#all the alt versions on that album use those and i LOVE IT it's so good i love when songs do that

[copepods]

so, there's no official place im aware of that's compiled the names of every music track in rain world which includes DLC, unused tracks, alpha tracks, and includes every location those tracks can be found, so! i made one :) mostly just for my own fun bc i love cataloguing things.

sadly i cant include links bc there's a limit on tumblr, but these should all be pretty easy to find with a quick google search!

black text = from vanilla game

purple text = unique to downpour

orange text= unused vanilla content, but added in-game in downpour

blue text= is used in vanilla game, but was added to more rooms/locations in downpour

Trailer and promotional music

RW dayns: promotional material (Remix of Sundown)

Threat - Superstructure (Trailer Remix): Switch trailer

What Fate A Slugcat: Release trailer (Alt version of Urban Jungle)

Together: Co-op trailer

Overskog: Downpour launch trailer, creatures teaser

Downpour: Downpour teaser trailer

Triptrap: Downpour regions teaser

Landmarks: Downpour lizards teaser

Task: Challenge mode teaser

Unused

Threat - Outskirts: with unused layer SU_4

Frost Reaper (RW_98): Unused

Threat - Rubicon (TH_HR): Unused

Alpha tracks

RW_2: Alpha_8

RW_3: Alpha_8

RW_4: Alpha_8, Alpha Trailer Music

RW_5: Alpha_8

RW_6: Alpha_8

RW_11: Alpha_8

Alphas, Gems and Junk

RW_12: Alphas, Gems and Junk

Illegible Neon Signs (RW_17): Alphas, Gems and Junk

Beat (RW_21): Alphas, Gems and Junk

Beat (RW_22): Alphas, Gems and Junk

Beat (RW_23): Alphas, Gems and Junk

Sky Islands (RW_24): Alphas, Gems and Junk

Night City (RW_25): Alphas, Gems and Junk

Free Mind Loop (RW_30): Alphas, Gems and Junk

Sub Sub Sub (RW_31): Alphas, Gems and Junk

Arena-exclusive

Noisy (RW_10): Arena

Action Scene (RW_13): Arena

Weyuon (RW_33): Arena

Slaughter (RW_34): Arena

Wired (RW_68): Arena

Menu and cutscene

Sundown (Theme I) (RW_8): Main menu and credits (Technically combination of Sundown (No Rain) and TitleRollRain)

Pictures of the past (RW_Intro_Theme): Surv/monk intro cutscene, UW_J01 (Inv only), OE_CAVE02

Passages: passage screen, UW_A14 (Inv only)

Reclaiming Entropy (RW_92): Saint end cutscene and credits (Was formerly named Theme V - Credits pre-Downpour)

Outro Theme (RW_Outro_Theme_B): Survivor, Monk, and Gourmand end cutscenes

Satellite (RW_72): SI_A07 (Spearmaster end cutscene)

BM_SS_DOOR: Saint intro cutscene

Train Tunnels (RW_27): Expedition menu, Metropolis night theme

Dream_DreamMelody: Dream cutscenes

Halcyon Memories (NA_19): CL_AI, RM_AI (Music pearl), Rivulet end cutscene and credit (Spelled Halcon Memories in OST album)

Game Music

Threat - Outskirts (TH_SU)

Unseen Lands (NA_40): SU_A53

Urban Jungle (RW_1): SU_107

Proxima (NA_01): SU_A07

Frosted Festival (RW_80): SU_A53 (Saint only)

Mud Pits (RW_09): DS_B02

The Wet Moist (RW_38): DS_B04

Old Growth (RW_15): DS_B01

Swaying Fronds (RW_51): DS_A26, UG_A26

Threat - Heavy Industrial (TH_HI)

BM_HI_GATE: HI_B04

Bio-Engineering (RW_43): HI_B04, HI_A07

Mist Engine (RW_50): HI_A18

Sheer Ice Torrent (RW_91): HI_A07 (Saint only), HI_B04 (Saint only)

Threat - Garbage Wastes (TH_GW)

Garbage Worms (RW_52): GW_B01

Lack of Comfort (RW_39): (GW_D02) (GW_B09)

Garbage City Shuffle (RW_37): GW_C02, GW_C04

Albino (RW_43): GW_E01

Stone Heads (RW_19): GW_C03

Overcast (RW_79): GW_A25

Accidented Condition (RW_83): GW_E01 (Saint only)

Eyes of Iron (RW_90): GW_C03 (Saint only)

Threat - Shoreline (TH_SL)

BM_SL_SHORE: SL_B02, SL_D05, SL_F01, LM_D05, LM_F01

Lonesound (RW_46): SL_D06

New Terra (NA_21): SL_A06, LM_A06

The Captain (RW_18): SL_A05

Moondown (Theme II) (NA_11): SL_AI, SL_WALL06 (also called Digital Sundown)

Vast Unlife (RW_89): SL_D05 (Saint only), SL_F01 (Saint only), SL_TUNNELA (Saint only)

New Else VII (NA_42): SL_WALL06 (ECHO) (Saint only)

Black Moonlight (RW_26): SH_D01

Demonic Riser (NA_25): SH_B17, CL_B17

Dripping Time (NA_17): SH_A05

Lantern Mice (RW_58): SH_C10, SH_A21

Floes (RW_40): SH_E05

ELSE III (NA_34): SH_A08 (ECHO)

Dark Sus (NA_08): SH_B05, SH_A24, CL_A24

BM_SH_CRYPTS: SH_B12 (Vanilla, patched out), SB_D04

White Lizard (RW_55): UW_D02

Underhang (BM_UW_UNDERHANG): UW_C03, DM_LEG07, DM_U09

BM_UW_WALL: UW_D07

ELSE IV (NA_35): UW_A14 (ECHO), MS_COMMS (ECHO) (Saint only), CL_D05 (ECHO)

Stargazer (NA_28): UW_H01

Threat - Superstructure (TH_SS) (also plays in The Rot)

BM_DS_GATE (Drainage Duct): SS_B01, RM_B01

Interest Pad (NA_09): SS_A09, RM_A09

Drastic FM (NA_16): SS_F03

Energy Circuit (NA_26): SS_D03, RM_D03

Random Gods (Theme III) (NA_41): SS_E07, SS_L01, SS_E06

Threat - Chimney Canopy (TH_CC)

Threat - Chimney Canopy (The Gutter)

BM_CC_CANOPY: CC_A02, CC_H01 (Saint only), Artificer end cutscene

Wind Chimes (RW_48): CC_B06

Sky Sprite (RW_55): CC_C11

ELSE I (NA_32): CC_C12 (ECHO), SB_A14

Cracked Earth (NA_39): CC_OUTPUT

Threat - Sky Islands (TH_SI)

Lovely Arps (RW_29): SI_D03

Kayava (RW_42): SI_D01

Speaking Systems (NA_23): SI_C06

Crystalline (NA_20): SI_B11, SI_D05

ELSE VII (NA_38): SI_B11 (ECHO), SB_D01

Silicon (NA_04): SI_B12, DM_VISTA

BM_SI_STRUT: SI_B13, SI_F01

Chillblain Grace (RW_84): SI_C02 (Saint only)

Threat - Farm Arrays (TH_LF)

All Thats Left (RW_14): LF_A14

ELSE V (NA_36): LF_B01 (ECHO)

Distance (NA_30): LF_D01, SU_PUMP03

Nest in Metal (RW_49): LF_A01

Maze of Soil (RW_47): LF_D08

Raindeer Ride (RW_54): LF_H01

Emotion Thread (NA_24): LF_J01

Ferrous Forest (RW_28): SB_G02, SB_G03

Leviathan Cave (RW_53): SB_J02

Grumblebum (RW_41): SB_A03, SB_H02

Deep Energy (RW_45): SB_F03

ELSE II (NA_33): SB_A10 (ECHO), HR_C01

Silent Construct (NA_27): SB_D04, SB_F02, SB_I01, DM_CROSSOVER02, SB_B04

Gold Swim (VS_A_GOLD_SWIM): Upper void sea

Big Open (VS_B_BIG_OPEN): Central void sea

Worm Inferno (VS_C_WORM_INFERNO): Central void sea

The Ride (VS_D_THE_RIDE): Void sea

Deep Light (Theme IV): Bottom void sea, ascension end cutscene (Technically combination of Deep Ghosts/VS_E_DEEP_GHOSTS, The Core/VS_F_THE_CORE and Outro Theme/RW_Outro_Theme)

BM_SB_FILTER: SB_J03

BM_SB_SUBWAY: SB_C10, SB_F01, SB_H0

Orange Lizard (RW_62): SB_TESTB, SB_TESTC

Rooftops (RW_7): VS_A01, Arena

Rain (RW_61): VS_B02, VS_B10, VS_C13

Veiled Northstar (RW_93): LM_TUNNELA, VS_A09, SL_TUNNELA

Fragments (RW_96): VS_F01

Threat - Pipe Yard (TH_VS)

GREY CLOUD (RW_32): LC_GIRDERWALK, Arena

ELSE VI (NA_37): LC_highestpoint (ECHO)

Dustcloud (NA_02): LC_TEMPLEENTRANCE

Phasing (NA_06): LC_C08

Lost City (RW_59): LC_ENTRANCEZONE

Threat - Metropolis (Day) (TH_LC)

Threat - Metropolis (Night)

Sparkles (NA_05): OE_RAIL01, OE_TOWER09

Reminiscence (NA_11): OE_TREETOP

Bloom (RW_60): OE_JUNGLE05

Wandering Cut (RW_63): OE_RAIL02

Daze (RW_64): OE_RUIN14

Ancient (RW_69): OE_RUIN02

Open Skies (RW_97): OE_RUINBACKHALL

Threat - Outer Expanse (TH_OE)

Threat - Outer Expanse (Night)

The Coast (RW_16): LM_D06 (also called Shoreline)

BM_UW_UPPERWALL: LM_WALL01, LM_WALL02

Metal Canopy (RW_66): LM_TOWER09

Trusted Component (RW_82): LM_BRIDGE02, LM_BRIDGE03

Threat - Waterfront Facility (TH_LM)

Wormpad (NA_03): RM_GSB1

Qanda (NA_07): RM_D02

Sparkling Pendulum (RW_71): RM_B04

Flicker (RW_73): RM_I03

Not Your Rain (RW_76): RM_ROT01

Glass Arcs (NA_18): DM_I02, DM_I05

Flutter (NA_29): DM_WALL06

Scapeless Doubt (RW_70): DM_LEG01

Obverse of the Old Wind (RW_78): DM_ROOF01

Reflection of the Moon (RW_95): DM_ROOF04, DM_MOONCHAMBER

Threat - Looks to the Moon (TH_DM)

Past Echoes (NA_06): UG_C02 (ECHO)

They Say (NA_22): UG_B02, UG_B10

Breathing Hyometer (RW_81): UG_GUTTER01, DS_GUTTER01

Weathered Steps (RW_94): UG_A05

Garden (RW_65): MS_BITTERENTRANCE, MS_SPLITSEWERS

Random Fate (RW_67): MS_LAB14, DM_I11

Aquaphobia (RW_74): MS_I06

Onto A New Dawn (RW_75): MS_FARSIDE

Fragile (RW_77): MS_BITTERAERIE2

Ascent (RW_85): MS_ENTRANCE

Flux (RW_88): MS_I02, MS_I03

Fading Light (RW_87): CL_D01

Pulse (NA_31): Saint ending

The Cycle (RW_86): HR_M01, HR_M02, HR_M03, HR_M04, HR_FINAL

#text #rain world #the wiki only includes vanilla tracks atm #and theres a reddit post which has the locations of vanilla + downpour tracks but is missing unused tracks + cutscene music #so i figured id just make this myself #if im missing anything or made any mistakes lmk!

