#THIS IS MY FAVORITE SONG IN THE SOUNDTRACK AND I LOVE IT INFINITELY ACTUALLY

[koichi-nomura]

You mentioned absolutely adoring "Ask Her A Question" from My Fair Hatey for a lot of reasons. Was that partially exaggeration, or do you actually have an analysis to dish out?

Much love!

Yeah definitely some exaggeration lol and it’s basically just the sound of it, I adore all the songs on there but judging purely by how they sound, (not the narrative purpose) of all of them that one’ my favorite.

Voice acting is incredibly important to me, across all my favorite shows that’s the first thing I think about, I’m obsessed with line delivery and with identifying voices (I pride myself in being the best out of my siblings at identifying who’s voice it is first lol), so the main thing for me really is that Wander has my favorite voice in the series, his singing is so nice and it’s interesting how (for this song at least) he doesn’t do it with a lot of volume or anything, it’s relatively calm for him. He’s half-singing half-talking too and his line delivery is amazing. You can hear the giddiness in his voice at some parts, he does it so well lol. And his accent and the inflections he puts on certain words I love it. Namely his “ab-out:”

I can’t explain why I’m so interested in voices (probably just autism again) but along with comedy, art, and animation it’s one of my favorite things.

I’ don’t know a ton about music other than “this sounds good to me, this doesn’t” but I’m still very opinionated on it, my enjoyment of music tends to be more based on unique singing voices and variability in the music. Some cartoons have very lazy, uninteresting soundtracks and Wander is definitely not one of them, even if you’re talking about just the normal soundtracks, not the songs. it’s great how each if the main characters have their own background themes and even some sung theme songs lol. I can’t tell you what I like about specifically the music of “Ask Her a Question” I just know that I really like it.

In a narrative sense it’s obviously fun seeing Wander’s philosophy on romance and watching Hater go along with it lol. For the story overall I think it’s meant to be pretty significant that Hater would be interested in someone else enough to ask about their opinions, we saw how terrible he was on “The Date”.

The animation is visually interesting as usually with a lot of great stretching from Wander.

This is also my favorite kind of musical; “everyone knows they’re signing” instead of “nobody’s actually singing, they’re just conveying the emotions and storytelling through song for the audience’s eyes only.”

Woy in general is just exemplifies all the ways I would love to do things if I could create a cartoon;

The music is spectacular, so is the voice acting, the voice actors can sing instead of needing stand-in singers, the character designs are so recognizable, I love everyone’s names (‘Major Threat’ is such stupid and funny wordplay lol), the characterization is so good and interesting for everyone (infinitely kind characters are my favorite tho) the comedy is great and I like a lot of the gags but what’s especially great is the character-driven comedy; jokes that are funny just because the characters have funny personalities and interactions. The animation is spectacular too, I’m usually not at all a fan of flash animation but they utilize it in such a way that I didn’t used to know it was flash, the squash and stretch they do with the characters is so fun and interesting without looking grotesque or unappealing, they just look silly (there’s so many moments where it’s too fast to really get a grasp on what’s happening and if you look at it frame by frame it’s super impressive).

Sorry for rambling, this is what happens when I get questions and no character limit, much love back!! :]

#wander over yonder #woy #woy wander #wander #lord hater #questions

[peemanne]

rgg game osts ranked Yeah.................

LONG ASS POST AHEAD!!!!!! BAH!!!!!!!!!!!

for context awhile back a yakuza discord server i'm in had a music discussion thread open up and we were invited to make simple little tier lists for the game osts to start it off. it was supposed to be just the tier list but i eventually spiraled into a whole ramble. whoops. so i might as well just paste it here with a few additions so the rest of you can see it yippee!!!!!!!!!!!!

will be providing my reasonings and then my highlight tracks. i'm gonna provide convenient youtube links to all the songs mentioned so if you wanna check one of them out feel free to just click the hyperlink

and yes this is ordered in tiers. the personal highlights aren't though

>Yakuza 5 is my personal top 1 OST overall, but it's seriously close. I can't tell you enough how much of a nut I am for this series and its music. Yakuza 5's ost is, in my eyes, the most consistently hard-hitting amongst all of RGG's catalogue. The street fight themes are all amazing, the boss fight themes hit hard and pump you the hell up, and this also has the one of the best B-sides out of all of them, with stuff like Baka Mitai (fun fact, Saejima's is actually considered the original version, Kiryu's "Taxi Driver Edition" actually uses a different key to fit Kuroda's voice), the songs from Haruka's section, and even the jazzy bar themes. 5 hits that perfect balance of quantity and quality, and also happens to fill like half of my workout playlist.

Personal Highlights:

The place where I used to be

Daigo's western theme

Victory Road

and of course The Battle for the Dream

>I am such a sucker for Yakuza 4's music direction. As Tehsnakerer said in his Yakuza 4 video, this is the first truly GREAT soundtrack, and I'd have to agree. The jazzier style of music on showcase here fits this series- and this entry ESPECIALLY- like a glove. This is such a quality collection of sounds. Featuring the best panic themes, the best chase themes, and some iconic street battle themes. 4's direction makes it stand out even more amongst RGG's catalogue, and I couldn't be happier about it. Also, this game gave us Machine Gun Kiss and Pure Love in Kamurocho, which are two of my favorite karaoke tracks in the whole series.

Please bring back Pure Love in Kamurocho for a modern title, RGG. I'm begging you.

Personal Highlights:

Solitude

Receive and Bite You

Infinite Handcuffs

yeah yeah fine For Faith

Why couldn't they use this for the actual cover instead of the weird one we have now like come on this looks so much better

>Is anyone gonna disagree with me when I say Lost Judgment is easily the best out of the more techno-focused soundtracks? They handle it perfectly here, with tracks that grab you by the throat like K.O.G. and Dig In Your Heels, utilizing the electric sound with effortless grace, while still having enough variety throughout to keep it from getting stale. I also found the B-sides here surprisingly strong alongside the main game, with the school stories giving us a nice variety of music to work with. The boxing ones and Toward To The Skyline are what I'd highlight in that selection.

Personal Highlights:

In the Groove

Unwavering Belief / Dig in Your Heels

Final Destination

1811

>Gaiden oh my gah......... Despite the shorter game, I seriously dig the tracks on display here. It's so consistently amazing, and does a great job of servicing both the legacy of Kiryu, and giving us some Good Shit™️ for the newer faces. This is also when I really came to appreciate the cutscene tracks: Wounded Beast is such a kickass track that you'd be forgiven for thinking it plays in an actual fight, and Psycho's Prelude is an amazing hype-up track for an even more amazing boss theme. Also worth mentioning there's like a gajillion coliseum tracks in this one. Have no idea why but y'know I appreciate it. It's cool.

Personal Highlights:

Psycho's Anthem

Deadly Struggle / Fleeting Dream (HAKANAKI YUME)

Bring It On (best street fight track to date i'm not taking notes at this time)

Un altro appassionato

>0 has One-Eyed Assassin so it automatically goes here. The rest of the tracks are decent too ig 🙄 There are a few sort of those "eh whatever cool skip it" tracks in here which hold it back a teeny bit in my eyes, but this is still a really solid collection overall, and also gets props for being Kiwami's soundtrack if it was good. I'm kidding of course but 0 handles it pretty well for the most part. I find 0 is at its best music-wise when they either go all-in with the techno, or shy away from it almost entirely.

Personal Highlights:

Make You Free

Both Receive You remixes (The Subtype and ~Tech Trance Arrange~)

Interplanetary Spark

Reign

>Yakuza 6 has Lots of Lights so it automati I think 6 does a really good job at telling a story through its music. You have tragedy being painted in Fist Law and DESTINY, you have sheer anger and brutality being portrayed in Body and Soul, and you can even find it in the street themes with the feeling of "I am completely done with all of this bullshit" in KAMURO again. I also wanna say this has some of ZENTA's best work, which I really really REALLY appreciate.

