke’s shrapnel-laced delivery posits Deafheaven as a band executing well-beyond the scope and limitations of metal.

Essentials: “Gifts for the Earth”, “Brought to the Water”, “Luna”

5. Halcyon Digest- Deerhunter

By the time that Deerhunter geared up to record their fifth LP, Halycon Digest, they already had a rich body of work behind them, but very little of their music set the kind of precedent for where they would go on HD. Here, Deerhunter tapered down their most avant-garde impulses in favor of cleaner guitar arrangements and big, bright melodies, unearthing the pop band they’ve always been at their core with poise and aplomb. The walls of guitar noise, ambient interludes, and studio effects that had defined their previous releases became relegated to marginal aspects of their song craft, and they began opening up their songs like never before. Thankfully, they didn’t dilute their sound, they just cleaned it up, and the 11 songs that make up HD are the most immediate, and richly produced (thanks to Ben Allen, who produced this record after nailing Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion a year prior) of Deerhunter’s career to date. Deerhunter’s shift towards accessibility only seemed to accentuate their inherent strangeness, and HD remains one of the most engaging and endlessly replayable indie pop records of the 21st century.

From the droning low-end thump that ignites opener “Earthquake” it’s clear something substantial has shifted. Allen’s biggest contribution was a heightened low-end that caused Josh Fauver’s bass to really pop without distracting too much from the rest of the arrangements. This extra oomph propels songs like “Don’t Cry” and “Coronado” well into infectious, anthemic territory while it helps ground more ambitious cuts like “Helicopter” and “Desire Lanes”. Frontman Bradford Cox had completely grown into his role as a charismatic, provocative frontman with the pipes and poetic disposition to back up the antics, and propel his band towards a stadium sized sound even if they would never end up touring them. Bradford’s vocal melodies on closer “…He Would Have Laughed” and centerpiece “Helicopter” are the strongest that the band ever penned, while he delivers two of his most impressive vocal performances on the lulling “Sailing” and the pensive “Earthquake”. The closer, a tribute to the late Jay Reatard, is perhaps Deerhunter’s finest moment to date, with Bradford spinning surreal couplets “I live on a farm, yeah/I never lived on a farm” around the band’s steady harpsichord pulse until the composition bursts with euphoria, and then slowly begins to fade out before cutting out abruptly. Deerhunter have never made a bad record, but HD was the last time they showed how simultaneously adventurous and immediate pop music can be.

Essentials: “He Would Have Laughed”, “Helicopter”, “Desire Lanes”

4. Black Messiah- D’Angelo & The Vanguard

In the years following D'Angelo’s spectacular second LP, Voodoo, it seemed increasingly likely that he would never release another record. But then in the twilight days of 2014 D'Angelo surprise dropped his 3rd and best LP to date, Black Messiah, with a new band supporting him called The Vanguard (which consisted of Questlove on drums, Pina Palladino on bass, Isaiah Sharkey on guitar, Roy Hargrove on horns, and a handful of other musicians). BM eschews the warm r&b/neo-soul solo singer-songwriter sound of the first two D'Angelo LPs in favor of a fiery cocktail of avant-garde soul, jazz funk, and psychedelic r&b that’s simultaneously more abrasive and experimental than anything he had done prior. D'Angelo still has a remarkably agile falsetto, but it’s been notably weathered by the years away, and it now has a grainier disposition that happens to be a much better fit for the songs throughout the record. The band’s chemistry is just remarkable, and it’s hard to believe that they weren’t all cutting records with each other for decades prior. Unlike most artists that come back with new work after a notable dry spell, D'Angelo has never sounded more human than he does on this latest LP of his. Thankfully, despite the years apart D’Angelo hasn’t lost an ounce of his remarkable talent, and brings a magnetic charisma, sublime range, and a much sharper point of view to songs that reflect the turmoil of the preceding years of unrelenting police violence, yet respond in a multitude of ways. The Vanguard prove to be an ideal backdrop for D’Angelo’s songwriting, and together they achieve a new standard for neo-soul.