[sage-nebula]

Sonic Music HCs

Sonic: Punk rock. Punk music tends to be anti-establishment, anti-authoritarian, and often pro-environmentalism. These are all core beliefs of Sonic's, and so the lyrics would resonate with him deeply. Sound-wise, fast guitars and loud drums are his bread and butter. If music doesn't make your blood race and bones rattle, what's the point? He hates ballads; anything too slow or sappy puts him off. (Though, he has sang slower punk songs, such as "Roadside" by Rise Against, to Tails as lullabies when they were younger.)

Tails: Also punk rock, because it's what he grew up listening to thanks to Sonic. Plus, punk rock songs tend to be loud and busy enough to provide his brain with the stimulation necessary to allow him to focus on one project at a time. That said, Tails is fine with most music and thinks there's something to like in just about any genre.

Knuckles: Honestly could not remember ever hearing a song even once in his life before traveling down to the surface for the first time. Sure, birds would sing and chao would bang on drums, but a full on song? No. That said, when he IS introduced to music he likes instrumental hip-hop. Songs with lyrics frustrate him if he can't tell what the lyrics are, so he likes instrumentals with nice beats.

Amy: Amy loves anything you can dance to. Pop and hip-hop are the big ones, but she also thinks swing music and jazz can be really fun to listen and dance to, too. She's pretty amiable about music too, but she doesn't like anything that sounds depressing or moody. Bright, fun, happy songs are her style.

Cream: On the record, Cream only listens to classical music that Vanilla introduced to her basically as soon as she was born. Off the record she also listens to everything Amy listens to, and is very invested in learning all the dance routines.

Big: Has no preferences really, basically anything is fine with him, but he does have an impressive collection of bluegrass albums.

Shadow: His music taste was cultivated fifty years ago on the Space Colony ARK when Maria would play her favorite records and he would listen to them with her. However, listening to those songs now hurts him in a way he doesn't want to deal with, so he doesn't. He also thinks most modern music sounds like garbage, so honestly, he just doesn't listen to music period. That said, he does enjoy a wide variety of podcasts, from trivia and history ones to true crime ones. He doesn't like talking to people, but he does like to listen to people talking to other people who aren't him.

Rouge: She likes whatever is most advantageous to like in the given moment. She has a vast array of music knowledge so she can con her way into any fan space or event. That said, the music playing most often in her bar is R&B or oldies.

Omega: He likes listening to things like recordings of car crashes, building and tank explosions, malfunctioning machinery, air raid sirens, etc. He insists this counts as music. Rouge advises against arguing with him, and Shadow hopes you try.

Vector: He's a ska man through and through, but he does dabble in a wide array of other genres too, to expand his music education. The only thing he won't touch is EDM. He thinks Omega's car crash recordings have more musical merit than EDM.

Espio: Espio claims to only listen to indie artists that most people have never heard of and Charmy says he made up on the spot. When asked to describe the genre, he never can. He actually listens to a mixture of emo rock and rap.

Charmy: Pop, but specifically the Kidz Bop versions because Vector doesn't want to have to explain cuss words, and also because Espio hates Kidz Bop with a passion. He also likes EDM when he's mad at Vector for something.

Whisper: Lo-fi is her absolute favorite; it calms her down even in her worst mental health moments. But she also used to be a big fan of alt rock, and the wisps remember how she has a beautiful deep register for R&B.

Tangle: Just about everything and anything, but power metal is a particular fave and it's her dream to be able to play "Through the Fire and Flames" on a real guitar. (Note: she does not know how to play guitar.) She will lose her voice screaming metal at karaoke and will go right back to do it again the next night.

Jewel: Also a fan of power metal; similar music taste is one of the first things she and Tangle bonded over. She's fine with other music, but when she's listening to music while serenely completing paperwork, there's power metal shredding in her earbuds.

Lanolin: She likes a smattering of different things, but her go-tos tend to be more indie / alternative fares. Think things like Sleeping at Last for instance. Heavy guitars and drums aren't her style: she prefers more melodic pieces.

Eggman: EDM. If it isn't made by machines, he doesn't think it's worth listening to.

Starline: Only the most distinguished classicals; nothing low-brow peasants would listen to. Eggman's taste in "music" was the only turn-off Starline had.

Surge: Thrash metal, speed metal—if it is loud, aggressive, and full of screaming, she is all over it. She hates anything sentimental, slow, or sweet.

Kit: Thrash metal and speed metal, because that's all Surge will listen to, and the idea of listening to something else on his own has never occurred to him.

#IDW sonic #sonic the hedgehog #miles tails prower #knuckles the echidna #amy rose #cream the rabbit #big the cat #shadow the hedgehog #rouge the bat #e123 omega #vector the crocodile #espio the chameleon #charmy bee #whisper the wolf #tangle the lemur #jewel the beetle #lanolin the sheep #dr eggman #dr starline #surge the tenrec #kit the fennec #sth

[reilora-borealis]

.... and you're NOT gonna tell us about the Shadowgast Playlist? Please 🫴, hand it over.

I said in my original post this was my toxic trait... nonetheless I am SO glad someone took the bait 😈

I'm not going to post the link because I value my spotify privacy and also I have an embarrassing username that no one needs to know about. However, since you asked nicely (and let's be honest, I wasn't expecting anyone to care! so thank you!), I will share ✨ my personal top 5 shadowgast songs ✨ with a bit of context for each.

If you're just here to roast my music taste, bear in mind... I said toxic trait. Proceed at your own risk.

1. Time in a Bottle by Jim Croce

"If I could make days last forever / If words could make wishes come true / I'd save every day like a treasure and then / Again, I would spend them with you..."

This one has two meaning imo: first, early-campaign Caleb wishing he could change the past to save his parents' lives; later, Essek wishing he had more time to spend with Caleb. The original version is beautiful, but there is also a cover by Yungblud (yes, it's on the Hobbs & Shaw soundtrack) that's badass but a very different vibe.

2. Lilith by Halsey

"I'm perfection when it comes to first impressions / I romanticize and then I get to stressing / Big brain like I'm teaching at a lesson / Baby, it's a blessing..."

Every time this song comes on I legit yell ESSEK ANTHEM! because it is. This is the Hot Villain theme song. The beat is so sexy. The lyrics are on point ("I am disgusting / I've been corrupted / And by now I don't need not help to be destructive"). The vibes are just immaculate.

3. No Halo by Brockhampton

"Went to church for the hell of it, stumbled in drunk as shit / Been going through it again / Been talking to myself, wondering who I am / Been thinking I am better than Him..."

Look. I could write an entire essay about this one song. Wizard hubris, depression, and the crisis of faith Essek goes through when the Nein find out about his betrayal. Also, for those who theorize Essek is the unwilling chosen of the Luxon - he could, in fact, be "God's special mess".

4. X&Y by Coldplay

"I dive in at the deep end / You become my best friend / I want to love you but I don't know if I can / I know something is broken / And I'm trying to fix it / Trying to repair it / Any way I can..."

Two characters who both think they are terrible people that don't deserve love, trying to be better and trying to better each other? And they fall in love? And they're narrative foils? No one is doing it like them! (Plus the chorus "You and me are drifting into outer space" just screams ~wizards in the star room~.)

5. All The Stars by Kendrick Lamar feat. SZA (album version)

"Tell me what you gon' do to me / Confrontation ain't nothing new to me / You can bring a bullet, bring a sword, bring a morgue / But you can't bring the truth to me..."

I don't know how this song manages to be both broody and uplifting at the same time, but it is and it's perfection. It's the grimness of reality and the hope for the future, the refrain of "All the stars are closer" symbolizing all the possibilities that are now within reach.

And oh boy, I don't have time to write about the whole playlist but if you've made it this far, here are some bonus mini listicles because this is my Roman Empire 😌

Entire playlist of just shadowgast-coded Hozier songs:

Arsonist's Lullabye

In The Woods Somewhere

De Selby (pt. 2)

Someone New

Like Real People Do

Moment's Silence

From Eden

All My Homies Hate Trent Ikithon songs:

Heathens by Twenty One Pilots

Eat Your Young by Hozier

Buzzkill by Mothica

Another Brick In The Wall, pt. II by Pink Floyd

My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark by Fall Out Boy

Other ships? In my shadowgast playlist? It's more likely than you think:

The Cave by Mumford & Sons (widobrave)

Cringe by Matt Maeson (widojest)

Tessellate by alt-J (blumendrei)

EDM wizard songs if you're into that sort of thing (I am):

Time Stops by Virtual Riot

I'd Love To Change The World (Matstubs Remix) by Jetta

I Could Be Anything by the Glitch Mob feat. Elohim

New Eyes by Echos

Keep in mind this is just a handful of songs out of like a hundred, so I welcome you to give me the benefit of the doubt and fill in the rest of the playlist in your mind with whatever makes me seem cool to you.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk, I am sorry it took me four days to write this... 😅

#shadowgast

[hollyhorseheads]

this is my banner btw i just stretched it out. i loooove a good stretched png...

below the cut is alt versions!

ok here. the picture its based on + the image without the bg being a bit blurred* + the image without blurring OR text. if you want any of this separately lmk cause like i still have all of this saved as separate layers

* i blurred it to make the the text slightly easier to read LOL

also fun facts / notes about the image:

i spent a frankly ridiculous amount of time looking for those picsart sticker filter overlay things?! like i swear ive found them so easily before but idk... as we get further from 2020 relics are hard to find....

holly has the femme flag on her cheek in the third image and hol horse has the butch flag in the fourth image!

the overlay/border thing is the lesbian flag in the third pic and the nonbinary flag in the fourth one, i'm sure most people know those flags but like why not write it down for those that dont ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ anyway i didnt wanna just overlap both because that looks bad but to me hollyhorse is a nonbinary lesbian couple. theyre both enby dykes i hope this helps

cinnamoroll is there because i found that sticker on picsart and i love cinnamoroll too much to not use that immediately

the button in the bottom right of the fourth picture says "in dykes we trust" (and like god bless. yes we do.) and the button pinned on hol horse's shirt (also in the fourth image) days "it's a bitch being butch!"

the background is just the cover to pitbull's album "global warming meltdown" idk it was that, tilted towers, or bliss (xp). but i used the last one literally not even a week ago(?) and i use tilted towers as a background ALL the time. so i spiced it up a bit. also im listening to pitbull right now

the speech bubbles are based on that one like jungkook(?) (its a kpop boy i think its jungkook.) roleplay reply tweet screenshot that has those exact lines in ridiculous fonts. that image turns 4 this year... i cant believe i ever lived in a world without 𝖎 𝖜𝖎𝖑𝖑 𝖕𝖗𝖔𝖙𝖊𝖈𝖙 𝖞𝖔𝖚. ???

thats it i think... this post is dedicated to hollyhorse nation but especially strawbeebap on twitter. ive never talked to them in my life i dont have a public twitter anymore 😭💔 if someone who does sees this pls tell cal strawbeebap i say hi and thank you for carrying hollyhorse nation 🫡🫡🫡

#.txt #hollyhorse #holly kujo #hol horse

[swordarmsaxelegs]

Hi :) I was tagged by @macleod to be a part of this chain. Here's my top 5 songs on repeat (in no particular order)

Shinedown - What a Shame

Shinedown is one of my favourite bands of all time and this song is from my favourite album that they released. It was hard to narrow it down to just one song of theirs to include in this list, so I thought about a recent playlist I've been listening to and decided that this the one I have been most likely to loop out of all of them.

Shinedown is pretty mainstream among metal/alt-rock fans, but if you're not familiar with them or even if you're not usually a fan of those genres then I recommend checking them out. Some of their songs on this album kind of border country territory. I have also listened to some of their more recent post-grunge stuff and think it's a bit pop-y, so I'm sure there's something everyone would enjoy.

Vansire - Metamodernity

I don't have much to say about this one. A girl I had a crush on once used this song as background noise in her Instagram story. I'm not sure anymore if I like this song because of her or if I like her because of this song. All I can say is that there was a couple of months where I would only listen to this.

Tom Cardy - Level Clear!