Personal Highlights:

Lots of Lights

DESTINY

Bloodstained Philosophy (coolest name for a track i can't lie)

Theory of Beauty

>Judgment immediately does a great job of differentiating itself from the Yakuzas, and it's apparent as soon as you get into the street fight tutorial. The OST does a great job of painting Yagami and the overall bleaker picture of the game. Where some battle themes in the main series feel like a victory lap, JE instead sometimes has you feel like you're on the backfoot. Lambda, Hyenas Wheezing, and Rake Your Inside are all tracks that make you feel like an underdog, and give you that strength to power through what seems like impossible odds. It also has Flower of Chivalry so it aut

Personal Highlights:

Encounter ~ Keihin Alliance

Hyena's Wheezing

Penumbra

Destination

>Like a Dragon (/7) is another heavily techno leaning OST. If you asked me about it a few months ago, I probably would have put this higher. But now with IW out, I've started to see more of 7's OST's flaws. There are few tracks that are either weirdly low-energy, or feel a little generic and mesh together with the rest of the soundtrack, or at worst, both. But 7 still has quite the number of solid tracks, and those that stand out REALLY stand out. Shoutout to one of the most unique long battle tracks in Enter the Tiger.

Personal Highlights:

Brutality

Receive You The Hyperactive

REIWA LABYRINTH

ism

>Yakuza 3 acts as a sort of bridge between the rough, almost grunge-like sound of the PS2 era and the cleaner compositions of later entries. And I think it does both of those styles pretty well! It also starts to experiment with electric sound a little more, while still keeping the heavy guitars 1+2 are known for. The best are obviously composed of the tracks that do both. They even keep the unintelligible English lyrics in some tracks, what's not to love?

Personal Highlights:

Lyricism Without Tears

Clay Doll On The Cradle

Fly

D2A BABY YEAH BEST THEME EVER MADE D2A D2A D2A D2A

(2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

>Atmosphere is a large part of the PS2 era of Yakuza games' identity, and the music is a pretty large part of that. Yakuza 2 has an aggressive, grungy sound that pairs perfectly with the brutality of the game. You'll find some of the most of the most rough sounding songs in RGG's catalogue in here, and it's just so good in a way that isn't really replicated in the more modern entries. Also one of the tracks (Block Head Boy) samples Wu-Tang for some reason and I find that very funny.

Personal Highlights:

Evil Itself

North Menace

Hit & Kill

Outlaw's Lullaby (I still think the Kiwami 2 remix is the better of the two but this one's still SO good please listen to it if you haven't already)

whatcho beautiful ass staring at kaito my king >Kaito Files has like 6 tracks. They're all pretty good tracks, but that's like 6 tracks. Come on. Anyways, it's basically just more LJ music, so uhhhh yeah peak

Personal Highlights (plural would be like all of them)

Blood-Drunk Master Theme

>Kiwami 2. Yeah this one falls into the same trap as 7 does, but with less of those "This is the greatest thing to grace my ears" tracks. It still has some of them, though. The best remixes here are the ones that touch up and make completely sure that what the original has is intact: Lullaby of Outlaws and A Scattered, Eternal Moment are both fantastic in that regard. This also has a decent chunk of completely new tracks, presumably because they couldn't get certain composers back. You have stuff like the amazing triple-part track that plays in the Kamurocho Hills segment, Rebellious Phase which is decent, and the randomly amazing Break Off. Still a crime Evil Itself was snubbed like that smh.

Personal Highlights:

Lullaby of Outlaws

A Scattered, Eternal Moment

Kamuro Hills

Update with Gunfire

(1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

>Unfortunately, like with most aspects, Yakuza 2 does everything the first game did better. Still though, some quality tracks here. Yakuza 1 doesn't have too much to work with, but it still does utilize its few track slots well. From long-standing iconic tracks like Receive You, to Funk Goes On, and even the off B-side tracks like Singin' Bass, there really isn't a miss in here, just moreso a lack of super standout tracks. There's still quite a few to love despite that, of course.

Personal Highlights

son of a gun

Turning Point

Receive You The Prototype

Funk Goes On

>kiwami 1 ost snorkkkkkk mimimimimimimim snorkkkkkk mimim Alright I'm exaggerating, but I still think it's pretty weak in comparison to the rest. There's a lot of tracks that just feel kinda butchered to me? And it's not like the new tracks are particularly standout or anything. The tracks that do work are genuinely really good: Ideal For Violence is uhhhh perfect, Get Over It is a really strong long battle theme, Pray Me ~Revive~ is on par, if not arguably better than the original, and For Whose Sake Kiwami matches the sorrow of the original pretty well. But then you have stuff like Funk Goes On 極 which feels weirdly weak, Receive You the madtype which feels sorely outclassed by like, every single other Majima Receive You, and what would be arguably the strongest track, Receive You Reborn, doesn't even show up outside of Japanese versions. Kiwami isn't all bad, hell, there are some really good standouts here, but it just can't really compare to the rest in my eyes.

Personal Highlights:

Ideal For Violence

Get Over It

Amusing Octagon

Everlasting Spirit

>Infinite Wealth sits in haven't listened enough of solely because I haven't finished the game and thus haven't touched any track past Kooky (UPDATE: now any track past Impregnable Triangle. I'm planning to do the finale by this weekend). By any other metric this would have shot UP. I ADORE this OST. The cutscene tracks, the generic battle themes, the boss themes, the B-sides, they're all so excellent. This inadvertently made 7's OST worse for me because of how much better it handles the techno.

Personal Highlights:

Brutality ~Rebuild~

Impregnable Triangle (Fun fact: this track uses the time signature of 3/4, which is a waltz. I'll let you fill in the blanks for what that means for the theming.)

Kooky

Slugfest (Yamaniacs stay winning what can i say)

ok so uhhh apparently i hit the character limit lmao. didn't even know this site had one. uhhhhhh will continute in a reblog it's just kurohyou and ishin anyways

#rgg #ryu ga gotoku #yakuza #like a dragon #ramblings of the pee-man #video game osts......................

[theonevoice]

Oh this is fun!! Thanks @9ndreus for the tag!

[TAG SOMEONE YOU WANT TO KNOW AND/OR SOME OF YOUR BESTIES]

favorite color: burgundy/deep red, which is the only thing other than all black that I've been wearing for the last 20 years of my life, much to my family and friends and coworkers chagrin, who will not shut up about it and keep asking me decade after decade why I don't wear colors

last song: Birdy's absolutely beautiful cover of The A Team which I love infinitely more than the original, sorry not sorry

last movie: A Man Called Otto, nice and wholesome

currently watching: OFMD s2 and Loki s2 (the last one mostly for completism, tbh)

other stuff I watched this year: I am in the middle of a massive rewatch of my personal japanese animation canon for research reasons, so here are a few (common themes are dystopian scenarios, human/artificial intelligence, various degrees of queer representation, rich philosophical content, ethical dilemmas, great soundtracks): Neon Genesis Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, Wolf's Rain, Ergo Proxy, Serial Experiment Lain, Planetes, Last Exile, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Made in Abyss

shows I dropped this year: I tried and immediately failed to watch Sex Education

currently reading: The Complete Short Stories of Anton Pavlovič Čechov (warning: there is a lot of them); also, the stunning graphic novel, or graphic poem to be precise, Ai suoi tratti (To Her Traits - "traits" both as facial features and as pencil strokes), by Italian artist Gio Quasirosso, it came out yesterday Oct. 24 and I've just finished it this very afternoon so I guess it counts as "current" (I hope it gets an international release because it is a thing of great beauty)

currently listening to: David Arnold's GO soundtrack, mainly!

currently working on: finishing my InktOmens project, for one (which may become a set of prints/handmade reproductions if I figure out the shipping?), and other GO related stuff: a couple of planned artworks and some unnecessarily long-winded metas which apparently tend to make everybody cry; possibly my first attempt at a fanfic since my old ff-writer days (we are talking 2005, my friends, that's how ancient I am)

current obsession/s: Good Omens to a pathological level, it's almost scary (but it also brought me back to drawing after almost a decade-long hiatus and introduced me to this great fandom, so I'm grateful)

Ok I'm relatively new here and also bad at recognising people even after several interactions (raise your hands, my neurodivergent brothers and sisters), so I'll tag a couple of people that made me smile in the last few weeks, if they feel like joining in: @oskar-vajld @lauranalanthalasa @bluberryfields @actual-changeling

#good omens fandom #about me I guess

[anitosoul]

tripreport.011: Home

nostalgia and nerves 🏠

Key Inspirations:

Alternative music [’80’s, ’90’s, late ’00’s/early ’10’s] (Music Genre)

Driving around for fun (Activity)

Suburban sprawl (Societal phenomenon)

