#incoherently written music history | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

rosewaterconley · 8 months

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I solved a mystery that only I care about lol

ok so I have no clue what I'm doing and social media terrifies me. I will probably never touch this account again. why did I have to follow 3 algorithm-selected accounts to get into this website? I can actually name 3 people I'd want to follow on here and it's none of the people your fucking robot told me to follow. but hey, I feel like I have to post it here rather than my blogspot since nobody in the world actually uses blogspot and I want people to see this!

so anyway, there's this band out of the city of Milwaukee called Hero of a Hundred Fights. they dropped a couple CDs in the early 2000s and seem to have broken up, though all their members have been in bands since. that'll be important a little later. for now, Hero of a Hundred Fights are important to me on 2 levels:

I'm a Wisconsinite who has a tiny bit of an obsession with local history and art and really fuck with their weird mathy little corner of the 2000s hardcore scene

I'm a Faction Paradox fan and their 2001 EP The Remote, The Cold contains numerous references to the series! if you've heard of this EP before, it was probably in the context of some "music that references Faction Paradox" list or another

about #2... see, everyone already knows that track 2 is called Faction Paradox and track 3 is called The Celestis. we've all long since put together that the title is a reference to Lawrence Miles' Interference. but what about the lyrics? unfortunately, we don't know. they're not online, and the vocals are good, mind, but rather incoherent.

well, we didn't know. until I ordered a CD copy for like $8 lol. that's all it took! so here you go, the lyrics booklet plus some of the other artwork featured on the CD. artist Nick Slough did a great job on this art and it's a shame only the cover is widely available online (though that's hardly a problem unique to the physical version of this one album). turns out, this is some kinda concept album based on the Miles novel Interference. cool! really love the lyrics on Rope especially. "I need your blood to get this vessel running" and "my life was in your hands, I cut them off and now they're mine" are both raw as hell.

the cover art is pretty interesting. this album was recorded in 2000, released in 2001. the entire creative process occurred before the first standalone Faction Paradox release, The Book of the War. this means the album is entirely Doctor Who-based, not based on the FP series itself. it also means, if we assume the humanoid characters on the art are supposed to be the Remote, that this is the first-ever professional art depicting them!

disclaimer: the booklet lyrics don't 100% match up with what's said in the songs! it's mostly accurate but unfortunately there are some sections missing, some repeated bits that are only written once et al. that's all par for the course but I figured I'd mention it - especially in the case anybody wants to use this to transcribe the lyrics on Genius or some other site like that.

and while we're here, Hero 100 member William Zientara has been in a billion different bands, and I think he's probably the most responsible for the Doctor Who theme on this album. See, he was also in a short-lived band called Managara - named after a Doctor Who tie-in novel so obscure even I, owner of a complete set of Virgin New Adventures who spends my work breaks combing through digital copies of old fanzines, have only ever heard it discussed a handful of times. one of their songs is called Happiness Patrol. more recently, in 2021, he was in the band Fuiguirnet, who have a song called What Grows From the Seeds of Doom! which means Zientara has been randomly tossing Doctor Who references into songs from at least three different bands for twenty years!

so uhh without any further rambling here's the lyrics and art:

#faction paradox #hero of a hundred fights #music

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sinceileftyoublog · 2 years

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of Montreal Interview: Making a Coherent Reality

Photo by Christina Schneider

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Like their most beloved albums, of Montreal’s 18th full-length Freewave Lucifer f<ck f^ck f>ck is a poppy, spritely record born out of a period of intense grief. Isolated, Kevin Barnes, the Athens, GA collective’s only consistent member throughout its history, decided to dive into free associational lyrics and washy and chopped sonic experiments as a way to process the death of both their mother and their dog, not to mention the collective trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Though 2020′s bright UR FUN was of Montreal’s most recent album for longtime label Polyvinyl, they self-released I Feel Safe With You, Trash in March 2021 on Bandcamp as part of the band’s Patreon. It’s the latter whose process and mindset became influential in the making of Freewave Lucifer f<ck f^ck f>ck. Barnes went into the studio and recorded a little bit each day, not trying to force any sort of aesthetic but making themselves work nonetheless. Naturally, some of the songs were inspired by what was going on in their life. “Marijuana’s a Working Woman”, referring to Barnes’ choice to switch out alcohol and welcome weed during the pandemic, sports psychedelic funk and piano obscured by effects, a sonic manifestation of their newfound drug of choice. “Ofrenda-Flanger-Ego-à Gogo”, on the contrary, juxtaposes sparkling synthesizers with lilting acoustic guitars, two cleaner sounds. From dance tunes to baroque pop to brooding 80′s synth anthems, Freewave Lucifer f<ck f^ck f>ck covers a lot of ground but never strays from Barnes’ ethos of catharsis.

Earlier this summer, I spoke with Barnes over the phone from their home in Athens about Freewave Lucifer f<ck f^ck f>ck’s free associational process, making political art, and being inspired by sci fi. Read our conversation below, edited for length and clarity.

Since I Left You: So many of the lyrics on Freewave Lucifer f<ck f^ck f>ck are free association. Do you find it easy or useful to look back and glean meaning from what came out, to pinpoint where things were coming from? Or do you let the lyrics be?

Kevin Barnes: It’s a combination of both. I realize I try to need to be coherent. Reality is totally incoherent, but we make it feel coherent because we have to. I realized that the same thing applies to art. You don’t really need to try to make it linear or sensible because people will connect the dots anyways, and they’ll do it in a more interesting way than if you said something really straightforward. That’s the way my mind works anyways: bouncing all over the place. It feels more natural and organic to write in a style that feels more abstract or like it has no meaning. It’s impossible to not have meaning, if that makes sense. It’s impossible to abstract something so much you can’t take anything from it.

SILY: How did these songs come about? Did you come up with the lyrics first and then the instrumentation?

KB: Some of the words had been written or started. I always keep a journal with lyrical ideas or any phrase that pops into my mind that has a rhythm to it I could sing. All of the music was created around the same time last year. I had just finished this double album I self-released on Bandcamp that I gave to our Patreon people. That was in the middle of the pandemic. I knew we wouldn’t be able to go on tour and thought it would be a cool way to add value to the Patreon thing. I hadn’t released a record in my own in a long time, and I wanted to try it. Polyvinyl then asked, “Ok, can you give us a record now?” I worked on it shortly after. I was still in the spirit of the last record, in the approach of not knowing what was gonna happen and experimenting in the studio every day. Not worrying so much about what was going to be the single.

I just wanted to make music every day. I just wanted to make sounds. I didn’t want each day to feel like every other day. There’s something I read or heard recently that was like, “If you see a problem and work towards fixing a little bit every day...” and the problem for me was not having a record. So I had to work on it a bit every day. That’s why it feels musically composed, like maybe I’ve made this one-minute thing yesterday and today I don’t feel like taking a verse-chorus-verse approach to it. Each section has its own identity and personality, and the songs themselves contain a bunch of little sections I glued together.

SILY: The album still seems pretty cohesive, and the songs themselves have a lot of segues between them. How much of the final product resulted from you going back in and switching the order of the tracks or playing with how up front your vocals were in the mix?

KB: I think the whole process was just an experiment and playing around in the studio. Because I worked by myself and didn’t have any outside collaborators, I was able to completely become immersed in the project. I didn’t move parts around that much, but I would use what I did the day before as inspiration for the next day. I wasn’t trying to make something jarring where the songs would have extreme tempo or key changes. I didn’t have a vision necessarily, just more fucking around and being open to whatever sounds happen, while still trying to push myself to make more interesting creative decisions and try to create interesting sounds--more so than trying to create catchy or infectious things.

SILY: I wouldn’t say the aesthetic of the album is radically different from other albums you’ve made, but it definitely has a unique sound. Looking back, was there something you were influenced by that pushed you in an aesthetic direction?

KB: It has a sadness to it. My mom died last year. My dog also died, the dog I had for 15 years. COVID endlessly continuing. I was in a dark place. When I’m in that dark space, I try to escape through music, through a different realm and mind space that’s more positive or amputated from the sad reality. In a way, being able to make the record was a therapeutic experience for me. Sonically, my influences were really just everything I listened to in my life up until this point, and trying to imagine future sounds as well.

SILY: There are moments on the record, like on “Blab Sabbath Lathe of Maiden”, where it unexpectedly turns dancey. Did that process of change in the song mirror what you were feeling in terms of finding unexpected moments of happiness within grief?

KB: I had to generate it more because it wasn’t happening organically in my life. It’s something I’ve done a lot in the past, like on Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? There are songs that sound happy but are lyrically sad because of the pain I’m going through in my life that’s extreme. But instead of making minor key music that feels like a funeral, I decided to fight it by making something more positive, colorful, and uplifting.

SILY: On “Après Thee Dèclassè”, you sing, “Logic is the enemy.” Is that the thesis statement of the record?

KB: That’s a reference to Trumpism/QAnon as well: “Even love has cold hands when logic is the enemy.” Those people have an alternate reality that isn’t the reality that any of my friends, family, or myself see. It’s such a strange time period with Trump and the conservative movement. It’s the complete antithesis of everything I feel and care about, and to see the country splitting so completely down the middle, it can’t help but have an influence on our consciousness and art.

SILY: I wouldn’t really call of Montreal a political band. But you’ve been in a liberal city in a historically conservative state for so long. Does that contrast specifically have any effect on what you sing about?

KB: It absolutely has an impact on my worldview. I’m constantly getting spammed by conservative political signs. Even though Athens is pretty progressive, there’s still a ton of conservatives here. Going for a drive, you’re just bombarded by conservative shit. I’m actually probably gonna move out of Georgia next year. I just realized, “Why am I here? Why do I continue to live in this place that’s so outside of my views?” Just by living here, I’m giving it a tacit approval. There’s two sides to it. There’s [the other] side that’s, “Liberal people are most needed in these red places.” But I don’t want to fight that battle. It seems so endless and pointless. I’d rather move to New England where people are more like-minded than be here with these fucking cavemen.

SILY: As someone who has lived in Illinois for most of his life, I can’t really relate. I do have friends in similar situations, though, who live in “blueberries in a bowl of tomato soup.”

