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totheblood · 10 months

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begging for rain. (one)

󠁐# ONE; the more you wait

PAIRING: ex!ellie williams x nextdoorneighbor!reader

SUMMARY: moving to a new town can be tough, especially as you are trying to hold everything in your life together. after you meet ellie, your life completely changes, but for the better? well that's still up in the air

WARNINGS: mentions of death, grief, related subjects; cursing, mentions of drinking/drugs, mentions of s*x,

WORD COUNT: 2.6k

A/N :new story... this is inspired by some dreams i had and the song begging for rain, by maggie roggers! an amazing song... this will be angsty and fluffy and will spend some time flipping in between past and present! hope u enjoy… AI AUDIOS AT THE END ! please please please like and reblog/reply/send asks, comments, the whole nine yards… it is so appreciated!

2 YEARS AGO

The fall came quicker than you expected.

Your days were overcast, filled with warm tea that quickly turned cold the longer you let it sit. Some days you held the pink and white cup firmly in your hands, fingers warming from the hot liquid inside. On other days you forgot the cup was even there.

The house was big and lonely. It felt as if you had examined every crack in the walls, and memorized the creak of every step. You were going to get to know this house as if it were your own because it was. You moved in late summer, your mom hauling luggage from the door, making some comment about you only bringing in the light boxes. You rolled your eyes and helped anyways. You didn’t want to be here, but you weren’t going to let your mom know that.

The house was in a nice neighborhood, with a good school district. Your mom did as much research as she could before buying this house, making some weird charts on Excel and plugging in numbers. You had a hefty inheritance from your dad, but now that he was gone and your house was down an income, your mother was doing what she had to. She bought the house in full, with no mortgage and no problem. This was her plan and it was the one that ensured you had the best chance of going to a good college.

You didn’t like the idea of moving to a new town and starting over, but you knew your dad’s death was hard on your mom and you didn’t want to be the cause of anymore discomfort for her. So you left your childhood friends, and bedroom and packed what you could in the ten boxes provided to you.

Your new room was simple, but fairly big. It had a bay window with a floral lined cushion in the seat. The walls were painted cream, and in the center of your room lay your bedframe and mattress. It was so empty, and everything about it felt so cold. Directly from your window, you could see into the house next to you. In the room you could see, the walls were a dark blue, littered with posters you couldn’t quite see from the distance. The room was messy, with clothes littered all over the room. From what you could see a white electric guitar was on a stand, right by the window. Then, almost as if she knew you were there, a girl stepped into view. Shaggy neck-length brown hair, half tied up into a bun. Suddenly, you felt like a creep as she stared at you, mouth slightly open as if she was caught. Almost instantly you turned around, embarrassment flooding your features.

You weren’t a creep, and this wasn’t something you did often. You were just curious, and it got the best of you sometimes. You decided that the curtains would be the first thing you hung up, not for your safety but for your neighbours safety.

You had everything situated that night, floral sheets on the mattress and books all tucked into the built in bookshelf. Your lamp illuminated from the corner of the room, making the whole room glow orange. You had pictures of your old friends on your bedside table, next to a picture of you and your dad. You winced as you looked at it.

A small knock shook you from your thoughts. Your mom, in her pajamas, stood in the doorway, arms crossed across her chest.

“How do you like your room, honey?” She questioned, warm eyes following you as you sat on your bed.

“It’s nice,” you rubbed at the blanket at the edge of your bed, “I like it.”

“I know this isn’t idea-”

“Mom, it’s fine-”

“What did I tell you about interrupting?” Her eyebrows raised as she shot you a look, her posture straightening. You rolled your eyes.

“Sorry,” you grumbled, avoiding eye contact with her.

“I know this isn’t ideal, and you are giving up a lot to be here, but,” she shook her head, looking down at her own feet, “this is a nice town with nice people and a good school. It’s what your dad would’ve wanted for you.”

You winced again at the mention of your dad. You opened your mouth to speak but were quickly shut up by the sound of the doorbell. It sounded loud and hollow, something you would have to get used to. Your mom looked down the hallway, fixing to ignore the sound before it rang again. This time you got up to follow her. When she opened the wooden door, there stood the brunette girl from earlier and an older gruff looking man holding a container.

“Hey, um,” He smiled at your mom before looking at you with your arms crossed behind her, “we’re your next-door neighbors and we saw you moving in. Wanted to welcome ourselves and bring you a little somethin’.”

The man pushed forward the container and your mom happily took it, smiling and gesturing for them to come in.

“Come on in,” she smiled, stepping to the side, completely ignoring the look you were shooting her, “I’m Melissa and this is my daughter, Y/n.”

You smiled, pursing your lips and giving a small wave to both of them.

“Well, I’m Joel,” He smiled, nodding at you and gesturing toward the younger girl next to him. “This is Ellie, think she’s about your kid’s age.”

“Well, missy here is about to go into her senior year,” your mom boasted as she gripped your arms shaking you a little, making you roll your eyes.

“So is Ellie,” He chuckled slightly, wrapping his arms around Ellie and causing her to groan, “maybe she can help… Y/n? Was it? Out with school this year.”

Ellie’s eyes widened as she turned around to look at him, giving him a dirty glare.

“In fact, how about Ellie here drives her to school tomorrow?” His smile was tight-lipped as he firmly tapped Ellie’s shoulder.

“You don’t have t-” your mom started.

“Don’t be silly. Ellie would love to.”

Ellie, in fact, did not look like she wanted to. She also didn’t look quite friendly either and you were unsure if this was the best introduction to your new neighborhood.

“We leave at seven,” Ellie’s voice was flat as she gave you a fake smile, Joel smiling brightly at your mother.

“Cool, thanks,” was all you said before taking the metal tray from your mom and into the kitchen. The introductions were awkward but at least you weren’t going to have to find the school on your own.

The next morning you woke up early, washed your face, did your hair, and pulled on your best outfit for school. Your mom had bought you new Dr. Martens as an “I’m sorry I uprooted your life” gift and you made a mental note to thank her for that again sometime later.

You took a granola bar to go and the packed lunch your mom had made you the night before. You smiled to yourself as you took it, knowing you wouldn’t see her till late that night. She had left early that morning, not wanting to be late for her first shift at the hospital. You were secretly hoping it was going well.

As you stepped outside, the fog surrounded you, making you even more grateful to Ellie. You crossed the dirt path between the houses and stepped onto their patio, knocking on the white door as you gripped your backpack straps. Ellie opened the door, face as unwelcoming as yesterday. She wore a blue flannel that loosely hung open with a white band tee on the inside. Her baggy jeans were ripped and frayed at the ends, meeting the black Converse at her feet. She had a distinct style, and she looked good in it.

“You ready to go?” Ellie asked, pulling her keys out and unlocking the jeep parked in the driveway. Nice car.

“Um, yeah,” You quietly said, following her down the steps and into the car. If she was just as quiet as you were planning on being, this wouldn’t work. You got yourself situated in the car, tucking your backpack under the seat as you smiled at Ellie. When the car started up her music started automatically playing, “Be Quiet and Drive” blasting through the speakers. She turned it down a little, to be polite. Nice, you thought.

“Thanks for driving me,” You started, watching as she turned her head to check for oncoming cars as she pulled out the driveway, “I know you might not have wanted to, but I really appreciate it.”

“Eh,” Ellie shrugged, eyes focused on the road, “It’s not a big deal. It’s not like I had to pick you up or anything.”

“But still,” you sighed, “I appreciate it.”

Ellie just mumbled a your welcome before tapping her fingers to the music on the wheel.

“I love Deftones,” you commented, making Ellie turn towards you, looking you up and down.

“You? Really?” She laughed, stopping at a red light.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” You asked, your tone taking a little bit of a bite to it.

“Hey, hey. Just saying I didn’t get that vibe from you.” It was your turn to roll your eyes.

“And what exactly is the vibe you get from me?”

“Girl next door,” Ellie laughed to herself, shaking her head a little, “quite literally.”

“I don’t know what that means, but I’m choosing to take it as a compliment.”

The car was silent for a moment as Ellie made her way down some backstreets, occasionally looking over at you to see you on your phone.

“Um,” she cleared her throat, “what’s your favorite song by them?”

“Probably ‘Cherry Waves’, basic I know,” you shrugged, focusing your attention on her.

“Not basic. It’s a good song,” she gave you a smile. Finally. “You have good taste.”

“Thanks,” you finally smiled.

“For a stalker,” She added on, chuckling a bit causing you to gasp.

“Oh my god,” you groaned, shoving your face in your hands. “I wasn’t stalking you, I was just looking out my window.”

“And right into my room!” you could tell she was just teasing, making you shake your head as you laughed.

“It was in my line of sight,” you leaned forward, looking at her smiling, “plus if I knew you were in there I wouldn’t have looked.”

“That’s exactly what a stalker would say,” her smile was spread across her face as her jeep pulled into the parking lot of the school. Busses were lined up in front, kids piling out and talking to each other as if they knew each other for years. It was all so normal, nothing like your nightmares.

“No, that defeats the whole point of stalking!”

PRESENT DAY

Summer had finally come around, the end of your first year in college coming to an abrupt end. You were excited to be home, but your stomach churned at the thought of being so close to Ellie again. She was right there, and all the willpower you had was slowly disappearing.

You knew you didn’t want to see her, and that maybe she had stopped missing you. But both of those things were slightly untrue. You knew if you saw her, your knees would become weak again and you would be crawling across your lawn and straight into her lap. That wasn't an option. That couldn’t be an option.

She had called you again just two nights ago, and she sounded almost sure of herself. You knew she was probably high, and you knew she meant every word she said. It didn’t stop the pain from gripping at your chest when you told her you wanted nothing to do with her.

“You picked up.”

“What do you want, Ellie?” you rolled your eyes, as you felt your chest tightening.

“I come home in a few days, I want to see y-”

“That’s not happenin-”

“Cherry, please,” she sounded so desperate and so sincere. The use of your nickname didn’t help.

“Don’t call me that.”

“Look, I messed up. I know that. I have been apologizing every day for that. I fucking miss you. Nothing is the same and if I am just inches away from you I don’t know if I’ll be able to control myself. I miss you, I miss how you fucking smelled, how you tast-”

“Ellie, stop,” you cut her off abruptly, screwing your eyes shut as you took a deep breath to steady yourself, “this is pathetic. You’re acting like a fucking loser and it’s not at all attractive. Move on. Find someone else to whine over. Anyone else.”

“No one is you.”

“You should have thought of that before you-”

“Can we not talk about that?”

“No, we have to. If you ever want to see me again we will have to talk about it,” you were being mean, you were worse before but Ellie never seemed to care, she just kept begging, “I will maybe hear you out if we talk about it, but other than that, I don’t want to see you.”

“Fine.” Click. She hung up the phone, as she usually did when the situation was brought up. It was a surefire way to get her to leave you alone.

As you pulled your luggage out of the backseat of your car, you looked up to Ellie’s window. Surely, enough she was standing there, staring down at you. You couldn’t quite read the expression on her face, but she quickly disappeared from the window, closing the curtains.

Dragging your luggage inside, you stopped when you saw Joel sitting at your dining room table.

“Joel,” you said simply, looking around for your mother who came rushing out of the kitchen at the sound of your voice. Joel simply nodded at you, giving you a pained smile as your mother bombarded you with a hug.

‘My baby!” She squeezed you tight, making you groan. “You’re finally home.”

“Melissa, let the kid breathe,” Joel chuckled, standing up to walk over to you and give you a hug from the side. He was limping, that was new.

“Hey, kiddo,” he took a step back from you and your mom, looking at the both of you, “you’re getting so old, you look just like your mother.”