Teenage bedroom vibes; you know, like with the colored lights and posters all over the walls (Aesthetic)

Making someone a mixtape (Activity)

Thrift Shopping (Activity)

Estate/garage sales (Activity)

The Home Depot (Store)

Looking back at memorabilia from your high school years (Activity)

Finding your parent’s cool old stuff (Activity)

Home building/improvement (Activity)

Picnics (Activity)

Dogs (Animal)

Outdoor dining (Activity)

Home Tracklist A-Side: The Suburbs

Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

The Shins – Phantom Limb

Young the Giant – Cough Syrup

Youth Lagoon – 17

Frank Ocean – Ivy

The Smashing Pumpkins – Mayonaise

R.E.M. – Half A World Away

Band of Horses – Infinite Arms

Radiohead – No Surprises

The xx – Sunset

M83 – My Tears Are Becoming a Sea

Home Tracklist B-Side: The City

The Cure – Boys Don’t Cry

MGMT – Time to Pretend

Wild Nothing – Chinatown

The Strokes – Automatic Stop

Sonic Youth – Schizophrenia

Pavement – Gold Soundz

Dinosaur Jr. – Outta Hand

Local Natives – Bowery

LCD Soundsystem – All My Friends

The Smiths – I Know It’s Over

The Jesus and Mary Chain – Just Like Honey

Ep011: Home continues on the themes of LLLLL, but in reverse: I was coming to terms with the fact that I was moving back to NYC and leaving Oklahoma, the two places I call home. I was reliving a lot of memories from my days growing up in Tulsa, embracing the nostalgia of high school, and at the same time envisioning a return to my life in NYC, reigniting the momentum of venturing out on my own. I reflected often on what home represented to me, and determined that home was the space and place where I could make moments with the people I love. The songs in this mix are all alternative/indie songs invoking either the nostalgia of youth or the transition to adulthood. The A-side features songs that represent Tulsa and suburban life and the B-side features songs that represent independence and living in the city. 

I found myself idealizing the past: I was going to estate sales, flea markets, and thrift stores, activities I loved to do growing up. Finding other peoples’ old stuff connected me to nostalgia for pasts and homes that weren’t my own. My soundtrack to these activities was made up of alternative music from decades past, both lived-in and imagined. I visited old spots, reminiscing on memories I had with different people growing up in Tulsa. I would drive around aimlessly and listen to cassettes I found, recalling moments when friends and I would drive around listening to music because we had nothing better to do. I wondered if the cassettes’ previous owners did the same.

This nostalgia was partially a result of Tulsa slipping away as a home. My sister was back in Chicago for college, my mom had decided to move away, and my dad began preparations to sell my childhood house. I realized that it may be the last time I could spend an extended period of time in Tulsa, living in the house I grew up in. Building the cabin was important to me because it provided a permanence: it was my literal stake in the ground, preserving my connection to Oklahoma. Oklahoma is a home because of the loved ones that live there, but I realized that may not always be the case. If I build this cabin, I thought, I’ll always have a reason to come back.

At the same time, I was excited but nervous about my return to NYC. I didn’t have an apartment anymore, so I spent hours clicking through StreetEasy. It was always a goal to move to lower Manhattan–when I lived in Harlem, I would take the train down and fantasize about what it would be like to be in the action, living within walking distance from my favorite restaurants, shopping spots, and nightlife. With the COVID rent deals, I realized that it could actually be possible. I lucked out and found a good deal for a one bedroom in Chinatown, had a friend check it out, and committed. In a time of uncertainty, this was another grasp for permanence. 

The uncertainty of the COVID era made all kinds of commitment difficult: it affected my relationships, my moving decisions, my career path, and my values. I realized, though, that I couldn’t allow myself to become paralyzed by the fear of losing what I had or disappointed by misaligned expectations. This month taught me to appreciate every moment I have as if it’s my last, because as long as I’m with people I love, I’ll always be home. 

#trip report #music #music writing #reflects #indie #alternative #Spotify

[rhinoyo]

*jumps up and down* the 8path soundtrack is absolutely gorgeous and i think you should listen to a sea breeze blows RIGHT now

#cos talkz #IVE TRIED TO HOLD BACK EXPRESSING MY NEVER-ENDING LOVE FOR THIS OST FOR SO LONG BUT I CANT *NOT* TALK ABOUT IT ANY LONGER #THIS IS MY FAVORITE SONG IN THE SOUNDTRACK AND I LOVE IT INFINITELY ACTUALLY #8path tracks do such an incredible job at conveying feeling and setting and they all match their locations/scenes/characters SO WELL #like AGHHGGH!!!!!!!!!!! THIS ONE!!!!!!!!! the feeling of the coastlands and the beginning of journey and the ocean and the air and ITS JUST. #ITS PERFECT IT TRULY IS #my other favorite songs are town veiled in white!!!! the decisive battles + battle at journey’s end!!!! the coastlands & riverlands!!!! #AND THE **MAIN THEME** #AND MANY MORE BUT THOSE ARE THE ONES THAT COME TO MIND #TOWN VEILED IN WHITE.... ITS *SO GOOD* #it plays in northreach and so i connect it with theri’s ch4 and it just brings feelings of vague sorrow and peace and snow and it’s just #ITS SO SO PRETTY.... <333333 #AND THE BATTLE THEMES..!.!!!! OGHHGHH THEYRE SO GOOD. JUST THE WAY ALL OF THEM ARE ARRANGED IS **FANTASTIC** #the coastlands and riverlands themes are just wonderful because i clearly connect them with tress + alf respectively and i love them #AND. AND. THE MAIN THEME..!.!!!! IS JUST COMPLETELY AMAZING ITS JUST SO GOOD #it fits SO WELL AS THE THEME it’s wonderfully wonderfully composed to fit the emotions of Journey #and opening the game to it + the lil visual of the travelers walkin around their respective lands IS ALWAYS SO NICE #ANYWAY. THAT WAS A LOT OF TAGS. IN SUMMARY THIS GAME’S MUSIC IS SPECTACULAR AND I HAD TO TALK ABOUT IT EBDKEJKD #thank you if you read this i’m sorry i ramble so much HEHEJGJB <333333

[kuleo26]

character's favorite disney movie (knb edition)

including: GOM (akashi seijuro, midorima shintarou, aomine daiki, kuroko tetsuya, kise ryouta, murasakibara atsushi) + kagami taiga

akashi seijuro movie: cinderella

loves the classics

would definitely recreate a ballroom party like the one in the movie

if he had a s/o, he'd definitely get a custom-made dress and heels for them

i think he'd also absolutely hate the step mom and sisters

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

midorima shintarou movie: sleeping beauty

he believes in fate

such as true love's kiss

if he watched it as a kid, i think this is what made him believe so heavily in fate

and zodiacs

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

aomine daiki movie: tarzan

once again, childhood movie

he tried swinging on a vine when he was younger

didn't work out

he couldn't play basketball for a month because he broke his arm

how he even found a vine?

who knows

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

kuroko tetsuya movie: raya and the last dragon

the concept seemed cool so he decided to watch the movie

fell in love with the animation

and the characters

everything about the movie, to be honest

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

kise ryouta movie: 101 dalmations

i honestly don't know why

but i think he'd like this movie

cruella is his favorite villain

again, for reasons inexplainable

actually, maybe it's the fur coats

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

murasakibara atsushi movie: aladdin

loves the soundtrack

watched the live action before the cartoon

genie is his favorite character

if he had a genie, he'd ask for an infinite supply of snacks

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

kagami taiga movie: moana

listens to the songs while he cooks

thinks maui is the best character

but also likes the crab (y'know, the one that sings 'shiny')

is a simp for moana, you can't change my mind on that one

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

#kurokos basketball #kuroko no basket #akashi seijuro #midorima shintarou #kuroko tetsuya #aomine daiki #kise ryouta #murasakibara atsushi #kagami taiga

[jentlemahae]

(Album Review) Sticker by NCT 127 – Did It Really Stick?

Just last week, South Korean group NCT 127 – numbers referring to the longitude coordinate of Seoul – released their long-awaited, third full-length album, Sticker, which immediately caused an uproar among their fans. Some really loved it, while some really hated it (and were not silent about it). It’s the so-called ‘third album syndrome’, where artists create a record that is so new even for them, that it ends up being polarizing for the fanbase. Sticker might have been just that for 127, as fans are either calling it a masterpiece or a huge disappointment – no in-between.