KB: [laughs]

SILY: On the final track, “Hmmm”, you sing, “Grief is an anvil to the skull.” What do you mean there?

KB: Knowing you’re not alone only makes it sadder. I didn’t really get any comfort out of sharing the grief [of my mother’s death] with my family. It just sucks, and there’s nothing that can be done about it. You just have to feel the pain. There’s no way around it.

SILY: What’s the inspiration behind the album title?

KB: I don’t really believe any of this shit, but if I were to explain it, Lucifer is definitely more of a friend to humanity than God. Jesus is fine, but Lucifer seems more helpful to humanity. Lucifer gets a bad rep because of superstition. The whole thing’s made up anyways, but if I were to pray to anything, I’d be more likely to pray to Lucifer than I would to some saint or whatever. The freewave concept is something I came up with. It’s basically, “To be liberated is to ride the freewave.” Everything has “wave” next to it, like “vaporwave.” “Freewave” is my own designation for what kind of music this is. “Fuck Fuck Fuck” is a reference to all of the horrible shit that was going on [in the world].

SILY: How did the art and design of the cover come to be?

KB: My brother David created it, and his vision for it was to feel like Times Square, Tokyo, or Seoul, an area that has a ton of signage. But instead of the signs being for a ramen restaurant or tattoo parlor, the signs are the song titles and lyrics.

SILY: What’s your approach going to be for playing these songs live?

KB: The benefit that we have nowadays is that we can put things in backing tracks if sounds are impossible to reproduce. We can always use sampler pads. There are four other musicians in the band, and I’ll assign them parts that make sense for their station. Jojo [Glidewell] has 3-4 different synthesizers and keyboards. So I’ll assign him main keyboard parts. [Nicolas Dobbratz] does most of the lead guitars. [Clayton Rychlik] is doing all the drums. [Davey Pierce] is doing all the bass lines. Then the rest is me trying to figure out what I can tackle. What’s leftover will either be left out or be in backing tracks.

SILY: Does adapting songs live prove to be as rewarding as making them to begin with?

KB: It’s a very different experience. At first, it’s not at all satisfying--we’re lucky we do have a practice space where we’re not gonna get the cops called on us, but it’s never going to sound as good. It always sounds flat when we’re in the room, but it’s gonna sound good in a club with a PA system. I have to look in the future and imagine what it’s gonna sound like. Practice is a laborious process; we just have to get our parts down and feel comfortable with what we’re gonna do. Once we hit the stage, we’re gonna feel better.

I like making stuff. I don’t really like reproducing stuff as much.

SILY: Especially for something as layered as this record. Is this album deeply intertwined with its context?

KB: I would think that usually, but a lot of stuff I think is very personal, once we go on tour, I realize they’re universal themes. Things I thought would only be relevant to me are relevant to everybody. People will point out a lyric I hadn’t thought about that much and say, “That lyric meant a lot to me.” So it takes on a different life when you play it live.

SILY: Are you working on anything new?

KB: I’ve started working on the next record. I have 3 songs, I think. I’m in an interesting place right now. Sometimes, it takes a bit of time to catch the spirit of what I want to do next. I can tread water and float around in the studio and make something usable for the next thing I put out. I have to work that way. It would be pretty easy to not make anything ever and stare at the wall. [laughs] That’s what I love about making records. When I physically hold the vinyl or CD, I can think, “2018 didn’t get sucked into some vacuum. I have proof I existed.” So I’m always trying to work on things and get into the headspace that will be inspiring and stay in touch with that side of my brain so it never goes to sleep.

SILY: Is there anything you’ve been listening to, watching, or reading that’s caught your attention?

KB: I’ve been reading this Clive Barker book Imajica. I knew he made Hellraiser, but I didn’t realize he was also an author. A friend gave me the book. It’s a pretty long book, so it’s not an easy read, but I’ve been super into it. I’ve been getting more into sci fi stuff, like Ursula Le Guin. Sci fi films as well. I don’t know why, but sci fi has been a safe refuge for me.

SILY: Probably the same reason it is for a lot of people: imagining a different world.

KB: Totally. I feel like sci fi doesn’t get treated like a serious art form. People think it’s goofy or nerdy. But it’s really prescient. So much that has been written in sci fi novels becomes reality in 10-15 years. I think we should all be mining sci fi literature for answers. A lot of the times, it’s pretty dystopian, but that’s probably pretty realistic.

SILY: Was Le Guin a big influence on this record?

KB: I wouldn’t say I was taking inspiration. There are some lines that connect to Alice Bailey and thinking about spiritualists in the early 20th century and A Treatise on White Magic. I guess sci fi and magical thinking are often one in the same. Religion is magical thinking--it doesn’t exist in the physical world right now. But if you can imagine it, it’s magical thinking. On some level, knowing that there are so many humans that existed and exist now that were really brilliant and turned on, I get a lot of inspiration from those people. If you watch Tucker Carlson, you’ll get negative and depressed all the time. I guess people are hungry for bad vibes. I don’t understand the appeal of that shit. It’s so negative and pointless. It’s like lying in shit. I love discovering new authors and filmmakers that pull us out of that negative way of thinking. Not in complete fantasy, but depicting realities that we can identify with and spark our imaginations.

Tour dates # w/ Locate S,1 $ w/ Le Pain 9/08: Athens, GA @ 40 Watt # 9/09: New Orleans, LA @ Howlin’ Wolf # 9/10: Austin, TX @ Mohawk # 9/12: Albuquerque, NM @ Sister # 9/13: Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom # 9/14: Los Angeles, CA @ Regent Theater #$ 9/15: Berkeley, CA @ UC Theatre # 9/16: Eugene, OR @ WOW Hall # 9/17: Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom # 9/18: Seattle, WA @ Neumos # 9/19: Missoula, MT@ The Wilma # 9/20: Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro # 9/21: Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre # 9/22: Lawrence, KS @ The Granada # 9/23: St. Louis, MO @ Red Flag # 9/24: Atlanta, GA @ Buckhead Theatre # 10/04: Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle # 10/05: Richmond, VA @ Broadberry # 10/06: Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club # 10/07: Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere # 10/08: Cambridge, MA @ Sinclair # 10/09: Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of the Living Arts # 10/10: Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom # 10/11: Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick # 10/12: Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall # 10/13: Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line # 10/14: Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall # 10/15: Cincinnati, OH @ Woodward Theater # 10/16: Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle #

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beautifully-lumpy · 1 year

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✨ RAMBLY POST ABOUT THE CADDICARUS SPYRO VIDEO ✨

non-spoiler thoughts:

THIS VIDEO WAS AMAZING!!! it was everything i ever wanted and more. i'm an old ancient caddicarus fan from 2014 and oh my goooooddddd i loved this video. i loved it so much. it was beautiful amazing wonderful immaculate i want to marry it. nay, i want to marry the entire goddamn 2020-present caddicarus show.

i can't think of any jokes that fell flat in this episode. like usually there are at least a few that fall flat but this episode was wonderfully written.

it's like...i've been waiting 8 years for this video. there was a point in caddicarus history where we were certain the channel would never hit a million due to the stagnation it was experiencing in the late 2010's. the spyro video was becoming less and less of a possibility...until caddy changed up his content.

this change happened just under a year after i stopped watching, though. for two and a half more years, i kept hesitating and hesitating to watch the newer videos...until he actually hit one million subs. i was sitting in the college library on my first day of junior year when that happened, and i realized at that moment i HAD to return. so i watched the newer videos and was like "holy shit they really are as amazing as they say".

so the spyro video was my first new caddicarus episode since returning to the fandom...and man...i just missed that feeling so much. that wondrous feeling of getting a notification for a caddicarus episode. it's a feeling i hadn't felt in nearly 4 years.

OK BUT LIKE i have so muuuch stuff i wanna do rn. gifs, fanart, edits, etc...like BROOOO. i've fully been transformed back into my teenage self making tons of caddicarus fan-stuff for each new video that drops lmao.

and now for the spoilery thoughts... (this will be very incoherent i'm sorry)

ok but the CAMEOS? genius. if this video was made in 2016 i GUARANTEE he would've dedicated like 2 minutes to each of them, and they would've been saying stuff like "CADDY, PLEASE do NOT play this game, i played this on MY channel and it will CURSE YOU for LIFE!!!". but nope, the cameos lasted like 2 seconds each and almost ALL of them were just them being slightly caught off guard. I LOVE THIS GODDAMN SHOW SO MUCH.

and THE CADDYS RETROSPECTIVES INTRO!! I REMEMBER THAT! I CLAPPED!!!!

and THE BEGINNING CAMEO WITH THE NORMALBOOTS GUYS AND BRUTALMOOSE......crying

it's so funny that the few side characters we saw return in this were spons, baddy, long dennis and sam widge...but we got a shitton of new side characters. AND I LOVE THEMB.......WHEREDIGO MY BELOVED. face face is my new favorite eldritch horror, the COW... and the NEW LONDON COCKNEY CHARACTER WHO PULLED UP TO BEEFY BOYS. i DEADASS thought jim was gonna bring back quick J and was kinda disappointed he didn't jiaowefjoife. but he DID bring back daddy caddy so it's a good compromise.

OH AND WALLACE BIG TOO....AND COUSIN SQUADDY had me laughing my ASS off.

but obviously andrew van is the greatest caddicarus character of all time.

i have lots of favorite bits in this one, like the one where he puts on the clown shoes and kills moneybags. i also loved the one where he greenscreened himself skateboarding, and the return of that bit where he was flying out of the window to katamari music (it was some 2016 video i forgot what it was jsjsjjsjsj), and he ALSO brought back that "just melt it. i'll soak it up. i'll eat it" bit from the spyro orange video. and the SURPRISE MEXICAN BOUNS ROUND...god i'm going to reference this every time i go to a mexican restaurant.

that PUZZLE BIT...jim is such a genius like HOW. HOW does he come up with these things.

and i'm pretty sure that "you have to collect diamonds to FAST TRAVEL???" was a reference to "NOT EVEN THE ARCADE MODE???" from rascal racers

AND I'M NOT SHUTTING UP ABOUT THIS. MATRIX JIM. I WAS CHOKING,,,,

we got some new songs, notably "pink poo bag on your keys" and "i got a million subs". i will have lots of fun learning all the words to these and annoying the hell out of my sister with them.

i hope dead bird of the week becomes a regular thing.

and HOLY SHIT HE JINXED THE REPEAT OF THE CHEESE GRATER INCIDENT. WHY JIM. WHY.