Although it had been 14 years, D'Angelo’s return felt right on time in the immediate wake of the deaths of Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, and plenty of others at the hands of the police. While D'Angelo’s music has never shied away from political statements, BM is by far the most explicitly political record of his career. “1000 Deaths” opens to a sample of a Khalid Abdul Muhammed speech about Jesus being black and quickly gives way to a visceral, funk rock rhythm and red-lining guitars with D'Angelo dissecting the difference between courage and cowardice “Because a coward dies a thousand times/But a soldier just dies once”. On the following track, “The Charade”, D'Angelo opts for searing soul that builds into his most anthemic melody to date while he delivers devastating imagery of the cruelty still inflicted on black people all over the world “All we wanted was a chance to talk/‘Stead we only got outlined in chalk” while “'Til It’s Done” contains D'Angelo’s finest melody to date and finds him questioning the nature of our existence and whether we’re really reckoning with the way that capitalists are destroying our planet “Perilous dissidence evening up the score/Do we even know what we’re fighting for?”. He also delivers some of his best love songs to date, including the funky mid-tempo shuffle of “Sugah Daddy”, the tender soul ballad “Betray My Heart”, and the spellbinding centerpiece “Really Love”. These songs fold neatly within the larger fabric of the record as a whole, and complement the politically charged songs without breaking the greater aesthetic. D'Angelo’s conviction is palpable throughout it all, and the newfound wisdom that he accrued in the years since Voodoo enrich the perspective that he brings to the songs in such a generous, humble way. Even if D’Angelo never releases another record we couldn’t have asked for a better swan song from him.

Essentials: “’Til It’s Done”, “The Charade”, “Really Love”

3. MBV- My Bloody Valentine

Like D'Angelo, it didn’t seem likely that My Bloody Valentine would ever follow-up their masterful second LP, but 22 years after the release of Loveless, in the dead of February 2013, MBV, the third My Bloody Valentine, finally emerged. There are 9 songs here, and they can neatly divided into three sections that find the band progressing from an extension of what they were doing in the 90s to styles never associated with them. MBV picks up right where Loveless left off, beginning with expansive suite of shoegaze songs rendered with the kind of sublime texture and tone as we’ve come to expect from the group, and slowly but surely they branch out into psychedelic pop, ambient, and pure noise, realms they’ve teased in the past but have never quite committed to prior. You can hear the band straining against their limitations, and although seeking out perfection is a fools errand, they nearly achieve it.

There’s no mistaking MBV as the work of any other band, but here they’re painting in darker, bolder hues than they’ve used in the past. Beginning with the opening song, “She Found Now”, their sound is much richer, and more forlorn, than it’s ever sounded, with thick plumes of guitar washing over wispy androgynous vocals and faint, skeletal percussion. Even as the tempos increase and the melodies begin to peak out beneath the fuzz, that wistful, melancholic tone remains. “Only Tomorrow” amps up the tempo with a driving rhythm and scorching guitars perpetually firing into the red

while “In Another Way” is a bludgeoning slice of driving noise pop with a strong melody from guitarist Belinda Butcher. “Nothing Is” coasts off the hypnotic repetition of its bludgeoning guitars for 3.5 minutes, and perfectly segues into the glorious noise piece, “Wonder 2”, which closes the record on a note of whirring guitars that approximate the overwhelming euphoria of first wave shoegaze, but takes the listener to much stranger places.

The nine songs throughout MBV strike a perfect balance between updating the shoegaze style that they perfected on loveless while wading into new territory, but it all hangs together beautifully. Kevin Shields and Belinda Butcher still harmonize on the bulk of these songs, and they’re ethereal delivery is still the perfect counterbalance for the aggression of the guitars. The searing slow-burn of “Who Sees You” is the peak of their vocal interplay, while on the midsection pop numbers like “New You” and “In Another Way” Butcher takes the reins and delivers two of the band’s strongest melodies to date over driving percussion and sleigh bells. The relative immediacy of “New You” is new sound for the band, and they completely deliver on its hypnotic pop premise. “Is This and Yes” and “Nothing Is” are the two instrumentals at the polar ends of the band’s sound that perfectly balance out the more dynamic songs, and the aforementioned noise piece “Wonder 2” complements the opening song “She Found Now” perfectly in that it’s an exploration of what My Bloody Valentine might explore more of if they ever release a fourth LP. It’s a miracle that MBV even exists in the first place, so the fact that it’s this good is just icing.

Essentials: “Only Tomorrow”, “New You”, “In Another Way”

2. Blonde- Frank Ocean

After releasing his generation defining 2012 debut Channel Orange, it was hard to say where he was going to take his music next. A cryptic series of videos in mid-August 2016 featuring Frank building a ladder led to few clues, but at the end of this week we received an audio-visual album titled Endless. Before anyone could really acclimate themselves to sleek, genre-agnostic minimalism of Endless, the proper follow-up to CO, titled Blonde, released a day later. Whereas CO was the sound of a singular talent discovering what he can do, Blonde is the sound of that talent capitalizing on those gifts with unparalleled precision. On Blonde Frank opts for a striking minimalist palette of psychedelic pop, avant-garde soul, ambient, and jazz, that are off-kilter and adventurous without sacrificing the warmth of his past work. Like CO, Blonde primarily explores themes of nostalgia, heartbreak, identify, and the nature of human perception, and here his eye for detail and attention to detail remains unmatched by any songwriter of the last decade.