“I’ve always looked like her,” you corrected him, looking around the room to spot any changes your mom might have made while you were away. Your eyes stopped on a picture of Ellie and you from the fall fair your senior year. You always had this picture in your phone, but now it was blown up and framed, right next to a picture of your dad. You winced. “What the fuck is that? Why is there a picture of me and Ellie hung up in here?”

“Watch your language, missy,” your mom scolded, lifting up a finger to wag at you, “and because I like the picture, it’s nice.”

“Take it dow-”

“You can’t still possibly be on this-”

“Take it down, or I will,” your tone was sharp, causing your mom to take a step back and look at Joel. You eyed her for a moment before turning to go up the stairs, dragging your heavy suitcase up the stairs. Joel rushed over to help you, reaching for the handle. You quickly grasped it out of reach.

“I can do it myself,” you snapped, shooting him a glare and bringing it up the stairs with you. Everyone here wanted to forgive Ellie, but you weren’t ready for that.

You weren’t sure if you ever would be.

#ellie williams #ellie williams x reader #ellie williams smut #ellie williams tlou #ellie williams x reader smut #ellie williams the last of us #ellie williams tlou2 #ellie williams fanfiction #ellie williams fanfic #ellie williams fan fic #ellie williams x female reader #ellie williams x you #ellie williams imagine #ellie williams oneshot #modern!ellie williams #college!ellie williams #ellie williams one shot

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lexusiswriting · 2 months

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A love you deserve (Ricky Olson) - Part 1 of ?

Hi guys! Long time no see.

I missed writing so much and here I am, trying to make a comeback. This will be a Ricky Olson/ Horror love story and we will see together how many parts it will have.

NOTE: Ricky will not be present in the first part, being more of an introduction to the story.

Warnings: none.

I hope you'll enjoy it and by box is open if you think I can put your ideas into something nice.

__________________________________________________________

“Lexus, you’ve got 5 minutes!”

“Alright, I’m coming!”

I am rushing to the stage while trying to dodge the many people that were on my way. Today was a big day for us, our second studio album being released on the last day of our American tour. We tried to keep it a secret and tonight the fans are going to hear one of the singles.

Being a little nervous is a misunderstanding, because I am terrified. The whole band united to make something better than the first album, where we tried different things to show we can do more. We are not dreaming of going #1 on the charts, we only want to hear our fans saying they are proud of what we want to become.

Now I’m in the backstage, waiting for the guys to prepare my entrance. We always try to do something different and today, Seth, the drummer, came with an idea. He will play a little solo, giving a little hint about the first song on the setlist. After that Andrew, who plays bass, will do the same thing. In the end, Xander, the guitarist, will be the last one to have his moment which will mark my entrance. And that moment is happening now.

I only hear screaming and I can barely see any faces from the lights. But I always feel like home while on stage. In that moment all of my fears disappeared, being replaced with excitement for doing what I love.

“Let’s rock this place out!”

If there is a thing I hate about myself is that I will never be a morning person. My alarm started to ring so loud that I could feel the vibration in my brain. I tried to stop it and I failed miserably when the phone fell on the floor. When I reached out for it I saw a message from Xander:

~ Wake up you piece of sunshine, we have business to do. ~

Getting out of bed was my main business at the moment. I went to the bathroom and saw that I completely forgot to take my make-up off last night. Tried to repair the damage and made myself look a little more presentable I made my way up to Xander’s room.

“Look who finally decided to show up looking like a mess.”

“Such a sweetheart. I’m sorry I did not get all glammed up for your poor little eyes.”

“At least you are not losing your sense of humour when you barely sleep.”

Well, that’s true. About both things, of course. My sense of humour? One of a kind. Sleeping schedule? A completely mess. This tour got all the life out of me but I know now we have a couple of months free to prepare the international tour for the new album.

“The manager called and apparently we are going to play some shows.”

“Where? Last night we finished the tour, isn’t that enough?”

“Don’t give me this attitude cause you’ll love it. It’s about Warped Tour.”

We had a thing that I hate and now a thing that I love. I always loved Warped Tour because I don’t see it as a job I have to do, but as a place where I can hang out with my friends every day. Maybe I will not regret that much the sleep I will still not get.

“Oh and a little birdie told me your boyfriend will be there as well.”

“Then it will be one hell of a summer.”

#ricky horror imagine #ricky olson #ricky horror #miw #miw band #miw fanfic #miw imagine #motionless in white #motionless in white fanfic #chris cerulli #vinny mauro #justin morrow #ryan sitkowski #ben bruce imagine #ben bruce #asking alexandria

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an-abyss-of-stars · 11 months

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☮ Rhaemond 70s Era Fic ☮

The year is 1978, 22yr old Rhaena Targaryen, is a singer/songwriter on tour in the States with her band Black Star. A folksy/bluesy rock band with music that rushes waves of ecstasy and ethereal beauty over whatever size crowd they play for. Rhaena graces the stage with all the grace and majesty of a fairy Princess or a glorious Goddess-like enchantress. Silver tresses and colourful flowing cape-like gowns that twirl and spiral with her every move, her sleeves hang like wings and flow as such as she spins and glides across the stage. She's known for losing herself in her music, as if she leaves her body on the stage and ascends to a higher place, her voice hypnotizing and mesmerizing her audience.

She's a marvel.

She's unreal.

A must see live.

With songs that spoke of mythical tales, dragons and burning lands, magic and royalty. And yet the song that was topping the charts recently was about a tortured lover, a dark figure who could not be shaken no matter how hard she tried. It was a song that left her screaming soaring notes out into the air, with so much anguish and internal rot, her rasping notes playing on par with the ripping final guitar solo.

And yet, the effervescent Rhaena Targaryen was not romantically tied to anyone, as far as the public knew.

They couldn't place the man she spoke of, but her emotional tale still ripped at the audience just right, connecting the feeling and the emotion...an unrequited love gone wrong.

An aggressively beautiful voice paired with the perfect music backing her. With a band that consisted with her as their lead vocalist, her twin sister Baela as both vocals and their lead guitarist, their half-sister Aemma as the keyboardist as well providing backing vocals with her other half-sister Aerea their bassist. Rounding out the band were Rhaena's two cousins, Aegon as their drummer and Daeron as their 2nd guitarist.

Black Star as a band and their music, was a growing sensation. So much so that Rolling Stones magazine had sent their very best writer to cover them, someone who reluctantly knew the genre well...knew the band even better...and after analyzing the lyrics, was quite certain he knew who that popular song was really about...

In 1978, 24yr old Aemond Targaryen, had worked his way up the writers ranks at Rolling Stones magazine. He'd always been an avid lover of music and culture, and while he could hold his own decently enough on guitar, it was more of a private activity as opposed to a career path. No, his talents lay on the written page, with his added photography skills. In his time at Rolling Stones he'd had the opportunity to interview some of the best the 70s had to offer. From Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham from Fleetwood Mac, Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Dio, Buck Dharma of Blue Öyster Cult and even Donna Summer.

He'd worked his way from covering lower up and coming musicians and bands to meeting some of the greats. So it was to his surprise and slight disappointment when his chief editor slapped down a newspaper on his desk that read in bold letters "Black Star Shooting All The Way To The Top" and asked him to immediately jump on the task.

Maybe it was because he hadn't heard that band name in years...ignored it purposely for 4 years to be exact. Maybe it was because the moment his brothers had told him they were moving to Germany to "solidify their sound-" he stopped listening all together. Burning at the fact that his pretty little cousin...the one woman he wanted to stay within his orbit...was moving across the world to a whole nother continent, let alone country, just to get away from him.

Possibly it was because Aemond had been the one who fucked all it up to begin with. He'd been an idiot then, told her he loved in a letter...only for her to drive up just to see him making up with his on again off again girlfriend, Alys Rivers.

Rhaena had never let him explain, she wouldn't hear a word of the truth, the fact that Alys had practically lunged onto him, kissed like it would be forever. Only to turn around and dump him the week afterwards, Alys had said it was because "his heart wasn't in it", and truthfully it never was...

Only, Rhaena was back. And now there was a song playing on the radio, one that seared through him as it practically detailed the whole of their backforth relationship. There were technically three songs about him to be exact, although the other two seemed far more covert in their delivery. And now he was being forced to follow her...and the band…on their tour for their final 3 shows. Rolling Stones wanted it all, close and personal candid shots, interviews with the whole band, but most importantly he was meant to shine a light on their mysterious enchanting lead singer. To have her decode the songs and lyrics on their latest record.

If Aemond could look past the bitter sting of regret and the annoyance of how fate seemed to be weaving his life around. Then maybe he could see this for what it was, an opportunity to win her back...just maybe…

#aemond x rhaena #rhaena x aemond #hotd fic #hotd fanfic #aemond targaryen #rhaena targaryen #rhaemond #modern au Rhaemond #i have absolutely NO idea when I'll actually start writing this 😂😂#but i really dig the concept #so hopefully this rather long synopsis is good enough for now 😂😂#i also couldn't narrow myself down to 1 or 2 mood boards SO i used 3 😂#like i haven't entirely nailed down the character looks i want for this one?#like do they have regular Targaryen/Valyrian features in this?#do they have regular hair colours and 70s era hairstyles?#many questions 😂😂

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spicysix · 11 months

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「eddie munson X gn!reader • roadtrip!AU」

2.7k words | prev | next | masterlist | ao3 warnings: trauma bonding! mentions of violence, of torture and of near-death experiences. also, they're both kinda in a bad mood. a nightmare will do that to ya songs of the chapter: ambrosia - carole king • move on - david bowie • i wanna be somebody (and the entire self titled album) - W.A.S.P.

Friday, July 25

Eddie Munson was a hard-headed prick.

Not completely, no, you’d find out already he could be convinced at some point, but it took a while. And you figured the morning after your night in Sioux Falls that he was actually being really nice until then. Because on topics that were more important to him, the man was tougher to break than a brick wall.

One of those topics? His van.

Because Eddie’s back was still not completely recovered from the night he’d spent on the front bench of the van, and because of his nightmare that had kinda ruined his night, you told him you should drive the van to your next stop so he could get some more rest.

And, oh boy, was he relentless about that.

He wasn’t like Steve and the Bimmer, it wasn’t about jealousy or fear of you breaking something or getting something dirty. No, it had to do with the mechanics.

You had both woken up early, thankfully, for he had spent almost an entire hour speeching and groaning and basically throwing a tantrum about how the van was old, bratty, difficult, damaged, faulty. And how the van needed certain specific things to engage, to accelerate, to break, to park. And how the van had tricks and wiles and gimmicks to work.

You heard it all silently, nodding, not doubting him for a second even though his dramatics were off the charts. Only after his show was over and he had thoroughly explained everything about the van’s problems more than once, only then you asked him to show you, and if you could try. He showed you, also complaining the whole time, and then you tried.

And managed it just fine.

“Shouldn’t doubt my expertise, Eddie,” you winked at him — your grandma would call you smug — and he grimaced with a blush to his ears while you left the parking lot you were practicing on and headed for the road. You were cackling the whole time.

You took the I-90 and headed east, as Eddie had been doing since Chicago — on purpose or not, you didn’t know. Leaving the prairies behind and welcoming the great plains’ monotony, the beauty of the Missouri River once you crossed it again, the sun high and almost oppressive above you.

You were still a little tired yourself, but Eddie let you choose the music once again, bobbed his head to Bowie’s voice and hid a wide grin behind his hand as he stared at the window’s landscape, took a nap after two or three songs, and it was all right.

── ⇌ • ○ • ⇋ ──

“You ever been to Yellowstone?” he asked, reading a pamphlet while you gathered some food supplies into your basket.