#caddicarus #jim caddick #the caddicarus show #caddicarus spyro video #i clapped. i clapped when i saw it.

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applesfallingfromblondehair · 2 years

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That boy isn’t worth hating. It’s purely disappointment at you. One article changes nothing. Not to mention said article being clearly written by a fan of his to start with, under the watchful eye of his manager and PR, and clearly being super thought out to make sure he isn’t his true self.

There’s way better musicians/creatives/frontmen in this world to Stan.

Disappointment at me!!! Baby cakes have we MET, I have never hidden my huge ass penchant for this man and this band during my entire history of being online. I have waxed poetic about their music and lyrics for the better part of the last two years. You clearly don't go here and you are welcome to get the fuck out whenever you fancy.

Before you do get the fuck out, however, I've got a bunch of questions for you that I can't WAIT to get answers for.

*cracks knuckles* alright, here we go:

1. If you hate him so much, why am I reading between the lines that you actually might have sat through that entire article (which I'll admit felt long even for me, at times)? Are you treating eyerolling at Matthew Healy like a competitive sport, or—?

2. "Changes nothing" from WHAT exactly?

3. "Clearly being super thought out to make sure he isn't his true self." First of all I'm not sure that's English. Secondly, care to elaborate?

4. I think shit like this is fucking hilarious because Matty talks about being "soft cancelled" a lot in that article and you're just proving his goddamn point with shit like this. Not really a question for you, more of a 'gotcha', I suppose.

5. "That boy isn't worth hating" *proceeds to say they're disappointed in me for liking him*. Again, not a question, just calling out your spectacular incoherence and egregious argumentation here, babes.

6. And maybe most importantly: are other people ALLOWED TO LIKE THINGS/PEOPLE/MUSIC THAT YOU DON'T LIKE, OR IS THIS A TOTALITARIAN REGIME? I'd like to remind you that you came on MY blog, on which (last time I checked) I'm free to post whatever the fuck I want. To stay on the same (admittedly rather unfortunate) metaphor—I'm my own dictator, I don't need you.

Don't like it? Go away. It's not that hard, seriously. The unfollow button is right there.

Bye, good riddance, see you never.

#answered #seriously i have no words for these bitches #and this isn't even the same kind of bitch as usual

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kevinwillpkgd · 7 months

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train from singapore to london eng. 2 weeks. (no washrooms?)

****

Yee gods: over $10m in rev means CRTC. =Most repressive regime in history. no committee debate, just staging for legislation. blog, pod-casts tv etc etc

soc.media.death

Japan has sept heat wave. Frutose addiction is a heart prob.

Aussie has very early fire season

****

fark rejected a story as pointless: actually more incoherent (it's a HS story and it was supposed to be pointless.) tarting it up; goes in the 2023 shorts collection. (ugly yet. I might send them a finished +polished version (NOT A SUBMISSION) eh. maybe.

Ew. Took them ages. (saw the last-chance notice, sent them what i'd written that morning. Never again; took 'em 5 months to say no.)

at 9,000 wds in finest evil in the system story: It is a very silly work. might get this out in oct.

****

stories music art tv movies (AND OTHER AGENCIES). all AI by 2024.

#canada #writing #politics #ai #weather #news

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adventuresinclientservice · 9 months

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This sounds like a(nother) LinkedIn rant, but it’s really about The Bear.

(no, not that Bear; the television show)

I joined LinkedIn in 2005, but in all the years I’ve been a member, I amazingly never actually asked why the company exists or what its purpose is, so I went looking for them.

On LinkedIn’s “About” page, the company’s stated vision is to,

“Create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce.”

Its mission is to,

“connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.”

Sounds reasonable, so why am I continually carpet-bombed with unsolicited pitch-after-pitch-after-pitch, each written by someone completely ignorant of how to make an overture? The clueless who assault me with this garbage think it proper; I might be a voice of one, but I think it a perversion of the very spirit in which LinkedIn was founded.

Enough with (yet another of) my rantings; it isn’t the subject of this post, which is about a way (among several) that I actually find the site helpful: connecting me with people around the globe who have discovered, read, and chosen to comment on The Art of Client Service.

One such example happened last week: I encountered a post by Adam Bell, a self-described “Scottish Ad-man/Sustainable Development Advocate/ Client Services Director at Yatter,” who posted a photo of the book, accompanied by a narrative that invokes the Hulu streaming television series The Bear.

I love The Bear; my enthusiasm is such that last month I wrote about a particular episode of the show, “Honeydew.” I promptly replied to Adam, referring to yet another episode, “Forks,” where I cite a riveting scene between the character Ritchie (played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and chef-owner Terry (the indisputably brilliant Olivia Coleman).

Adam and I went back and forth with our conversation -- you can follow our exchange in the screenshots – prompting me to recall the final episode of Season two, called (duh) “The Bear.” I observe to Adam,

“the final episode reminds me all too well of an advertising agency, right before a major pitch, with its insanity, urgency. anger, errors, terrors, and rampant, serendipitous, creativity.”

It is chaos, pure chaos, on the friends-and-family opening night of the restaurant. Time is compressed. Staff is anxious. Diners are impatient. Anger within the team runs boiling hot. If this weren’t enough, in a wickedly mordant, darkly funny moment, the protagonist and chef Carmy Berzatto gets locked in the walk-in freezer.

And yet, throughout the crazy incoherence and non-stop lunacy you see moments of brilliance. Sacrifice. Selflessness. Solutions to seemingly intractable, seemingly unsolvable issues. And yes, achievement.

I’ve never served in the military, but I’ve read how soldiers don’t necessarily fight for a cause. They fight for each other.

I’ve never played organized team sports – my athletic endeavors, such as they were, were confined to pick-up street ball – but I’ve read how players don’t necessarily compete for management, or even for the fans. They push one another and compete for each other.

I’ve never played in a band, but I see how musicians squabble their way to music that works, playing for the audience sure, but mostly playing for each other.

What I have done is pitch new business, so I know agency people don’t necessarily go to the wall to prevail over competitors, or even to deliver for the clients. They step up for their colleagues, who they don’t want to let down.

When someone asks me what The Bear is about, I usually reply with something like:

“It’s about a restaurant, but in truth, it’s really about family, about always having someone’s back, never giving up or giving in, even when things are at their grimmest.”

I might be practicing revisionist history here, but I like to think the best moments I recall from my years at Digitas or Ammirati & Puris were like that.

And that, friends and readers, is why I am proud to work in advertising.

#the bear hulu #new business #pitching #advertising #marketing

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smokeybrandreviews · 1 year

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Smokey brand Select: An Old Weeb's Thesis

These last three seasons of anime have been absolutely amazing. Bangers, he lot of them! I discovered brand new shows which have found their way into the upper echelon of my all-time favorites and others which had already made their claim, came through with a resurgent fury. Obviously I'm speaking about Overlord in that regard but where would it fall in a top tn all-time list for me? What does my top ten all-time anime list even look like? Would i be able to stop at ten or would this be riddle with titles sharing spaces. I decided to actually take the time and think about this thing, really sus out where the chips will fall. I have been watching anime since the late Eighties so, with my catalog of completed narratives, this might be a long f*cking list! But a fun one to put together, i think. Spoiler alert, EVA is number one, that is for sure.

10. Voltron

This is the first anime i remember ever seeing. I was VERY young when this aired and super into robots at the time. Transformers was my sh*t, still is, so when i stumbled upon the bastardized version of Go-Lion airing on US televisions back in the late Eighties, i was all over it. Understand, Voltron is bad. It’s an incoherent mess that chopped and screwed several space robot anime into one show. This was kind of the flavor at the time, see Robotech, so the version of Go-Lion i got was an absolute quagmire. That said, i was, like, four or five hen i first saw this show and the toys were AMAZING! When i got older, and anime became far more mainstream, i finally got to see the original Go-Lion and it turned out to be a solid f*cking show. While i absolutely enjoy that version, that old frankensteined version from my childhood, will always have a place in my heart. It also instilled a love for giant robot anime, one that left a clear path for EVA to top this list.

9. Sailor Moon

Yes, i love Sailor Moon. I have since i was in the fifth grade. I was all over this thing as a kid. Back then, i was already full Weeb, we were called “Otaku” back then, and out anime offerings were slim at best. When i found out that one was airing on TV regularly, at the ass-crack of dawn, i was all over it. I used to wake up at five am to watch that sh*t. I had tapes, upon tapes, upon tapes, recorded on the little TV/VCR combo i got when i was seven years old. Interestingly enough, this was my Dragon Ball z before i actually watched Dragon Ball Z. I adored Usagi and her misadventures in love. Sailor Moon was so ahead of it’s time in terms of representation and LBGTQ+ content, a fact that wasn’t lost on my ten year old self. I remember that first season vividly, Queen Beryl sending Zoisite and Malachite to wreck on the Sailor Scouts for reasons. as an adult, i appreciate it’s place in the annals of anime history but back then, i was just keen on all the magical girl and super sentai elements, both of which would become foundation blocks for my tastes going forward. Sailor Moon directly influenced my love for things like Power Rangers and Kamen Rider. For that, I'll love Princess Serena forever.

8. Chobits

Chobits was a surprise for me. It was a bonus addition from a bootleg DVD site i used to buy from. I didn’t pat for it at all but it ended up being my favorite thing from that company and immediately entered my top ten. You have to understand, i was re-evaluating so much of my life at that point. I had just graduated high school, started listening to other types of music, watching other genres of film, playing RPGs seriously for the first time, so giving Chobits a shot was just a whim. Up to that point, i had kind of written off the lovey-dovery, slice of life, romance anime as “Girly sh*t”. I didn’t think there was anything there for me. Like, Clamp, in general, was a whole enigma to my sensibilities back then. And then Chobits happened. Literally blew the doors of my ignorance. I fell in love with this show. I mean, the second those first few notes of Let Me Be With You hit, i was hooked. Without Chobits, i would have never given shows like ToraDora, My Dress-up Darling, A Silent Voice, or My Love Story; All of which i count as favorites.