(Those who are already familiar with NCT 127 may skip the following section. Those who are not – buckle up!)

A beginner’s guide to NCT

For those who may not know, NCT (short for “Neo Culture Technology”) is a boy-group under SM Entertainment. The band has been able to stand out from the KPOP landscape since its very debut, and not only because of their music and talents, but also thanks to their distinctive concept. In a nutshell, the idea is that the group can have an unlimited (or infinite) number of members, as fresh new boys can be added to the lineup at any given time. So far, they have accumulated 23 members, divided into four different subunits – NCT 127, NCT DREAM, WayV (fixed units), and NCT U (rotational unit).

Each subgroup has its own characteristic sound and/or concept, but there is one thing they have in common – they are all known for going against the current, be it musically or style-wise. In fact, they are considered the pioneers of the takeover on KPOP by ‘noise music’. But what is noise music? Sometimes affectionately called ‘pots and pans’, it is a genre characterized by an expressive use of sound that is not bound to traditional music rules, and encapsulates different chords and types of notes within a song. Nowadays, it has become the main style of the 4th Generation, and NCT were the ones who truly popularized it to the current audience (despite being 3rd Gen).

NCT 127’s approach to noise music is particularly fascinating. Fans describe their sound as ‘NEO’, which is confusing and vague unless you are familiar with their discography – then it makes perfect sense! The group always takes noise music to the next level, yet manages to not make it sound completely nonsensical and (too) migraine-inducing.

Now that you are all up to speed, we can proceed with the actual review!

Sticker – peeling the songs off

After weeks of teasers and hints, NCT 127 finally unveiled to their eager, hungry fans their new single and album, Sticker. This record perfectly encapsulates the cornucopia of sounds that the band is known for, as the songs go from EDM to hip-hop to heart-warming ballads. And of course, the group’s signature sound – the pots and pans are here, louder and stronger than ever. But enough chit-chat for now – let’s go through the album together.

Sticker (8.5/10)

NCT 127 made the bold choice to open the record with the title track, Sticker. Why ‘bold choice’? Well, let’s just say the song is not exactly easily digestible… The melody is a plethora of sounds, yet feels almost empty and subdued to the vocals at the same time. It is a bacchanal of frenzied beats and a dirty bass line accompanied by a shrill flute and piano, with cut-throat raps and beautiful harmonies that are disjointed from the overall melody. Sticker is chaos, but an intentional one, thus its instability manages to captivate you whilst disarming you.

Truth be told, I was a bit taken aback by the song when I first listened to it. Nothing appeared to make sense to my ears, as they seem to be fighting with the beat (and losing) throughout the entire track. But that’s exactly the point. The disconnection between the instrumentals and the singing is clearly done on purpose, perhaps in order to further highlight the members’ impressive vocals, which overpower and outbalance the otherwise empty beat. Or maybe the purpose was just to render the song more impactful, which sure as hell worked – you may not like Sticker, but the song is likely to remain stuck in your head one way or another.

Lemonade (8.3/10)

The second track was teased by the group prior to the official release of the album with a track video, and was immediately loved by fans. This catchy B-side includes an addictive deep bass which makes the perfect beat for both powerful raps and hefty vocals, a signature cocktail in NCT music.

The song is so good that a puzzling question immediately erupted following the release of the record, and spread like wildfire within 127’s fanbase – why wasn’t ‘Lemonade’ the title track? After all, everyone likes it, both fans and non-fans, and it could easily be something you’d expect to find at the top of the charts. In contrast to Sticker, on which everybody seems to be divided. So, wouldn’t it make sense for it to be the title track, given its striking popular appeal?

The answer is no. What some fans don’t seem to understand is that when it comes down to KPOP title tracks (especially nowadays), the issue is not whether it is the best or the catchiest song on the record. The real question is, does it make an impact? Given how new KPOP groups are popping up left and right, managing to leave enough of an impression on the listeners can make or break a career. The title track needs to be instantly stuck in your mind, and for that Sticker fits the bill, as Lemonade sounds just like any other song you could hear in the first 30 minutes of Inkigayo. It’s good, but ordinary. It just doesn’t cut it, and NCT 127 clearly know that.

Breakfast (8/10)

Third song on the record, Breakfast feels reminiscent of past SM boy groups’ releases, namely SHINee’s song Prism from the album 1 and 1. The song encompasses bright melodies and retro beats with a modernized twist, which serve as a perfect mix with the members’ voices. The song’s main stars are the vocalists (particularly HAECHAN, whose tone works wonders with the genre), while the raps are tamer for the group’s standard.

Focus (9/10)

The fourth track is a mid-tempo R&B romantic song, a genre that is characteristic of 127’s B-sides and displays the group’s more soulful edge. Focus flawlessly showcases the members’ honeyed and warm vocals (especially JAEHYUN’s), and the slow lazy-like raps remind of early 2000’s sultry slow jams. This track was an immediate fan-favorite (as attested by yours truly).

The Rainy Night (9.5/10)

The Rainy Night is an R&B-tinged ballad reminiscent of boybands in the 90’s, and is the perfect follow-up to Focus, as vocals appear to be the true protagonists of both songs. In the track, TAEIL manages to stand out in particular by showing off his impressive range, with his beautiful adlibs on the suit-and-tie beat.

Far (6.2/10)

Next up is Far, characterized by a boom-clap drumline and a chanted chorus. Despite being rather forgettable, it is a good song after all – something straight out of a superhero movie soundtrack. It just sounds like something we’ve heard before at least a million times from about any KPOP boy group out there.

Bring The Noize (6.6/10)

Bring The Noize is about as NEO as it can get, with loud and thunderous beats, growling raps and sounds mimicking a car engine, which together make you feel as if your head were in a blender. Just like Sticker, this song is pure chaos, but of an overwhelming and impetuous kind because of its packed production. Yet, I think that’s where it all goes sideways – Bring The Noize is just too overwhelming, because it’s too crowded. On top of the production overflowing with sounds and effects, the vocal aspect of the song is simply too much. All members sing or rap on the track, but the variety of vocal colors is disarming and confusing to the ears in the worst way. Simply put, some members could have stayed silent in that recording booth…

Magic Carpet Ride (6.4/10)

Doing a full 180 from the previous track, Magic Carpet Ride is a ballad with pop elements, and a melodic beat that particularly shows off DOYOUNG and JAEHYUN’s vocals. Despite being a lovely song, it’s nothing particularly exceptional – it’s good for what it is, but it falls slightly flat and forgettable. Nevertheless, it does a wonderful job in proving that not every KPOP song needs a rap part…

Road Trip (7.3/10)

Road Trip shows off 127’s more boyish and bright side, with nice layers of guitar, drums and delicate vocals, proving once again how the band’s is not just a loud gimmick. The song is enjoyable – however, it’s not something we haven’t heard before from NCT. It’s sweet and lovely, but it’s definitely nothing to write home about.

Dreamer (7.4/10)

This upbeat song gives yet another sweet and poppy feel to the tracklist, with retro beats, trumpet riffs and a happy-go-lucky melody. Dreamer kinda sounds like something out of an Old Navy commercial, but I mean it in a good way – its funky, childlike charm combined with the uplifting lyrics is likely to put a smile on your face!

Promise You (7.2/10)

127 chose to end the album with a letter dedicated to their fanbase, NCTzens. Due to the ongoing pandemic, groups have not been able to meet fans in a long time as they normally would. In Promise You they sing about being separated from a loved one and then being reunited again, which is likely a nod towards their fans. Musically, the song intertwines retro-inspired beats with atmospheric synths, that give it a dreamy-like appeal. The track is sweet and serves as a great album closer, as wrapping up the record with DOYOUNG singing “So stay” in a longing yet reassuring tone, feels like the perfect goodbye.

So, did it stick?

Overall, Sticker is a very well-made album – it has ballads, upbeat tracks, addictive songs, and a decent dose of the good ol’ pots and pans. Does it sound like something we have never heard before in KPOP? No! Does it sound like something we’ve never heard before from NCT? Also… No… But whilst the record follows a similar algorithm to 127’s past albums, it is still incredibly enjoyable without sounding boring or too déjà vu. It has a good 50/50 mix of experimental songs to ballads and R&B-influenced tracks, and it leaves room for both rappers and vocalists to shine.