You had stopped around midday in a town right by the border to Wyoming for a bathroom break and to get some snacks for lunch and for the rest of the road. The mid-summer brought its peak, and so the little town was unusually full of people going and coming from all kinds of nature adventures and travels.

“Do I look like someone who has ever been to Yellowstone National Park on a family vay-cay, Eddie?” you answered without sparing him a look, an abnormal tone of sarcasm in your voice because, yeah, maybe family vay-cays were a triggering topic to you. And you were a little hungry, which in turn got you a little over-annoyed.

Eddie didn’t know any of that, though, and you instantly regretted the way you said it.

“I don’t know you very well, sweetie,” he retorted just as ironically, the nickname raised in pure poison, and it hurt more than you cared to think about in depth. “All I know is that you’ve probably worked at every single retail job in Hawkins, that you go to mine’s to buy… stuff every four months or so without much small talk, that you, Harrington and Buckley are glued at the hip and that we’ve stopped the world from ending together. Nothing else.”

You stopped your strolling through the market’s aisle and turned to him, sighing.

“I’m sorry, Eddie, that wasn’t nice of me. No, I’ve never been to Yellowstone. I’d really like to, though.”

He seemed to be caught off-guard by your sudden sincerity and stuttered some words that he couldn’t completely form.

“And I’m sorry if I never stopped for a conversation when I went to buy stuff from you. I should have.” You took a step further, getting closer to him, and he looked truly startled. Was he really this unfamiliar with apologies?

“Yeah, no, I-” He closed his eyes and sighed loudly, “You’re alright. I was just thinking about it…” He went back to the initial topic, maybe not wanting to linger on the emotional aspect of the conversation since he’d been enough emotionally vulnerable the night before, and waved the pamphlet about tourist spots in Wyoming right in your face.

You caught the pamphlet in your hands, handing Eddie the shopping basket for him to hold instead, and examined it. You went through its pages quickly but with enough attention to catch the most important pieces of information.

“We could give it a call and see if we can make a reservation? It’s unlikely since we’re in high season, but we can give it a try?” you asked, looking at him again and he was still looking at you as if you were a hard puzzle to solve.

He cleaned his throat, “Yeah, sure, we can do that.”

“Not like we have anywhere specific to be or a deadline to meet, right?” You winked, handed him the pamphlet and took the basket back, continuing on your shopping spree, back with your enthusiasm. “We gotta stop by the camping supply store!”

His laugh reverberated through the isle and into a little warm space between your ribs as he went after you with a muttered ‘Fucking Yellowstone, man’ under his breath; following your plans once again, giving you his trust so openly, and you wondered if you even deserved it. Probably not, but you’d take it either way.

── ⇌ • ○ • ⇋ ──

Everything fell into place perfectly in a summer miracle as you used a payphone to call the reservations number for a camping ground on Grant Village, a last-minute cancellation from a couple that had given you and Eddie the opportunity of a lifetime — you were also able to make a reservation for dinner on the Grant Village Dining Room for your first night. And as it seemed, the entirety of South Dakota’s population had decided to go camping all at once and left you and Eddie the final tent to buy at the store. You also bought other basic camping supplies that you didn’t have and deemed important. That government hush money was making itself very useful.

Eddie assured you he was fine to drive and so he took the wheel for the rest of your trip for that day — it was too early to stop yet, but Yellowstone was too far away still, so you’d find another place to spend another night. Your reservation in the National Park also didn’t start until the next day, so you’d have to wait anyway.

You were once again delegated to co-pilot duties, reading the map and giving Eddie directions. You also picked a tape of his own for the soundtrack this time.

Not even an hour in, something caught your eye on the map in your hands. “Eddie, what do you think about a lake day?” He chuckled and shrugged in response. “Look, there’s a lake less than ten miles from here.”

“Let’s go, then.” He didn’t take his eyes off the road to check where you were pointing at the map, just followed your instructions.

You drove for just a little while until you reached an exit with a plaque that read ‘Pine Haven’. In about 20 minutes, after a few more turns, some decision-making about which way to go, and the payment of a fee for entering the State Park, you were the closest you could get to the lake, in what looked like a growing little town with a few houses built. Eddie parked the van a little further away from the road and you both left it, you stretching your arms and legs as he went around to meet you on your side.

A man approached you, introduced himself as Coop, pointed at his house — told you to knock if you needed anything — and then pointed to the best way to the lake (actually a reservoir). He told you all about the region, the State Park, the reservoir, his family; and you and Eddie were enchanted by his hospitality, the fact that he barely batted an eye about the weird combination that the two of you were. So when he invited you to stop by later for a shower and dinner, you didn’t hesitate to say yes.

After that, you and Eddie changed clothes to more appropriate ones in the back of the van and walked a few more minutes until you were finally facing the reservoir waters. Eddie found the nearest tree and rested under its shadow in no time, taking his notebook and a pack of cigarettes from his jeans pocket. You came to leave your supplies by his side and looked around. There were a few families, not many, it was very quiet and you were glad. On the other margin, though, you could see a few more people — Coop had told you the roads were more accessible and the state park was first established there, making it more popular. But you liked that you were on a more recluse part of the reservoir.

You stripped to the top and sports shorts you had changed into — intuitively, subconsciously, somehow you had brought many useful clothes so far — and covered yourself in sunscreen. Eddie had sunglasses on and seemed to be invested in whatever he was scribing in his notebook, but you felt his eyes burning on you from time to time as you turned your back to him. It made you smile for some reason (your grandma would call it wishful thinking).

He was still wearing dark jeans, they seemed more ripped, but less tight than the ones you had seen him using before, and so he rolled the hems up, took off his Reeboks, and buried his feet in the rocky sand. On his torso, he had a white tank — a surprisingly bright color, but you guessed an all-black look would make it unbearably hot for him. The scars on his neck that went up the left side of his jaw to his cheek were pink in the sunlight, but he didn’t seem to mind showing them off.

You approached him and offered the sunscreen: “You should take care of those battle scars, Eddie. They’ll likely be more sensible.”

He looked up at you, eyes still hidden behind the sunglasses (unfortunately, for he had pretty eyes you’d like to be seeing) but he accepted your offer and protected his scars and uncovered arms.

“How come you don’t have any battle scars yourself, soldier?” he asked, still spreading cream while you stretched your limbs.

“Mine are just covered.” You pulled up the hem of your shorts on your left leg and showed him the bite marks you had received from the bats on your first encounter with them when you all went after Steve into Lovers Lake. Turned around and pulled the fabric of your top that covered the bites on your right shoulder blade as well. “I was the one who got Dustin and Erica out back in Starcourt, so. No Russian torture for me as well, luckily.”

You draped a towel on the sand and lied down on it, ready to catch a tan. Your sun marks wouldn’t look pretty, but you weren’t so worried about that.

“If you hadn’t cut the rope, maybe we would be matching,” you said finally, before closing your eyes and enjoying the burning on your skin.

Eddie didn’t answer you. You didn’t intend for it to come out in a mean way, but maybe that’s how he interpreted it. And maybe you weren’t sorry for that — he could use a little snarl.

You were on his team with Dustin in the final battle. You were there because you had been able to protect Dustin once before, and you were trusted to do it again.

Which you did. You kept Dustin safe.

But you couldn’t keep Eddie safe, because he had cut the rope made of sheets after you fell through the portal, and left you and Dustin in the Rightside Up as he went back and faced those demonic bats all by himself in the Upside Down. If he hadn’t acted so impulsively, maybe you could have gone with him. Maybe the two of you would have been a more fair fight against the swarm of bats. Maybe he wouldn’t have almost died, maybe you wouldn’t have to see Dustin crying over his limp bloody body, maybe you wouldn’t have your own nightmares about that night.

You tried not to dwell on it.

You tried not to blame Eddie for it.

You tried not to blame yourself for it.

“You slept on my bed last night?” he chose to ask after a little while in silence, his voice a little shaky, and you bit your lip to stop your own eyes from tearing up before answering. You didn’t like talking about it, and maybe neither did he.

“No, I waited until you slept and went back to mine.”

You left out the part that you watched him sleep for hours, he didn’t need to know. You didn’t need to scare him like that. To make him aware that you were afraid he would stop breathing at any second, that his skin would go cold and his heart would stop beating. Like it had happened before.

No, he didn’t need to know that his worse nightmare was the same as your own.

He made a noise in acknowledgment and you took a deep breath and focused on the sun kissing your skin and the laughter of the kids playing in the water a few feet away. He focused on whatever he was doing, and you kept it to yourselves whatever was plaguing your thoughts. The air was crisp with tension, and you hated it, but you tuned it out. You could talk about it later.

── ⇌ • ○ • ⇋ ──

You didn’t talk about it later.

You didn’t talk about how neither of you dared to go diving in the lake, how you lingered on the margins, only going as further as to where the water reached your knees.

You didn’t talk about how Eddie didn’t take off his tank top.

You didn’t talk about how a couple walked past the two of you and stared too openly and too rudely at Eddie’s facial scars.

You didn’t talk about how you asked just as rudely what the hell they were staring at. But he smiled gratefully at you for it.

You didn’t have to talk about it. You knew how each other felt.

So he dragged you to a more hidden part among the trees and shared a joint with you. You laughed about nonsense together and went back to Coop’s house still giggling. You shared a towel for your showers because Betty (Coop’s wife) only had one to spare and you didn’t mind. You shared a couch during dinner because the table was already filled with Coop’s family and some other welcomed tourists, and you both received tight hugs from Betty before you went back to the van for the night.

You thought it best not to take the tent out of its package, both of you too high and afraid you wouldn’t be able to put it back later — and forgetting about the entirely available back of the van. Oh, well.

You both agreed to sleep on the same mattress, as much space between you as possible, backs turned to each other. After what felt like enough time, after you noticed that he was already asleep, you turned slowly not to wake him and stared at his back for a while. The repetitive movement of his muscles was soothing, and you matched your breath to his. The warmth of his skin still radiated and reached you somehow, even with the distance still fairly big between you two. And his calm, even breathing rhythm scared away your fears.