7. The Guyver: Bio-Boosted Armor

Yo, Guyver blew my mind when i first saw it back in the mid-Nineties. I as old enough to trawl the anime section of video rental stores and stumbled across this pure, Golden Age, gem. I as aware of The Guyver because of the live action adaption “starring” Mark Hamill but i was not prepared for experiencing the wildly visceral nature of the source material. My goodness, was this everything to me! The violence, the brutality, that detailed gore. Man, watching Guyver literally melt into a pile of meaty sludge after Enzyme tore out his Control Metal, haunted my dreams for days after. Up to that point, i had seen brutality in anime (Literally watched Wicked City not a year before) but this was different. This was meant for teenagers. I wasn’t much younger than that, around twelve i think, and it made me realize that Japan was on something completely different. Guyver as the first uncut anime i remember seeing and it was f*cking visceral. I loved it so much! Blood, tits, unadulterated violence, adult themes; Everything a pre-teen would want and i wanted it all! Guyver set the stage for me almost always searching out the purest for of anime, the one which aired in Japan rather than the US. This single show is what made me seek out the alternative narratives for everything that came after.

6. The Big O

If Tim Burton wrote and directed an mecha anime, you’d get The Big O. This show is amazing! I loved the story it told, the ambiguity of it’s nature, and the general vibe of artificiality that makes up Paradigm City. The Big O was the first anime i recalled, being absolutely incoherent but, at the same time, wonderfully endearing. Roger Smith, or as i like to think of him, Anime Batman, really left an impression with his Art Deco adventures. Giant robots, a former bank being his Batcave, awesome adventures, a solid monster-of-the-week formula for the first season; The Big O was tailor made for me. Even his Robin was dope. Or should i day, Nightingale. The Big O showed me what could be done with enigma and an eye toward character in study in anime. The first season of Big O came through and blew my mind. I waited with baited breath for a second season, a conclusion to the narrative i had become so invested with. It would take three years but that wrap around ending was a brilliant choice, allowing me ( and the denizens o f that world) to live in Paradigm City forever. The Big O immediately became a show i would cherish. Hell, the first gift my kid sister ever gave me was a Big O boxset.

5a. BLEACH

It’s weird to have BLEACH at this pot on my list because i absolutely adore this show so much. Seeing BLEACH for the first time, and reading it for that matter, caused a quantum shift in what i understood Shonen anime to be. Up to that point, it was all Dragon Ball and Yu Yu Hakusho and then BLEACH came through and gave me something better. BLEAH was the first Shonen anime i remember to actually have a solid f*cking plot. Like, those first two arcs are top tier storytelling and i was captivated by them Aizen’s machinations were everything and, even though the following arcs were considerably less in quality, i chock that up to Jump forcing Kubo to prematurely extend his manga a la Toriyama after the Freezer saga. Even with Kubo's drop in passion after the Soul Society arc, BLEACH continued to live rent free in my head. That art style definitely informed my own, becoming a huge stepping stone in how i draw the human form. For that fact, alone, BLEACH would make this list but the world Kubo dreamed up is so much more than that. Mans is on record as to wanting to just draw dope sh*t and BLEACH is one of the dopest things out there!

5b. Overlord

Way back in the year 2015, during the height of the Isekai boom, i stumbled across this weirdly designed take on what i could only intercept as Skeletor from He-Man. As an Eighties kid, i was well verse in Masters of the Universe, though i didn’t really like the show. I did like the ideas behind, the world crafted and, more to the point, Skeletor, himself. I often wondered what Eternia would be if Skelly-boy actually took it over. Well, Overlord answered that question for me and I've been a fan ever since. This thing wasn’t like any other “Reincarnated into a fantasy world” i had ever seen before. Indeed, the world, itself, was the draw. It was planted with awesome characters, but the overall detail in the rules of that world were amazing to me. Maruyama really put a lot of effort into the lore of his anti-He-Man narrative and i am a sucker for ore. It’s why i enjoy things like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. Overlord is up there for me in terms of epicness and easily slotted it’s way into my top ten, even if it shares this spot with two other entries.

5c. That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime

A few years after Ainz blew my mind with the potential of world building, Slime came through and did it again with law building. I’m not going to sit here and deny that Slime is every bit the series as Overlord and BLEACH, it definitely is, but the magic system in this show is so much better, it’s insane. Fuse really put time into weaving this system together and it shows. I love the nod toward the RPG style narrative, building upon skill and magic levels like an old Final Fantasy title. You can definitely feel a Squenix influence in there, which is right up my alley because i am a straight up FF shill. More than that, i find the character work in this story to be incredibly strong. Like, i care about these characters WAY more than i should. All of them, even the borderline background cats. They all get time to shine and i can’t wait to see where this story goes. Honestly, i actually spoiled myself a bit and kind of know where it ends up, but seeing the ride to that conclusion is going to be fantastic. All three of these entries at five still have always to go for completion but they have definitely proven worthy to make this list.

4a. Fate/Stay Night

I struggled with this one. I struggled with just adding the entirety of the Fate franchise. I’m talking Apocrypha, Unlimited Blade Works,Grand Order, Zero, Extra, and especially Heaven’s Fell. In all honesty, this spot should be for Heaven’s Feel. I loved those movies. I loves that route in the game. I love Sakura Matou. She's my favorite Master. But i also love Mordred. That’s painfully clear if you have been frequenting this blog over the years. Mordred is from Apocrypha. Then there’s Nero, Gilgamesh, and Kiritsugu; All from the aforementioned series. Plus, Prototype got an OAD and I've heard rumors of a Strange Fake adaption in the works. I love the entirety of the Fate franchise but, none of these entries would even be a blip on my radar if not for the 2006 adaption of arguably the weakest route in the entire game, Stay Night. Fate/Stay Night makes it on this list, and at such a high spot, for what came after. I liked Stay Night, don’t misunderstand, but everything, and i mean everything, which came after, has been superior. None of it would even be a thing, however, without this first attempt which is why it’s one of my all-time favorites. Plus, i like this route more than UBW in the game, anyway.

4b. Bakemonogatari

Bake is in the same situation as Fate. I wanted to put the entire franchise on here but there is one, specific, story which stand out more than the others. Kizumonogatai. Shinobu or, rather, Kissshot, is an arguably top three all-time favorite anime character for me and it was Kizumonogatari where we got the most of her. i actually own all three Kizu films and even the novel, itself, I loved that character but i wouldn’t know anything about her without Bake. I’m not slighting the first entry into the world of Monogatari, mind you. Quite the contrary actually, I love Bake. It’s my second favorite story after Kizu but that’s by degrees. In terms of character development, i think Nekomonogatari (Black) is superior than Bake in almost every way. Kabukimonogatari went a long way to fleshing our Koyomi and even gave us a look at an adult Mayoi, as well as solid Shinobu content. I can go on and on about the other Monogatari series and how they do the narrative better than the first, but Bakemongatari WAS the first. Without it, i wouldn’t even know the other stories were a thing. That’s why it’s here. That’s why it deserves to be here. Just like Fate/Stay Night.

3. Dragon Ball Z

Listen, DBZ is not “good”. The narrative is all over the place and the plot is paper thin, at best. The “story” is basically there to frame the battles and, my goodness, were those battles straight up spectacle! I remember, vividly, watching the first beam clash between Goku and Vegeta. A full power Galick Gun against a Kaioken x 4 Kamehameha? God, that clash was brilliant. That entire scrap was brilliant. The Saiyan arc set a pace for that show which became the blueprint for Shonen anything going forward. The story was trash, though. So why do i love this sh*t so much that i would put it at three in my all-time list? Influence. Dragon Ball Z introduced me to my second favorite anime character (again, this is a 1a/1b situation) after Rei Ayanami, Vegeta IV. Vegeta is one of the most complete characters ever brought to life through the anime genre and i loved witnessing every second of that journey. By the time he sacrifices himself to Buu, i was in it for life. It made me happy to see that development continue in Super. More than that, Toriyama’s art style influenced my own, for years, until i caught wind of Tite Kubo.

2a. Akira

It was hard trying to place this one but, when i thought abut it, Akira had to sit here along with GitS. I saw Akira, long ago, on cable. the Sci-fi channel used to have these specials very year, one was Godzilla and the other was Anime. It was called Japanimation back then but one of the first films i remember seeing during one of these marathons, was Akira. The thing is, though, i remembered seeing this movie BEFORE that. Watching it on TV like that just reminded me of everything had already witnessed in a time i had long since forgot. I don’t know when i first saw Akira. I can’t remember. But i had to have seen it before i was seven years old. What that mans is Akira has been with me for as long as i can remember. It’s no the first anime i have ever seen, that’s probably Go-Lion (Voltron here in the States) but it had to be one of the first ten. How can it not be number two on my all-time list with that level of pedigree?

2b. Ghost in the Shell

Look, i love cyberpunk. That sh*t is easily my favorite genre of anything. You can write a sappy, cliche, uninspired story that would usually bore me to death but slap a cyberpunk skin on top of it? Yeah, I'm down to suffer for the cause. GitS is not that. Shirow built a whole ass classic with his tale of existential inquiry, wrapped with some of the staunchest political intrigue I've ever seen in an anime, outside of Gundam. More than that, his take on cyberpunk absolutely informed my own. When i think cyberpunk, i think Tachikomas, Ghosts, the net, and full cyborg bodies. Blade Runner was also a strong influence but that’s a much more stylized take on the genre. For me, GitS gets it right. It is the perfect balance between grounded reality and sci-fi magic, and that’s saying a lot because i grew up in the Eighties. Cyberpunk was almost exclusively the only genre of anime we got here in the States back then. Don’t misunderstand, i still enjoy those takes, Night City being the most recent to capture my heart thanks to Edgerunners, but the world of Major Kusanagi will always take the pole position. Along with Akira.