The album truly screams ‘NCT 127’ – it’s experimental, not sonically cohesive, confusing, and a little weird. Plus, just like all of the group’s music, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Or better yet, it’s not at first listen. Sticker might be odd and disarming, but it will get to you eventually – you just gotta let it stick.

8/10

#i had MANY things to say <3 #i hope someone liked it ^_^ #btw this has not been through the editor yet <3 hope it's good :D #soph.txt

[agent-cupcake]

Cupcake!! Do you listen to music while writing? If yes what kind?

Yes! I absolutely do! I really love music, I’d say it’s secondary to literature as far as my choice of creative input so this is also just my personal recommendations regarding music as a whole with explanations and unwanted commentary because I’m dumb and this is one of my favorite things to talk about.

Firstly, my ongoing(ish) story Beastie and the Bard is musically driven so here are some songs I have on my playlist for that. I tend towards pieces that are melancholy but melodic. Entrancing, perhaps.

Lolita by Ennio Morricone - Contextually, I realize this is a bizarre (even tone deaf) pick given the source material, but... Whatever. This song, in general, just reminds me of Dimitri. Although a heavy, militaristic march might suit him better, the heart rending sound of this song just works for me when I think of him. The piano sets the tone immediately, lingering on some notes in a wistful, sad way. And it is sad, the cello and flute join in to make that clear. But, at a certain point, the instruments begin to dance around together, opening up and almost seeming like they want to resolve the song and create something happier, or at least something bittersweet, only to be drawn back into the uneasy tragedy of the main motif. I dunno, for me, it just absolutely aches like betrayal. 

Shallan’s Lullaby by treefin / Black Piper - This music box rendition of Shallan’s Lullaby from Stormlight was the melodic inspiration for my bootleg lullaby that reader writes for Dimitri (perhaps not the first part as much as the way it shifts around 1:07). It’s haunting.

Isabella’s Lullaby from The Promised Neverland - Pretty self explanatory, I think. This one hits the sweet spot of beautiful and sad, from the harp to the vocals it just fits. 

Howl’s Moving Castle Merry Go Round of Life original and the cover by the Grissini Project - Both versions are incredibly special pieces of music and I’d be surprised if you hadn’t heard this theme before, very good for the more whimsical parts of the story (not that there’s gonna be any more of that).

Shadows of the Lowlands from Xenoblade 2 - While I’m about to recommend this entire soundtrack, this vocal piece is stunning. This guy’s vocals, no joke, sound like a Tolkien Elf. We Are the Chosen Ones is done by the same vocal group and soloist so it’s also making this list although the tone is def a bit different. 

Okay now I’m just gonna point out my favorite soundtracks. For all of these, I have COMPLETELY LEGALLY downloaded most of these from other sites, I’m linking youtube just based on superficial searches to hopefully give you a taste and maybe encourage you to NOT BREAK THE LAW and acquire these soundtracks on your own

Fire Emblem Three Houses - This is obvious and I’m sure you’ve all heard it, but go have a listen if you haven’t. but first, is anyone else disappointed about the Three Houses official release soundtrack? Considering the delay I guess I kinda expected more. Granted, the soundtrack IS phenomenal. Not so much in its entirety, which is emblematic of the game as a whole in some ways, but the set pieces? Unforgettable. This soundtrack is a case study in how powerful a small pool of musical motifs and set-up/pay-offs can be. The little promise of God Shattering Star at the very beginning of the game, Those Who Sow Darkness giving a taste of Shambhala, and then the use of the main melodies of Season of Warfare (Main Theme) and Song of the Nabateans. For the most part, both melodies are used in dramatic songs, creating this unbreakable musical connection between Edelgard and Byleth. Or, if you think about it, Edelgard and the Rhea. For example: the thunder version of Funeral of Flowers doesn’t have the game’s theme, but the rain version does (those two songs were WRITTEN to be layered I stg). And then there’s that somewhat bastardized version of the main theme in At What Cost, highlighting the intended twisting of the usual heroic take on that melody. I do have a potentially unpopular opinion, however. The Apex of the World is boring and tonally dissonant with the final battle in Azure Moon. A lot of people really like Edelgard-Dimitri likes Edelgard! There’s very little heroism in that mission, at least to me, and a song like At What Cost would have fit SO MUCH BETTER. I mean, that is also Edelgard’s theme so hearing that being twisted up into this decidedly more dark song would be thematically appropriate to her ultimate choice. The title also just seems like it suits her and Dimitri. Edelgard claims that she has weighed the cost of war, she believes she is capable of taking on the cost of victory without really knowing what it would be. Dimitri's whole story was him trying to find revenge no mater what the cost and now that he has it, he’s fully understanding what it will cost him. I understand why they would use the traditional hero song to cap the route, but it seems weird that they’d be willing to subvert so many other aspects of tradition while holding to that for a song that, in my opinion, is the least interesting of all the final battle songs. As you can probably tell, At What Cost is a song that is very tonally inspiring to me. I also love Funeral of Flowers (Thunder and Rain separately and layered together), The Long Road, and Roar of Dominion for getting hyped to write.

Final Fantasy VII Remake - Ever since I got this soundtrack, I’ve been addicted. I really don’t have much to say on this one other than just to recommend you give it a listen if you’re even passingly interested in orchestral video game music. There’s some misses for me (specifically the Wall Market stuff and anything that gets into the weird electric guitar/techno stuff) but it’s overwhelmingly fantastic and can work for active listening music and for background music while you write. I’d follow up recommend you get ahold of the Acoustic Arrangements soundtrack. I can’t link you on this one but it’s worth the extra legwork to procure it COMPLETELY LEGALLY. 

Final Fantasy Distant Worlds - I was actually able to see the Distant World’s tour when it swept through Houston and at that point I had no idea what the fuck a Final Fantasy was. At all. However, seeing One Winged Angel live is not something I will ever forget. Ever. This soundtrack is great for some background listening and although it is often too upbeat for my usual tastes, it’s good when I need something easier. Okay. Real talk. I was about to recommend to you a bunch of FFXIV music (the MMO), choice selections from FFXV, and try and dig up some songs that are only available in live recordings. If you like Final Fantasy music, I recommend all of these things. The games are a clusterfuck but the music is even moreso and it’s worth your time if you like this kind of thing.

Xenoblade 2 - See? Told you I was gonna recommend this. Actually, ranking wise, I would say that I like it more than Final Fantasy. This soundtrack is magical. I cannot stress that enough, there is a level of whimsy and beauty that went into this soundtrack that all at once draws upon the genre and being it’s own thing. Like, I get it, there’s a lot of misses. The electric guitar is jarring and annoying. Listen to Sea of Clouds, like, actually listen to it. Listen to Desolation. Pay attention to the motif used in connection with Elysium and then the other songs that its used in. The Power of Jin. This is a sometimes sad but mostly beautiful and whimsical soundtrack that is good for listening and for using as background music. 

Xenoblade 1 - I don’t have as much to say about this one, I don’t feel as if it’s as emotionally resonant as my other recommendations. BUT it is gorgeous. The area themes are wonderful and perfect for setting tone. 

Hollow Knight - Hollow Knight’s soundtrack takes one step back from the drama of the others and revels in its depressive simplicity. There are songs with a more cheerful tone, and the magical whimsy of Xenoblade 2 is very much brought to life in many of the pieces, but for the most part the soundtrack is as gorgeously melancholy as the game itself. One of my favorite things in music is when songs are given new life through new context and the White Palace --> Pale Court transition is haunting. 

Diabolik Lovers - OKAY I KNOW I KNOW hear me out. This soundtrack has no right to be as gorgeous, emotional, or quality as it is. This song, Lovers, is the younger sibling of Lolita’s theme, okay? Thematically, that’s kinda hilarious, but I mean it. If you like that song, give a few of the songs from this OST a chance.

BioShock, BioShock 2, and BioShock Infinite - BioShock 1&2 are different from Infinite. A lot more grungy, a lot more angry and discordant, the strings buzz and there’s a lot more horror to it all. Infinite, on the other hand, is very pretty. Infinite’s soundtrack is about the characters and their journey and feelings. The first two game’s soundtracks are about the ruined city of Rapture. It depends on what you’re in the mood for. I write using Infinite’s music more often, but there’s pieces in the first two that capture this empty, yearning feeling that is good for setting mood.