I haven't been able to get enough of this song since Mr. Cardy posted it four months ago and it is embarrassing. If you're not familiar with his work, Tom makes silly musical videos for Tik Tok and YouTube. I love his videos, he's very creative and entertaining, but this song has no right to go this hard.

Allie X - Old Habits Die Hard

I could probably list Allie X as a top 5 artist on repeat. She was my introduction to the synth pop genre and I think her music is consistently great. I picked this song specifically because it's a lot of fun and one that I'm always excited to hear when it comes on shuffle. As for an album I would recommend, most of her songs that I listen to come from Collxtion, No 1. This song in particular appears on two albums, but I haven't personally listened to the newer version of the song. I'm sure it's great, though.

System of a Down - Aerials

I am very sorry to include this one in the list, but it would be wrong of me not to. One time I was listening to this song so much that it started to become a problem for me. I would try to sleep and this song would be on loop in my brain. I tried learning all of the lyrics so I could sing it to myself because I read that songs get stuck in your head because your brain likes to see things through to the end, but then that just made it worse. I didn't even play this video before sharing it here because I'm scared that if I do it will happen again. This is absolutely one of my all time favourite songs and also I would like to start a conspiracy that System of a Down songs are so weird because they're trying to lock us into a trance.

As a bonus, I was thinking of including Nirvana - Heart Shaped Box because there was a period where I would listen to that song a lot, but I figured everybody on Tumblr can probably say the same thing and I had to limit this to only five songs.

I haven't been very talkative on here since I came back a few years ago, so I don't have anybody to tag in this. If you see this post and think it would be fun to participate then feel free to share your own top 5 and tag me in it :) Maybe it could turn out to be a way to make some new friends on here :D

#chain #music #shinedown #tom cardy #allie x #system of a down #vansire #nirvana #metamodernity #old habits die hard #level clear! #what a shame #aerials #heart shaped box #the sound of madness #metal #synth pop #dream pop #pop music #rock music #alternative rock #nu-metal #alternative metal #post-grunge #progressive metal #heavy metal #Youtube

[emilieautumnarchives]

EA for Lime Mascara

Archived from Lime Mascara, 2004 [warning: archive is broken] Last accessed: 8/2/2022

The Chelsea: Violin/Backing Vocals - Emilie Autumn

Lime Mascara: For those of us, like me, who hadn't heard of you until Courtney Love recruited you what should we know about you. Basically give us a mini bio.

EA: As much as I really want to spare you the whole “I was born at a very young age…” bit, I suppose it serves a purpose. I began with the violin at age 4, and I’ve been at that game ever since. I’ve been writing (music and words) most of my life as well, and singing for a small part of it. I’ve trained with master teachers from all over the world, but had some of the best and worst experiences of my life while studying as a teen at Indiana University’s School of Music. I sold my horse so that I could devote myself entirely to music to an unnatural degree. When I was 17, I got a phone call from Nigel Kennedy, my violin hero. Ecstatic. When I was 18, I moved to England and was utterly disappointed in the Royal College of Music. Horror. Home was Malibu, CA, though it is now Chicago, which I perfectly adore because of the CTA. I am expecting a shipment of essential oils right now, including oil of green tea which I am very much interested in, and which is to serve as an ingredient in “Mistress,” the perfume I am in the midst of designing. I am getting a puppy next weekend and do not want to go on tour for that reason alone. I ought to have been born in the 16th century so that I could have served at the court of my all-time idol, Queen Elizabeth I. I’m in love with my boyfriend, Annie Lennox, “So Hard” by The Pet Shop Boys, and high tea.

Lime Mascara: What kind of music can we find on your solo albums?

EA: My first release was purely classical, just fiddle and harpsichords and lutes and Bach and such. Very corsets-and-crumpets, my favorite. It does have a few of my own little compositions, which I suppose de-purifies it in the eyes of the classical cognoscenti, but whatever. My second release was an EP called “Chambermaid” because it featured the track of the same name (but in quite a different version) from my subsequent full-length album, “Enchant.” The EP is worth your time mainly because of all the crazy remixes it’s got on it, as well as a gothic cathedral choir number, and a sexy cover of a song from “Cabaret.” Then, I put out a charity single called “By The Sword,” which is all about avenging wrongs and female knights and things – it’s for the 9/11 victims. The best part of this single is the video extra of another cover, “I Know It’s Over,” by The Smiths. Then comes “Enchant,” my first full-length solo album in the alt-rock, or “fantasy-rock” vein. I love this record so much, I can’t even tell you. It’s not egotistical, I swear, it’s just that it took me something like five years to make it due to stops and starts and different labels and other yucky things.

Lime Mascara: Other than violin, what instruments can you play?

EA: I can play the sewing machine and the whistling teapot. I can also play classical and jazz piano, viol da gamba , harpsichord, viola, electric, baroque, and modern fiddles, all manner of keys and computers, a bit of mandolin, and the riding crop.

Lime Mascara: Will you be adding violin to classic Hole songs on tour with Courtney?

EA: Absolutely, yes. I’ve already played several Hole numbers with CL in concert, and I think they’ve gone really well. “Violet” and “Celebrity Skin” are some of my favorites because I get to sing pretty much everything as well. I’m waiting for “Northern Star” which I really love, but we’ve been waiting on that one for some unknown reason…The Chelsea is an amazing band, and playing anything with them is a perfect pleasure.

Lime Mascara: When is the tour "supposed" to start?

EA: The “tour” is “supposed” to “actually” “start” on June 18th in…let me see…oh, in New Haven, CT. We’ve got 24 dates all across the US thus far, and then we’re off to Japan for Fuji Fest where Belle & Sebastian is also playing, to my giddy delight.

Lime Mascara: How did Courtney find you?

EA: Courtney found me through my website, www.emilieautumn.com. The way she tells it, she was looking online at “gothic lolita” fashion sites, and it became apparent that those who like EGL also like EA, which I think is just lovely. She then wrote me a very long letter and the phone calls began. The first call I got was on the night of my CD release party for “Enchant,” which is to say that I’ve never promoted my album properly because I’ve been running around with CL. It was a compromise, but I’m happy to do it for a friend I believe in.

Lime Mascara: How did the first meeting go?

EA: The first meeting…ah, bittersweet memories… The first meeting took place in France over the recording of “America’s Sweetheart.” Courtney was doing vocals when I walked into the Chateau and she was a bit preoccupied, but then so was I because I had the sweetest little Frenchman for a driver and I wanted him to live in my handbag. She started calling me “princess” which is coincidentally the name of her lapdog, and then played for me all of the demos that had been recorded by that point. Her energy very nearly blew me out of the room, but I‘ve since gotten used to that.

Lime Mascara: Do you have a designer for your outfits or do you design everything yourself?

EA: I have this little faerie who sits in my closet and if I feed her muffins she makes me corsets. Other than that, I do design and sew everything I wear onstage, and frequently off as well. Check out www.willowtechhouse.com or www.punkatorian.com if you’re so inclined. It’s got a bunch of my creations, some of which you can have for your very own.

Lime Mascara: So far, what has Courtney taught you about the music industry?

EA: You learn so much just be being on the road, and with Courtney, it’s times ten. Sometimes I feel like I’m in the army, and others I just feel privileged to be playing with such a great group of ladies; it really depends on what day it is. I was no stranger to questionable industry dealings when I came into this, and certain bits of what I’ve seen behind the scenes has done nothing to elevate my opinions of the major music industry as a whole. However, I have met some fantastic people whom I greatly respect (Peter Asher and all at Sanctuary), and that’s given me a bit of hope that perhaps you can operate on a large scale without losing your dignity. And I suppose it’s hardly worth mentioning, but I’ve learned that the media is largely a misogynistic monstrosity that lies without shame on a regular basis (the microphone incident that never happened…). I’ve also learned that a girl band is so totally the way to go.

Lime Mascara: When can we expect your next solo record?

EA: Do you mind if I have breakfast while we chat? While I feel that “Enchant” had a good deal of wretchedness in it, my next rock release will certainly multiply that, for better or for worse. It’s to be called “Opheliac,” and it’s all about the state of being in what I call the ‘ophelia syndrome’ of knowing what’s right and what’s good for you, and yet putting yourself in harm’s way just so that you can later go mad on someone else’s dime. Tracks will include “If I Burn,” a sweet little number about the witch burnings of 1645, “Opheliac,” the title track about the concept above mentioned, and “Mad Girl,” a lullaby to that lunatic part of my psychology that I am constantly trying to put to sleep. I am also in the midst of writing a melodramatic track called “Willow” which is a duet I intend to beg Morrissey to record with me. I’m writing the part for him alone, and if he doesn’t do it, the song will sit at the bottom of my sock drawer until the end of time because I’m not sharing it with anybody else. I plan to begin recording the new album once we arrive safely home from this impending tour. While I’m on the road, my new producer, Stuart Holverson, will be doing the preliminary mixing for a side project of mine to be released within the next couple of months. It’s called “The Jane Brooks Project,” and all I can say is that it’s very, very divergent from anything else you’ve heard me do. I truly hope you like it. After that, I’m planning to record some more classical violin, namely, the complete unaccompanied Bach Sonatas & Partitas, and the Teleman unaccompanied as well. I figure you can never get too much of plain, unbuttered violin in your ear.

#2004 #lime mascara #interviews #enchant era #courtney love

[hogmilked]

orchid, mahonia, chia, edelweiss, papyrus? :0

HI BESTIEEEE sorry this took all day i was at work and then tumblr didn’t save any of my very long reply that i’d already made

orchid -> what's a song you consider to be perfect?

oh fuck this is tough there’s a ton. i would say right now this live version of miami 2017 by billy joel, the original studio version is pretty perfect but the power behind these live vocals is just unmatched

i would also give bonus points to 4 Leaf Clover by Ravyn Lanae, Kalopsia by Queens of the Stone Age, My Sister by Angel Olsen, and My Baby’s Taking Me Home by Sparks. bonus mention to Face to Face by Daft Punk which i don’t think is a perfect song but is one of the coolest pieces of music i’ve ever heard. there’s some great videos breaking down the samples that song uses, a couple of which haven’t even been found yet

mahonia -> what place, thing, activity inspires you most and how do you express yourself when it does?

honestly i don’t know. seeing live music helps me wanna make music but honestly i feel the most motivated to make things when they come out of just raw high emotion. like right now i’m dealing with a traumatic situation and i’m not doing super well but i also really wanna get all that shit just like out so im more motivated than ever to make something out of it. it’s a bit bleak but true, a lot of the stuff i’ve been proudest of has come out of the urge to vent outweighing the fear of not making “good” art. not to say i shouldn’t get help or i’ll lose my ability to make things i’m proud of, but i’m the most inspired when i have overwhelming emotions i feel the need to turn into something productive

chia -> what's an inside joke you have with someone else?

DRACULA CHRISTMAS DRACULA CHRISTMAS DRACULA CHRISTMAS

edelweiss -> how'd you think of your url/ username? what's it associated with to you?

someone asked me about this in a reply this morning lol, it was a dumb joke at work. we were talking about different livestock milks outside of goats and cows and thought the phrase “hog milk” was so fucking funny but that was taken so it became hogmilked which is infinitely more harrowing

papyrus -> if you put your 'on repeat' playlist on shuffle, what's the first song that comes up? what do you like about it / associate it with?

i can’t find an on repeat playlist on tidal which is what i use, but i have been coping with the aforementioned traumatic experience with two specific albums so i’ll recommend a song off that

i talk a ton about suede these days but their debut album (along with …Like Clockwork by Queens of the Stone Age) has been my comfort albums the last couple days and a good portion of what i’ve been listening to. i love the whole album but this is my favorite song off it by far. i’ve said it many times before but everyone, especially those who like 90s alt and britpop, should listen to suede’s self titled debut. perfect album imo

[ask game]

#mothman answers #one day i’ll learn to be less verbose

[clumsyclifford]

Legally I am asleep but can you make me a plyalist pretty por favor. Oh my god can it be called legally I am asleep yoooooooo

not overthinking just throwing songs on a playlist rearranging it so there are no insane vibe checks and giving it to you on a silver pillow platter. go to sleep i love you

#why yes i AM worried youll hate some of these songs #damn talk about a vibe check #the way it goes from boys of fall to billy joel that was really bold of me #i stand by it but i acknowledge its a bold choice #OH my GOD it is FUKCING TWO FIFTEEN #bro legally i am ALSO asleep the FUCK #GOODNIGHT?@?!?! #ask #anonymous #adri #cringeycal #playlist game #i thought about putting firebird alt version on here #but the og is more upbeat so i think the vibe sorta worked more? #but for the record i LOVE firebird alt version #you should listen to it #do you like when songs use little clips of recording of just everyday life and people they know in conversation in their songs?? #cos if so. firebird alt version #all the alt versions on that album use those and i LOVE IT it's so good i love when songs do that

[mikuplushes]

introducing: my ongoing "vocaloid for alt kids" playlist!