1. Neon Genesis Evangelion

EVA is my top anime, all-time. I’ve never been shy abut this. I love this show, man. I love this franchise. Anno crafted a goddamn masterpiece with this thing. I enjoy the Rebuild films and the manga adaption is a quietly superior telling of the story based strictly on the fact it had nine years to tell that story, but the OG anime is the best of that lot, for me. I had never seen anything so fluidly animated outside of Akira and GitS, let alone a mecha anime with this level of detail. The EVAs, as mechs, are top tier design, only beaten out in my heart by Gundam Epyon and, even then, it’s more a 1a/1b situation. EVA informed so much about my taste in anime going forward, it’s insane. Never mind the eternal Waifu battle shenanigans (Rei is best girl), but just in terms of overall storytelling, EVA raised the bar for me. I have no patience for flat characters or bland worlds because Neon Genesis Evangelion set the bar that high. Also, A Cruel Angel’s Thesis is the best goddamn opening an anime will ever have!

Honorable Mentions: Battle Angel Alita, FLCL, Erased, Goodbye, Mr. Despair, Perfect Blue, Deadman Wonderland, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, One-Punch Man, Ruroni Kenshin, Is It Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, ToraDora, A Certain Magical Index, A Certain Scientific Railgun, A Certain Scientific Accelerator, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, My Dress Up Darling, Bubblegum Crisis, Devilman Crybaby, Darling in the Franxx, Code Geass, Angel Beats, Re:Zero, Nausicca, Cromartie High, Blue Exorcist, Paranoia Agent, Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai, Saga of Tanya the Evil, No Game No Live, Please, Teacher!

#Smokey brand Select #anime

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smokeybrand · 1 year

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Smokey brand Select: An Old Weeb's Thesis

10. Voltron

9. Sailor Moon

8. Chobits

7. The Guyver: Bio-Boosted Armor

6. The Big O

5a. BLEACH

5b. Overlord

5c. That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime

4a. Fate/Stay Night

4b. Bakemonogatari

3. Dragon Ball Z

2a. Akira

2b. Ghost in the Shell

1. Neon Genesis Evangelion

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gyujeongfmd · 2 years

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famed verification — dust

summary — a distorted (fake) one-take freestyle. stepping out of his monotony, no longer a creature of habit. warnings — none wc — 1804 (not including lyrics)

he remembers each time he’s pieced together pieces of the song.

it starts with an idea, a figment of mindlessly emptying out his head one by one. seconds tick, and all he comes up with is a sole chord his mind hones in on. buzzing through his head like it’s a cacophony of harmonies coming through, aligning itself in one. third eye view, and five out of six would say he’s just drunk. five out of those six would prove right when he’s barely coherent, pressing the same chord over and over in varied rhythms. no synchrony or peace, he just ambles on with his fingers on the chord.

that’s day one.

day two starts days after when he’s sobered up, logging into a screen that’s disordered. five out of six would say it’s a convoluted puzzle of the same chord, jarred against the screen lighting his face blue. but it’s night time, and he has no play time to blind himself with the disingenuousness of fluorescent lights. this time, he sobers himself enough with the nicotine resting between his mouth, in-between puffs (he swears, at this point, maybe he should just get an e-cig. but he swears he’s too busy, he’ll get to it later.)

time produces the same chord, but he adds in filter. fluffing it around the edges, and the chord he started with becomes nothing more than a trace. a thought, a figment that floats through the speakers when it’s synth-heavy, unexpected timings.

reality likes to mimic art, or at least bleed through inconspicuously. it’s messy, jumbled. decomposing notes upon his screen, but he’s one of six, and organization transpires in different ways — his is just tumultuous. he’s tumultuous at this point.

day two ends, picks up the next morning when he hasn’t slept, excusing the hours on some half-beat song he’s written up only to scrap in the end. (it runs straight to the trash — he has no time in salvaging something that’s destined for shit).

instead, he’s under full hypnosis, and the chord in all its iterations draw him back to wherever he’s left the file, hovering in the backlogs of his hard drive.

it’s still not clear-cut. some would say incoherent, but it’s a learning process as he goes — chung gyujeong’s always been a hands-on learner. space bar, play. he listens to the draft, enough that it starts to all blend together like the same damn note on repeat, trickling through the room.

he’s adamant for history not to refuse himself, and like what he’s made in the past — he chooses to divert another way.

like his body knows, it’s already getting the board out, his hands fidgeting with the cords strewn across his desk. (he’s organized, he swears. nobody believes him at this state — but nobody ever believes him anyways).

it loads, and his fingers already work around the buffer period. time frames be damned, and his eyes relent for some break away from the screen drying him out — if he blinks, he cries. at this point, he has no tears left to cry. so, he strains his eyes further, prying them open past the fatigue and fractures of whatever his heart has left to say. he’ll keep himself busy — being busy is key. he’ll repeat, practice till it turns true, reverberating through every centimeter of his mind and body.

he taps down, two succinct punches of the percussions. light and sweet, because everyone knows how fucking cliche a two-beat line is, and he’s no stranger to cliches. he’ll just be a damn cliche all night long, getting lost in the music, creating some shitty bass line that echoes in the back of the same chord decomposed in different ways.

he’s never thought of himself as innovative.

he just wanted an escape.

the sound feels like an escape. if it feels like it, sounds like it, looks like it — maybe, he’s found it. or maybe, he’s just so far in his delusions, and the barricade of sounds only presses him enough to tip him past the breaking point.

the sound’s all he has.

the sole sound blasting through his home from the moment he wakes up, to the moment he coaxes himself into a semblance of sleep. (barely feels like it by how dragging his feet through the empty hallways of his apartment starts to feel like a lucid dream.)

he hasn’t shaved. hasn’t cleaned. hasn’t bothered to do laundry in two weeks. hasn’t written anything in four.

the lyrics he’s written or any melody he hums becomes a bittersweet taste in his mouth — more bitter than anything else. it always sounds the damn same, like how he’s written a million and one other songs about identical topics only packaged in different ways and fucking fragrant words. more words like those, and he swears he’ll wither away.

during the mornings, everything’s a matter of habit. from the way he lugs his body into the kitchen, an americano. he’ll eat later, just like he always says (he’ll forget either way, and the clothes swallow his body even more). he’ll sip his americano, right as it comes out of the nespresso — his tongue’s already burnt from the day before, so he continues right on with a beeline towards his studio.

he stares at the screen, presses play. the outlines of the song already faint in his mind, it starts right again. a lean back, and he contemplates throwing this straight in the trash too, but something lingers, and he’s stuck absorbed in the sound no matter how many times he’s moved his mouse from trash to his desktop. back and forth, repeat.

habits break today, and he’s stepped out of the comfort zone of being a listener to the song (a damn narcissist wallows in their own art, and he wants to be a new kind of narcissist today).

the mic he hasn’t touched in a week still sits on his desk, dust collecting around it — he draws a frown with his fingers before wiping off the remnants on his white pants.

fuck it, and he records.

the lighter’s on its last leg, flickered on after a few attempts. it’s the first drag of the day, and with an exhale, he mutters, ‘like dusting off’.

it’s a new age, new chapter, or whatever he wants to feign for the day. his voice still groggy, mixed with the way smoke wraps around his lungs in the morning — it falls off his mouth like a mutter. a sad little sentence with too many implications he doesn’t want to go into. so, he keeps repeating it — repeat it enough, and you’ll believe. or so, he wants to believe.

the first time, it comes off insincere. all monotones. second, it comes off too sweet, like he’s on the brink of breaking off and finding a new sense of identity upon this fucking disaster of a life — it makes him nauseous. take three, and too much crescendo builds the anticipation of some shit nobody needs to predict — the ending’s obvious. don't press it further. take four — he hits the sweet spot. a build up of a small melody, only to take it a notch down. it’s the truth told loosely, so he keeps it.

the recording doesn’t halt, and all rules be damned because it’s a one-take he’ll push. all the lapses of pauses, and disparate sounds from each drag and each exhale, all the way to how the ice clinks in the stupid glass he should’ve thrown out weeks ago or how his fingers tap against the table when he’s dissociated from thought.

so, he doesn’t process. it just speaks.

reverting back to the monotone voice, brought an octave lower from the inability of his body to wake up, he follows the thump of the same chord, still ringing in the background. he tells his own take of his own lucid dream.

the air in the studio is stale so i’m biting on my dry fingers i don’t even know what year, what month, what day it is instagram is always in my hand

the thrill about freestyle, he’s learned, is all fucking sham. his heart a fraud when his heartbeat rises, and he feels the jolt of feeling on edge rap-talking to a mic about how how he feels. honesty in this case is a hoax, but somehow, he manages to continue on, hastening his words, jamming it to a beat that doesn’t fit. conveniently, he’s ignoring all the rules, forcing too many words into one line, putting in a half-assed effort to make it sound remotely musical.

gyujeong still proceeds anyways because in the end, he’ll probably end up throwing this however many hour long vocal layer straight to the trash when it’s all said and done.

he takes another sip of his americano, letting the beat simmer in the back. simmer, and that’s all he’s been doing holding the mic close, to his chest, leaning back on the chair — the cigarette put out with the ash tray that should’ve been emptied out days ago.

he holds the mic close, shifting closer to it, letting another sigh give another peak on the screen.

yeah in the end, you left too like we were nothing all the nights we spent together i lost everything as i only looked at you

a grittier addition to his voice, and it’s still not awoken. still groggy, just more bitter as the words spit past his mouth. regardless of the truth, he’s being honest — it’s a performance of one. the monotones leave, and his voice oscillates louder. turns out, he can’t fully relinquish the thought of her, and habits become a dangerous concept (he’s still writing the same stupid songs about the same damn person).

yeah, i’m good right now i’m doing really well in other’s eyes yeah i’m fucking good right now

but today’’s a silent oath on a new chapter. however many times he’s sworn, it’s all a fucking lie.

say what you want, repeat it till you believe it.

and as a pathetic little fuck, he does. he spews each lie one by one through the mic, a sharp edge to his words grating the lines he hopes reaches her someday. (his face tells the truth. his eyes don’t bend in the dead-set near surgical stare he keeps to the screen. his lips don’t quiver, but his heart stings). each serrated punch to his gut gets swept aside temporarily for a relief that never comes.

his hand clenches the mic tighter that by the time he’s done saying whatever’s been wedged deep inside his head, he looks down only to realize: catharsis? yeah, that shit is bullshit too.