None of you had bad dreams that night.

end notes: i've made way too much research about this area of Wyoming for this chapter. Pine Haven was actually only Incorporated as a town by december of '86. I have no idea how the town looked months before that, so I didn't describe it a lot, made it vague on purpose. fun fact: Coop is the actual name of the guy who, alongside his wife Betty, founded Pine Haven back in the 50s - at least that’s what the town’s official website told me lmao. i obviously have no idea if they were actually this nice, but i wanted them to be a very wholesome and welcoming couple for the sake of the fic. also! let's suspend our disbelief, i know the chances of them being able to get a last minute reservation on what's probably the most popular national park in the US was very unlikely if not completely impossible. but everything is doable in a fic-world, right? right. to yellowstone we go, then

taglist (is open!): @amira0303 @rupsmorge @wyverntatty

#eddie munson x reader #eddie munson #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fic #eddie munson fluff #stranger things fanfic #stranger things fic #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x y/n #lui writes #ifligh

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caluski · 2 months

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@moldavite tagged me to post my current music faves (thank u kalli a big fucking MWAH goes out to u in this gloomy april evening) so yay!!! i love posting spotify links of course... more belowww. trying so hard for everyone to only post things i havent shared before... trying!!

obviously justice is on repeat - both incognito and saturnine, but im putting here incognito bc it does have the coolest intro and outro everrr like ouuughhhh like justice goes so fucking hard when they choose to have some retro synths................ actually have you listened to planisphere today? you should (talking to everyone)

i havent actually talked about my thoughts on khruangbins new album... which is obviously good but i simply didnt have the time to get into it :/ ive been hoping to give it a good listen, no skips no nothing, on a day off but work has been kicking my ass a bittt... anyway! Pon pón is fun. it came out as a single few weeks back and ive gotten really into it.... sooooo groovy

vampire by sholto is what some of you might recognize from love and food playlist? but ohhhhhh fuckkkkkkk its so good. i dont even know this guy and i didnt think much of it other than "yeah its cool" when i added it to my library. such a great and sinister feeling jazzy number.... AND WHEN THE SAX HITS!!!!!!!!! thats so good. please listen to vampire.

more radio pop!!!!! MORE MAINSTREAM KEVIN PARKER!!!!!!!! i do love tame impala's older/more niche sound just as much as i love him "selling out" (whatever, i will defend his minions and elvis tracks until i die and i will MEAN it) so i am STILL excited for this album even though the roll-out of singles has been consistently awful. but i guess dua lipa is a slow riser always (however long did it take her to peak on charts with 'dont start now'???). plus obviously DANNY!!!!!! YAY FOR DANNY!!!!!

its been a really good spring so far, with so many of my faves releasing music, and obviously that includes sebastian. i remember watching the runway show this was made for, but for some reason i didnt hear the whole track - maybe it was just highlights or something? i really love the synths in this one. its unusual for him to bring the choral singing in the start instead of the climax of the track, but its really well done (as always)! i wish, i wiiiiiiiiish there was something happening about the new album, too.

charli's really being weird recently about everything but goddddddd this slaps so good. im usually not that big on gesaffelstein but i do love ag cook so much. its going to be such a good clubbing record like literally.... its crazy she STILL gets labeled hyperpop. i also like club classics, but b2b is TRULY superior out of this double drop....

the beat of this one is just stuck in my head at all times. its cute! fun! perfect for spring. theyre soon to release their debut album, i need to remember to check it out. while its not SOTY material so far, its just cool and pleasant.

more dance sounds - i like this one a lot! really catchy. ive never really been into 1tbsp but yeahhhhh with this one, i get it.

ok i for sure posted this one before, but its ok bc it got like 0 or 1 likes or something. starwolf is a band im really hopeful for!!!! their 2020 album was pretty interesting, but its their three last singles that got my ears all perked up. some daytime disco vibes in them, and its really cool considering i was somewhat.... underwhelmed by poolside's last album. so, i feel good about starwolf now! fingers crossed for summer, as it would be a perrrrrrrfect record to replay over and over during hot sunny days.

and SUUUUUUUUUUUCHHHHHHHHH a spring favorite for the end. kind of getting lost in this one.... number one song i keep thinking of during sweet sunny walks recently. unbelievably cute. 10000% recommend.

#pogaduchy #not tagging anyone bc idw look like a fucking idiot when no one responds anyway 😭😭😭#Spotify

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randomvarious · 9 months

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Today's compilation:

Now That's What I Call Music! 8 2001 R&B / Pop / Teen Pop / Alternative Rock / Pop-Punk / Post-Grunge

Welp, folks, it looks like we're nearing the end of the earliest days for this beloved flagship series that's known for constantly delivering reproductions of the day's biggest pop hits, but I still have a couple more of these albums in my queue to enjoyably sift through. And just like the other seven installments that precede this one, Now That's What I Call Music! 8 also makes for a pretty great trip down commercial radio memory lane as well 😍.

But before we dive right on into it, how about we have some nostalgic fun with the ad for this release first? See, If you had placed an order for Now 8 by credit card or with check-debit, you'd also receive a free limited edition collector's box that you could store all of your other Now CDs in too! Wow! How considerate! Thanks Now! 😎💖

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But we actually start off on a few somber notes here... 😔

Now 8 was the first dispatch from the main series to be released after 9/11, and so, I feel like the inclusion of its final track, U2's "Walk On," which never even made it onto Billboard's Hot 100 chart, was done solely in order to try to console an American psyche that had been deeply wounded at that time. "Walk On" was released as a single in February of 2001, and was actually about the plight of Burmese peace activist Aung San Suu Kyi—who, years later, would despicably do nothing as Myanmar's head of state to address the genocide of Rohingya Muslims that her own military was perpetrating—but in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, the song found itself resonating with a lot of Americans, serving a sudden and newfound purpose as an anthem of perseverance for them.

And that's pretty much undoubtedly why Now chose this song to close out the album. Had 9/11 not happened, this comp's last track would've probably been a song that had actually charted on the Hot 100. But because this album was slated to release in November of '01, the Now brass probably thought it best to end with a song that could acknowledge that then-current moment of anguish and turmoil, rather than awkwardly and tone-deafly just loading up their CD with fun pop hits from the summer that had just passed.

But less than three weeks before 9/11, R&B star Aaliyah had also tragically passed in a plane crash after filming the video for her beautifully soft and sensual, final single, "Rock the Boat" too. So Now not only included that song on this release, but they dedicated the whole album to Aaliyah's memory, and also donated part of the proceeds from the triple-platinum seller to her memorial fund as well.

And last with the sadness, rest in peace to the great Steve Harwell. I absolutely despised your band's cover of The Monkees' "I'm a Believer" when I first heard it (which appears on this album), but I still genuinely dug your work more than most are willing to admit, and really also loved the critique you had about the commodification of social movements in "Walkin' On the Sun," which is something that many people probably overlooked because they had nothing nice to say about your band that, unfortunately, became a Shrek meme. At the end of the day, Smash Mouth made a bunch of fun music, man 😞.

OK, on to the rest of this album...

So, the album cover for this release says it comes with 20 chart-topping hits, but in reality, only three of these were actually Hot 100 #1s. There's Destiny's Child's "Bootylicious," which, to go with their Survivor album's theme, intended to use the opening guitar stutter from "Eye of the Tiger"—by the band *Survivor*—but had to settle for Stevie Nicks' "Edge of Seventeen" instead; Usher's "U Got It Bad" ballad; and Joe's "Stutter," which isn't actually the most famous version of the song, but is the "Double Take Remix" instead, that was done by Allen "Allstar" Gordon Jr., and sampled both the iconic west coast alternative rap classic, "Passin' Me By," by The Pharcyde, as well as the song that that song itself sampled, Quincy Jones' "Summer in the City." And it also features now-canceled rapper Mystikal, which represents his third overall appearance in this series.

And speaking of remixes and samples, the famous Murder Inc. remix of J.Lo's "I'm Real," featuring Ja Rule, doesn't appear on here, but instead, it's her underappreciated and poppier original version that sounds nothing like the remix, and samples from classic Japanese electronic group Yellow Magic Orchestra's digi-chirping "Firecracker," which ends up naturally giving the tune a sweet 80s throwback kinda vibe.

Other songs worth mentioning are the brilliantly produced and super light and smooth Janet Jackson jam, "Someone to Call My Lover," which sampled from folk duo America's "Ventura Highway;" and a terrific tune that was actually originally released in 1998, but rose to US fame because of its inclusion in a 2001 Mitsubishi ad: "Start the Commotion," by UK duo The Wiseguys. That one's very much in that Fatboy Slim-helmed UK big beat vein; gotta love the blaring and swingin' sampled horns on it! 🤩

And there's a solid handful of other songs on this CD that I could devote some space to as well, but I think this post here is already long enough as it is.

So, another terrific nostalgia rush to be had in this trip all the way back to 2001. And I only have one more of these Now comps left in my queue, but I think I'm gonna save it for later.

Highlights:

Destiny's Child - "Bootylicious" 'N Sync - "Pop" Jennifer Lopez - "I'm Real" Joe feat. Mystikal - "Stutter (Double Take Remix)" Janet Jackson - "Someone to Call My Lover" Christina Milian - "AM to PM" Aaliyah - "Rock the Boat" Usher - "U Got It Bad" Gorillaz - "Clint Eastwood" The Wiseguys feat. Greg Nice - "Start the Commotion" Sum 41 - "Fat Lip" Blink-182 - "The Rock Show" Fuel - "Bad Day" U2 - "Walk On"

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mywifeleftme · 7 months

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190: White Noise // An Electric Storm

An Electric Storm White Noise 1969, Island

I’ve read a decent amount on how White Noise’s An Electric Storm was made over the course of a year of painstakingly splicing tape by hand in a London flat, but not why they decided to make their pioneering electronic music opus so ooky-spooky. I guess when you coop up folks whose day job is making Dalek noises, you’re going to get something a bit deranged. The opening side’s psych pop is jaunty enough, though there’s often something vacant-eyed in its whimsy, like a carnival in a Stephen King story: your ear is drawn to the incongruous details that hint at some darker working behind the cutesiness. It prepares you well for the flip, where across its 11-minute runtime “The Visitation” opens multiple echo chambers full of sobs, previews the next decade of horror film title themes, and digs pits of gurgling electronic unease that spored whole genres of dark ambient music still evolving to this day. The album ends on a literal (well, fake literal) Satanic ritual in the form of “Black Mass: An Electric Storm in Hell,” which turns jazz drummer Paul Lytton into the Jacob’s Ladder poster. Leader David Vorhaus likes to wryly shake his head recalling how the A&R people at Island Records didn’t “get it” when he turned in the LP, but even as someone who does “get it” I uh get why they didn’t!

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An Electric Storm is chiefly discussed for the means of its production, and that’s fair: despite digital advances in recording technology that make the most advanced techniques found here (phasing, flanging, looping) virtually effortless, it is uncanny hearing them deployed so extensively on music of this vintage. It’s the equivalent of watching a film from the ‘60s and seeing effects that look like The Terminator. The music rarely goes more than a few bars before melting into some other shape (a melodic phrase begun on one instrument is spliced so it resolves on another; the music drops out entirely, replaced by a collage of ratcheting noises, electronic bloops and choking cries somewhere between anguish and laughter). By turning over a third of “My Game of Loving” to cringey orgasm sounds, they even initiate the nascent electronic pop genre into the elite fraternity of styles that are a little too eager to prove they fuck.

The lyrics won’t win any prizes, but I do take issue with how dismissive some writers have been of these songs as songs. An Electric Storm is steeped in the psychedelic tropes of the day, but it doesn’t sound like the work of avid fans of like the Electric Prunes or whatever. One senses that Vorhaus and BBC Radiophonic Workshop regulars Delia Derbyshire and Hodgson have a general but disinterested notion of what the kids are into, and they feed it back to us through the filter of their own predilections. Derbyshire’s two co-writes in particular are anything but generic. The rippling transformations of “Love Without Sound” are as wondrous and eerie as a Winsor McCay Little Nemo strip, but it’s the opiated vocal by the otherwise unknown John Whitman and the strolling melody that ebbs in and out of the collage that give it a dreamy logic. “Firebird” has a Beach Boys-y bounce and gorgeously arranged harmonies to go with an array of synth tones so solid and colourful I want to play with them like toy blocks.

Though it didn’t set the charts ablaze, An Electric Storm developed a reputation as a tripper classic, and I was pretty psyched to find a copy in not too battered condition for a reasonable price at a shop this summer. I’m glad to have it on the shelf, and with the exception of the 45 seconds that makes my neighbours think I’m listening to weird and bad porn, I always enjoy the adventure when I get it on the table.

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190/365

#white noise #david vorhaus #delia derbyshire #bbc radiophonic workshop #dr who #bbc #'60s music #psychedelic pop #tape music #early electronic #electronic music #analog synth #horror music #halloweek

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cumberbatchedandproud · 9 months

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Songs (tagged)

Hi everyone !!

Thanks for the several songs tagging during the summer @mctna2019 @rhaenys-queenofkhyrulzz and @pashminabitch :) (and so I'm sort of replying to all of you at once?)