Pathologic - “Half Life’s soundtrack directed by Genghis Khan.” It’s bizarre. It’s grungy. 

Void (Typrop) - Basically the same deal. I dunno man, I like being inspired by horror.

Outlast - It’s an orchestral horror game soundtrack. Like the game itself, there’s a lot of horror movie inspiration. 

Dishonored 1 and Dishonored 2 - This is mostly background music. It’s a stealth game so it’s kinda uneasy, but I think there’s something really unique. Maybe the instruments? There’s a lot of weird sounds used. 

Higurashi - This is a compilation of horror themed songs from the anime soundtrack, but the VN soundtrack and the non-horror stuff is pretty good, too. Michishirube is my favorite.

Madoka Magica Rebellion - The main anime soundtrack is gorgeous. The bells, the strings, the drama... I’m recommending Rebellion specifically because it’s the more cohesive and story-driven soundtrack. This one is not as horror-ish and weird than the others, it is very beautiful and nice to listen to. Sad, in some parts, too. 

Code Geass and Resurrection - Brass? Got it. Dramatic strings? Got it. Bombastic set piece songs? Triple got it. This soundtrack oozes style. In some ways, that makes it not good for writing, but in others it can. Depends on what you’re writing. I think the melodrama can be incredibly useful for getting my mind in that frenzy state. 

Okay I’m done. Thank you for bearing with me. 

If we’re talking what songs inspire specific things, the Ferdinand piece was accompanied by a lot of the Diabolik Lovers soundtrack and Final Fantasy. When I wrote my sad Felix piece, it was all about Hollow Knight with a spot of Bloodborne and Dark Souls.  

#personal #wow it's four pm and i have done nothing with my day #what a distraction #i love music

[rapturerecords]

BioShock’s Soundtrack Timeline Quirks and Hiccups

Here’s a question customers have posed while shopping around in this record store: “Is the BioShock soundtrack historically accurate?”

The short answer is no. This is of course including a presumption of a distinct cutoff year. If on the other hand, you would consider the reverse, “Is the BioShock soundtrack historically appropriate?”, well we shall see.

So let’s briefly break down the soundtrack of each game.

-

In the first Bioshock, the game opens with the year 1960 before taking us down to the underwater city of Rapture. However, Andrew Ryan had cut off contact with the Surface some time before, coupled with the Rapture Civil War officially starting on New Year’s Day in 1959. Granted several songs in BioShock were recorded in that last decade through the 50s including “Danny Boy” (1952), “Papa Loves Mambo” (1954), “It’s Bad for Me” (1955) and so on.

Frank Fontaine’s smuggling operations could account for the fact of the very late 1959 release dates of Bobby Darin’s “Beyond the Sea” and Noël Coward’s “20th Century Blues”, however Fontaine allegedly died in September 1958 according to the newspaper article in the Rapture Standard.

Even with Fontaine’s shenanigans, it doesn’t account for the 1966 version of Patti Page’s “Doggie in the Window” or the 2004 version of Cole Porter’s “You’re the Top” as seen below. Other songs include the assorted instrumental tracks recorded in the 1990s such as “The Ballroom Waltz”, “And All the While I’m Loving You” or even the 1966 song “Academy Award”. Lastly, there is still the mystery of the numerous instrumental guitar and violin songs supposedly performed or inspired by Django Reinhardt used in BioShock.

Creative Director Ken Levine obliquely mentioned the problem of using re-recordings and alternate versions of songs in a 2007 interview with Electronic Gaming Monthly.

...Or I would research on Wikipedia or talk to my dad, and then I would go and listen to little snippets, and I'd ask myself, "Does this feel like it belongs in Rapture?" [Dealing with this era of] licensed music... is a very complicated process, because generally you're dealing with people who are dead and their lawyers are dead. The rights are often very complicated, and so a lot of times we'd want a song and we wouldn't get it. We'd have to find another person who performed it, or another version of the recording or something like that. We had to be fairly flexible.

-

Overall, BioShock 2 does have the most historically accurate soundtrack of the series, excluding the songs reprised from the first BioShock. The game ostensibly takes place in 1968, or 10 years later from 1958 according to the opening titles.

All things considered, its only soundtrack transgression is using the 1976 version of “Daddy’s Little Girl” as seen below.

Aside from that, its newest songs unique to the game are 1945′s “Dream” and “It’s Only a Paper Moon”. Many songs trend older towards the 1920s and 1930s, reflecting the older portions of Rapture seen in the game with some of the oldest tracks being 1929′s “Daddy Won’t You Please Come Home” and “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out”.

-

BioShock Infinite and the floating city of Columbia introduces time as central plot point and with it some interesting soundtrack implications. Keeping in mind the setting is 1912, its soundtrack can be broadly divided into three categories

Modern covers of existing period songs were recorded especially for the game such as “After You’ve Gone”, “Will the Circle Be Unbroken”, and the Scott Joplin rags.

Deliberately anachronistic songs are provided as a plot point courtesy of Messrs. Albert Fink and Scott Bradlee rearranging modern songs to sound period such as “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”, “Fortunate Son”, “Tainted Love” and so on.

Lastly there are the period songs meant to evoke the flavor of the 1912 setting.  While some are authentically of the era including some very old Edison cylinders, quite a few bleed into the 1920s and 30s including “Ain’t She Sweet” (1927), “Button Up Your Overcoat” (1929), and “St. James Infirmary” (1930). Bessie Smith manages to crossover to both cities in both BioShock Infinite and BioShock 2 with “I’m Wild About That Thing”, “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out”, and “Need a Little Sugar in My Bowl”. In addition, several recordings are presented “live” in the game, but were recorded much later such as the prison work song recorded by Alan Lomax, “Black Gal” in 1959 and “Shake Sugaree” recorded in 1967.

Lastly, Burial at Sea features a coda. Both Patsy Cline songs “She’s Got You” and “Back in Baby’s Arms” were recorded in the 1960s, well after the 1959 date of the events of the game. However in a tragic twist of fate, she would die shortly after recording the songs in a plane crash.

Creative Director Ken Levine again mentioned the problem of finding music “that sounds great to the modern ear” in a 2012 interview with Wired magazine.

But one of my favorite parts of my job is choosing the licensed music. BioShock Infinite is set in an interesting time because it’s right at the beginning of jazz and blues. Music before jazz and blues is not very listenable. I mean popular music -– it’s really kind of awful. You know, the John Philip Sousa marches and stuff. And then you get jazz and blues coming in, with the early stuff like ragtime.

It’s much more challenging to find music from that era that sounds great to a modern ear. BioShock was set in 1959, so we had this huge slate of great music to choose from. But here we don’t have all the chord progressions, and the things we like didn’t exist or had just started to exist. So finding music has been a really interesting challenge...

The most important thing is that you get people to feel things. I’ll give you a hint: There weren’t flying cities in 1912 nor were there underwater cities and genetic technology in 1959 (laughs). So, yeah, you play a little fast and loose. You could argue that this is Columbia and we do things a little differently.

You’ve already heard some of the strange musical things in the game...

-

Less discerning record customers may have grabbed the wrong discs and are surprised to find the recordings don’t match what they’ve heard.

I have taken the liberty of conducting a synchronization of a number of the more unusual re-recordings which the games use instead of the originals. These are presented in the new stereophonic sound format, be advised it is recommended to have two speakers far apart to get the full effect, or at the very least avoid having two speakers that are too close together.

The original older track is on the listener’s left while the newer one used in the games are on the listener’s right.

Some of the more fantastically-minded among us down here in Rapture might be tempted to simply blame the above on those newfangled Tears. But it is the records that speak for themselves.

Patti Page’s “The Doggie in the Window”

1952 Mercury Records version (original)

1966 Columbia Records version (used in BioShock)

Cole Porter’s “You’re the Top”

1934 Victor Records version (original)

2004 version with Vince Giordano and The Nighthawks (used in BioShock)

Mills Brothers’ “Daddy’s Little Girl”

1950 Decca Records version (original)

1976 Ranwood Records version (used in BioShock 2)

The original versions of the songs are featured occasionally here with the addendum that they were not actually used in the game. They are marked with the RRR for Rapture Records Recommendation.

There are number of other instances where an artist recorded more than one version of a song, typically well before, such as Noël Coward’s 1959 “Party’s Over Now” and his slightly longer 1932 version. But that’s left for another revolution of the record.