(i use "alt" somewhat broadly, there's everything from metal to pop rock on here, also not 100% vocaloid but it's all japanese. i will add more songs as i find them!)

some individual recommendations depending on what you're into:

utsu-p is a metal producer (who i still only know a few songs by), he also has a metal band. favorite songs are currently ogre and not photogenic

okame-p feels INCREDIBLY nostalgic to mid-2000s emo/goth evanescence-y vibe. my favorites are regret message and ねぇ・・・

maretu doesn't actually use guitars all that much but the music is pretty dark and feels quite metal-inspired (ESPECIALLY when it comes to drums) so i included a few songs. currently my favorites are uminaoshi and white happy (which deserves a read of the lyrics translation while you listen) (chogakusei has a great cover of uminaoshi that makes me go so feral that i felt the need to mention it here but don't let me start talking about him lol also miy_yuu has a cover of siu that makes me wanna scream idk how one guy can do all of that with his voice)

syudou is my personal favorite, a lot of his lyrics are really vicious and he generally reminds me of set it off my favorite songs are currently baka, the religion of loneliness, and bakushou (which he sang himself but there's also a vocaloid version on niconico) he also produced a song for the singer ado that went viral that i included in the playlist. the title "usseewa" has been translated as "shut the fuck up"

and i've just discovered hikarisyuyo very recently but all of his songs i've heard are pretty cool, i think my pop punk friends would enjoy. my favorites are 孤独の果て and 掌返し

kairiki bear does NOT have enough music on spotify yet, but apparently has an album coming to streaming services soon so i'll add that when it's available! for now listen to venom (the version featuring kankan is apparently much more popular) and angel i love those

this playlist will grow as i discover more things i like so if anyone has any suggestions feel free to leave those here too!

#Spotify #i would have added deco*27 and neru to my recommendation list since they're so popular #but i haven't listened to enough of them yet to feel like i could talk about them #oops #i really tried not to infodump too much about syudou and maretu can u tell they're my favorites lol #i'm also trying to figure out how to categorize cosMo.... most chaotic artist i listen to for sure alskdfaf #also i feel like someones gonna say something about uminaoshi being there so im gonna try to explain how i see it #bc i too was very skeptical about using a uterus as the art for the song #but considering (from what limited knowledge i have) it seems like trans ppl aren't really talked about in japan #combine that with the actual lyrics being about how society kinda makes women feel like ''born to fail'' (thats the vibe im getting) #like the message itself doesn't actually address trans women #the struggles trans women go through in a misogynistic society are different than that of cis women #and this song seems to specifically address cis women #i also don't think it's fair to try to apply western gender politics to a completely different culture #obviously something like that wouldn't excuse transmisogyny #but in some cases other cultures have completely different concepts of gender than we do #and i can't pretend like i'm educated about that #anyways there are SEVERAL maretu songs about how society is fucked up and leaves certain groups of people in the dirt #depending on what they're born into #and i like the straight up evil sounding rage in uminaoshi in response to misogyny aksfjalf #also i included almost the entire doctrine doctrine album bc :) miyyuus voice <3<3 #vocaloid

[nutterwithasolderingiron]

so. let’s talk about tramp stamps seriously.

this has been a topic on my mind since my friend first sent me one of their tiktok videos saying “lol, look at this cringe” and indeed, it was cringe. next i started seeing more and more videos about how bad they were and how much astroturfing they were doing on social media to get attention. when this level of astroturfing goes on, it’s most people’s first response to look into things deeper. and there we found problematic tweets, cringe lyrics, cousin loving cousin, dr. luke and much much more. during this time, i seen a few people saying “oh, you only hate these guys because your a sexist fuckhead” even when women and queer folk were criticizing them.  then they came to tumblr..... and left tumblr 5 hours later. then the stans started doing what they do best. seeing how some of the stans have responded to the release of the new record, this is going to be me “mansplaining” or whatever. this is me explaining what i see the 2 major problems people have with tramp stamps.  the woke aspect the most common complaint i seen with the tramp stamps was their politics and almost co-opting left wing talking points without any understanding or nuance on the situation at best. this is why people dislike the whole “girlboss” thing. not because they are sexist, but because it’s often invoked in “fuck everyone, i can do this because i’m a badass bitch” which is really just the middle class millenial version of a karen. at worst, some of their lyrics are problematic. need i bring up the lyric about her drunk boyfriend not getting it up? if you don’t know what’s problematic about that, think of her intent in the situation, now picture the genders reversed? yeah. 

the “authenticity” aspect. 

this is the one i feel more inclined to talk about. i’ve been a part of the punk/post-hardcore/emo scene since i was in my teens. i’ve played in a lot of local bands, ran shows, social media accounts, street teams, repaired guitars, pulled sound for 15+ years. now, in these scenes, there can be some gatekeeping BUT usually that attitude gets called out. i’ve had afab bandmates get heckled like crazy and in those situations, we’d pull a kathleen hanna and escort the fuckers out the venue. so what i say when i bring up this next part is not “gatekeeping” it’s just how the scene works and has always worked. 

these scenes foster a community based on authenticity and the attitude of having to grind to get results. most the all time great bands in the rock/punk/metal/hardcore/emo/post-hardcore had to grind but also come across as authentic, you gotta network, you gotta send out hundreds of demo’s. spend thousands on recording, touring, merch, promotion. you know what a 20 year old ford transit with 6 people in the back, all of which have not showered in 2 weeks? i do. most bands know it’s all about luck and connections and grinding, but they still do it. 99% of your favorite rock bands had to do it.  my chemical romance? yup, i remember them on their first uk tour.  green day? part of the gillman punk scene. fallout boy? pete wentz was in the vegan straight edge scene. 

what people are objecting to is the tramp stamps using their connections before they’ve even really played a gig or tried immersing themselves in the scene and tried making connections. the felt fake from the very beginning. “oh but marissa did grind at her publishing job” maybe, i dunno what her job really was. but the point is, it felt very fake, it felt like there was astroturfing. it didn’t feel like 3 girls who wanted to make this music they wanted, it felt like marketing folk at her publishing job said “hmmmmm, the whole e-girl/tiktok/pop-punk revival is going well, how do we jump on this band wagon?” and people seen it for what it was. 

so, tramp stanz or whatever your fanbase is called. before you call me a sexist asshole, i’m going to give you some homework. i’m going to list a few great bands with a strong female creative voice (even if they’re not the singer), my tastes tend to lean a bit weirder so i’m sorry in advance. listen to these, not all of them are all female bands since i often feel separating female/afab musicians from male/amab doesn’t create a good scene.  patti smith (often considered to be the godmother of punk) bikini kill (remember when tramp stamps would hashtag riotgrrl everything? bikini kill were the band that coined the term)  bratmobile (same vein as bikini kill)  jack off jill/scarling (if there’s such a thing as a musician i’d simp for, it would be jessicka addams)  babes in toyland (some super noisy girl grunge) l7 (heavy alt-rock/grunge with some super catchy hooks)  slant 6 (what kind of monster are you is a fucking freight train of a song) hole (as much as we make fun of courtney love’s shit stirring, she could write some of the best choruses ever)  unwound (my favorite band and their drummer sara is the fucking heart of the band)  rolo tomassi (eva spence’s voice will blow your socks clean off) distillers (brody dalle is a fucking queen and you can’t convince me otherwise) against me (transgender dysphoria blues is an album that makes me tear up everytime i hear it but in a good way)

#tramp stamps

[patternsintraffic]

My 100 Favorite Albums of the 2000s: #70-#61

I'm back with more albums that I love. Listing is fun! Who knew?

70. Rooney - Rooney (2003)

In the days of mp3.com, Rooney was one of the bands that I would stream during my Software Apps class in high school. I probably heard "Blueside" and "I'm Shakin'" a hundred times at barely-audible volume before this album came out. The sunny, bouncy melodies, synths, chord changes, and throwback lyrics are reminiscent of the Beach Boys or The Cars. I just love the carefree feel and youthful energy of this album, and the tunes are great. This is a quintessential California album from a verified California band.

69. Rock Kills Kid - Are You Nervous? (2006)

The only full-length album from Rock Kills Kid was just a few years before its time, which is a damn shame. When bands like Two Door Cinema Club came around in 2010 and captivated the indie rock world, few knew that Rock Kills Kid had been pumping out danceable alt-rock four years prior. "Paralyzed" and "Run Like Hell" should have been the songs of the summer. "Life's a Bitch" should have been a staple of high school mixtapes everywhere. Instead, this was a band that just didn't fit in with the musical climate of 2006 and regrettably fell off the map. At least we'll always have Are You Nervous?

68. Feeder - Pushing the Senses (2005)

Feeder have been a UK rock institution for 27 years now, releasing ten full-length albums over that span, though they’ve never made much of a splash in the States. My favorite Feeder album, Pushing the Senses, strays from the band’s signature guitar-driven power pop for a mid-career foray into the Britpop style popularized by Coldplay and Keane. The band received criticism for chasing the sound of the times, but their take on it felt genuine and sounded amazing. “Tumble and Fall” and “Tender” could stand toe-to-toe with any of the soft-rock output from those aforementioned bands. Feeder even let the guitars loose on “Feeling a Moment” and “Pushing the Senses,” two of the most undeniable singles I’ve ever heard paired on the same album. Coldplay and Keane have never reached such energetic heights.

67. Lifehouse - No Name Face (2000)

Lifehouse have become somewhat of a punchline over the years, as they’ve continued to release pretty standard and inoffensive alternative-rock fare, usually with one or two big singles coming from each album. It seems like most people enjoy a few Lifehouse songs, but no one is really a Lifehouse enthusiast. I think that the band’s best material comes from their 2000 debut No Name Face, and though their output since hasn’t made me into a true Lifehouse fan, I will always go to bat for this album. “Hanging by a Moment,” “Sick Cycle Carousel,” and “Breathing” are the songs most would be familiar with from early-2000s radio, and they are all excellent. There’s nothing particularly fancy about the rest of the album, as the songs don’t need any embellishments to shine. They are organic, earnest, and beautiful, and though I’m sure there’s some nostalgia involved I never regret revisiting them. Lifehouse might be kind of a stale name in music in 2021, but No Name Face shouldn’t be forgotten.

66. Acceptance - Phantoms (2005)

Until reuniting for Colliding by Design in 2017, Phantoms was the only full-length Acceptance album. It's not hard to see why this band continued to grow a cult following during their inactive years, as people tend to want more after an album as good as this one. It had the lyrics for the emo kids, the guitars for the rock kids, and the hooks for the pop kids. It's actually pretty surprising that Acceptance didn't make a mainstream splash in 2005, especially since this album was released on Columbia Records. A lot of that may have been due to the exceptionally poor choice to release "Different" as the first single. It's a great song, don't get me wrong, but there are so many upbeat tunes on this record that would have done a better job catching ears and piquing interest in the band. At least we finally got the follow-up album 12 years later, and the band have remained active since. Sometimes everything turns out OK in the long run.