I'm generally more into soundtrack/classics than songs and I don't really use spotify but make my own MP3 playlists for in the car (i'm so old), so instead of the usual spotify shuffle i'm giving you the top 5 instrumentals I listen the most to lately? -Time of JungHyuk for Seri (CLOY OST / Nam Hye Seung, Park Sang Hee) -River Flower / Garden of God / The Warrior / Kingdom / Sword of the stranger / Lost Castle / My Country / Battlefield, selfmade mix with my favourites cut bits (i prefer listening to the whole titles whenever I can, but without the quiet parts you can't really hear above the engine/traffic noises is just better suited and safer when driving without having to fumble with the volume all the time) (MCTNA OST, Rain Wolff - and then choose the tracks) -The Day and My Love and… (TKEM OST 1 2 / Lee Geon Yeong, Gaemi) -Moonlight Sonata I & III (Beethoven) -No Time for Caution aka Epic Docking Scene (Interstellar OST, Hans Zimmer)

But if you actually want to know about actual SONGS, I'd go with those 'character meta-ish' songs in my MCTNA folder (which is the one I currently listen the most to, so...) -Shake it out, Florence & The Machine -Nothing, The Vassar Devils - thanks to that perfect @nubreed73 MCTNA vid -Dynasty, MIIA (MCTNA vids https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-inZf-p1dE and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fozuKNpv8sc) -Train Wreck, James Arthur (MCTNA vid) -Believer, Imagine Dragons (MCTNA vid) (And special mention for the crackiest yet meta-ish crack vid I always come back to whenever I need a laugh (even though I cry at the end), even if I do not listen to the song in the car - again and forever, thank you so much for this golden one, always @nubreed73 :))

But to be honest again the actual SONGS i might have heard the most lately are those from our family Eurovision best of folder my kids didn't stopped asking for on repeat on our drive back home from holidays :) -Alessandra - Norway - Queen of Kings 2023 (btw we voted for Lureen this year (because she was in our opinion the best singer (there is POWER in her voice, okay) - tumblr, don't hate us, please), but this one was a huge favorite song too. third (and atypical winner of the year in our hearts indeed) was Finland Käärijä - Cha Cha Cha) -The Roop - On Fire - Lithuania 2020 -Italy - Mahmood - Soldi 2019 -Alexander Rybak - Fairytale - Norway 2009 (still such an iconic catchy tune) -Iceland - Hatari - Hatrið mun sigra 2019 (each year we give a special award out of our own - 'atypical winner of the year') (PS: any european pretending not to enjoy eurovision is a liar who lies :) (or not - anyone is free to like it or not of course i'm just joking, but in my family it is actually a year milestone tradition: that's how i grew up and that's what i passed on to my kids : gather all in front of the tv with snacks, and someone keeps the votes of everyone on a chart song by song:))

Tagging EVERYONE as usual and please tag me back so I can see it all :)

#mctna #my country: the new age #my country the new age #mostly #tags #personal #songs #music #i love you all #vids #@mctna2019 #@rhaenys-queenofkhyrulzz #@pashminabitch #@nubreed73 #eurovision

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colorisbyshe · 1 year

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👀 so did you isten to any good and new music in april

i was gonna hold off and wait until jessie ware's album released tonight to make this post but i THINK im gonna want to do a mini live-blog of that album and this post is already massive enough as is sooo

April Faves!

Newly Released:

"High Life" by Bloc Party. Fun vibes. Very relaxed and I think is quite great for the warmer weather and driving with the windows down. Great riffs in this song.

"Dead Wood" by Enter Shikari. Enter Shikari is a weird band for me because I was SUUUPER into their original demos that you could download off like... mypace? And then I forgot they existed. Until this album? So that's CRAZY that they're still here it's been 15 years since I cared about them. Anyways, this song is like... kinda theatrical and WEIRD but not in a theatrical way. It has a bunch of string instruments and a sense of foreboding, I like it. One of the more "for beginners" track on a fairly experimental album. Need to listen to the album more cause I'm unsure if this is my favorite. "Bloodshot" is a great combo of more high speed electronic influences crashing their more hardcore influences. Dubstep energy without the dubstep.

"Be the One" by Bree Runway and Khalid. Radio friendly song of the summer. Vocal chemistry off the charts. Just sweet and soothing.

"GLBTM (Studio Outtakes)" by Daft Punk. Made me cry. I miss Daft Punk so fucking much. Beautiful instrumental.

"冷たい風 (30 Universe Ver)" by Penicillin. Jrock, if you couldn't tell by the Japanese title. It's okay if you don't like listening to non-English music but plEASE listen to the guitar shredding at ~2:27.

"Angel" by Shygirl and Fatima Al Qadiri. ETHEREAL AND HAUNTING.

"Coup" by Frost Children. Earlier, I made a post about how my music taste is getting worse... this album and this song inspired that post. The Medic Droid meets 100 Gecs. Just stupid electronic music it's EMBARRASSING. "Angel's Thoughts" is also an electro banger.

Choosing a song off the new Buck-Tick album is hard. It's all a banger to me but I suppose I really love Namonaki Watashi and the contrast between the way the instrumental feeling like it's sparkling and the strong emphasis of his vocals. Scarecrow is also great, just has a nice intensity throughout the whole thing.

"Midnight Dreams" by Ellie Goulding. Putting out a disco-inspired dance album in the same month as Jessie Ware was BRAVE but I think this album is pretty refreshing. It's just extremely proficient at being... a dance album Ellie Goulding would make, y'unno?

"I'll Remember for Me, I'll Remember for You" by Yaeji. An odd choice from this album, since it's more an interlude than a full song. But I just love that it's this moment of calm on an experimental, erratic and yet there's a creeping sense of... wariness over it all.

"D N D" by Apink. The only Kpop on the list so far?? Grown women showing off vocals while feeling like cotton candy.

"Vinglevingle" by Heize. More kpop except it has more a 2010s eurodance vibe but like... matured.

Came out 3/30 but that is April to me. "Zodiac Killa" by Jean Deaux. This is the type of song to play during a montage of a woman driving across the country, running over men, stopping to ransack jewelry stores, before reuniting with her lover, another woman on horseback.

Honorary Mentions:

"Say it to Me" by Otto Knows. It's a dance track. You know how it is.

"She Don't Mind" by Karencici. I could see Tinashe doing this song except it's largely in mandarin, so like... if Tinashe could sing in mandarin. Talking about Tinashe, it's not her best track, but "Who's Taking You Home" with Kyle is solid enough and also from this month.

"Isumad (Lakim Remix)" by Cookiee Kawaii. I liked this entire album but I choose this one just for having a run time over 3 minutes, a rarity for her! Funky remix. Another take on a nostalgia sound but modernized perfectly.

De De Mouse put out multiple releases, they're good. Check out De De Mouse in generic if you want like... annime OPs/EDs ramped up by funk and other more experimental influences.

Technically came out 3/31 but WHATEVER. "Vampire" by Kvi Baba, the Trigun Stampede OP guy.

Not Released in April:

"Writhe" by Daine. 100 gecs but more emo.

"Over You" by Daddy DJ. Sorry... Daddy DJ really is just like... comfort music at this point. Peak 2000s dance music.

"Mercurial" by Silica Gel, a korean rock band. Love the vocal effect for this song. Just love the resonating nature.

"Wings of Time" by Tame Impala, the song they did for Dungeons and Dragons. Throwback roooooock sound. Blare it with the windows down while driving past a beach at sunset. Trust me it's a vibe.

Revisited a looot of Utada this month. "Michi" remains a bop that stuck with me this month. Just good, mature jpop. Not alone not alone not alone!

Rest in Peace Ryuichi Sakamato. There's many songs to really attribute to such an influential figure but sometimes all you need is a straightforward song like Rain.

"Broken Mirror" by Boom Boom Satelittes is some Jrock tha tFUCKS

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thesinglesjukebox · 6 months

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ZACH BRYAN FT. KACEY MUSGRAVES - "I REMEMBER EVERYTHING"

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An old Jukebox fave meets a new country darling we apparently also kinda like...

[6.57]

Nortey Dowuona: There are 3 white men I trust. Zach Bryan is one of them. Mainly because he doesn't attempt to append holier than thou posturing for internet brownie point, beg for bigots approval to make his crashing career successful or fuck around making bad Jeremih songs to appear ahead of the curve. He just writes honest, sincere songs about being a deeply flawed man who is consistently putting himself out there to be loved and to love back, despite the consequences or the punishment of pain, shame, loneliness, failure. Kacey thrives in the midst of these moments and within the turmoil, making a home for herself alongside him, despite it coming apart at the seams due to the aforementioned flaws. And as they sing the final chorus together, you feel the strained, flickering love that is leaning and diminishing, only one breath away from being extinguished. [8]

Jonathan Bradley: Imagine Zach Bryan two decades ago: this ex-military ne'er-do-well recording lo-fi country ballads on his lonesome out in Oklahoma would have been signed to Lost Highway and then lost in the thickets of Paste write-ups. Now he's number one on Billboard. Times change, but so do the hooks, and Bryan has landed on a good one, the way he and Kacey Musgraves wail "you only smile like that when you're drinking," lovelorn and desolate together. Bryan is a folk singer of negative space; he illuminates his glowing little melodies while the song surrounding him lives in that vast blackness stretching into the great plains beyond. [9]

Alfred Soto: Zach Bryan writes about blasted, blighted lives, and his workaday conviction elevates the occasionally staid material. Rotgut whiskey and Kacey Musgraves can't ease his mind. So he dwells in the shadow of memory. [6]

Michael Hong: Bryan's gruffness sounds great on his plain arrangements, but the thinness of Musgraves' voice on her solo take of the chorus makes the whole track feel stiff. The real gem off his self-titled album is with Sierra Ferrell, the plainness making their harmonies and its melodic simplicity shine. [4]

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: I'll be honest: the first several times I only listened to this for Kacey Musgraves. The more I hear "I Remember Everything," however, the more I see how Kacey's diaphanous, hazy delivery only works because of how Bryan acts as a brusk, grounded foil. He seems like a perfectly pleasant, reclusive, well-therapized man, one who has earned the moment in the sun he's experienced this year. [7]

Ian Mathers: It is kind of wild to think that this guy is considered the same basic genre (and has hits on the same charts) as that Morgan Wallen fuck; chunks of this are not that far away from, say, Damien Jurado. I'm sure it's not Bryan's only mode (he put out a fucking triple album, for god's sake), but it works here. [7]

Thomas Inskeep: The music on the verses (especially the first) almost sounds like it's being played at the wrong speed? And what's with Bryan's mush-mouthed singing voice? Not to mention that this doesn't sounds like the duet it should be, just two singer's verses spliced together. I'd love to like this, but not much about it works for me. [4]

Leah Isobel: "I Remember Everything" is approximately two steps away from Pity Sex; even its flashes of humor bend toward flowery emo sentiment ("You're like concrete feet in the summer heat/ It burns like hell when two soles meet"). It's fertile ground, but the weepy arrangement and Zach's whimpery, crackling vocal oversell it a bit. [6]

Katherine St Asaph: Three things elevate "I Remember Everything" from the staid "see, this is real country music" ballads that it's not far off from. Zach Bryan's songwriting is carefully observed, and his muted voice suggests a low emotional ceiling -- making it extra powerful when he rips through it. And in turn Kacey Musgraves' voice, while still youthful and winning, is maturing nicely into a less tremulous Emmylou or Dolly. [8]

Hannah Jocelyn: There's this slightly late guitar strum at 1:34 (and again at 3:03) that's annoyed me all year, and I have to point it out because nobody else has. Otherwise, this is an above-average Civil Wars song with some pretty 7/4 verses, marred by a rushed production job -- the arrangement aims for gravitas, but you need lush Daniel Lanois or Gary Pacsoza production for that, not first-take-best-take performances. Yet if it's Zach Bryan or Noah Kahan, I'm taking Bryan every time. [6]