From the opening song “Nikes”, Blonde presents itself as a drastic stylist departure from what Frank was doing prior. The first half is a distorted r&b dreamscape with Frank crooning in a pitch-shifted higher register, and actually has him rapping a few verses, before returning to his normal register. Blonde is filled with strange, yet tasteful stylistic touches like this, from the distorted shrieks at the end of “Ivy”, to the collapsing, pitch-shifted orchestra that gives way to an eerie children’s choir’s on “Pretty Sweet”, the album rarely shifts into anything that scans as conventional. “Pink and White” is the most straight forward moment on the album, but the verses rarely stay grounded, and soon give way to a soaring chorus that slyly tucks Beyonce’s voice into the fold before the instruments dissolve from the mix entirely. “Skyline To” and “Godspeed” flirt with ambience and put a great deal of emphasis on exploring texture and negative space, while “Close to You” is a brief, glitchy cover of Stevie Wonder’s classic that provides a terrific segue from the “Facebook Story” interlude into the record’s devastating centerpiece, White Ferrari. The record covers a remarkable amount of ground sonically, but it coheres in a way that completely belies this scope.

“Nikes” sets the tone for the record on the whole as Frank watches his friends lose themselves to the spoils of his fame and begins to recognize himself as a placeholder for a partner’s lost love. “Self-Control” depicts the story of one of Frank’s relationship’s imploding “I’ll be the boyfriend in your set dreams tonight/Noses on a rail, little virgin wears the white” set to a mesmerizing neo-soul slow-burn that unfurls a gorgeous, understated melody while “Nights” juxtaposes the highs of the come-up “Oooh nani nani/This feel like a Quaalude” with a guitar pop/boom-bap instrumental and the perils of fame with a woozy, cloud-rap adjacent second half “Shut the fuck up I don’t want to hear your conversation/Rollin” marijuana that’s a cheap vacation". The record hits its peak with the spectacular ballad, “White Ferrari”, the strongest song of his career to date. Over warm acoustic guitar provided by Alex G Frank details the permanence of the love that he’ll have for someone that he’s no longer in a relationship with “I care for you still and I will forever/That was my part of the deal, honest/We got so familiar”. The humility and humanity of the moment is heartbreaking, and speaks volumes about the depths of Frank’s artistry. Blonde set a new benchmark for avant-garde pop, and is arguably the most influential album of the past decade.

Essentials: “White Ferrari”, “Nights”, “Self-Control”

1. Cosmogramma- Flying Lotus

After breaking through with his superb sophomore LP, Los Angeles (a singular blend of IDM, trip-hip, and woozy Dilla & Madlib-esque instrumental hip-hop) it would have been easy for Flying Lotus to continue mining the same sounds for successive records that were just slight variations on that singular template. But for FlyLo’s third LP, Cosmogramma, he blew his sound wide open, eschewing the quantized beat grid for a lusher, more sprawling sound that couldn’t be confined to standard rhythms. Cosmogramma is steeped in the lineage of instrumental hip hop and IDM like its predecessor, but it manages to juggle a wider palette of disparate styles such as four on the floor, drum and bass, jungle, free-jazz, and experimental bass while incorporating a wide variety of guest musicians that do a superb job of fleshing out his expansive compositions. Cosmogramma is a record that can barely contain its ambition, and despite having been released over a decade ago it still shines like a beacon illuminating the boundless possibilities of where music can go.

The sublime fusion of the live instrumentation, supplied by Thundercat on bass, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson contributing string arrangements, and Ravi Coltrane providing tenor saxophone, among many others coupled with FlyLo’s mind-warping production is what gives the album it’s compelling thrust. The first half primarily splits the difference between frantic drum and bass/synth-pop heaters and atmospheric cosmic-jazz interludes, and the pacing is just remarkable, with no moment overstaying it’s welcome and plenty of space to give each idea the space it needs to develop. Thom Yorke drops by for a wispy vocal performance on the agile IDM strut “And the World Laughs With You” while Thundercat delivers a formal career introduction on the tender ballad “MmmHmm” before the record shifts into the infectious four on the floor centerpiece, “Do the Astral Plane”. From here the record deploys the astral jazz and eastern influences in a more pronounced fashion on songs like “German Haircut” and “Dance of the Pseudo Nymph” respectively. The celestial ambience of “Table Tennis” featuring Laura Darlington is a welcome breather for the life-affirming synth surge of closer “Galaxy in Janaki”, ending the album on a somber, but ultimately uplifting note with Flylo sampling the ventilators that his mom was hooked up to on her death bed for a euphoric, synth-streaked send-off.