(or maybe, catharsis yields to the closure he repudiates).

so, he calls it a day. finally relieves his eyes with the blink, pretending like everything he’s voiced out loud doesn’t press on his lungs or force the walls of his own apartment to cave in. a sudden decision to step out of the status quo, and somehow, he’s managed a way to learn stepping out of the comfort of monotony only lends itself to purgatory.

his white flag waved. retreat. he swears now, he’ll only become a creature of habit.

(he breaks all his vows. file saved.)

#famedverification

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glamrockqueen · 4 years

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incoherently written music history #1: billie eilish is the gen z taylor swift and here’s why

don’t laugh at me for making my first history rambling start from 2006 okay i promise i’ll be taking these further back eventually

this particular claim was made in a conversation i had with a friend a few weeks ago and i figured what better way to start off my new tumblr experience right

these pictures of almost identical scenes were taken almost exactly ten years apart. how did both of these ladies become mega-stars and redefine their respective genres as teenagers and what do they have in common? let’s discuss.

for starters, female singer-songwriters are not a new phenomenon. alanis morissette, tori amos, annie lennox, kate bush, the list goes on. so why were taylor and billie good representatives of the late 00s and late 10s respectively?

taylor swift released her self-titled debut album in 2006 as a country singer/songwriter at the age of 16 which is pretty impressive! and billie eilish released her debut album WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? last year in 2019 at the age of 17.

although there are plenty of young singers/songwriters, not many of them can reach this level of success. and at first glance (just look at the covers of taylor’s lover and billie’s album, for example) they seem like opposites. but they actually have quite a bit in common!

both started their careers with an audience that is primarily composed of young girls

both wrote or cowrote the songs on their albums

both perfectly capture the mood of the time periods in which they became popular

while taylor debuted in 2006, in my opinion, she didn’t become a superstar until the release of fearless in 2008. considering this was now 12-14 years ago, the process of becoming a superstar was different than it was just last year. taylor was originally signed as a songwriter with sony/atv (the youngest EVER to do so at age 14) and literally built the big machine label with her success when she signed with them. with the rise of streaming and widespread usage of the internet for listening to music (which didn’t exist in 2006-2008 when all music was individually purchased), billie entered the public eye when she released ocean eyes on soundcloud and rose to megastardom within a few years, with a pretty astonishing speed. the picture of taylor swift with her grammys was taken in 2010, a full four years after her debut album was released while billie won all those awards for her debut album in the same year it was released. the rise of such platforms can certainly accelerate the path to superstardom, and it certainly did in this case.

the important note here is that for both, the audience heavily relates to the emotions in the music and the authenticity of the songwriting. taylor’s music suits the early 00s and the young millennials/zillennials well. in the mid to late 2000s, music was upbeat. pop punk and emo pop/rock like fall out boy, panic! at the disco, and my chemical romance were at their peak (just remember early tumblr), and a lot of pop and pop adjacent music was generally happy and fast paced. taylor brought country music to the previously untapped market of teenage girls (and eventually other young female country singers like kacey musgraves, kelsea ballerini, maren morris, etc became popular, almost certainly because taylor proved young women could be successful in the genre) even as she transitioned into a pop artist. she succeeded as a teenage girl in an extremely male dominated genre (in fact, to this day, many country stations are not allowed to play two songs by female artists in a row).

taylor’s greatest strength is still considered to be her songwriting, and many of her lyrics are second to none in terms of modern mainstream artists. her fans appreciate the vulnerability and pure emotion of songs like all too well and dear john, even though they’re generally less well known than many of her hits. even through multiple genre shifts, her storytelling still shines through and feels authentic even if occasionally interspersed with more lighthearted moments like me! or we are never ever getting back together. in fact, the recent folklore album appears to be a return to the very thing that brought her to prominence in the first place, with its focus on lyrics and real instrumentation rather than her recent more synth-heavy pop sound.

people related to her music because it felt like they were getting a glimpse into her diary, and that authenticity wasn’t necessarily present in pop music at the time. she appealed to the hopeless romantics (especially during the fearless and speak now eras) and was definitely relatable to the teenage girls of the 00s. taylor captured the hope and heartbreak of teenagers in such an elegant way, and many of her fans still feel closely connected to her and have a sense of “growing up with her”, even if they’ve never met her in person because of the evolution of her persona and storytelling (and also her former use of tumblr). her songwriting talents are what initially drew fans to her and why she has a such a loyal base of fans even fourteen years after the release of her first music.

however, things are different now than they were even ten years ago. young people are sad and angry and billie captures these emotions in her music. today’s teenagers are not interested in sparkles and ball gowns or sundresses and cowboy boots, but would rather wear oversized tshirts/hoodies and march in protests. they were looking for someone who dresses uniquely and who takes pride in being different. it’s clear to see even through gen z humour that happiness is generally a thing of the past. pop music has gotten slower, more melancholy, more indie-oriented, and hip hop/rap and edm-inspired music is currently topping the charts rather than bubbly pop or rock. billie represents and possibly started the trend of “bedroom pop” (as her album was quite literally recorded in a bedroom) and its more relaxed, lofi sound. with this in mind, taylor has been and continues to be a master of trends and versatility, including releasing the 1989 album before retro nostalgia became popular, as well as including elements of every conceivable genre, including hip hop (throughout all of reputation), pop punk (paper rings is essentially a pop punk song, and i will defend this claim), rock, indie, and even folk and funk in her music.

this shift almost resembles the way punk and grunge were rejections of mainstream rock at the time; people are looking for something new and “fresh”, and for many young gen z girls, that took the form of billie eilish, since she captures the emotions they’re feeling just like taylor did for millennials. in fact, billie can almost be seen as the punk to taylor’s classic rock. the way billie can speak to this audience is remarkably similar to the way taylor spoke to the underserved market of teenage girls who like country music and fairytale romances (and reminiscent of early rock’s roots in genres that were neglected by mainstream pop radio at the time until being succeeded by activist punk music that rejected the theatrics and fancy production of 70s rock in favour of a DIY ethos). both were appropriate for their target audience.

in short, taylor’s brand wouldn’t have worked in 2019 and billie’s brand likely wouldn’t have worked in 2006, but they suit the atmosphere of their actual time periods. we can no more expect a star of the 00s to represent the teenagers of the current era any more than we can expect a star of the 80s to do the same. however, their popularity comes from the same sort of energy - young people wanting something outside of the contemporary mainstream that feels new and expresses the emotions they may not have been able to express themselves. while taylor represents teenage dreams, billie represents teenage rebellion and loneliness.

in addition, both have been politically active, as well as advocating for change in the music industry. taylor has a long history of fighting for artists’ rights, including not releasing her music to apple music until they agreed to pay artists during the three month trial period, the feud with spotify, and now her struggle to gain control of the masters for her first six albums. she has also expressed support for democratic politicians and social movements like black lives matter, despite people close to her expressing concerns that it would cause damage to her image or career. billie has also been vocal in supporting progressive causes, which again shows that she is a perfect representative of gen z stardom as young fans expect the celebrities they support to use their platform to speak about important issues.

the most important thing that links these two artists together is the impression of being genuine and relatable, especially for an audience of young women who feel as if their voices have not been heard or are not valued by the mainstream. another interesting note is that fans of both artists are/were mocked for being fans, which is almost certainly rooted in misogyny and the dismissal/trivialization of things that are enjoyed by teenage girls. neither of them are taken as seriously as they deserve to be.

for years, taylor’s music was generalized as only being about her ex boyfriends, and that opinion is still widespread, despite the fact she has incredible songs that weren’t written about romantic relationships. since the beginning, taylor and her fans have been relentlessly mocked and dismissed. taylor was bullied online to such an extent in 2016 that she disappeared from the public eye and released the reputation album in order to take back the narrative after being accused of lying and being a “snake” even though it was later shown that she had, in fact, been truthful about the situation. billie’s fans have also been mocked in the past, even though both artists have been revolutionizing pop music and will likely continue doing so. they have also expressed their strong support for each other in the past!

it’s truly past time that people recognize the power of young women to change the music industry and society as a whole. taylor and billie are good examples of a constantly changing music scene, and how the “faces” of music can be drastically different depending on generations and the demands of society and the industry. taylor and billie are both trailblazing trendsetters who have successfully tapped into the unique energy of youth in their own ways, and the way they seem almost like night and day shows just how different millennials and gen z are as teenagers.

#taylor swift #billie eilish #shut up arty #incoherently written music history

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studiesinconnoisseurship · 3 years

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Sicily's Triumph of Death

Triumph of Death – Palazzo Abatellis, Palermo

Palazzo Sclafani, Palermo

The Triumph of Death – il Trionfo della Morte – is a huge fresco filling most of the end wall of a large and lofty hall in Palazzo Abbatellis, the National Gallery of Sicily in Palermo. It was not painted for that room, but for a wall of the courtyard of another palazzo in the city, Palazzo Sclafani, still standing and still to be seen, though not visited, close to a public garden east of the Cathedral. That palazzo was built in 1330, originally for a Count, Matteo Sclafani, but exactly a hundred years later, in 1440, the City Administration (the Senate), wishing to rationalise its hospital provision and have one big hospital rather than seven small ones, requisitioned the palazzo, by then in a poor state, and set about converting it into the main hospital for the city. This development evidently included commissions for artists, and one of those was given to the painter of the Triumph. It is unfortunate that the commission document has never been found, but we can be thankful that aerial bombardment of Palazzo Sclafani in 1943 did not destroy, only damaged, the fresco, which was soon after removed, restored and displayed where it now is.

Details from Triumph of Death (clockwise from top): Death rides of a skeletal horse; The Fountain of Life; Death’s Victims; Lute Player

The painter’s choice of subject was a natural one for the courtyard of a hospital in those days. Sclafani’s palazzo dated from the time of the Black Death, but in Sicily, as in mainland Italy and the rest of Europe, Death in the form of plague had galloped back into people’s lives unpredictably and most often fatally ever since. Skeletal Death rides his skeletal horse full tilt across the fresco; his victims lie in a heap at the bottom of the picture. There is, however, Life, a Fountain of Life, beside which a harpist plays his silent music. Elegant ladies converse with animated gestures of shared alarm; there are men to the left, young and old, but, one observes, no children. Above the men a menacing wolfhound and another dog strain at the leash. Death, in short, threatens Life, for the mitred as for the unmitred, but Life is there. Memento Mori, you who enter this place and may not leave it alive; but remember, too, that you have lived, and life, with all its music and conversation, will continue after you.