65. Cursive - The Ugly Organ (2003)

I’m not sure what drew me to The Ugly Organ in 2003, at 15 years old. Listening to it now, it’s brash and angular, and not particularly accessible. I was just starting to stray from the music on rock radio at the time, and I came across “Some Red-Handed Sleight of Hand” and “Art Is Hard” online. I think there was something about the urgency in Tim Kasher’s voice, and the acidic way that he spit out the pointed and sarcastic lyrical content, that left me wanting more. It may be the cover art or the cello that permeates these songs, but something always felt a little creepy about them, like the band were performing in a haunted house. There aren’t many vocalists like Kasher, who seems to meld multiple levels of meaning into each line while drifting effortlessly from gentle singing to yelling to spoken word. This is a good one to dust off around Halloween. What a treat.

64. Long-View - Mercury (2003)

Long-View was a short-lived UK soft sock outfit that released one full-length album, Mercury. Nothing terribly surprising here - it sounds like an early-2000s UK soft rock album in the age of Coldplay and their contemporaries. The music is simple and often quiet, the vocals are smooth, and the tempos are mid. But despite it feeling like one of many on the surface, Mercury is charming and engaging. "Further," "Can't Explain," and "When You Sleep" have great hooks. The lyrics sound personal and conversational, and despite being cliche at times they feel poetic against the backdrop of Long-View's delicate instrumentals. An exemplary take on an oversaturated genre.

63. Augustana - Can't Love, Can't Hurt (2008)

After "Boston" put Augustana on the map in 2005, they traded in their indie rock sound for a set of rootsy, earthy anthems on their sophomore effort Can't Love, Can't Hurt. While the songs still sound like Augustana, there is a more classic, timeless quality to this album that has kept it fresh 13 years after its release. The slow build of "Twenty Years," with its swelling strings and piano leading the charge, was the kind of song I didn't know the band was capable of writing before this album. And "Sweet and Low" has one of the most sublime hooks I've ever heard.

62. Barcelona - Absolutes (2008)

This Seattle indie rock outfit is anchored by pianist and singer Brian Fennell (now of SYML fame). I had never heard of Barcelona prior to this album, and it took me by surprise. Fennell's vocals are captivating, winding through catchy pop melodies while deftly maneuvering from delicate to powerful. They pair with the band's guitar- and piano-driven arrangements to cement Absolutes among the best in the genre. There is a 2007 independent version of this album which is preferred by many who heard it before it was remastered and rereleased with an expanded tracklist in 2008. While I understand being attached to the version of the album you first fell in love with, I just can't agree with the opinion that the album is better without the standout tracks "Come Back When You Can," "Colors," and "The Takers."

61. Kill Hannah - Until There's Nothing Left of Us (2006)

Kill Hannah played anthemic goth-pop that belied their violent-sounding name. Until There's Nothing Left of Us is a triumphant, stadium-ready pop rock record that had the synths, grooves, and hooks to take the radio by storm in the early 2000s. If this album came out two years earlier, Kill Hannah might have been a household name. How did "Lips Like Morphine" not enrapture a generation of high schoolers? This is one of the many albums on this list that had absolutely all of the ingredients, but it somehow didn't add up to musical stardom.

#albums of the decade #best of the 2000s #top100 #countdown #nostalgia trip

[sinceileftyoublog]

Riot Fest 2021: 9/16-9/19, Douglass Park

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Much like Pitchfork Music Festival earlier this month, this past weekend’s Riot Fest felt relatively normal. Arriving at Douglas Park every day, you were greeted by the usual deluge of attendees in Misfits t-shirts and dyed hair, the sound of faint screams and breakneck guitars and drums emanating from nearby stages. The abnormal aspects of the fest, at least as compared to previous incarnations, we’re already used to by now from 2021 shows: To get in, you had to show proof of vaccination and/or a negative test no older than 48 hours, which means that unvaxxed 4-day attendees had to get multiple tests. Props to the always awesome staff at Riot Fest for actually checking the cards against the names on government-issued IDs.

For a festival that dealt with a plethora of last-minute changes due to bands dropping out because of COVID-19 caution (Nine Inch Nails, Pixies, Dinosaur Jr.) or other reasons (Faith No More/Mr. Bungle because of concerns around Mike Patton’s well-being), there were very few bumps in the road. Whether Riot Fest had bands like Slipknot, Anthrax, or Rise Against in their back pocket as replacements or not, it very much felt like who we saw Thursday-Sunday was always supposed to be the lineup, even when laying your eyes on countless “Death to the Pixies” shirts. Sure, one of the fest’s main gimmicks--peeling back the label on Goose Island’s Riot Fest Sucks Pale Ale to reveal the schedule--was out of date with inaccurate set times and bands, and it still would have been so had Faith No More and Mr. Bungle stayed, since Fucked Up had to drop out last minute due to border issues. But the festival, as always, rolled with the punches.

The sets themselves offered the circle pit and crowdsurfing-inducing punk and metal you’re used to, with a few genre outliers. For so many bands of all styles, Riot Fest represented their first live show in years, and a few acts knew the exact number of days since their last show. For every single set, the catharsis in the crowd and on stage was palpable, not exactly anger, or elation, but pure release.

Here were our favorite sets of the festival, in chronological order.

WDRL

Last October, WDRL (which, amazingly, stands for We Don’t Ride Llamas) announced themselves with a Tweet: “y’all been looking for an alt black band,, well here you go”. A band of Gen Z siblings, Chase (lead guitar), Max (lead vocals), Blake (drums), and Kit Mitchell (bass guitar), WDRL is aware, much like Meet Me @ The Altar (who, despite my hyping, I couldn’t make it in time to see) that they’re one of too few bands of POCs in the Riot Fest-adjacent scene. Their set, one of the very first of the weekend during Thursday’s pre-party, showed them leading by example, the type of band to inspire potentially discouraged Black and brown folks to start punk bands. Max is a terrific vocalist, able to scream over post-punk, scat over funk, and coo over slow, soulful R&B swayers with the same ease. The rest of the band was equally versatile, able to pivot on a dime from scuzzy rock to hip hop to twinkling dream pop. Bonus points for covering Splendora’s “You’re Standing On My Neck”, aka the Daria theme song.

Joyce Manor

Joyce Manor’s self-titled debut is classic. The best part of it as an album play-through at a festival? It’s so short that you can hear it and you’ll still have half a set for other favorites. So while the bouncy “Orange Julius”", “Ashtray Petting Zoo”, and ultimate singalong “Constant Headache” were set highlights, the Torrance, CA band was able to burn through lots from Never Hungover Again, Cody, Million Dollars to Kill Me, and their rarities collection Songs From Northern Torrance. Apart from not playing anything from Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired (seriously, am I the only one who loves that record?), Joyce Manor were stellar, from the undeniable hooks of “Heart Tattoo” to the churning power chords of “Catalina Fight Song”. After playing “Christmas Card”, Johnson and company gave one final nod to the original fest cancellation, My Chemical Romance, who were slated to headline 2020, then 2021, and now 2022. If you ever wondered what it would sound like hearing a concise punk band like Joyce Manor take on the bombast of “Helena”, you found out. Hey, it was actually pretty good!

Patti Smith

Behold: a full Patti Smith set! After being shafted by the weather last time around, a sunglasses-laden Smith decided not to fuck around, leading with the inspiring “People Have The Power”, her voice as powerful as I’ve ever heard it. Maybe it was the influence of Riot Fest, but she dropped as many f-bombs as Corey Taylor did during Slipknot’s Sunday night headlining set. After reluctantly signing an adoring crowd member’s copy of Horses, she quipped, “I feel bad for you have to cart that fucking thing around.” It wasn’t just the filthy banter: This was Smith at her most enraptured and incendiary, belting during “Because The Night” and spitting during a “Land/Gloria” medley, reciting stream-of-consciousness hallucinogenic lyrics about the power of escape in the greatest display of stamina the festival had to offer.

Circa Survive

“It feels good to dance,” declared Circa Survive lead singer Anthony Green. The heart and soul of the Philadelphia rock band, who cover ground from prog rock to post-hardcore and emo, Green was in full form during the band’s early Friday set, his falsetto carrying the rolling “The Difference Between Medicine and Poising Is in the Dose” and the chugging “Rites of Investiture”. While the band, too, can throw down, they’re equally interesting when softer and more melodic, Brendan Ekstrom‘s twinkling guitars lifting “Child of the Desert” and “Suitcase”. Ending with the one-two punch of debut Juturna’s introspective “Act Appalled” and Blue Sky Noise’s skyward “Get Out”, Green announced the band would have a new record coming soon, one you hope will cover the sonic and thematic ground of even just those two tracks.

Thrice

Thrice played their first show since February 2020 the same day they’d release their 11th studio album, Horizons/East (Epitaph). To a crowd of fans that came to hear their favorite songs, though, the Irvine, California band knew better than to play a lot of the new record, instead favoring tracks like The Artist in the Ambulance’s spritely title cut and Vheissu standout “The Earth Will Shake”. Yeah, they led with a Horizons/East song making its live debut, the dreamy, almost Deftones-esque “Scavengers”, and later in the set they’d reveal the impassioned “Summer Set Fire to the Rain”. But the set more prominently served to emphasize lead vocalist Dustin Kensrue’s gruff delivery, on “All the World Is Mad” and “in Exile”, the rhythm section’s propulsive playing buoying his fervency. And how about Teppei Teranishi’s finger tapping on “Black Honey”?!? Thrice often favor the slow build-up, but they offered plenty of individually awesome moments.

Smashing Pumpkins

William Patrick Corgan entered the stage to dramatic strings, dressed in a robe, with white face paint except for red hearts under his eyes. He looked like a ghost. That’s pretty much where the semi-serious theatricality ended. The Smashing Pumpkins’ first Chicago festival headlining set in recent memory was the rawest they’ve sounded in a while, counting when they played an original lineup-only set at the United Center a few years back. It was also the most fun I’ve ever seen Corgan have on stage. Though they certainly selected and debuted from their latest electropop turn Cyr, Corgan, guitarist James Iha, drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, guitarist Jeff Schroeder, and company more notably dug deep into the vault, playing Gish’s “Crush” for the first time since 2008, Adore’s “Shame” for the first time since 2010, and Siamese Dream barnburner “Quiet” for the first time since 1994 (!). Best, every leftfield disco jam like set opener “The Colour Of Love”, “Cyr”, and “Ramona” was quickly followed by something heavy and/or recognizable, Chamberlin’s limber drum solos elevating even latter-day material like “Solara”. At one point, Corgan, a self-described “arty fuck,” admitted that years ago he would have opted for more experimental material, but he knew the crowd wanted to hear classics, the band then delving into a gorgeous acoustic version of “Tonight, Tonight”. And while Kate Bush coverer Meg Myers came out to sing Lost Highway soundtrack industrial ditty “Eye”, it was none other than legendary local shredder Michael Angelo Batio who stole the show, joining for the set closer, a pummeling version of Zeitgeist highlight “United States”. Leaning into the cheese looks good on you, Billy.

The Bronx

Credit to L.A. punk rock band The Bronx, playing early on a decidedly cooler Saturday early afternoon, for making me put in my earplugs outside of the photo pit. Dedicating “Shitty Future” to Fucked Up (who, as we mentioned, had to drop out), the entire band channeled Damian Abraham’s energy on piercing versions of “Heart Attack American” as well as “Superbloom” and “Curb Feelers” from their latest album Bronx VI (Cooking Vinyl). Joby J. Ford and Ken Horne’s guitars stood out, providing choppy rhythms on “Knifeman” and swirling solos on “Six Days A Week”.