The enduring appeal lies in its function as ambition existing for the sake of ambition. The songs throughout Cosmogramma all vary in texture, tempo, and tone, and they all around great on their own, but it’s the journey from start to finish that Cosmogramma exemplifies as a spiritual experience. Cosmogamma was intended to function as a loose concept album of sorts about lucid-dreaming and out of body experiences influenced by the study of the universe, heaven, and hell, and it’s remarkable to hear just how much of that vision that he’s able to convey without the prevalence of vocals. Although electronic music has changed dramatically in the decade since Cosmogramma was released, the execution of FlyLo’s masterpiece hasn’t been in matched, in electronic music or anywhere where else. Cosmogramma is both the pinnacle of where music has been, and a glimpse at the possibilities of where it could go moving forward.

Essentials: “Galaxy in Janaki”, “Do the Astral Plane”, “MmmHmm” ft. Thundercat

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superman86to99 · 3 years

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imagine ive only ever real one 80s-90s superman comic (this is true) what exactly is the deal with lions-mane lex luthor? why does he have hair? why is he dating kara of all people? what is going on. i found an image of him today and when using reverse image search found your blog. please help i don't know why he has an entire mane and a maybe-20-at-most girlfriend

Do you want the long version or the short version? Because either way I’m giving you the long version, sorry.

*cracks knuckles*

Okay, so when John Byrne rebooted Superman in 1986, he established that baby Kal-El’s Kryptonian spaceship had a chunk of kryptonite lodged into it -- in The Man of Steel #1, teenage Clark Kent gets sick when he gets near the ship for the first time (since he came out of it, I mean) because of the kryptonite, not due to the shock of learning he’s an alien or because he had a big plate of chili earlier or something. We also see that a mysterious figure is creeping on young Clark and his Earth dad as they visit the spot where the ship is hidden:

Later, in The Man of Steel #4, we’re introduced to Lex Luthor for the first time and he has (some) red hair on his head, but he’s pretty much the same “older businessman who hates Superman” character you’re probably familiar with, unless your only exposure to the Superman franchise is through Dawn of Justice, in which case I’m so sorry. Anyway, in The Man of Steel #6 (the end of Superman’s new origin), Superman realizes that someone has stolen his baby spaceship -- it turns out that leaving advanced alien tech laying around in the middle of a field in Kansas isn’t such a good idea after all. The next month in the all-new Superman #1, we find out that the thief was the same mysterious figure who’s been stalking Superman since he was young -- it’s a crazy scientist who spent years tracking down the spaceship after it landed on Earth, finally found it, and used the kryptonite on it to build a radioactive-meteor-powered Terminator called Metallo. Metallo kicks Superman’s ass in this issue (because, again, kryptonite), but just when he’s about to kill him, someone conveniently kidnaps him.

In Superman #2 we find out that the kidnapper was a jealous (and by now completely bald) Lex Luthor, because he wanted to kill Superman himself, and also steal the kryptonite while at it. In fact, Luthor is such a big fan of kryptonite that he makes himself a fancy kryptonite ring and goads Superman with it.

After all, it’s just a radioactive rock from outer space; what’s the worst that could happen? We find out a year later in Action Comics #600, when Luthor discovers he has cancer due to wearing that ring all day and has to have his hand amputated and replaced with a robot one. But that wasn’t enough to stop the cancer -- by Action Comics #660 in 1990, the disease has spread to Luthor’s entire body and he only has a few months to live. So, one day, Luthor says “fuck it,” gets on a supersonic jet plane, crashes it on some mountains, and dies.

...OR DOES HE?

Over the next few months, LexCorp’s lawyers discover that Luthor left everything to a secret son he’s got stashed away somewhere, so they start looking for him. Meanwhile, because LexCorp is freaking everywhere in Metropolis and Luthor’s henchmen suck at running the company, the whole city falls into an economic depression. Just when the city is at its lowest point, with a huge blackout and riots and even the Daily Planet about to go broke, Luthor’s secret heir shows up in Action Comics #671, and it turns out he’s sexy, long-haired, and Australian.

Lex Jr. fixes the company’s (and thus Metropolis’) problems and quickly becomes a hero to the city. And for a while there, it actually looked like the kid was on the up and up. Meanwhile, Supergirl comes back after a long absence, but she’s not the “Superman’s cousin” Supergirl you know, she’s... a whole other can of worms I will gladly explain in another long-ass post if anyone asks, because that’s what I was put on this planet to do. What’s important is that this Supergirl was created by an alternate dimension Luthor who was also good and sexy (but not Australian), so when she meets Lex Jr. in 1992′s Action Comics #676, she gets a little Electra thing going and instantly falls in love with him. Seriously, they start making out like five seconds after meeting.

But, plot twist: Luthor’s son wasn’t good, or Luthor’s son. Because they...