John S. Quinn-Puerta: Between this and Noah Kahan's ascendancy I'm convinced that folk and country will make it 2013 again through science or magic. If it means more duets, I'll take it! [8]

Tara Hillegeist: Soulful melancholy over gentle strumming meant to put the emphasis on the observed detail, the folksy reminiscences, of the singer's well-waxed lyricism is as much a posture as the cocksure drunkard's swagger, where country's concerned; it all comes down to whether you can back the pose up with a sincere enough delivery to match. Good thing Bryan has a voice like an old train engine run hard off homemade distillations, instead of something studio-smooth and syrupy-slick; it sells the vibe almost as well as the images his lyrics conjure up can manage, all by themselves. Musgraves' lighter touch doesn't shift the tenor of the piece so much as add another tone to the portrait being sonically painted; the flecks of sunlight and gold, coming in through the glass bottle you can all but hear, sitting not far from Bryan's hand. Indeed, she's the one to shed a little needed light on one of those ironic details that can give the rest of a song the kind of wry, bittersweet bite it needs to go down feelingly. For all that the song is a story told by Bryan's narrator, it's Musgraves' girl that's remembered early, lyrically, as the better tale-spinner of the two. So, naturally, when it's her turn on the verse, it comes out that the one time Bryan's narrator went so far as to imagine up a future between the two of them, she already knew he couldn't really mean it. A less controlled song would've found a moment to resolve that tension before it ended; "I Remember Everything" simply lingers in the revelation, and the melancholy, and the might've-beens, till the sun comes up and the unwise urge to do more than live with it passes. [8]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: He's just some guy, which is the point. And this is stately, well-struck, and a little bit boring -- "Dawns" did it better, and not just because Maggie Rogers is a much better fit within the Zach Bryan sonic universe -- but I still find it charming even through all of the tedious talk of authenticity and roots rock stardom. Much like everything he's done, "I Remember Everything" is self-conscious of Zach Bryan's place in the world -- the lyric is all lived-in small town signifiers, less a narrative or even a "Don't You Want Me" style point-counterpoint and more a slice of life, but everything else aims for grandeur. Kacey Musgraves is perhaps the crux of "I Remember Everything" -- unlike the rest of the guests (The Lumineers and a bunch of guys that sound like The Lumineers) on Zach Bryan by Zach Bryan, she's (a) made interesting music herself and (b) grappled with that same lyrical/musical divide in her own work. And yet the slight distance in her performance is what ultimately consigns the song to being an interesting curio rather than a barn-burner: the two sketch slightly different frames on the same moment, Musgraves remembering but Bryan desperately asking to be remembered. [6]

Brad Shoup: Maybe it's the sand or the "grown men don't cry" bit, but this feels like Bryan's Lana Del Rey homage: I'm kinda surprised the violins weren't boosted about 25%, or that the drummer didn't try something more martial. As soon as I realized we were getting a boy-girl duet about slugging down whiskey, I thought about Paisley/Krauss. But Bryan's not interested in that kind of operatic tragedy. He's more glum than maudlin, fiddling with the memory of a truck like the screwcap on some Kentucky Gentleman. Musgraves is the voice of reason, or maybe just exasperation; she can't caress the melody alongside Bryan because that would be commiseration. [5]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox ]

#zach bryan #kacey musgraves #music #country music #music writing #music reviews #music criticism #the singles jukebox #long reads #Youtube

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deadcactuswalking · 7 months

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REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 04/11/2023 (Taylor Swift's '1989' TV/Halloween/The Beatles' Final Single)

Content warning: some language

…Taylor Swift. Welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

Rundown

It’s an interesting week this week, for sure. It’s kind of both more and less busy than it appears at first glance. A lot of that is to do with Taylor Swift but we won’t be talking about her for a long time - instead, we start our episode always with the notable dropouts - oh, Taylor’s other songs dropped out to make room for her new ones? Of course they did. We do bid a brief farewell to “Style”, “Cruel Summer” (from the top 10 as well!) and “Anti-Hero”, but the latter two will be back in no time and otherwise, we have plenty of songs dropping out of the UK Top 75 - which is what I cover - after spending at least five weeks in the region or peaking in the top 40. We bid adieu to “Angry” by the Rolling Stones, “Got Me Started” by Troye Sivan, Nines’ “Daily Duppy” freestyle video, “I KNOW ?” by Travis Scott, “Cheat on Me” by Burna Boy featuring Dave, “Used to be Young” by Miley Cyrus and “Riptide” by Vance Joy - that one’ll be back soon enough, not sure about the others.

There’s no need to concern though because we have a disproportionate amount of returns, especially consider there is a singular notable gain, “Lil Boo Thang” by Paul Russell at #52. As for our returns, we have “Kill Bill” by SZA back at #70 and the typical Halloween re-entries, which seemed to perform a bit better this year for whatever reason, maybe because the charts are weak, and we do actually have two new Halloween songs debuting, but as for the re-entries we have “Somebody’s Watching Me” by Rockwell featuring uncredited guest vocals from Michael Jackson at #44, “Monster Mash” by Bobby “Boris” Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers at #29, “Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker, Jr. at #21 and of course “Thriller” at #20. We also have the bizarre return of “Teenage Dirtbag” by Wheatus at #38, which thanks to a TikTok trend and a recent 20th anniversary tour, as well as a sped-up version being released last year, has finally gained enough traction to come back to the top 40. It’s a great song… kind of, so I’m not really complaining about it. In fact, I say this is revenge for when it was stuck at #2 for two weeks in 2001, blocked off by Atomic Kitten’s “Whole Again”, which is a fine enough song but really could have given Wheatus one week.

As for our top five, well, this is a family show, but Taylor Swift doesn’t want it to be, clearly. Her re-recording of 2014’s 1989 of course hits #1 as you’d expect, and we have three songs from her in the top five, starting with “Slut!” at #5. Thankfully there are no re-recordings that charted, instead these are all the new “From the Vault” tracks. Sure, “Strangers” by Kenya Grace is at #4 and “Prada” by casso, RAYE and D-Block Europe is at #3 but then we’re back to Taylor with “Now that We Don’t Talk” debuting at #2 and “Is it Over Now?” at the very top, becoming Taylor’s third #1. It’s the Taylor show way later on however as we have one of the more interesting batches of new songs I think we’ve ever had. Try and put these songs together in one room and see what happens.

NEW ARRIVALS

#74 - “Heart Still Beating” - Nathan Dawe and Bebe Rexha

Produced by Nathan Dawe and Punctual

So we start with a pretty normal introduction to our list of new songs, that being a pretty typical house track with Bebe Rexha on vocals and for what it’s worth, it’s pretty well done. The chill-out atmosphere with the looming synth bass and beeping is designed damn well, especially with the trickling patter of keys against the 90s house percussion that builds up into a really fascinating pre-drop, that creates a strange tension with itself so you don’t expect it when the hurricane actually makes landfall on that ugly but undeniable synth flourish. I would have probably gone for a vocalist who isn’t as annoying as Bebe Rexha can be, especially when her vocals are taken to weird lengths and inflections in the second verse, but she can belt as effectively as she needs to when she does need to, and the song’s ultimately a pretty simple copy-and-paste trick even if that one trick is done very well, so it’s in and out. It’s far from an unpleasant experience when it’s in, though, I’ll give it that.

#73 - “MONEY ON THE DASH” - Elley Duhé and Whethan

Produced by Whethan and Dru DeCaro

Whethan is one of those artists that I think we probably touched upon on this show but I have no real way of knowing because he seems to be nowhere and everywhere at once, and he doesn’t often make appearances on the pop charts. Regardless, he’s an EDM producer that has remix and production credits for days and out of his solo work, I’m pretty sure I’ve only heard his song with Yeat so I have no idea how he’ll work with… someone’s favourite Tate McRaesque singer, Elley Duhé, who has definitely charted before, although not in much capacity. This song is actually from the start of this year but has just charted and what the Hell is that vocal inflection? I don’t know who told Ms. Duhé she could do a deadpan semi-rap where she decides to have an episode whenever she says the words, “control”, “high”, “dice” or “slow”, but it’s so incessantly annoying that it basically just goes full circle and becomes catchy. Whethan’s production helps here given that he and DeCaro have an almost deceitfully simple slap house bass track that seems to show all its tricks to you in the first verse - or hook, she doesn’t actually say anything else - but there’s something else there, specifically this weird respite with flubbing synths and a soaring acoustic guitar line that just continues to develop on itself with a very tropical-feeling build-up that is rendered absolutely irrelevant by the fact it returns to the plodding bass drop with no fanfare at all and no elements of that mix remaining. I can’t tell if it’s a genius way of playfully implementing the attitude of a DJ mix set into a track or if it’s just a troll but either way… I kind of groove with this one. I don’t know to what capacity, but I feel like it’s just weird enough to get a pass. Watch this space, I could see it growing on me.

#55 - “Spooky, Scary Skeletons” - Andrew Gold

Produced by Andrew Gold

Alright, so this year we get two new songs added into the recurring Halloween canon, making their first entry into the top 75, starting with Andrew Gold’s 1996 novelty single “Spooky, Scary Skeletons”. The late Andrew Gold was already long past his prime when this was released. He had his intermittent top 40 hits in the 70s and 80s but this song is taken straight from a children’s novelty album he made specifically for the holiday. Gold wanted the nine songs on that album to fill a void that hadn’t been filled for Halloween songs that were both fun and scary. Interpolating a piece of classical music by Chopin, the song has always just been a bit of a goof. There’s a little narrative at play at least, with the skeletons who just want to socialise, and the melodies are cute if a bit incessant and jabbering. Now the story of the song’s success is a really nice one, mostly because it originates in a really cute place: a 1998 throw-away Halloween VHS by Disney that adorably paid up the song with their iconic 1920s short The Skeleton Dance. Hilariously, the Disney version didn’t go viral - a recreation by a YouTuber who could not find the original did, and thanks to its memehood, the song took on a new life in the 2010s that it never really had before, partly because of just how well the song fit the video but also it fits with the quirky, random sense of 2010s humour that emerged around this time. It also fit electronic beats, as an EDM remix of the track by The Living Tombstone is probably the more well-known version nowadays. It’s terrible, but of course it is, and it helped propel the song to where it is now: frankly, a Halloween classic. Just as cute as the Disney video is the one of a man dressed up in some kind of pumpkin-fitted morph suit that is from a very obscure Nebraskan local broadcast and just ended up in the hands of the Internet who fused it with the viral track and made something incredibly special with it. I may not really like the song, but the story of its success is a pretty fun oddity and whilst it’s a shame Gold didn’t live to see it, it has granted more attention to his work especially in recent years due to TikTok and a vinyl re-release of said Halloween album, now including the remix. Now, perhaps, quite unfittingly after a song about skeletons, a posthumous single.