Big Freedia

The New Orleans bounce artist has Big Diva Energy, for the most part. After her DJ pumped up the crowd to contemporary Southern rap staple “Ayy Ladies” by Travis Porter, Big Freedia walked out and showed that “BDE”, firing through singles like “Platinum” and “N.O. Bounce” as her on-stage dancers’ moves ranged from delicate to earth-shaking. At this point, Freedia can pretty much do whatever she wants, effortlessly segueing between a cover of Drake’s “Nice For What” to “Strut”, her single with electropop DJ Elohim, to a cover of Beyone’s “Formation”. Of course, the set highlight was when she had volunteers from the crowd come up and shake and twerk--two at a time to keep it COVID-safe--all while egging them on to go harder. Towards the end of the set, after performing the milquetoast “Goin’ Looney” from the even-worse-than-expected Space Jam: A New Legacy soundtrack, she pulled out the beloved “Gin in my System”. “I got that gin in my system,” she sang, the crowd singing back, “Somebody gonna be my victim,” a refrain that compositionally not only leaves plenty of room for the thundering bass but is thematically a statement of total power--over sexism, racism, the patriarchy--even in the face of control-altering substances.

Les Savy Fav

During Les Savy Fav’s set, lead singer Tim Harrington at various points--*big breath*--went into the crowd, deepthroated an audience member’s mohawk spike, found a discarded manikin head with a wig on it, revealed the words “deep” and “dish” painted on his thighs and a drawing of a Red Hot on his back, rode a crowd member like a horse, made a headband out of pink tape, donned ski goggles, surfed on top of a door carried by the crowd, squeezed his belly while the camera was on it to make it look like his belly button was singing, and referred to himself as a “slippery eel.” Indeed, the legend of Les Savy Fav’s live show starts and ends with Harrington’s ridiculous antics, as he’s all but out of breath when actually singing dance-punk classics like “Hold On To Your Genre”, “The Sweat Descends”, and “Rome (Written Upside Down)”. We haven’t heard much in terms of new music from Les Savy Fav in over 10 years--their most recent album was 2010′s Root For Ruin--but I could see them and the extremely Aughts genre in general become staples of Riot Fest as albums like Inches, The Rapture’s Echoes, and !!!’s Louden Up Now reach the 20-year mark. Dynamic vocalists, tight bands, and killer grooves: What’s not to love?

State Champs

This set likely wins the award for “most immediate crowd surfers,” which I guess is to be expected when you begin your set with a classic track 1--album 1 combination. “Elevated” is the State Champs number that will cause passers-by to stop and watch a couple songs, the type of song that can pretty much only open or close a set. And because they opened with it, the crowd immediately ramped up the energy. It’s been three years since the last State Champs full-length, Living Proof, so they were in prime position to play some new songs. As such, they performed their bubblegummy “Outta My Head” and “Just Sound” and faithfully covered Fall Out Boy’s “Chicago Is So Two Years Ago” (releasing a studio version earlier this week). But the tracks from The Finer Things and Around the World and Back were, as usual, the highlights, like “All You Are Is History”, “Remedy”, “Slow Burn”, and set closer “Secrets”. At the end of the day, it didn’t entirely matter: The crowd knew every word of every song.

Bayside

Putting State Champs and Bayside back-to-back on the same stage made an easy decision for the many pop-punk bands at Riot Fest. Bayside’s been at it for twice as long, so the breadth of their setlist across their discography is more variable. Moreover, they’ve thrice revisited their discography with acoustic albums of old songs, so even their staples are subject to change. They provided solid versions of Killing Time standouts “Already Gone” and “Sick, Sick, Sick”, Cult’s “Pigsty”, and older songs like their self-titled’s “Montauk” and Sirens and Condolences’ “Masterpiece”. For “Don’t Call Me Peanut”, though, they brought out--*gasp*--an acoustic guitar! It was a rare moment not just for one of the most popular pop punk sets but the festival in general, a breather before Vacancy shout-along “Mary”.

Rancid

“Rancid has always been anti-fascist and anti-racist,” said Tim Armstrong before the band played “Hooligans”. It was nice to hear an explicit declaration of solidarity from the street punks, reminding the crowd what really matters and why we come together to scream and mosh. The band expectedly favored ...And Out Come The Wolves, playing almost half of it, and they perfectly balanced their harder edges with more celebratory ska songs like “Where I’m Going” from their most recent album Trouble Maker (Hellcat/Epitaph). My two favorite moments? The breezy, keyboard-laden “Fall Back Down” from their supremely underrated 2001 album Indestructable, and when they asked the crowd whether they wanted the set to end with “Time Bomb” or “Ruby Soho”. “We have 4 minutes left, and it’s disrespectful to play over your set time,” said Armstrong. It’s easy to see why Rancid continues to make an impression--instrumental and moral--on touring bands new and old.

Run the Jewels

The brilliant hip hop duo are masters of balancing social consciousness with the desire to fuck shit up for fun. Live, the former tends to come in between-song banter, the latter with their actual charismatic, tit-for-tat performances of the songs. However, Run the Jewels also are probably the clearest live performers in hip hop today, Killer Mike and El-P’s words, hypersexual and woke alike, ringing in the ears of audience members who don’t even know the songs. (Looking around, I could see people smiling and laughing at every dick joke, nodding at each righteous proclamation.) Some of the best songs on their most recent album RTJ4 (Jewel Runners/BMG) are perfect for these multitudes. Hearing both RTJ MCs and the backing track of Pharrell Williams and Zack de la Rocha chanting “Look at all these slave masters posin’ on yo’ dollar” on “JU$T” as the rowdy crowd bounced up and down was the ultimate festival moment. For those who had never seen RTJ, it was clear from the get-go, as Killer Mike and EL-P traded bars on “yankee and the brave (ep. 4)” that they’re a unique hip hop act. For the rest of us, it was clear that Run the Jewels keep getting better.

The Gories

It felt a little weird that legendary Detroit trio The Gories were given the first set of the final day--I’d have thought they’d have more draw than that. No matter what, they provided one of the more satisfying and stylistically varied sets of the festival, showcasing their trademark balance of garage punk and blues. Mick Collins and Dan Kroha’s guitar and vocal harmonies were the perfect jangly balance to Peggy O’Neill’s meat and potatoes drumming on “Sister Ann” and “Charm Bag”, while folks less familiar with The Gories were treated to their fantastic covers of Suicide’s “Ghost Rider” and The Keggs’ “To Find Out”. Smells like time for the first Gories album in 20 years!

FACS

I thought it would be ill-fitting to watch a band like FACS in the hot sun, early in the day. Their monochrome brand of post-punk seems better suited for a dimly lit club. But the hypnotic nature of Brian Case’s swirling guitar and Alianna Kalaba’s slinky bass was oddly perfect in a sweltering, faint-inducing heat. Just when you thought you might fade, squalls of feedback and Noah Leger’s odd time signatures picked you back up. Songs from their new album Present Tense (Trouble In Mind) such as “Strawberry Cough” and “XOUT” were emblematic of this push-pull. And everything from the band’s red, white, and black color palate to their lack of stage banter suggested a cool minimalism that was rare at a festival that tends to book more outwardly emotional bands.

Alex G

On one hand, Alex G’s unique combination of twangy alt country and earnest indie rock makes him an outlier at Riot Fest, or at the very least a mostly Pitchfork/occasional Riot Fest type of booking. On the other hand, like a lot of bands at the festival, he has a rabid fanbase, one that knows his back catalog hits, like “Kute”, “Kicker”, and “Bug”, as much as if not more than hyped Rocket and House of Sugar singles, like “Bobby” and “Gretel”. Backed by a band that knows when to be loose and when to tighten up--and the instrumental chops to do so--Alex G was better than he was a Pitchfork three years ago. He still sings through his teeth, making it especially hard to hear him on louder tunes such as “Brick”. But when the honesty of his vocals combines with the dreamy guitars of “Southern Sky” and circular melodies of “Near”, it’s pure bliss. 

HEALTH

The formula for the LA industrial noise band has pretty much always been Jake Duzsik’s soft vocals contrasting John Famiglietti’s screeching bass and pedals and BJ Miller’s mammoth drums. Both in 2018 and Sunday at Riot Fest, the heat affected Famiglietti’s pedals, which were nonetheless obscured by tarp. Or so HEALTH claimed: You wouldn’t know the difference given how much their sound envelops your whole body during one of their live sets. Since their previous appearance at the festival, the prolific band has released two new records on Loma Vista, Vol. 4: Slaves of Fear and collaboration record Disco4: Part 1. Songs from those records occupied half of their excellent set, including battering opener “GOD BOTHERER”, “BODY/PRISON”, and “THE MESSAGE”. It was so wonderfully loud it drowned out K.Flay’s sound check drummer, thank the lord.

Thursday

Last time Thursday played Riot Fest, Geoff Rickly was battling heroin addiction, something he talked about during the band’s triumphant late afternoon set on Sunday. He mentioned the kindness of the late, great Riley Gale of Power Trip in extending a helping hand when he was down and extended his love to anybody in the crowd or even the world at large going through something similar. To say that this set was life-affirming would be an understatement; after 636 days of no shows, Rickly was at his most passionate. He introduced “Signals Over The Air” as a song the band “wrote about men beating up on women in the pit,” that a record exec at the time told them that it wouldn’t age well because he thought--no kidding--sexism would eventually end. Rickly’s voice, suffering from sound issues last time around, simply soared during Full Collapse’s “Cross Out The Eyes”, No Devolucion’s “Fast to the End”, and two inspired covers: Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark” and Texas Is The Reason’s “If It's Here When We Get Back It's Ours”. The latter the band played because TITR guitarist Norman Brannon’s actually on tour with them, though Rickly emphasized the influence the NYC post-hardcore greats had on Thursday when they first started. Never forgetting where they’ve come from, with self-deprecating humor and radical empathy, Thursday are once again a force.

Devo

Much like the B-52′s in 2019, Devo was the set this year of a 70′s/80′s absurd punk band with some radio hits that everybody knows but with a swath of die-hard fans, too. It’s safe to say both groups were satisfied. You walked around the fest all day wondering whether the folks wearing Devo hats were actual fans or doing it for the novelty. By the time the band actually took the stage after a career-spanning video of their many phases, it didn’t really matter, because it was clear the band still had it, Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale’s vocals booming throughout a massive crowd. They ripped through “Peek-a-Boo”, “Going Under”, “That’s Good”, “Girl U Want”, and “Whip It”, which caused the fans waiting for Slipknot (and presumably some Devo heads) to form a circle pit. And that was all before the first costume change. Mark passed out hats to the crowd, fully embracing converts who might have only known “Whip It”. The feverish chants of “Uncontrollable Urge” and synth freakouts of “Jocko Homo” whipped everyone into a frenzy. And the band performed the “Freedom Of Choice” theme song for the first time since the early 80′s! I had seen Devo before, opening for Arcade Fire and Dan Deacon at the United Center, but the atmosphere at Riot Fest was more appropriately ludicrous.

Flaming Lips

“The Flaming Lips are the most COVID-safe band in the world,” went the ongoing joke, as throughout the pandemic they’d give audience members bubbles for their bubbles to be able to play shows. The normally goofy and interactive band scaled back for Riot Fest. Before launching into their traditional opener “Race For The Prize”, Wayne Coyne explained that while the band is normally proud of where they come from--Oklahoma City--they’re saddened by the local government’s ignorant pandemic response and wouldn’t risk launching balloons or walking into the crowd because they might be virus spreaders coming from such an under-vaccinated area. To his and the band’s credit, they wore masks during the performance, even when singing; Coyne removed his only when outside of his bubble that had to be deflated and inflated many times and that sometimes muffled his singing voice even more than a mask. Ever the innovative band, they still put on a stellar show. Coyne autotuned his voice on “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1″, making it another instrument filling the song’s glorious pop melodies. Less heavy on props, the band favored a glitchy, psychedelic setlist that alternated between beauty (”Flowers Of Neptune 6″, “Feeling Yourself Disintegrate”, “All We Have Is Now”) and two-drummed cacophony (“Silver Trembling Hands”, “The W.A.N.D.”). They’ll give a proper Lips show soon enough, but in the meantime, it was nice to see them not run through the motions.