Action Comics #678 reveals the years-long con: turns out Luthor faked his death in that plane crash and hired a disgraced cloning specialist (from another looooong storyline) to make him a new, cancer-free body under his exact specifications. Yes, he specifically asked for thick hair, and thick who knows what else. He even planned Metropolis’ economic crisis to set up his “son” as the city’s savior and steal some public love from Superman. The one thing he didn’t plan was for a Supergirl whose main kink is “Lex Luthor but good” to fall on his lap; that was just a happy accident.

And that’s why in some comics Lex Luthor has long red hair and is dating Supergirl, who isn’t actually a teenager in this version... she’s like two years old, and made of goo, so it’s even grosser. Ugh, fine, here’s a tl;dr: Lex was dying of radioactive poisoning for wearing kryptonite bling so he cloned himself a younger body, faked his own death, pretended to be his hair-having non-evil son, and hooked up with a Supergirl from another universe who happened to love hair-having non-evil Luthors.

Lex Jr.’s storyline actually continued until Action Comics #700, and we’re about to make a post about #694, so keep an eye on the blog to find out what happened to the character! (Or just check Wikipedia, but we’d prefer if you read the blog.) (And also checked out our humble Patreon!)

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bamfdaddio · 3 years

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X-Men Unabridged: Hellfire (1980)

The X-Men, those often stripsearched mutants that have sworn to protect a world that hates and fears them, are a cultural juggernaut with a long, tangled history. We’ve been untangling that history for a while, but sometimes, you really want a more in-depth look. Interested? Then read the (un)Abridged X-Men!

(X-Men 129 - 131) - by Chris Claremont and John Byrne

Since I think Scott, square extraordinaire, would also say: “I know squat about rap, but this Vanilla Ice dude is excellent,” I’m not putting much stock in his musical opinions. (X-Men 130)

Before we finally reach the apotheosis of the Phoenix saga, we’re going to take it a little slowly by focusing on the first three issues of 1980. They are basically the ramp-up to the end, putting all the pieces in place for the X-equivalent of the Red Wedding, the Bridge of Khazad-Dûm or the explosion of Alderaan. But, before smashing the board, Claremont introduces three new queens to the game. Here they are, in order of Awesome:

Emma Frost, or The White Queen; a telepathic HBIC with ambitions beyond dressing up in lingerie;

Kitty Pryde, or Sprite (Shadowcat, these days);

Alison Blaire (Dazzler), a disco dolly with light powers who unfortunately starts out as a relic of time gone by.

But before we can expand, Claremont shrinks the cast: Banshee, who sold his voice to a sea witch has injured vocal chords, stays behind on Muir Isle, retiring officially. (It’s gonna be a while before he returns to the X-Family in any true capacity - I think it might be the 90s?) It’s the first time since Thunderbird’s death that the core cast changes, and it’s not that surprising that Sean gets the shaft: Banshee, who has been positioned as the older, more experienced member of the team, has had very little to do (and Claremont has seemed reluctant to flesh him out the way he has the rest of the X-Men). Sean is essentially a decent, upstanding man who has mastered the use of his powers: there’s very little way to go without breaking him down or changing the course of his character. (If you’re a fan of him, go read the Phalanx Covenant and 90’s Generation X: it’s the best use of Sean.)

Polaris, Havok and Jamie also stay in Scotland, choosing a quiet life without superheroics. (For those familiar with X-Factor, this is where you laugh and laugh and laugh.)

Jason Wyngarde, meanwhile keeps fucking with the Phoenix, using his psionic fantasies to unleash her darkest self.

Jean’s darkest fantasies amount to little more than a Victorian bodice ripper, which is adorable. (To be fair, if I were trapped in a lusty prison of my own design, I´d probably dream up my own Downton Abbey soap opera where I was sleeping with all the hunky house boys, so…) (X-Men 129)

Scott, meanwhile, reveals the sheer depths of his repression by admitting that he never let himself feel the grief for Jean’s death.

If you think it’s weird that Jean falls for a sleezeball like Wyngarde, remember that the love of her life is a man who is so repressed that it took him 5+ years to tell his friends he had a brother. Her taste in men is questionable at best. (X-Men 129)

The whole “I accidentally picked up a stray thought” has to be such a bullshit. It’s like your sister claiming that she heard from a friend of a friend that you like someone, while she actually just read it in your diary. Telepaths are snoops, Jean, own it.

Speaking of telepaths without boundary issues, Professor X is back from space! He immediately slips back into a stupid, patriarchal role and treats this X-Men team the same he treated his X-Men in the sixties. Scott is like: dude, these aren’t the same dumb teenagers we were, but Xavier won’t listen. Their squabble is interrupted by Cerebro, alerting them to the existence of two new mutants! One in NYC, one in Chicago.