#42 - “Now and Then” - The Beatles

Produced by Paul McCartney and Giles Martin

Now check this: not only are we getting a song from the Goddamn Beatles, but we’re getting it only a day after it released, thanks to great streaming and expected but still impressive sales. This song has only been out for around a day and a band like The Beatles has flourished on the longevity of their music, so it almost feels wrong to comment this early, even if the song in some form has been around for a while. Lennon wrote this very simple song in the late 1970s. It’s a wispy hiss of a ballad that he never developed on during his lifetime. In 1994, Paul McCartney found himself in possession of Lennon demo tapes, and the three then-remaining Beatles recorded a couple songs using them. “Now and Then” never made the light of day, mostly because George Harrison wasn’t a fan, but decades later, the main problem of vocal quality has largely been fixed thanks to AI technology they’d already used to isolate conversations in their 2021 Get Back documentary. You can vaguely tell that machine learning was used, sure, but it was not to create a synthetic recording and rather improve the quality of an already existing one. There’s also a level of love-letter attention to detail here that really convinces me this isn’t just a cash-in: Paul starts the song with a countdown like he starts the first song in their catalogue, but he doesn’t have the energetic 1-2-3-4 this time around, just a steady 1-2 and a faint 3-count. The bridge actually takes harmonies from dense vocal takes George Harrison did for some of their classic tracks, ones you wouldn’t really be able to notice in their original form because of the sheer amount of layers and takes a lot of those songs have, and places them on top of each other in this new recording to make sure he had extra presence on the track, including a tribute to Harrison in the form of a George-style slide guitar solo from Paul. This song definitely feels special, even if it doesn’t really feel like much of a song. It’s a fleeting final moment, ending The Beatles with a feathery ballad, but it’s still a beautiful one. The core “song” is essentially still in demo form here, with Lennon’s frail, depressed vocal take standing out as particularly sad when it has the reverb and echo against a backdrop of melancholy pianos and an absolutely gorgeous string section. I have already listened to this song a LOT and this has been what’s grown on me the most: just the absolute despair in this insecure, paranoid love song. Ringo Starr’s drums click with little oomph until the first chorus, where they finally ramp up alongside the strings, and Paul starts harmonising with his long-passed friend, “now and then, I miss you - now and then, I want you to be there for me, always to return to me”. Whilst never meant to be, the lyrics find themselves easily re-contextualised in the context of the legacy of The Beatles, and it’s pretty damn heartbreaking, especially with a much older Paul having his voice back up a literal dead man’s final recordings. That soaring solo is also astonishing in how it slides off the baroque instrumentation, and the strings roll back into the harmonies that sound like they were made for the song even if Harrison had originally recorded them for other sessions. It all lines up incredibly well - for an after-the-fact job, the mixing work is intricate, and there’s something profound about it ending with Ringo in the distance appreciating that it was a good take. I expect this to gain next week but after that, I doubt this’ll stick around, or give them an 18th #1 for that matter, but it’s an excellent little joy to have while it’s here, so let’s savour every moment of it.

#14 - “This is Halloween” - Danny Elfman

Produced by Danny Elfman, Bob Badami and Richard Kraft

Now this is the second Halloween song newly entering, and frankly the story is a lot less interesting. It’s the opening theme for a Halloween movie. It’s an incessantly catchy song performed by the citizens of the film’s zany setting conceived by Tim Burton in 1993’s The Nightmare Before Christmas which I have not seen since I was a child. I mean, it’s more accessible than the songs from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, I guess, but it’s kind of funny how this is the highest-peaking Halloween song this week given that it’s the most on-the-nose of the Halloween tracks but also the one perhaps least understandable if you don’t know the context given the amount of characters performing and to me, this has always been a fun novelty wherein I’m just not in on the joke. The song that the Official Charts Company credits also doesn’t really exist. There is not a version credited to Danny Elfman anywhere - there’s the version by “the citizens of Halloween”, which is the film version then tributed re-recordings by Panic! at the Disco and… Marilyn Manson. Well, isn’t that the scariest thing about this holiday? Get that man away from children’s media.

#5 - “Slut!” (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault) - Taylor Swift

Produced by Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff and Patrik Berger

Welp, now we’re in Taylor Territory and I will try to keep it brief - after all, these are barely even singles. These are deluxe tracks she cut off the original and waited damn near a decade to re-record and re-release, the fact that they’re being promoted and streamed is more a by-product of them being Taylor Swift songs rather than on the merit of them being, you know, songs. This was the intended single - things didn’t really work out, more on that later - and I should warn you, I don’t like 1989 that much to begin with. It has some of her best singles but is also much less sonically cohesive than it should be and has some of her all-time worst songs, some of which were actually improved in this re-recording. This is still a finished song though, and a pretty decent one too, with Taylor sarcastically convicting herself of the “crime” of being lovestruck with a guy and losing her mind about him, but with the acknowledgement - and looming threat - of how the media and society as a whole treats women and their sexual relationships. You can kind of tell she wrote this before she started swearing because the title drop is so faint and sounds borderline accidental with her typical breathy delivery amidst an expectedly reverb-drenched synthpop instrumental. The harmonies in the pre-chorus are particularly beautiful and whilst I really don’t like the flat-feeling percussion, I understand it kind of comes with the material as far as it comes to indie-infused pop from the mid-2010s. For a song called “Slut!”, it does a lot to make itself sound kind of cute and bouncy, and I can appreciate that dissonance, especially on the oddly glitched outro which is a pretty nice surprise by the end of the track, which does kind of run its course at that point. Anyway, next.

#2 - “Now that We Don’t Talk” (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault) - Taylor Swift

Produced by Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff

Continuing the relationship story, we have a post-breakup track where Taylor reminisces but honestly most just bitches about this guy that she can no longer know the inner workings of because they don’t talk anymore. This one’s just fine. The lyrics have a similar level of detail but there are also just less lyrics to think about, and her falsetto in the chorus, as well as her generally staccato delivery, is kind of grating against a particularly rubbery synthpop backing that feels much more like an 80s pastiche than the other vault tracks. I guess she just really wanted to replicate the feel of the original album with this one. That’s not a compliment.

#1 - “Is It Over Now?” (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault) - Taylor Swift

Produced by Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff

Now this is what the fans essentially chose as the single, and I can see why because this is fantastic. From the slightly off-beat echoing vocal loops in the beginning of the track that seem to collude around this faint very 80s synth propulsion to the contradicting lyrical detail, anxiety is ridden through this confessional track about mutual infidelity taking place at the very end of a dying relationship. The drums have a real power to them, coming in alongside a bright synth flare that really hits hard in that pre-chorus, and the way that Taylor’s vocals handle the wordy, off-rhythm lyrics is really interesting, it’s like she’s constantly doing damage control for her own song, which devolves into bitter half-rapping with some of the best vocal takes I’ve ever heard from Taylor. This is what all of Midnights should have sounded like - Hell, it doesn’t even sound like it came from 1989, it sounds straight out of her recent work. Maybe it was just a timeless track, but I find it very difficult to imagine that Taylor - or Antonoff for that record - passed on what would be an absolute slam-dunk of a single nine years later. Either way, it’s here now, it’s excellent and we’ll see how long it lasts. I have a feeling it’ll be longer than we expect.

Conclusion

Well, ultimately, like I said, it was a very interesting week and honestly, a pretty great one where I’m excluding the Halloween tracks on the principle of novelty - they function less as real songs than even the Christmas tracks - but liked pretty much everything else, except Taylor Swift’s “Now that We Don’t Talk” which does get the Worst of the Week but batting 2 for 3 is not that bad at all, and she grabs the Honourable Mentions with both “Slut!” and especially “Is it Over Now?”. The Best of the Week… I mean it wasn’t ever a competition, was it? It goes to “Now and Then” by The Beatles as you could see from a mile away. Anyways, we start the holiday season with practically the next episode, with Taylor acting a send-off to… normal music, so be prepared for that. For now though, thank you for reading, goodbye to Matthew Perry - we’ll try to keep it down - and I’ll see you next week!

#uk singles chart #pop music #song review #halloween #nightmare before christmas #danny elfman #taylor swift #1989 taylor's version #1989 vault tracks #andrew gold #the beatles #now and then #elley duhe #whethan #bebe rexha #nathan dawe

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animusiem · 11 months

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Billboard USA Exclusion Zone Episode 17 (06/24/2023)

Sorry for posting this late because this girl just graduated! Yes everyone now this is my full time job now /j. No but seriously this week had been a roller coaster and interesting. Certainly more interesting than our new entries here.

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1. "Take Two" by BTS

Seems like BTS is out of their hiatus? Anyways what I found most interesting about this song isn't the song itself, but where it debuted. In both global charts this song debuted at #1 meanwhile on the Hot 100 proper, it only debuted at #48. I think the whole top ten of even the Global 200 that included US numbers suggested that maybe America isn't really trusted anymore for worldwide smash hits or that other countries showed up to have bigger impact that a lot of people realized.

32. "Who Told You" by J Hus ft. Drake

With the rise of afrobeat, I was wondering about what's the early proginator of the genre are cooking up and capitalizing on the success of afrobeat. Well we have a cool and chill afrobeat song from J Hus with a surprisingly decent Drake verse (thank god he didn't do any accent here).

74. "Polaris" by Saiko, Feid & Quevedo ft. Mora

Something is happening in latin music scene and I'm excited for it. This song is one of the reasons as to why because the mix between reggaeton and drum & bass is so seemless. I hope this gets big stateside because man we need more of these.

102. "Grain of Sand" by Lim Young Woong

You know how in Japan, pop and rnb ballads are still big with artists like Back Number and Yuuri scoring multiple hits? Well seems like we have a K-Pop ballad and I'm plesantly surprised at how well produced this song is. Lim has such a great voice and perfect for this guitar driven ballad. Even the whistle isn't bad here. Highly recommended.

103. "Tuya" by Rosalia

I don't know what to make of this song. On one hand it's nice to hear more Rosalia material and even after Motomami she can make some catchy reggaeton song. But just like LLYLM, the song itself felt hollow and kinda checked out? I don't know but this song felt less vibrant than most if not all the songs on Motomami. We'll see what happened next though because I do love the ending portion of the song.

175. "Let Me In" by EXO

I...have never been a fan of EXO. That's partially due to when they were popular I was falling out of love for K-Pop since most of its bigger bands like Super Junior and Shinee were doing conscriptions. I do think EXO was supposed to be THE boyband than would crossover into the USA before BTS did. But the mismanagement and just Kris Wu in general really doesn't helped. But hey they have a new singles out and this is definitely a more subdued RnB comeback that I actually kinda like.

194. "Padam Padam" by Kylie Minogue

I think we need more retrospective deep dive into Kylie Minogue career because she's lowkey still churning out hits after hits even though she's less popular than Madonna. This song is no exception like holy crap she can adapt to the deep house trend that we are in right now. This song does give me clear skin thank you very much queer ally Kylie Minogue.

195. "Lover" by Taylor Swift

One of my favorite moments of 2023 is Swifties memeing Cruel Summer into an actual singles even if Midnights still have its own singles run with Karma.

I highly recommend everyone to listen to these songs

#billboard #billboard charts #music review #pop music #review #rap #pop #kpop #reggaetón #BTS #j hus #afrobeat #drake #lim young woong #rosalia #exo #kylie minogue #padam padam #taylor swift

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areseebee · 2 years

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i am still working on these! and by these, i mean the requests from this ficlet writing ask game that i posted almost a whole week ago. the prompt for this one was i will always and i went pretty literal with it.

consider this another smoke break outtake - james and erin are 19 and home for the summer in derry, and spending a lot of time together. this time, they're in the car on their way to buncrana.

“I like this tape, did you make it?” Erin asked from where she sat in the passenger seat of his Uncle Martin’s car as they drove to Buncrana for the afternoon, tapping her finger against her leg in time to Ronan Keating.

“Yeah. Just radio stuff. But better, because it’s without the adverts,” James replied, shifting his hands on the steering wheel.

“Aye, class,” she said, looking back out the window at the passing landscape.

It was mostly true. Well, true that every one of the songs on this mixtape was on the radio these days. All except for one of them.

Honestly, he had wanted to be able to listen to S Club 7 and Gary Barlow whenever he wanted to. How could he help it if every song on the charts over the past year made him think of Erin? It wasn’t like he had made this for her and just couldn’t bring himself to give it to her, instead playing it in the car every time he drove them somewhere – to the beach, to see Orla, out to a country road to do…things. It wasn’t like he had been waiting for her to say something about it, like she had just now.