Slipknot

Apart from maybe moments of Slayer, I’ve never witnessed a headliner at Riot Fest as heavy as Slipknot was. Even the minor ethereal elements present on their most recent and very good album We Are Not Your Kind, like the chorus of voices during “Unsainted”, were all but abandoned live in favor of straight up brutality. Sure, there were moments of theatricality--Corey Taylor’s menacing laugh on “Disasterpiece” and pyrotechnics in sequence with the instrumentation on “Before I Forget” and “All Out Life”--but for the most part, Slipknot was the ultimate exorcism. Taylor’s new mask, with unnaturally circular eyes, seemed like it came from a particularly uncomfortable skit from I Think You Should Leave. They bashed a baseball bat to a barrel during the pre-encore performance of “Duality”. And the songs played from tape, like the gasping-for-breath “(515)”, were designed to contrast Slipknot’s alien appearance with qualities that were uncannily human. For a band whose performances and instrumental dexterity are otherworldly--who else can pull off tempo changes over a hissing, Aphex Twin-like shuffling electronic beat on “Eyeless”--the pure seething emotion on songs like “Psychosocial” and “Wait and Bleed” shone through. Like Smashing Pumpkins, and like so many other successful Riot Fest headliners, Slipknot abandoned drama for pure, unadulterated dirt.

#live music #riot fest #wdrl #joyce manor #patti smith #circa survive #thrice #smashing pumpkins #the bronx #big freedia #les savy fav #state champs #bayside #rancid #run the jewels #the gories #facs #alex g #health #thursday #devo #flaming lips #slipknot #barry johnson #chase knobbe #colin frangicetto #eddie breckenridge #riley breckenridge #james iha #matt caughthran

[electraheart2012]

have you ever explained your different tags and where they come from? they’re so ~aesthetic~ and each capture a mood perfectly but i’m not really sure what they’re Meant to encapsulate

THANK U and nope i haven’t! lemme do that now, buckle in >:D ok im back up here to say this got very long but i hope it helped dkdjfkd 

in our lives is a common sense - 1) comes from a pin-light bent by joanna newsom, “in our lives is a common sense / that relies on the common fence” 2) pretty much just stuff about the connection btwn ~humanity, and just things that make me feel warm inside. tl;dr to quote ANOTHER joanna newsom song, ben wyatt.jpeg it’s about the sweetness of being 

heart is a bird - 1) comes from how long from hadestown (the concept album version, idk if the bway version is different bec i refuse to listen to it <3), “all of his sorrow won’t fit in his chest / it just burns like a fire in the pit of his chest / and his heart is a bird on a spit in his chest” 2) this one is probably the most vague tag i have, it’s just a catch-all for a like.. i hate to use the word feral, but more feral/dark aesthetic i guess? or things that feel like some kind of catharsis. basically just twisted cycle path things😩😫🤯😫😫😤😤

if i only could - 1) comes from the electronic bit at the end of running up that hill by kate bush, “if i only could, be running up that hill, oh if i only could” 2) basically anything that reminds me of adolescence or girlhood or teenagedom and the rush that comes with “we’re reeling through the midnight streets / i’ve never felt more alone / it feels so scary getting old”, but it’s kinda just become a catchall for all that and also vaguely alt/2000s stuff 

im no prophet im your friend - 1) from identical by phoenix, “tell me you’re trying / trying to regret playing all night those video tapes / i’m no prophet i’m your friend / take my advice make your mistakes / i’m right beside you, unfold that i know you / i’m told that it’s my fault / i’d rather fall and lose control again” 2) on friendship @_@ 

if you ever were to find your way back home - 1) from the transcendental song 1995 by the radio dept, “1995 seems like a long way to go if you ever were to find your way back home”, one of my fav songs and one of my fav lyrics ever 2) p self explanatory, just things that remind me of home or are about being/make me feel homesick

how the earth did shake - 1) from we the common by thao and the get down stay down, “how the earth did shake / and tumble and tremble for what the people did take” 2) just stuff about like. life/love as political things? and just general things about protest that aren’t, like, actual resources and stuff. im not 100% on this tag asdskdj 

what lies under the city - 1) from sapokanikan by joanna newsom, “wait for the hunter to decipher the stone / and what lies under the city is gone” i wish i had chosen "lost in the idling bird call” or literally any other line from the song but as the french say celebi :pensivecowboy: 2) cities tag! 

our dreams on the windowsill, see those trees turning gold in the hills - 1) from the ending of all shades of blue by gregory alan isakov, 2) this tag is the bane of my existence its so long but yeah it’s an autumn tag but also just kind of a nostalgic tag 

when the redcheeked dancing girls trip home - 1) it’s a paraphrase of a moby dick quote, “for as when the red-cheeked, dancing girls, April and May, trip home to the wintry, misanthropic woods; even the barest, ruggedest, most thunder-cloven old oak will at least send forth some few green sprouts, to welcome such glad-hearted visitants” 2) spring tag! 

youre the only warm thing for miles - 1) from i’m going back to minnesota where sadness makes sense by danez smith, 2) winter tag~! 

barbed spined hold us close forever - 1) a paraphrase of emily by joanna newsom, “the ties that bind they are barbed and spined and hold us close forever” 2) stuff about family/so far mostly siblings 

siren's song take me home - 1) from a map a string a light by yvette young, "siren's song take me home / where the stones can cover me" 2) i can have a little fantasy tag.. as a treat

n - nostalgia and on childhood 

glowing pink in the night - 1) from the mitski song duh 2) for that hashtag moment when you glow pink in the night in ur room, blossoming alone over uuu. i don’t really know abt this tag it kind of pisses me off i can’t decide what it’s supposed to be

heart has no home - 1) from “to the bone” by the queen of haunting songs, mirel wagner, “my heart has no home / you’ve bruised me to the bone” 2) it was a vampire tag but i think it’s just going to be more monstrous people now

sounds of people - 1) MYYY GODD IM SO LONELYYYY SO I OPENNNN THE WINDOW!!!!! 2) it’s like supposed to be urban loneliness but i need to brush it up a bit o_o i also might just merge it with heart is a bird

i think those are all the tags i use most often? but yeah i hope this answered your question n i hope you’re having a good night djfdj <3

#a

[taste-in-music]

taste-in-music’s top 30 songs of 2020

Hey everyone! If you missed it, you can check out my year end wrap-up post going over my favorite albums and EPs of the year. This list will go over my favorite songs of 2020, whether they happen to be on those projects or not. My only limit is one song per project, and thirty songs total. Now then, let’s get started! 

First Aid by Gus Dapperton: There is one easy way to get me to love a song, and that’s if an artist adds in another person’s vocals for the bridge and final chorus, hence infusing them with more dimension and meaning. “First Aid” is the best usage of that device all year. The song tackles Dapperton’s struggles with mental health, citing his sister as a large help in the midst of it all. Who best to come in for the bridge and final chorus, then, but his sister (who goes by the stage name Amadelle)? It all comes together to make the final act of the song hit like a gut punch. 

Josslyn by Olivia O’Brien: Every year I have to have my helping of big, sugary, bombastic pop tunes on this list, and “Josslyn” was the first of that type of song I fell in love with this year. This song is full of snark and blunt lines, (maybe don’t listen with mom in the room,) but god help me if it didn’t have one of the catchiest chorus melodies of the year. I’ll shout along to the entire song every time I hear it. 

Frustrated by Lauren Sanderson: Okay, I only found this song by chance, like, last week, (another good reason for postponing these lists until the year is actually over,) and I have to include it. If you love the hooky guitars lines of The 1975, vocalists with a gritty edge to their delivery, and a free-spirited feel that captures the euphoria of youth, then this is the song for you. I may have just discovered it, but I’ve already played it countless times. 

To Me by Alina Baraz: Everything about “To Me” communicates blissful tranquility, from the watery production to the subtle confidence in Baraz’s delivery. Every time I was feeling overwhelmed or stressed this year, (and lord help me, that was a lot,) this was the song I’d always return to to center myself. Baraz demanding respect out of her relationships and the best things out of life was downright inspiring.

Do It by Chloe X Halle: If there is one word I would use to describe this it would be effervescent, this song is so fresh, bouncy, and bubbly, like orange soda in musical form. With its tropical production and effortless vocals, this song made me want to hit a dancefloor like nothing else this year. It was the perfect pop Summer smash that deserved a better Summer.

ringtone (Remix) by 100 gecs ft. Charli XCX, Kero Kero Bonito, and Rico Nasty: This is probably the best remix of the year? The original “ringtone” was a cute, hooky fragment, but this turned it into a fleshed out, full-on posse-cut where each guest gets a moment to shine. Charli XCX turns the hook into an earworm, Kero Kero Bonito contribute their signature chirpy vocals, and Rico Nasty jumps in for an awesome bridge that provides a nice change of pace. And, of, course, 100 gecs are the glue that holds everything together. If you’re new to the gec train, this is a great place to start. 

By Myself by Maya Hawke: “By Myself” was the song that proved that Maya Hawke was way more than the usual actor trying to cash in a quick buck. She was a bona-fide craftswoman with the potential to being tears to my eyes with blissfully simple yet artfully constructed folk ballads. This song feels like a long-forgotten lullaby, gentle and beautiful with just enough woeful melancholy to remain emotionally resonant the whole year. 

killing boys by Halsey: “killing boys” is the epitome of short but sweet. This song is a fifteen second long dialogue bite Jennifer’s Body followed by some of the most focused, atmospheric pop of the year that only lasts two and a half minutes. The way the thudding heartbeat, low plucked strings, and Halsey’s hushed delivery all build to the distorted end is a pure adrenaline rush every time. It always had me coming back for more, and by the end of the year it had climbed its way up into my top 5 most listened to songs of the year. 

Bloom by Donna Missal: It’s not a list of mine without a Donna Missal song, is it? As soon as I saw the name of this song on the Lighter track list, I just had a feeling I was going to love it. “Bloom” is the most stripped-back moment on the album, with just a guitar accompanying Missal, and yet it is also one of the most memorable and evocative songs it has to offer. What the stripped-back production allows is for Missal’s sheer, raw talent as a vocalist to blossom, especially in how she displays so much power not by belting, but by holding back. Accompanied with lyrics that detail the fear of holding someone back in a relationship, “Bloom” is awe-inspiring every time. 

fever dream by mxmtoon: mxmtoon’s double album from this year didn’t leave much of an impression of me, but lead single “fever dream” got countless spins. This song feels like a warm hug, with mxmtoon’s amiable vocals, pillowy indie pop production (the chirps! the chimes! the gentle woodwinds!) and comforting lyrics that seemed to synthesize everything I was feeling while giving me a comforting pat on the shoulder at the same time. Take the line: “I want something more than / More than restless mornings / Getting by is so boring.” Gee, I wonder why I would’ve hit a nerve in a year like 2020?

Shoulda Known Better by Nasty Cherry: From the first chord of the intro’s ringing guitars, this feels dug up from a mid-2000s coming of age soundtrack. In fact, there is an inexplicable nostalgic feel to this whole song, from the frankness the lyrics, to the filmy vocal processing, all of it. And the way the song kicks into a faster groove on the chorus is so fun, it makes me want to speed down a highway every time I hear it, and I hate driving! I guess that’s just the power of a great pop rock song. 

Heart of Glass by Miley Cyrus: Do you ever hear a song that stops you clean in your tracks and makes you sit in stunned silence until it’s over? Hearing this cover for the first time did that to me. I had been wanting Miley Cyrus to take the rock route for a while, but this cemented that my intuition was 100% correct. It’s not necessarily better than the Blondie version, (Debbie Harry’s original delivery is very smooth and nonchalant, Miley’s is more gritty and rough around the edges,) but it fills an entirely different purpose. And that purpose is to be listened to on a never ending loop, in absolute awe. 