#video game music #ludomusicology #bioshock music #bioshock #bioshock 2 #bioshock infinite #burial at sea

[maxwell-grant]

As a Superhero Theme Composer yourself, might I please ask which other Superhero Theme is your personal favourite and may one please ask which Theme is, in your opinion, the most under-appreciated? (Call me Mr Vanilla, but Mr John William's SUPERMAN is always at #1 - picking #2 is much, much harder - and I also feel that Mr Craig Armstrong's THE INCREDIBLE HULK has an absolutely delightful Monster Movie feel that seems almost entirely ignored).

"Superhero Theme Composer", you really flatter me anon.

I guess the "proper" answer for this I can give is Danny Elfman's work on Batman and Batman Returns specifically as well as Shirley Walker's work for Batman TAS, which is what I'd pick if I had to give an objective "Best Superhero Soundtrack" award off the top of my head. But that's a lie, because really the only answer I could possibly give to this question is the entirety of the Marvel vs Capcom soundtrack. And that includes all the games, except Infinite. We don't talk about Infinite.

It fundamentally does not matter how many comics or cartoons or films I watch with the Marvel characters, my main frame of reference to Marvel will always be first and foremost these games and the incredible work that went into making these properties pop so well as fighting game characters. I grew up obsessed with them and listening to the soundtracks non-stop, there's at least over 200 songs on my playlists that are either songs from the games or remixes of them. A lot of these capture the characters much better than a lot of their appearences, and they definitely are still the first thing that comes to mind when I think about them.

If I had to pick a couple of personal favorites from the Marvel characters those would currently be: Gambit, Rogue, both versions of Dr Doom's theme, Sabretooth, Omega Red's theme from X-Men COTA (not a fan of how it sounds in MSHvsSF), all versions of Storm's theme, Iron Fist's which is still the coolest thing that's ever been associated with Iron Fist, Venom, Wolverine's theme from Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter (they are all good and everyone loves the Power Rangers one but this one has the most heart to it I think). MvC is the chief reason why anyone remembers Onslaught fondly, and if half of it is due to the hammy catchphrases, the other half is the music.

Actually, allow me to state the world's most correct opinion on superhero music upfront: The Greatest Superhero Theme of all time is Captain America's theme, and every remix of it. If there ever was a time when human beings banged a series of notes together to produce a song that screams "SUPERHERO" as boldly and heroically as possible, it's this one, and if Marvel weren't cowards they would have officialized this as the movie theme.

Also I fucking love Juggernaut's theme from Marvel Super Heroes so much, it's the most Chad Stride song ever put in a fighting game. Capcom’s Juggernaut had so much personality, it made him one of my favorite Marvel characters. It's the perfect power walk song for a big, beefy wrestler making an entrance to either kick ass or get their ass kicked to, which is the most in-character song Juggernaut could ever ask for. 

As for underappreciated, I guess I'd go with Tim Follin's Silver Surfer work which I already posted. Not that it's underappreciated, but people seem to treat it as "the best part of a bad game" instead of "what would happen if you could physically turn Jack Kirby's Surfer spreads into NES chiptune music, serious contender for some of the best superhero music out there"

And on a more DC side of things, I'm extremely fond of the music for Sunsoft's Batman games, for Batman (NES) and Return of the Joker. They don't really convey as much character as the Marvel ones and I guess you could argue they don't really fit Batman, but I love them and I love what these games do with Batman iconography and I would love to see these themes reincorporated in Batman media someday.

I also really, really like Jesper Kyd's work for Adventures of Batman and Robin, particularly Death RUM's remix and clean-up of it. Kyd's work is the kind of gritty and grungy I would love to see more of in Batman, and he'd be my pick for scoring a Batman Beyond work. The Mad Hatter themes in particular are incredible.

#replies tag #comic books #marvel vs capcom #music #x-men #marvel comics #juggernaut #batman #sunsoft #jesper kyd #dc comics

[hashokusaidoneanythingwrong]

[Nutmeg]

Temperance/Justice

Justice- Favorite color of rose? Blue! Thanks Animal Crossing!

Temperance- Strange dream? One time I dreamt I was in a Love Live Sunshine ad starring a yellow-haired Ruby Kurosawa which shifted into the Forest of Magic from Touhou and I was at Alice's house and I knocked on the door and her magic doll Shanghai answered except she was full person sized and there was a little baby doll we put to bed and then we went downstairs AND THERE WAS THIS ONE FUCKIN ROOM, OKAY? IT WAS LIKE AN INFINITE SERIES OF IDENTICAL ROOMS BUT WITH DIFFERENT STUFF IN EM AND WE STARTED GOIN THRU EM AND AT ONE POINT I WAS LIKE "okay what's the next room?" and Shanghai winced and said "that's... The Daily." and we went in tentatively and I DON'T REMEMBER WHAT WAS IN THE ROOM!! I WANT TO KNOW WHAT THE DAILY WAS!! BUT NOOOO WE KEPT WALKIN AND ENTERED THE ROOM WHERE THEY WERE APPARENTLY MAKING THE SOUNDTRACK FOR A TOUHOU MOVIE AND WE PEEKED IN THE NEXT ROOM AND IT WAS MOSTLY EMPTY BUT IT HAD A TABLE AND A BACKPACK AND I WAS LIKE "huh so this one's like an emptier version of The Daily" and that's my only hint as to what The Daily was anyway Shanghai offers to play a song and she does but actually she just sits down on a metal chair and starts tapping her knees crazy fast as I feel my entire body involuntarily moving towards her knees and then I wake up in a literal cold sweat at 4 AM before school needing to use the bathroom bad as I ever had and I NEVER FOUND OUT WHAT WAS IN THE DAILY WON'T SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME ABOUT THE DAILY

#ask

[annabreaksthings]

Tagged by the lovely @sunshine-ricciardo!! (Like 3 weeks ago, sorry!) Thanks so much for tagging me 🥰

-> Favourite Song at the moment?

"Wildflowers" by Trampled by Turtles

Originally by Tom Petty (who is also a treasure(, but the TBT version owns my heart

-> A Song, that makes me think of my favorite Ship?

"Something Just Like This", by Chainsmokers

-> A Song that could be about me?

"Dear Younger Me", by MercyMe

-> A Song, that I associate with good memories?

SO MANY. Music has always been such a big part of my life, it feels like every big memory has some kind of soundtrack attached to it. Some highlights:

- "Call Me Maybe" is the sound of every happy memory of my senior year of high school. It came on the radio yesterday out of the blue and made me smile 😊

- "Twisting by the Pool" by Dire Straits was my brother and my favorite song when we were kids. We would dance around the basement to it all the time! My brother has roughly the same body shape as one of those inflatable wacky-arm dudes you see outside car dealerships and such, and he danced the same way. He could play a rad air-drum solo during that part of the song though!

- "Alive" by Meatloaf. When my husband and I were freshmen in college (we had just met and wouldn't start dating for another 3 years... Just a couple of baby super-nerds!), we had a truly hellish week with 4 or 5 exams scheduled, plus some other projects or papers due (this doesn't sound like a good memory, I know), and he decided that we needed a study anthem to get through this and the next four years. I really didn't care what song or goofy study method he came up with (we ended up with a lot of funny exam traditions/superstitions), but I was so touched with the "we" part of his plan, and that he wanted to keep hanging out and working together. It's been our pump-up song ever since!

Sweet Caroline, Slow Ride, and Margaritaville take honorable mentions

-> Last Song I listened to?

21st Century Breakdown, by Green Day

My music library is a combination of my music purchases over the last 10+ years, my husband's music, and his sister's music from when they shared an iTunes account in high school. Her interests (at the time at least) skewed towards late aughts alt rock, which I've realized I'm actually pretty fond of. The weird clash of interests between the three of us make for some bizarre transitions though!

-> A Song, that I think is overrated?

Pretty much anything by the 1D boys, either on their own or together. No hate, it's just not my thing and I can't get into it

-> A Song, that makes me laugh?

"One Piece at a Time" by Johnny Cash (also a good memories song)

-> A Song, that I think Mutuals should definitely listen to?

"Saturn", by Sleeping at Last. Actually, the whole album (Atlas: I) is incredible, but this one is my favorite.

You taught me the courage of stars before you left

How light carries on endlessly, even after death

With shortness of breath

You explained the infinite

And how rare and beautiful it is to even exist

Open tag for anyone who wants to give us a view into their playlist (or give music recs!)