Such is the general message. I have chosen this work as the focus of my latest Studies in Connoisseurship partly because we are living through a global pandemic. The hospitals of Palermo, as of many other cities in Italy and beyond, have once more been filled with very ill people dying, or threatened with dying, as life outside them struggles to continue.

As a connoisseur my motive is different. The fresco, unsurprisingly, has captivated many visitors and inspired some writers, but the fact that without a surviving contract or other document from the early 1440s we still do not know who painted this work surely plays its part in our fascination: we see it as a unique phenomenon, sui generis. This of course is unreal: someone painted it. Sicilians wonder if he was Sicilian. The last owner of Palazzo Sclafani lived in Spain; could he have proposed a Spanish artist? Some, bizarrely, have suggested that the painter may have come from the Netherlands. If he was Sicilian, did he afterwards leave the island to seek his fortune, like Antonello da Messina, on the mainland? Or did he come from the mainland, invited by the hospital’s rector, Pietro Speciale, or someone else who was commissioning works of art for it? A work like the Triumph of Death does not appear from nowhere; what other works by its creator preceded it?

I cannot answer these questions, but privately I have shared the quest for answers over many years, and I think I can at least contribute to our understanding of this anonymous artist by adding other works that may reasonably be attributed to him. As with all exercises in connoisseurship, what is ‘reasonable’ is what can be argued visually through juxtaposition of images.

First, a general observation should be made about the work from an aesthetic point of view. Iconographically, the Triumph of Death is well known and quite a lot has been written about antecedent examples of the theme, at the Campo Santo at Pisa, in the work of Orcagna, and elsewhere. In this case, however, the horse and the rider are not enough to pull the composition together, because all around them are disparate groups of figures and animals and objects that relate awkwardly to each other and fail to bond into a coherent whole. Whatever else he was, this artist cannot be said to be a great composer. Seen from a distance – as the fresco can be – it reminds one of some large and similarly incoherent tapestries. This is a serious defect which no doubt excludes it, as a whole, from the very highest rank of artistic achievement.

Details from Triumph of Death (clockwise from top left) – Death’s Horse; The King; a Survivor of Death; Death’s Victims

The words ‘as a whole’ are to be emphasised, though, because as soon as we draw close and our eyes take in the details (as would those of anyone standing or walking under the arcade of that hospital courtyard in 1442), they are everywhere amazed by what they discover in the sphere of draughtsmanship. There the artist excels, both in ‘disegno’, his brilliant invention of representational forms, and in the extraordinary refinement and elegance of his line, whether in the tail of the hound, the head of the horse (like something out of Guernica), in the aristocratic ladies or, most originally of all, in the heads of the dead tumbled together at the bottom. It is the quality of this artist’s drawing, rather than his colour or composition, that makes it less important that all the colour reproductions offered here are of questionable fidelity.

Comparing drawings at the Louvre (top left and top centre) with details of the noble women from Triumph of Death

Comparing the similar hand gesture of the drawing of a Lady (left) and a Survivor of Death (right)

To pick out the draughtsmanship is, I believe, to pick up the key that can unlock the mystery of what else this artist did. Over many years of intermittent study I have kept a look-out for any drawings that might be associated with him by virtue of their extreme linear elegance combined with a certain oddity. Among the drawings in the Vallardi Album at the Louvre are a few that are not by Pisanello, and among these is a pair of profiles, one of a mature Lady, the other of an older Man. The one of the Lady is the more developed and the more remarkable, for the fine lines of the hair and the purity of contour in her profile. Compare this drawing with the depiction of the aristocratic ladies in the Trionfo, especially the one seen in profile who likewise wears an eardrop, and I think a definite similarity is observable. It is confirmed when we turn to the raised left hand of the Lady in the drawing. Artists describe hands and their gestures in such interestingly different ways: this one favours two fingers (first and second) straight, two fingers (third and fourth) bent. Anyone who tries to put their own fingers into the same position will soon realise that it is not natural and not sustainable; but there it is, not only in the drawing but in the Trionfo, exactly in one instance, and to varying degrees of bentness in many more. To anyone acquainted with the history of connoisseurship this could be a textbook illustration of Giovanni Morelli’s ‘method’.

Drawing of a Man with a Fur Collar (Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München)

Comparing the Louvre Drawing (left) and Munich drawing (right) with faces from Triumph

At the Print Room at Munich (Staatliche Graphische Sammlung) there is another drawing, this time of a Man with a Fur Collar seen close-up, his head turned to our left, his neck emerging from a fur collar encircling it. this is not finished, but those fine lines drawn in long parallel strokes that distinguished the tresses of the Lady in the Vallardi Album are also here, along with a very particular shape given to the eye (upper lid and corner nearest to the nose) and to the ear, philtrum> and lips. These features are most clearly matched in the face of the young man on the extreme left of the Trionfo, and that of his companion.

Portrait of a Lady – Johnson Collection, Philadelphia

Comparing the Drawings from the Louvre (Top Left and Bottom Right) and Munich (Bottom Left) with the Painting of the Lady at Washington

At this point in my quest for drawings by the Trionfo Master the trail goes cold. There is, however, a painting in the Johnson Collection at Philadelphia, attributed, unconvincingly in my view, to Ercole de Roberti, which exhibits exactly the eye-shape, ear-shape, lips and philtrum of the Munich drawing, as well as the sharp, rounded eyebrows of the Vallardi Lady and the ear of the Vallardi Man.The Johnson painting has morphological similarities with the Trionfo, but it seems to belong to a later period, and there is reason for thinking that it does. It may indeed be the link between the Trionfo and a whole body of much later work by this artist, not in Sicily but in Ferrara.

Comparing faces with fresco in Palazzo di Schifanoia of Virgo recumbant with her Decani (bottom panels)

In the Salone dei Mesi of the Palazzo di Schifanoia in Ferrara it is possible to distinguish fairly clearly the work of Francesco del Cossa, but there is another artist, credited with many of the Months whose identity has always puzzled art historians. He has been called the ‘Maestro di Ercole’ or the ‘Maestro degli Occhi Spalancati’, but these names have not led to much development of an oeuvre for an artist of such weird imagination and invention, a man capable, as Cossa was not, of creating extraordinary images like the figure of Virgo, for August, the giant lobster, for June, or the sign of Libra, for September.

Scenes from the Fresco at Palazzo Schifanoia: Virgo in the Allegory of August (top); The Lobster from the Allegory of June (centre); Libra from the Allegory of September (bottom)

From Palazzo Sclafani to Palazzo Schifanoia is not only a leap of geography; there must also be a gap of many years, perhaps a quarter of a century. It is frustrating and unsatisfactory that there is, as yet, so little to fill that gap. I do believe, nevertheless, that Palermo and Ferrara are connected in the career of this painter. The argument depends as always on a juxtaposition such as this one: the Munich drawing, the Johnson portrait, the heads of Virgo.

Detail of Virgo (top left) to compare with the Lady in Philadelphia (top centre) and the Man in Munich (top right), and comparisons of the horse from Triumph of Death (bottom left) and horses from the Allegory of March (bottom right)

From August we can move to other Months in the astrological zodiac, and discover that the eccentricity manifest at Palermo has not deserted this artist, but it has changed. In the many years that have elapsed he has developed, for example, a bizarre way of representing drapery – like sharply creased paper folded one way and then another – and rocks – like laminated tombstones. Despite the lapse of years there is a horse’s head whose structure can still remind us of the one at Palermo.

The Allegory of August, Triumph of Ceres and representation of Virgo – Palazzo Schifanoia

The Allegory of September (top) and detail of Mars in bed with a Nymph (bottom) – Palazzo Schifanoia

There is also a change of theme. The work at Palermo is dominated, very obviously, by Death, his work at Ferrara quite largely by Sex, especially so in August. The bare-breasted figure of Ceres brandishes the reaped corn and then, recumbent, sprawls luxuriously across three divisions while looking out seductively at the spectator. In September Mars is in bed with a nymph, Ylia, and the figure of Libra is set between two figures of a physique reminiscent of male ballet dancers, their calves developed like athletes on Greek pots. Sex, yes, but also, to complete the trinity, War. There is now a definite martial streak to the artist’s imagination, no doubt fuelled by the idea of ‘triumph’ and expressed in images of Mars, Vulcan’s Forge, armour.

Detail of Vulcan’s Forge from The Allegory of September

His contributions to the Triumph scenes are at least as ill-composed as the Triumph at Palermo, but under them, in the Months, he wisely sets his figures and creatures against plain dark backdrops. We remember them all the better for their standing out pale, even white, against the deep blues and browns. At Palermo this had only begun to happen in the upper left quadrant and behind the horse.

Clearly I and others must look diligently for other works by this artist that will allow us to see how he developed between the two periods of activity and what he was doing before the first one. The drawings that I have proposed as his must belong to the earlier, Palermitan phase of his career, but how did he draw in later years? His name is more likely to be discovered by historians and archivists. I would like him to be a Sicilian – the island has too few major artists besides Antonello da Messina – but I must declare a doubt that he was. We need the evidence in any case to tell us whether he was brought to Palermo from the mainland or was native to the island at the time of the Sclafani commission. Without the facts we are left in ignorance. If the thesis presented here, of a connection between Palermo and Ferrara, should find acceptance, I hope that it will have armed us with a little more understanding of his character as an artist. He has an abundance of character. As painter, as draughtsman, as inventor of images, he appears to be one of the great eccentrics of European art, and one that can speak to us, of life and death and love, in another dark time.

#triumph of death #sicily #italian art #palazzo schifanoia #palazzo sclafani #palermo #studies in connoisseurship #connoisseurship #art history #art secrets

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kingofthewilderwest · 3 years

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I know you aren’t keen on getting a bunch of asks recommending media, but is there anything you’ve gotten into lately that you’re during to pitch to people?