Somewhere else, the Hellfire Club is revealed to be listening in: they have bugged the mansion a long time ago. While most the Inner Circle is featured in some way in this arc - we finally get to see Sebastian Shaw’s face! - the main villain here is the White Queen. She’s coordinating the attack on the X-Men and is looking to recruit Kitty for her Academy in Massachusetts.

It’s kind of bizarre that it took so long for this plot - an emerging young mutant is an object of interest for two competing factions - to be a main plotline, considering it’s such a staple for the X-Men mythos as a whole. (See, for example: the New Mutants, Generation-X, the Young X-Men, but also Rogue in the first X-Men movie and the whole of X-Men: First Class. Hell, X-Men Evolution’s first season was practically built on this trope.) It is kind of fitting that one of the mutants introduced this way is Kitty Pryde, the first X-Man that would be completely Chris Claremont’s creation.

While teacher’s pets Cyclops, Phoenix and Nightcrawler can go to New York, Xavier takes Colossus, Storm and Wolverine to a suburb in Chicago (“to monitor them in the field”, fuck you too, Chuck). In the Windy City, we meet plucky YA-novel heroine Kitty Pryde, who’s being tormented by headaches.

The KISS-poster in Kitty’s room is fortunately the only crossover we’ll have between the X-Men and the KISS-comics published by Marvel. (X-Men 129)

Just after a certain Ms. Frost has pitched her Academy to the Pryde parents, the X-Men arrive. While Charles works the parents, Ororo takes Kitty to get some ice cream, letting slip the secret of the X-Men.

Wolverine reading a titty mag in an ice cream shop while both Ororo and Charles are trying to convince people they run a legitimate school is a hilarious mood. (X-Men 129)

Kitty’s appearance is supposed to have been inspired by a young Katherine Hepburn, which is particularly evident in these panels.

Anyway, they are promptly attacked by Hellfire droids, who spook Kitty into jumping through a wall. Finally, her powers are confirmed: Kitty can become intangible, ‘phasing’ through objects. When the X-Men defeat the droids, Emma Frost comes along to finish the job, psychically overwhelming Storm, Wolverine and Colossus. She abucts them, not realizing Kitty has stowed away in their… floating… hovercraft… thing. She also manages to abduct Xavier.

I love how Emma’s to-do-list was:

Abduct the X-Men

Strip them naked (X-Men 130)

The Inner Circle and their motivations are slowly fleshed out: they’re all in it for power, money, glory. (Emma would love Lana del Ray.) But they’re not a united front: Wyngarde considers Phoenix the road to power, Emma believes in raising (and controlling) the next generation of mutants and Shaw… Well, Shaw is a clever opportunist, not afraid to sell out his own kind. (It’s heavily implied the Hellfire Club helped fund Lang’s Sentinel program.)

Through Jason, we pick up the thread in New York, where Jean and Scott visit some shady club downtown. Nightcrawler is stationed outside. Inside, Jean enjoys the relative perversion of the clubbing crowd, until Jason shows up and twists reality, shunting her to ‘their wedding day’.

It’s never made explicit, but in between the lines, it’s highly probable that Jason seduced Jean, violated her body and mind. That, combined with the whole BDSM/Marquis de Sade atmosphere of the Hellfire Club where the men are fully clothed and the women prance around in lingerie amounts to a whole lot of ick, ick, ick. (X-Men 130)

In Chicago, Kitty skulks around the compound of Frost Enterprises. She manages to creep up to Ororo’s cage, who gives her a number to call. Before she can do anything else, Emma sees her, calls all her henchmen cretins and orders her to get that pigeon kitty. Kitty flees and manages to get a call in.

Kurt picks up the phone in their limo (which feels super swanky for the eighties!) and Kitty delivers her warning. Kurt is then promptly attacked, as are Phoenix and Cyclops. Together, they make short work of their attackers, with the aid of Dazzler. Introductions follow:

Dazzler’s “nope” tells you about 80% of what her character is about. (X-Men 130)

It’s funny to see how relatively unknown the idea of mutants still is. Kitty doesn’t even consider it, even though freaky shit is happening to her, and Dazzler hilariously doesn’t give a figgin where her powers come from. (Though she may just be in denial. Anyone who wears a disco ball around her neck can’t be accused of good common sense.) In ten, twenty years, I bet there’s tons of teenagers in the Marvel Universe who get headaches or weird growing pains and fear that one morning, they might wake up a mutant.