#music #tag game #anna answers things

[hms-chill]

143 for the prompt challenge!

143: “Just how stupid do you think I am?”

Slight “spoiler”; there’s discussion of the end of Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God in the first paragraph and again just after the prompt sentence. It’s been out for 90 years, so idk if it needs a spoiler warning, but you know.

When Alex slips into the office with Henry’s tea, he finds his boyfriend tethered to his computer by a pair of headphones, but as wildly animated as they’ll let him be. On his screen, his mum is flipping through a book, her hair held up by a pencil and her face free of makeup. She looks less like a royal and more like an excited professor, which really, could have been her life. Henry’s talking when Alex comes in with his tea, and as he sets it down, he overhears, "she’s with the doctor afterward; he has a vaccine with him! If Tea Cake really had done anything to her, she would have shown signs during the trial or the two weeks she stayed in the Everglades afterward and the doctor would have treated her-- Mum, we need to get this cleared up before we can talk about if Tea Cake really held her back on her personal journey.”

Henry spares a moment to look up and mouth ‘thank you’ as Alex slips out, then turns back to the computer. Alex leaves the door open so that David can have free reign, so he cooks dinner to the sounds of Henry’s conversation, his laughter and indignation and passion providing the best soundtrack Alex could ask for. Henry comes down a few minutes before the food is ready, and he’s all but glowing.

“How was book club?” Alex asks, and Henry grins.

“Had to set Mum straight on a few things, but it was lovely. Remind me to thank your sister for the book recommendation?”

“Of course. Which one was it?”

“Their Eyes Were Watching God? I’m not sure if you’ve read it.”

“I think I did a bit ago; want to talk about the highlights of what you and your mom covered?” Alex asks, joining Henry at the table with dinner.

“I... it’s a bit closely tied to the text; if you haven’t read it recently I don’t know how much you’ll get?”

“Hey, just how stupid do you think I am? Try me.”

Henry laughs around a bite, then says, “today’s focus was Janie’s relationship with Tea Cake, and how he compared to the other men in her life. He’s pretty clearly different in regards to the way he treats her, but we walked about whether or not he’s actually good for her personally or not. Because he is good at bringing her out of her shell, and he really pushes her to be different, but it’s not exactly a good different, or one that she’s comfortable with. He brings her into his world, and she’s happy to go along, but she doesn’t have much agency in the relationship, you know?”

Alex just stares at him for a minute as he takes a bite of dinner, trying to process once again who this man in front of him is. Henry looks up, and his face goes red instantly. “What?”

“You’re just smart, and I love you.”

Henry’s face goes even redder. “I... it’s not--”

“If you try and argue with me right now I’m going to put you on a no-fly list. Just say thank you and accept the compliment,” Alex says, and Henry laughs.

“Thank you. I always tell the kids at the shelter to accept compliments; you’d think I’d learn to practice what I preach.”

“You should. I could help you; I’ll just sit here and tell you everything I love about you until we both rot like a Hozier song.”

“Please don’t,” Henry says with a laugh. “I’d have to compliment you back, and we’d be trapped forever in a battle of kindness.”

“I like your eyes--”

“Stop. As your former ruler, I forbid you from complimenting me.”

“We had a revolution bitch; you can’t do shit to me. You have lovely eyes and a beautiful smile and I love that I can make you laugh so easily. I love that you’re letting your walls down more. I love getting to spend time with you. I love... everything about you. So much. No; don’t go! Come back!” Henry’s taken his plate and gotten up from the table, but he has to walk past Alex, which gives Alex the opportunity to grab his hand as he does. He kisses it, and Henry smiles. He sets his plate back down on the table.

“I love you. I love how you always find an excuse to hold hands or touch me-- not like that, asshole. I love your joy and your passion. I love how much you’re just yourself. I love you.”

Alex grins, pulling him back to the table and starting his own round of compliments. They spend dinner like that, trading compliments back and forth, getting increasingly ridiculous as they get up to wash dishes. Then, David starts to wander around their feet, and Henry compliments him, and as the conversation completely devolves to a celebration of David’s infinite goodness, Alex is more in love than he ever could have imagined.

On AO3

A few days ago I was like “wait... Henry has a degree in English lit... and his mom got her doctorate in something that made her read Shakespeare, which was plausibly English lit... and I have a degree in English lit and miss class discussions...” so here’s Henry and his Mum having a discussion about my all time favorite English Major Book, which is by an author June canonically loves.

Also, no one asked, but Janie does not have rabies at the end of Their Eyes Were Watching God, and ultimately I don’t think Tea Cake was particularly good for her but I do think that she had genuine fun with him, maybe for the first time since she was sixteen, and that’s not something to be brushed aside or ignored.

--

Want to support the Hannah Makes Art fund? You can tip me in ko-fi here!

#alex claremont diaz #henry fox mountchristen windsor #henry fox mountchristen windsor x alex claremont diaz #rwrb #rwrb fic #my fic: rwrb #red white and royal blue #red white and royal blue fic #firstprince

[simonxriley]

Out of boredom and suffering from the heat I’m gonna rank my favorite to least favorite Call of Duty game! 

Now before I get into it, these are clearly my opinions, my favorite might be someones least favorite and vice versa. But I would like to hear ya’ll’s fave and least fave ones. Also BOCW, World At War, the first 3 games and the mobile one will not be on this list. I haven’t played the campaigns yet (but I know WAW is a solid game) and I don’t play mobile, tried it and didn’t like it. 

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - This game was just perfect in every aspect. The story-line, the character’s, the multiplayer and spec ops were solid. I spent years playing that multiplayer, crafting my skills as a sniper and it was just fun. Not to mention the glorious soundtrack. 

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) - I was pleasantly surprised on how much I love this game. I was so nervous that IW would fuck up somehow, but I’m happy that I was wrong. The story was great, the character’s were great, and I haven’t had this much fun on a multiplayer since the MW2 days. 

Call of Duty: Ghosts - A highly underrated CoD game. Yeah the multiplayer wasn’t that fun, but the story was so good. I love the character’s and this game helped me through a dark time in my life, so it’ll always hold a place in my heart. 

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - This was one of the games I wish I played it in it’s prime. I played it a few years later. It still is and forever will be a solid game, it’s what started the MW series and look how many people still love the games to this day. 

Call of Duty: WWII - This game I played late and wished I didn’t. The story was so good and it was so cool to see familiar faces like Josh Duhamel, Jeffrey Pierce, Jonathon Tucker all playing complex characters. The multiplayer even looked good, but unfortunately I played the game to late to even try it. 

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - The first cod game I ever played (yeah I played them out of order). I do still enjoy it to this day, but it doesn’t live up to MW and MW2 in my opinion. The story was good and IW did clean things up pretty good. The multiplayer was just kind of a let down for me, everything was gray. And sometimes it made seeing people harder because they’re wearing gray as well. If they lightened it up a bit than it would’ve been different. 

Call of Duty: Black Ops - Ah, good ole BO. This game was also top notch and it would’ve been higher up in this list if it wasn’t for WW2. There’s so many memorable moments in this game and I really wish they would remaster it along with the second. The multiplayer was also really good and fun. 

Call of Duty: Black Ops II - I adore BO2. I loved how certain things you did created certain outcomes and it was fun to choose. I also liked playing as David and I wasn’t upset that it took place in the future. Also Avenged Sevenfold did a song for zombies which I loved because they’re my fave band. 

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare - The only futuristic cod game I really liked. It was a nice balance between modern and futuristic stuff, it never seemed to overwhelming. However I didn’t like the multiplayer, at all. Futuristic multiplayer just aren’t my thing. 

Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Not a big fan of this one and I actually never finished the campaign. It didn’t feel like a Black Ops game to me and the multiplayer wasn’t bad, I just didn’t really care for it. But we did get that wonderful line ‘train go boom’ 😅

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare - This one was kind of fun to play, but the story didn’t stick with me. The best part of that game was E3N and the fact the Kit Harington played the antagonist. Other than that I don’t remember much of the game. 

Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII - I will say the graphics were pretty, but the game just wasn’t my cup of tea. Not to mention I play CoD for the story, the multiplayer is just a bonus and this game didn’t have a campaign. Not to mention $60 for a multiplayer only game is pretty expensive. 

#call of duty