Let's see. ^.^ I'm currently watching Adventure Time. This is my first time watching every episode sequentially (circa 2013 or 2014 or so, I watched a spattering of episodes out of order but never finished the show). Currently in S6. I absolutely love how the world grows in Adventure Time. You can tell the early seasons were written with little in mind, simply going out, being wild, being spontaneous, and creating a wacky, trippy world. But that turned into a world with great depth, heart, and expansion as the series continues (especially once you enter Season 5). The worldbuilding is awesomely done.

I feel like lots of shows, when they transition from "early spontaneity" to "long-term comfort," they lose something. I think of Futurama. The early seasons of Futurama are incredible because it's not formulaic to the viewer; events are unexpected; new characters are introduced rather than repeated, expected, predictable recurrences. Futurama is still a HELL of a show in its middling seasons, etc. and a fave of mine. The Office (USA) also has that challenge/loss. But damn, Adventure Time managed the transition INCREDIBLY smoothly and well, I love how you settle into the world. How you get into the depth. How you get worldbuilding. How you get into deeper story messages. And how even in the midst of all that, you still maintain that spark, that spontaneity, that uniqueness, that vibe that made me get interested in the show in the first place.

Adventure Time straddles the line between two types of off-kilter: the positive, quirky-bright off-kilter, and the slight-off-slightly-dark-off-kilter. It's great. I've also heavily appreciated the cast of characters, how there's a ton of women characters, and how they're all very interesting, in-depth, and not standard/stereotypes.

But uhhhhhh. Really my current hyperfixation is. Uh. Bluegrass. [laughter] Seriously. Bluegrass. Especially first generation bluegrass circa 1940s-1960s. I made a fuckin' sideblog intentionally to avoid folks unwantedly suffering juxtaposition of fictional fandom and music history obsessing. Heh. Hilariously, I've been timid to show the true depths of my screeching passion. Rn I'm trying to do blog clean-up and a mini-restart (halfway through retagging my posts! and planning to change how I write my posts so they're shorter, etc.), and trying to get more outgoing... because let's be real, it's going to be more entertaining if I'm gungho crying screeching infodumping unrestrained about the subject, whatever your background is on the subject. I know I enjoy reading posts on any topic if the writer is sufficiently excited, so I need to uh, channel the excitement! SO THAT'S WHAT I AM PLANNING TO DO.

And seriously that's where all my excitement in life is right now!!! It's changed my life and I'm not even joking (not gonna go into here rn why but yeah it has). Like holy shit I can't get enough of reading about these dudes from the 1950s. I can't get enough listening to them, watching videos, learning the little nothings, the stupid humorous stories, the Drama(tm) between competing bands, the development of the music, me learning how to play banjo and fiddle, writing creative stories (fics????) inspired by the topic, everything!!! I can listen to a recording and tell you which fiddler is playing in this band or which mandolin picker or which tenor is singing and probably estimate what year it was recorded because like, holy shit man, I have found my CALLING. I've started collecting 100 year old records! I'm heading to a bluegrass festival this weekend for three solid days of internal (and probably external) fanboying. Gah it's like, fucking, there's all those K-Pop fans out there and they have each other to scream with, and i'm all here by my lonesome on this fucking genre. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT IT HAS CHANGED MY LIFE FOR THE BETTER so I cannot be happier at where my mind has headed.

So if you want to uhhhh read..... THAT??!?!?!?!?! uh? I mean, I don't expect you to be interested. BUT YOU ARE WELCOME TO COME ABOARD AND POKE ME and see what the stupid fucking shit I've somehow managed to get myself into. Okay but seriously it's so coool like all the different banjo playing styles??? How many people innovated their own style and taught themselves to play? ALL THE DIFFERENT INFLUENCES THAT GO INTO BLUEGRASS MUSIC??? How it's simultaneously a hella progressively innovative music style from its inception to today while also considered USA American traditional music? How many of these songs are several hundred years old and originated as English, Scottish, and the like folk tunes? How you might find out a bluegrass song actually originated as an obscure broadway tune that got coopted, or a Jamaican folk song, or big band jazz, or...? I mean holy cow dude, music is awesome and i'm so glad that it's a major part of my life again.

a;eogiaje;roigaje;roiagjerioj I have no idea if this is anything you wanted, but that's my answer I guess! Full of incoherence. Have a great one and stay awesome.

#long post #blabbing Haddock #ask #ask me #thatbanjobusiness #that banjo business #music #Adventure Time #AT #non-dragons #awesome anonymous friend #anonymous

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hinata-mochii · 4 years

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If ur a white person who’s about to watch the Hamilton film I URGE you to educate yourself on a) how the Broadway industry is often very harmful to poc and b) just like, the general history of the founding fathers. I think it’s wonderful how Hamilton has so much poc representation in it but like. We cannot ever forget the history behind these people because it’s convenient to you. I think the founding fathers are a really interesting topic and on an intellectual level I enjoy learning about them but it is just irresponsible and disrespectful to brush aside the many horrible things they did/ benefitted from.

As a white person it is ur duty to learn how these people were really people and not just dazzling characters in a beautifully written musical, and acknowledge how they were racist ass motherfuckers and that they destroyed people’s lives, and how racism didnt end when slavery was ‘abolished’ (see: 13th amendment) but how it is still alive and rampant today. Also, do not ever excuse slavery or diminish it by saying ‘well, it was the norm back then! They were just products of their time :(‘ mmmm no. Tons of people knew slavery was wrong. Even slaveholders knew it was wrong. It’s in the Bible that owning another human being is a sin, so what did they do? They dehumanized Black people. They said it was okay, because Black people were animals, so there was nothing wrong with what they were doing, that Black people had no souls. But it was incredibly wrong, and they knew what they were doing. They just wanted to make it more convenient for them, make the pill a little easier to swallow. Just because something was widespread and accepted by law, does NOT mean it was morally correct or that the people who took part in it were innocent and couldn’t possibly be held accountable because they didn’t know what they were doing, since it was the norm. Don’t baby them like that. Supporting Hitler and being antisemitic was HUGE in nazi Germany (and sadly antisemitism has been an issue for centuries and is still also very widespread today) but did that make it okay? Go on, defend them with the same logic that you were using to defend slaveholders. You can’t. You just have more distance from it, and it’s easier to sympathize with the founding fathers- radical revolutionaries who founded this “”great”” country, vs a genocidal war criminal, which makes it harder to hold them accountable. Fine, I get it. It took me a while to learn that too. But the bottom line is, learn it. Just because they like, wrote some documents or whatever, doesn’t mean they didn’t commit horrific atrocities. It also doesn’t mean they don’t have to be held accountable for committing those atrocities. Educate urselves. ignorance is not bliss, but powerlessness.

(This got away from me a little because I tend to ramble incoherently but I hope you still got my point. )

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applesfallingfromblondehair · 3 years

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fic writer interview

(a pic to get your attention, and to remind us all of how strong a look this was--you're welcome)

Tagged by @phoenix-ascended, thank you!!

name: C (heavensfallingaroundus on AO3)

fandoms: I wrote a lot of Madderton in 2019/2020, before I lost all hope 😂 I also wrote them as David Budd and Eggsy Unwin in a Kingsman/Bodyguard crossover that is long, wonderful and tragically still unfinished to this day--but I swear we're going to finish it one day, hopefully soon. Basically what I'm trying to say is: anything with Taron Egerton, and I'm game. I also wrote some other British Actor RPF starring the usual suspects (Colin Firth, Kit Harington, etc.) and a single Achilles x Patroclus oneshot after finishing Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles. I read mostly Taron RPF (but not het stuff because it makes me uncomfortable, soz) and Hartwin--although I must admit I've not been reading as much as I would like, lately.

two-shot: What an odd question. I don't know if it counts as a two-shot, but this pair of crackficks (#sponcon) is definitely the best sorta-two-chaptered thing I've ever written, also thanks to my wonderful co-author and my favourite human on the planet, @its-a-soft-science. I'm also partial to where we're going, because it paints a version of events where everything turned out alright.

most popular multi-chapter fic: Still to this day, it's Three. If you were around when i was writing and publishing it, in the second half of 2019, you know how much that work took out of me and how I never took a break for around 6 months. It was the proverbial wild ride of my life as a fic writer, and even if I maybe think the quality of the work is not as good as it could have been, I still really love it. If you like a long and winding story, you should definitely check out Kingsman: The Highlands Liaison, which (I would like to solemnly promise once more) @misslittlefreckles and I are definitely going to finish.

actual worst part of writing: Definitely planning. I'm someone who would jump straight into writing a scene and 'go with the flow' most of the time, letting the inspiration lead me here or there... but in most cases one definitely needs to plan, cross the t's and dot the i's to make sure that there are no plotholes, incoherences of any kind, etc. And then probably the second worst part of writing is when you can't. The ol' WB is a bee in my bonnet at the moment, and I can't wait for it to pack its bags and fuck off.

how you choose your titles: Song titles and lyrics all the way. Music is a huge part of my creative process.

do you outline: Like I said--I don't love doing it, but I recognize the benefits in doing it, so the answer's yes.

ideas you probably won’t get around to, but wouldn’t it be nice: Goddamnit, I have a list in my phone notes app all about this. Let's see: a third and fourth installment of this Madderton wedding series (I had started writing a stag do part 3 but I never got anywhere with it), a fic on the wild night before Carpool Karaoke (they reportedly got blind drunk and they looked like the most fucked out + hungover pair of lovebirds ever on the day), a massive AU that I'd plotted a year and a half ago where Taron is a bit of an Eggsy character (estate kid with an abusive family history getting in serious trouble) and Richard his slightly older and incredibly competent hot daddy lawyer, several Christmas stories based on popular Christmas flicks, and finally another massive AU, which I'm not telling you anything about because it might well happen at some point in the near future.

callouts @ me: People definitely seem to have beef with me not jumping on the Richard/F**y train. To all my haters, a kind reminder to live and let live xoxo

best writing traits: I tend to use language that is a bit baroque sometimes but it also tends to go down pretty well. I've also been told I can successfully build up a lot of tension and then deliver on it quite effectively.

spicy tangential opinion: After almost 2 years of waiting for it, the Madden CK campaign is terribly underwhelming. The definition of overpromising and underdelivering.

Tagging @himbomcavoy, @taste-thewaste, @johaeryslavellan, @zebraljb

#self promo #fic #writing #fic writing #tag

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