It’s odd how Cerebro picks up Dazzler as a ‘neo-mutant’, even though it’s obvious she had her powers for a while. It might have to do with the fact that Dazzler wasn’t created by Claremont and Byrne, but by Tom DeFalco and John Romita Jr. However, because editorial wanted to Dazzler’s debut to make a splash, so they added her to their best-selling book and she had to be shoe-horned into this plot. She was originally intended to be closs-platform - there were plans for albums, Bo Derek would star as her in movies - but since Marvel had the keen foresight to introduce her just as disco was dying all of this got shelved. After a solo series, she’ll become a pretty solid B-Lister X-Man in a couple of years. (Should I be covering her solo series? It’s only very tangentially X-Related. Sound off below!)

Cyclops, Phoenix, Nightcrawler and Dazzler Trojan Horse their way into Frost Enterprises and make quick work of the White Queen’s cronies while Emma is creepily making Storm her personal plaything. Kitty, meanwhile, manages to free Wolverine by phasing through the electronic lock. Jean recognizes the Hellfire Club from her (fake) memories with Jason, but doesn’t connect the dots quite yet.

Emma, frustrated that her plan is falling to pieces, takes out her ire on Storm, threatening to lobotomize her. Jean… does not take this lightly.

“I understand you call yourself something of a telepath” is absolutely the most badass line Jean has ever uttered. Fuck yeah. (X-Men 131)

With the White Queen defeated (rumors of her death are greatly overrated), the X-Men can briefly regroup. Dazzler does not join the X-Men, being too into the idea of becoming the mutant Madonna, while Kitty is delivered back to her parents. To prevent a nasty scene, Jean casually alters the memories of her parents, removing the memories of Kitty’s involvement with the kidnapping of the X-Men. This also neatly prevents her parents from realizing what a horrible idea it is for a 13 year old to join a superhero squad. (Even if she has a defensive power.)

This arc ends with the two people who love Jean the most voicing their concern:

When you look up ‘muhahahaha’ in the dictionary, this picture of Jason Wyngarde will be the definition. (X-Men 131)

Hold onto your butts, people. We’re almost there.

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falrytales · 2 years

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i just posted a couple of new opens which can be found here !

but if none of that tickles your fancy and you want to plot out something else, below the cut is some stuff that i’m interested in now that i’m back from my hiatus ♡

WANTED OPPOSITES

aisha dee

anne winters

brett dalton

charlie weber

danny pino

dj cotrona

douglas booth

dylan arnold

evan roderick

francia raisa

frank grillo

jesse lee soffer

john krasinski

justin theroux

lewis tan

madison bailey

manish dayal

manny montana

max riemelt

michele morrone

oliver jackson cohen

pablo schreiber

peter gadiot

priscilla quintana

rebecca rittenhouse

rudy pankow

samara weaving

scarlett byrne

trevante rhodes

zeeko zaki

WANTED PLOTS

“we got framed for a crime we didn’t commit so now we’re on the run and having to kill and steal to survive and avoid arrest and now we really are dangerous criminals” plot

we’re in rival gangs and i started dating you to get information for mine and i got caught but i only realized i was in love with you when you were jamming your knife into my stomach

“i’m your father’s mistress & and was nearly caught sneaking out early one morning but you saved the day by introducing me as your girlfriend && now your mother invited me to spend the summer at your vacation home so we have to spend the entire summer pretending to be in love.”

“you’ve just married one of my parents, but i don’t want yet another step parent. so i’m gonna tease you until you cave in, and i can tell everyone that you’re a creep. except you never seem to give in, and now i’m getting desperate for you to pay attention to me.”

plot where our muses were high school sweethearts and tried long distance for a while, swore they’d be together forever, gave each other promise rings, the whole ordeal. but they grew apart and broke up. years later, one is moving back home and they’re suddenly running in the same circles again and it’s bringing up a lot of … feelings. bonus if one of them is engaged to someone else

i really need a “you used to be my babysitter and although you were the worst babysitter alive (letting me stay up late, eating cake for dinner, watching rated r movies with me and helping me hide the ceramics we broke) i was practically in love w/ you and told you that i was gonna be your bf/gf someday. you would always just laugh and say that i was too young. WELL i’m older now and we just got matched on tinder/my parents just invited you to my birthday party/etc

a plot where one is a criminal that’s on the run from the police, and they stumble across this practically empty motel that’s in the middle of nowhere, and they think, hey, perfect place to hide out for a few weeks until the manhunt dies down. the motel is run by a married couple, and their sheltered, somewhat naive child – well, actually they’re an adult by now, but they’ve never left their small town, had a job outside the motel, or been anywhere, and their parents still treat them like a kid. the criminal checks in, of course not mentioning why they’re here, and the owners’ kid is fascinated by their guest – they hardly ever get guests for more than a night at a time, let alone guests who seem to have so many interesting stories and secrets…

muse a is a criminal that owns a technically-legal-but-shady business (casino, strip club, nightclub, etc.) that doubles as a front for their definitely-not-legal business. muse b is a brand-new employee. despite them not being in the shady business and rather low on the ranks (and thus, usually not even a blip on muse a’s radar), muse b catches muse a’s eye one night, and the two begin to talk and hang out at work – and that quickly turns into a relationship. the two genuinely fall for each other, and muse a slowly brings muse b further into their world, once they’re sure their criminal activities won’t scare muse b off.except there’s something muse a doesn’t know. muse b was hired by a rival criminal (or possibly the feds) to act as a spy, collecting info on muse a’s shady dealings in exchange for a huge chunk of change.