WIGS by BLACKSTARKIDS: SURF traverses a slew of sounds, from boisterous rock to hip hop to indie pop. One of the albums best moments, however, comes when all those sounds meet in the middle “WIGS” is a blissed-out in the best way, still providing a memorable hook, (one of the best the album has to offer,) while also letting you relax and hang on for the ride.

Dead Horse by Hayley Williams: This was the most unexpected bop of the year. The lyrics may be all about betrayal in the lead-up to divorce, but the delivery is so upbeat and bouncy that I can often forget just how soul-crushing the content is at times. The production on this is so catchy, with the chirpy, tropical synths, the “ya-ya-yas,” and Williams’s stellar vocals.

this is me trying by Taylor Swift: My favorite songs on folklore came to me in waves. First, “epiphany” was my favorite, with its timely lyrics and orchestral arrangements. Then, it was “the lakes,” with its nostalgic, poetic feel, (consider it a very close runner-up.) But in the end, it was the slow burning ache of “this is me trying” that didn’t just become my favorite on folklore, but one of my favorite Taylor Swift songs ever. Looking back, “this is me trying” synthesizes what I like about those other two songs. It has a grand, atmospheric instrumental and pointed, detailed lyrics, combining the two into a single, perfect, emotional wrecking ball. 

Susie Save Your Love by Allie X ft. Mitski: This was my most anticipated duet of the year, and it didn’t disappoint! This song goes by like a long sigh on a humid Summer night, filled with breathy vocals set against a churning groove. The lyrics detail parties gone wrong and unrequited love with a best friend with just enough ambiguity to allude to something darker hovering under the surface. Mitski’s vocals work great in an alt-pop context, I love what she does with her solo work but I certainly wouldn’t be mad if she hopped onto more tracks like this. Also, that guitar solo makes me levitate every time. 

Fetch The Bolt Cutters by Fiona Apple: Okay, who had “Fiona Apple meows on a song” on their 2020 bingo card? But it works, it works so well! From its opening clatter of percussion, “Fetch The Bolt Cutters” establishes a locomotive groove that never stops moving forward. In fact, the entire song seems to be dedicated to that sentiment, each lyric linking lines about middle school bullies, media critics, and Kate Bush references into their perfect place. It’s a narrative that may span a lifetime, but it still feels as timely as ever. 

forever by Charli XCX: I’ll admit I haven’t returned to How I’m Feeling Now all that much throughout 2020, but I have returned to “forever,” again and again and again. The sugar-sweet hook at the heart of all the blown-out bass is just irresistible. The way it manages to fight to the forefront, cutting through the clouds of distortion like a shimmering pink diamond, is nothing short of hopeful. 

Fit N Full by Samia: This was my instant favorite off The Baby. The glistening guitars make for a sweltering summery jam that you can’t help but move to every time you hear it. The way Samia weaves lyrics about the agonizing pressures of womanhood, diet culture, and body image into a catchy pop hook is pretty genius. She wraps them all up into a pretty package for consumption, just like women are forced to do with their pain. 

Heartbreak Weather by Niall Horan: Niall Horan has made folksy balladry his mainstay, which is all fine and good, but god help me if his turn towards stadium-rocking power pop didn’t result in one of the most anthemic songs of the year. “Heartbreak Weather” is sharply written, lushly produced, and performed with so much spirit and heart that I can’t help but think that this is the genre Horan has been meant to fall into all along. It’s certainly deserving of its title track status. 

Pretty Please by Dua Lipa: Future Nostalgia was an excellent showcase of Dua Lipa’s mastery over nonstop pop bangers, (”Physical” is the very close runner up for this list.) But surprisingly, it was the breather moment on the album, the song where everything slowed down, that really hooked me. I’m gonna say it, “Pretty Please” is so fucking sexy. The whole song screams sensuality, from the lyrics, to the bass line, to the funky synths, to Lipa’s delivery. It may not be as in-your-face as its peers, but it deserves just as much hype. 

Woo! by Remi Wolf: I had such a hard time picking a Remi Wolf song for this list that I had to resort to the raw data. “Woo!” ended up on my Spotify Wrapped, so “Woo!” gets this spot. This song just works in some ramshackle way I can’t describe, all the disparate pieces come together with so much charm. The way Wolf’s performance effortlessly flip-flops between jaunty half-rapping modulated with distortion to full-blown, raw belting on the bridge is a wild ride of the best kind every time. 

gold rush by Taylor Swift: We have another entry for the highly esteemed category of songs that capture the feeling of butterflies in your stomach. This latest Antonoff-Swift collaboration is a wistful, glittery whirlwind that captures the simultaneous excitement and soul crushing realization of a blooming crush. The way the dreamy intro snaps into the steady thrum of the rest of the song, before the song fades out in the same way, as if to illustrate how your mind can race to dozens of different places all within in the moment of meeting someone? Damn, I’m getting butterflies just thinking about it. 

Eugene by Arlo Parks: “Eugene” is a testament to soft-spoken heartache, as Arlo Parks details watching her straight crush in a relationship with a man. The song is incredibly intimate, both with Park’s hushed vocals and the specific details she utilizes in her writing, (Sylvia Plath poetry, a cigarette hanging between purple lips.) It all comes together to make the song all the more personal and heart-aching. 

People, I’ve been sad by Christine and the Queens: Christine and the Queens have perfected setting emotionally resonant sentiments against wire-tight grooves, and “People I’ve been sad” may just be their most elegant effort yet. The echoing, stuttering drums, fluttering backing vocals, and reverb give the track a wide sense of space, which perfectly illustrates the loneliness Chris describes. But there’s also this intangible warmth to the song too, harking from the strings and Chris’s introspective performance. Just gorgeous. 

XS by Rina Sawayama: Picking a song of SAWAYAMA for this list was damn near impossible. My first favorite off the album was the nu metal rager “STFU!,” then the slinky intrigue of “Akasaka Sad,” then the glitter-flinging “Tokyo Love Hotel.” But did those songs end Karl Marx’s career with their razor-sharp critique of capitalism? No. Hence, “XS” gets this spot. The craftmanship of this song is so impressive, with the rock guitar hits contrasted against the glossy pop production, Rina’s pitch-perfect performance, the witty lyricism, everything. This will go down as a classic in Ms. Sawayama’s discography, no doubt!

Guilty Conscience by 070 Shake: I didn’t even realize this was one of my favorite songs of the year until I was writing this list and felt like something was missing. This feels like a song that plays for the last stragglers on a prom dance floor. It’s melancholic yet just upbeat enough, sprawling yet buoyant, and hooks you in with the perfect balance monstrous, shimmering 80s synths undercut with rattling modern trap percussion. It’s just irresistible. If HBO doesn’t put this on the next season of Euphoria then they’re fools. 

I Know The End by Phoebe Bridgers: I don’t even know if I can describe the full impact of this song, so I’ll keep to short. One word: catharsis. The way this sound builds up from signature Phoebe Bridgers Ballad™ to forceful rollick to gut-wrenching climax gives me chills every time. I don’t want to spoil it. If you haven’t heard it before, go listen to it, (preferably with the rest of the album, too.) If you know, you know. 

Delete Forever by Grimes: Okay, now who had “Grimes makes the best country song of the year” on their 2020 bingo card? I certainly didn’t. I’ve loved Grimes’s work in the past for its ability to transport me to another place. “Delete Forever” does the exact opposite in its discussion of loss, exhaustion, and hopelessness, rooting me right to where I am. But you know what? I think I like that a lot more, especially when the song incorporates a lush acoustic guitar and strings, sunny synths, and just enough optimism to remind me that there is always hope to keep the darkness from fully taking over.

circle the drain by Soccer Mommy: This song was in the running for my favorite song of the year since even before the pandemic began, for its classic 90s-alternative sound, for its clever production choices, and for its anthemic feel. But as the year went on, it just kept getting more and more emotionally potent. I’ve been wanting to look at the songs and albums I’ve discussed on these lists without putting on pandemic-tinted glasses, but the truth is, that experience drastically shaped my year, and how I consume music. The lyrics in this song were so goddamn relatable as this year kept spiraling and it felt like I was along with it. “circle the drain” showed me that it’s okay to be feel like I was “falling apart these days.” Because those feelings are not new, I’m not alone in feeling them, and I may keep feeling them, but you know what? I’ll still have this song, in fact, many of the songs on this list, to return to when I do. 

Here are some songs I loved this year that didn’t come out in 2020: “Nikes” by Frank Ocean, “Prom” by SZA, “Rhinestone Eyes” by Gorillaz, “Anyone Else But You” by The Moldy Peaches, “Cold War” by Cautious Clay, “Plans” by Maude Latour, “Sleepyhead” by Passion Pit, and “Narcissist” by No Rome ft. The 1975.

Whether you liked, reblogged, or commented on a post, sent me an ask, or interacted with this blog in any way, thank you so much for all the support throughout the year! I can’t express how much I appreciate it.

What were your favorite songs from this year? Did I miss anything? Send me an ask and let me know. I’ll tell you my thoughts, or put it on my to-listen-to list if I haven’t heard them.

Here’s to 2021! May it clear the extremely low bar set by this year.

#songs #song recommendation #taste in music 2020 faves #taste in music

[blindrapture]

Alright, I’ve been keeping this one on the fairly down-low for now, but if I’m gonna compile a masterpost of my music I’d may as well show the real version of this song.

This is gonna be the final track on the Caliborn rap album, it’s a track that Caliborn doesn’t actually know about. His sister, alt!Calliope, the dead cherub, made this one as the antithesis of his music. While his music is brash raps over an NES soundfont, the dead cherub gives us a more.. dramatic spoken-word poem over the Mother 3 soundfont. And her poem is allusive, subtle, and pretty mad at all those who would do Caliborn’s work. I can tell you one thing: Caliborn is being compared with Jesus.

But wait, if I’m gonna be playing the role of Caliborn on this rap album, then someone else has to play the dead cherub. So I got someone. I got a nice friend, @trafuris, and she did a wonderful job. Seriously. I freaking love this piece and what her voice brought to it.

I leave you with the poem itself.

The world doesn't work on "should," but You should hate when I say "Homestuck is Caliborn's work." If the statement sound light in breath, in void doth it lurk. It hangs in the air, threatens your dissipation (As it clowns the Earth in a flood of inclination) Before the framework of meaning faded sacred to stale: A cherub says "Robot, drive hammer to nail. "Cross your fingers, my bro, but that I transcend "All the better to rule and on the shadows depend. "Two thousand more years of jeers and tears for queers "And the throne of Almighty for the Prince and his Seers." On no promise loftier than that do the holy wheels grind Which feel like bad Sonic in the back of your mind But keep "bad" alive, keep material "Dirk." That is what it means: "Homestuck is Caliborn's work."

Does it have to be this way? What would it mean to change? Does the sequel need to retcon our comic from strange? One cherub's sacrifice, another's sabotage: War of the twins, technology's mirage. There's nothing new under "Thanks For Playing" sun; For if the fandom's "Goddamned" to you, then it's God who has won. All we need is in us-- for, as far as it seems, History's only as cursed as utopia gleams.

#homestuck fan music #the album-- big cal is born-- is still under works. it has not been cancelled or anything. #but i'm still getting the rest of the songs to a spot where i like them. and i'm still psyching myself up to try rapping.

[annabreaksthings]

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

-> Favourite Song at the moment?

"Wildflowers" by Trampled by Turtles

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

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

"Something Just Like This", by Chainsmokers

-> A Song that could be about me?

"Dear Younger Me", by MercyMe

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

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

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

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

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

Sweet Caroline, Slow Ride, and Margaritaville take honorable mentions

-> Last Song I listened to?

21st Century Breakdown, by Green Day

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

-> A Song, that I think is overrated?

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

-> A Song, that makes me laugh?

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

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

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

You taught me the courage of stars before you left

How light carries on endlessly, even after death

With shortness of breath

You explained the infinite

And how rare and beautiful it is to even exist

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

#music #tag game #anna answers things