He wondered what she liked about the tape – like specifically liked. Was it the variety of songs? The artists? What part had she said she liked the tape? Was it when Ronan Keating was singing “what’s being said between your heart and mine”? Had she been thinking of him – of James – when she heard it?

He shifted his hands on the steering wheel again, trying not to think too much about it.

“Oh I love this one,” Erin said, reaching out to turn the volume dial up during the opening guitar riff of the Cranberries’ “I Will Always.” “I’ve always thought it sounded just like how it feels to miss someone, you know?” She hummed along for a measure before she stopped. He could see her head turn towards him in his periphery, but he kept his eyes on the road ahead of him. “What made you put this one on here? It’s sort of old. Definitely not ‘radio stuff.’”

“Oh. Well. I just like it,” he said, reaching out to bump up the volume by another click. “It makes me think of missing someone, too.”

#derry girls #derry girls fic #jerin #james maguire #erin quinn #james x erin #erin x james #my fic #smoke break #cranberries ask game #ask game

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daphnebowen · 10 months

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season four notes episode 1

omg… season four came out over a week ago now??? and I’m still crying.

some things I would like to talk about, episode one edition:

“Troy and Gabriella have been silent in the group chat” literally my friends 💀

STOP WHO IS THAT AND WHY ARE THEY KISSING GINA~ omg it’s Matt sato 😟 RICKY IN GLASSES HELPP

oh two months earlier phew

STOP WHY DID RICKYS DAD HAVE TO MAKE IT AWKWARD- “I’m dating her. She’s my girlfriend.”

the way Richard said “yeah, I always buckle up, look both ways- oHh 😮 yOu MeAn-“ yes Richard you are in high school now please be for real

the hug when Ricky climbed in thru the window and Gina ran over to him- AHHHH 😍

okay, but “maybe this time” is actually one of my favorite songs from the whole freaking series. Their chemistry is OFF THE CHARTS!! and when the flashbacks happened? 🫢 had me DEAD.

WHEN HE RUNS BACK OVER FOR ONE LAST KISS SQUEEEEE

how Gina is all “bye Ricky 🤭🥰” blushing and giggling she can’t believe rina is real NEITHER CAN I GIRL NEITHER CAN I!!

Okay but the secret relationship thing is giving me trauma already~ this is not gonna go well

i hate Gina’s mom already

mack annoys the crap out of me

dani slayed that song

JEALOUS RICKY IS BREAKING MY HEART I JUST WANT HIM TO BE HAPPY but at the same time he needs to calm down

”high school musicale??”

when they’re “secretly” holding hands PLEASE

when Ashlyn and Maddox are giving each other relationship advice omg like how RICKY AND GINA DID THE SAME?!?!?! Come ONNNN madlyn ENDGAME

Ricky and Gina looking at each other just confirms what we’ve been knowing since season one

Emmy really wants to spill the tea about her mom huh 😂

WHY DOES RICKY NOT KNOW WHO BART JOHNSON IS IM CRYING

okay but Ashlyn being on her phone during the pep rally is soooo high school and soooo annoying I would snatch that phone and throw it away (not really, but wtv)

mark and spark?????? I have a million questions. Like why is there 617 freaking episodes???? about a dog. and his owner. What??

“Woke” is ABSOLUTELY CRAZY I got second hand embarrassment from that 💀 Matt sato is giving

when everyone but Ricky gives Dani a standing ovation 😶

ashlyn is allergic to shrubs?? And she just came back from summer camp?? In the woods? Help?

OMG CORBIN BLUH

the fact that they call Monique “mo” is absolutely adorable SHE LOOKS SO PRETTY FIGHT ME

LUCAS IS HAVING TWINSSSS

rickys face when Ashlyn is talking about the “single” Gina who has had a crush on Mack since childhood has me dead on the floor 💀 ASHLYN WHY YOU GOTTA DO THAT TO MY MAN RICKY

i really want Ricky and Gina to be Troy and Gabriella it’s gotta happen right?? I mean the promos and trailer had that picture from opening night all over it…

miss Jenn is the freaking best! Although I have a feeling this movie business is gonna get in the way of her high school musical three dreams… Quinn is already moving into her office and throwing out her plants like help??

#hsmtmts #gina porter #ricky bowen #rina #ricky x gina #hsm

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nicklloydnow · 10 months

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“Three decades ago, Lawrence (just Lawrence, no surname) was midway through a carefully measured plan for his band, Felt: release 10 albums and 10 singles in 10 years. That part was a success, generating a unique blend of glowing guitars and shimmering textures that sit somewhere between Television and the Cocteau Twins.

But Felt’s final release and farewell tour fizzled out with little fanfare, allowing the band to dissolve into the ether of cult status. That was also part of the plan, Lawrence claims. It’s just that there should’ve been a bit more glory along the way.

“I wanted Felt to be the best-ever underground band in England,” says the 56-year-old, a hint of his West Midlands accent still creeping through. “A band that would break into the charts as well as be countercultural.”

Lawrence is one of the last true enigmas left in the industry. His relationship to music, and his reason for getting into it, is not like most people’s. “Being in a band is not a pastime you could call fun,” he says dryly.

“I didn’t join a band to have fun; I don’t want to have fun. Fun doesn’t exist in my life. I didn’t want to have a laugh on the road and pick up girls – that was completely outside of our remit.”

Instead Felt was constructed to be pristine and professional. “Being happy with music that sounded like a demo?” he says, referring to the scrappy sound of mid-80s indie pop. “That was the opposite of what I wanted. I despised that whole aspect of making music.”

(…)

For Lawrence is, he believes, a pop star. With no computer, smartphone or online presence, he does lead the life of a reclusive genius – just minus the fame. “To me, a pop star is someone you never really know,” he says, touching his lips with the grey flannel. “You think you know, but you don’t.”

That said, Lawrence is open about his shortcomings. He rarely sleeps, instead staying up late watching TV and smoking cigarettes out on his balcony, where he comes up with his best ideas. Now that Felt’s first five albums are being reissued on Cherry Red, he can admit that there are a handful of mistakes he agonises over, and that a sense of preciousness hindered the band.

“I couldn’t loosen up. The perfect word to describe Felt to me was ‘uptight’. You had to have a certain plectrum to play in the band, that’s how detailed it was. Things like that prevent you from obtaining any big goal you may have because you’re always questioning everything. We were heading for a brick wall right from day one… But I knew the end of Felt was just the beginning. Sometimes to build a myth, you have to disappear.”

(…)

After Felt, Lawrence moved on to a more pop-focused band called Denim, putting out three albums on three different labels (Charlie Brooker recently picked one for his Desert Island Discs). And with an appearance on Jools Holland as well as a stadium tour supporting Pulp, the big time finally beckoned.

“With the third record [Denim Take Over] I achieved a life goal, which was to be on [the label] EMI,” he says. “I wrote ‘Summer Smash’ and they said, ‘That’s going to be a hit, we’ll sign you.’” The song was named ‘single of the week’ on Radio 1 and was due for release on 8 September 1997 – just nine days after Princess Diana died in a car crash. The label swiftly deemed the title insensitive, scrapping its release. The CDs were melted, the project abandoned and Denim were dropped.

“My whole life collapsed because of Princess Diana dying,” he says. “It affected the rest of my life in such a massive way – it’s crazy… I had some kind of breakdown. I just fell through a hole and only crawled out of it years later.”

The period that followed saw Lawrence grapple with drug addiction – something he doesn’t wish to discuss – and he eventually became homeless. Songs and lyrics still sprang up, but his workrate suffered and the opportunities disappeared. Then filmmaker Paul Kelly offered a lifeline by proposing a documentary about Lawrence (2011’s Lawrence of Belgravia).

(…)

The documentary focused on a new phase of Lawrence’s career, going by the moniker Go-Kart Mozart. New album Mozart’s Mini Mart reflects a less difficult but still frugal time in his life. He’s gone from paying someone £50 a week just to roll his joints, to utilising bargain stores. “I never even knew what Poundland was,” he says softly. Making the album required calling in favours to record for free, in stages, over several years.

(…)

“It’s not a safe environment at all and I love that; that’s why I’m in it. When you write a song, it’s like you’ve written a lottery ticket. You don’t know when it’s going to hit the jackpot. It’s really hardcore and if you don’t deliver, they terminate your contract. It’s so cool – so horrible and heartless – but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Yet despite that enthusiasm, Lawrence doesn’t feel part of the musical landscape – at least not by the standards he’s set for himself. “I feel like I’m still on the outside of the industry, waiting to be let in,” he says. “I’m still knocking on the window saying, ‘Let me in, let me in’ and they’re saying, ‘Not quite yet. Soon, maybe…’””

“Nick Gilbert, who was the bass player, he left Felt in the middle of recording the first album in Leamington Spa. He rang me up a couple of days later and he went, “I’m leaving. Look, Lawrence, this is really ruining our friendship, me being in the band with you, and I don’t want to spoil it. So I’m gonna leave.”

And I thought, “So what if it’s gonna spoil or friendship? So what? We’re gonna be in a band, we’re gonna be famous, we’re gonna be millionaires, we’re gonna be pop stars. Who cares if it ruins our friendship?”

He was talking on a very, very deep level which at that point, I couldn’t understand the logic in that at all.”

Because your friendship with him was not that important to you?

“Not as important as being famous and rich, no.”

And now?

“Um… Now I’d still forego a friendship for the band, absolutely. I mean, my friend is the band. You know? My friend is that nebulous thing called “the band”. Called “the group”. That’s who I’m married to. Any friendship can go by the wayside. Um, and he was the only best friend I’ve ever had in my life so it was quite a big deal.”

“So to say that Lawrence of Belgravia perfectly captures the enigma that is Lawrence is to pay tribute to Paul Kelly, who in his first full-length feature has made one of the great rock documentaries. It concentrates on the eight years since the last Go-Kart Mozart album; the non-more ironically titled Tearing Up the Album Chart. Kelly had initially imagined the film would take a year to make but this was to reckon without his subject matter going missing for months at a time, living in constant fear of eviction (at the beginning of the film Lawrence actually is evicted) and there being zero financial backing for a third Go-Kart Mozart album.

Lawrence’s mental health problems and heroin addiction are only ever alluded to in a collage about halfway through the film but there can be little doubt of the toll they have exerted both upon the man and his creativity; this is someone, after all, who released ten albums and ten singles in ten years with Felt. The Lawrence of those years always cut a deeply stylish figure, excelling in perfect, art rock haircuts. By contrast, the Lawrence we meet in this film appears ashen and drawn, his long, greasy hair topped off by an equally greasy and ever present, baseball cap (there are times, alas, when he calls to mind Andy Serkis playing Gollum.)

If all of this sounds depressing then it both is and it isn’t. When I first saw the film at Chapter late last year, the general consensus of the audience in the following Q&A with Paul Kelly seemed to be that the film was a tragi-comic documentary about a deluded, failed pop star; with Lawrence cast as a kind of real life, indie David Brent. This was clearly to miss the point – Lawrence is a very important artist who has made some of the most important records of the eighties and early nineties. What is sad about the film is Lawrence’s continuing lack of recognition and the hand to mouth life he is living as a result; at one particularly heartbreaking moment in the film he sells his famous ‘Felt’ emblazoned guitar for £600.

(…)

Lawrence of Belgravia is a film made up of such apparent contradictions. Paul Kelly has given us a portrait of a forgotten genius, which for all its downbeat moments, is both hilarious and inspiring. As Lawrence says at one point, ‘no one has ever gone this far without making it.’ It may even be that this film changes all that.”

#lawrence #felt #denim #go kart mozart #belgravia #music #art

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