there’s a hard ass cop, and he always sticks by the rules and works hard and his work is his life but then one day he makes a huge bust in an underground sex ring and carries a girl out, and the media dub him as a superhero, and he feels strangely protective over this girl. So he goes and visits her at the hospital, and she lights up as soon as she sees him and just thanks him continuously, and he starts smiling a bit more, and she doesn’t really talk to anybody except for him because she doesn’t trust anybody except him. Cue her having trouble sleeping at night because of bad dreams and memories, so she calls him to help, and he does, he always does of course. And she calls him when her car breaks down in the middle of the night and she’s terrified, and he literally drops everything for her, and its so obvious they like each other, but he doesn’t know how to do relationships and she’s just a mess from everything thats happened to her, and so much angsty fluffy goodness of them two being awkward and shy dorks at times but also staying up and telling their entire life stories to each other

ok but a verse where muse a and muse b are exes and they go on a skiing trip with their mutual friends every year and it’s the first year they’ve been broken up but the friends really want them to get back together so they tell both of them that the other isn’t going and then when they show up it’s like !!! and it can be cliche like maybe muse a is dating someone new that muse b didn’t know about it but muse b finds out when one of the friends accidentally mentions that they all hate muse a’s significant other and they’re arguing constantly and can’t stand to be in the same room and a blizzard comes so they lose power and it’s freezing and everyone else paired up to cuddle for warmth so the muses are forced into it and it’s all ‘get your feet away from me they’re cold as fuck’ and ‘do you really have to breathe so loud right in my ear’ and ‘you used to like when i held you like this’ and that makes them smile a little and suddenly it gets all fond but muse a is still dating someone

“you’re my dad’s best friend and one night i come to your house because i got locked out of my apartment and you’re only two blocks away. i’m a little tipsy when i come over, and you have the smell of whiskey on your breath. you let me stay the night and it’s late and we’re still talking and we’re definitely not sober and somehow instead of hugging before i go to bed it’s a kiss. things snowball from there; when we wake up in the morning you panic because you just slept with your best friend’s daughter, and i panic because… well, for similar reasons. we promise never to talk about it and a few months go by? until you get a call from my dad ranting and raving about how some idiot got his baby girl pregnant because she’s already three months along and your hEART DROPS” (w/ or w/o the pregnancy)

muse a was born into the life of harleys, guns and rock and roll. her father was the president of a motorcycle gang, while her mother was a sweet woman who welcomed his lifestyle with open arms. it was an unspoken rule that no one in the club, especially full patched members, was allowed to touch muse a, but she couldn’t stop the feelings that had grown for her father’s co president aka muse b. he was older and rough around the edges and she knew he wouldn’t dare even looking at her twice due to the respect he had for her father. although, when she turned eighteen, muse a mustered up the courage to confess her feelings for him during a party at the club house. muse b was shocked to hear she had feelings for him, and told her that he wasn’t interested ( perhaps a small piece of him was? ) and muse a left the party heartbroken. unknown to anyone else, the reason she had decided on confessing her feelings was because she was skipping town the next morning, and didn’t want to have any regrets. she left her parents a short letter telling them that she needed to find her purpose in life and would come back home in the near future. over ten years passed and muse a finally did so, only because she got word her father had died at the arms of a rival gang. muse b had been ranked up as president and is dealing with new responsibilities, and he’s shocked when the scrawny, awkward kid he last saw ten years ago is now a beautiful woman. angst & drama ensues.

NOTES

i only rp on tumblr with people over 21

i only do m/f, f/f, f/nb pairings

like this post and i’ll message you (alternatively, message me first if there’s something on the list that interests you!)

#indie rp #indie smut rp #1x1 rp #1x1 #indie roleplay

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d-stabilize · 4 years

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the slander reed richards recieves because no one reads comics or has critical thinking skills goes beyond people think he is rude. people will unironically call him a pedophile who trapped his wife in a codependant relationship. there are people who genuinely think he is an abuser and sue should get a divorce. for the love of god read a fantastic four comic that wasnt written by known creep john byrne before you post your opinions on this character

#txt #ask to tag

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