#there’s even a ska-punk song on the track list if you’re into that

[sareisnot]

HELLMODE: Relief Through Solidarity

I originally wrote this as the #2 entry on a top 10 albums of 2023 list that I was writing, but decided that I wanted to post this as its own thing.

I absolutely adore punk. Of all the music out there, it's probably the flavor that has to do the least to get me to like it. That’s not a knock against it. It’s just that the fundamentals of punk music hit all the right buttons in my brain. The raucous attitude, the blisteringly fast pace, the aggression, the chaos, the sheer unrelenting ENERGY. Of course, I love it when artists innovate within that lane, and you gotta put on a good performance, but if you’re hitting those buttons, I’m probably gonna be jammin’ regardless. But there’s one feeling that, in my humble opinion, the best kind of punk music taps into: solidarity. It’s that feeling of “I’m with you, I get it, now lets take all that ‘it’ and put it out into the world as pure musical aggression.” Nowadays, I feel like there’s a lot of people who could do with a bit of solidarity, a bit of “I get it.” If you are one of those people, might I recommend a 41 minute dose of Jeff Rosenstock?

On its surface, HELLMODE isn’t doing anything super novel. It’s the ska-influenced, group chorus-heavy punk rock that Rosenstock’s known for. It still has that same, boisterous, youthful, defiant energy as always, if the hot-pink cover is anything to go by. The subject matter hasn’t even really changed that much. On a surface level, Rosenstock is covering all the same things that he’s covered before; relationships, personal and societal angst, and all the frustrations that come with being alive in today’s world. Some might even call the album juvenile; “Jeff, you’re 41, why are you even making this kind of music anyway?” But I would argue against that perspective. Rosenstock may be treading on familiar ground, but his position comes from a more mature, knowledgeable place. He approaches things like personal angst and relationship troubles from the view of someone who’s gone through it all before, granting him an arsenal of experiential wisdom. While a track such as “LIKED U BETTER'' might seem kind of asinine on its own, when it's placed in the context of the album, the other songs lend it an emotional richness (That’s probably why I wasn’t super into the singles on their own, they are very dependent on the surrounding album). Though the closing track might proclaim “Stay young until you die” I get the feeling that aging a bit is what’s allowed Jeff Rosenstock to produce skate-punk rockers, as well as doll out some solid advice along the way.

That aforementioned solidarity permeates throughout the entire record, with Rosenstock approaching these broadly relatable feelings with an attitude of “You’re feeling this too right?” Second-person pronouns are all over this record, as Jeff sings about his varying anxieties, both societal and personal. Sometimes he’s looking to spread some wisdom, like on “DOUBT” where he encourages crushing those anxieties, or on “GRAVEYARD SONG,” where he takes on the role of my extremely frustrated therapist, screaming at me to cut those toxic influences out of my life. Sometimes, like on “FUTURE IS DUMB” and “I WANNA BE WRONG,” his insight comes in the form of just stating plainly what he’s feeling, trusting that his audience shares in his experience. A lot of the album is just Jeff bluntly stating “Yeah, everything kinda sucks right now.” But despite that bluntness, and the furiosity which carries much of the album, there’s a comfort to be found in HELLMODE, as a vehicle to channel those persistent anxieties.

Speaking frankly, I really needed HELLMODE this year. Maybe in a year that was more personally tranquil, it wouldn't have hit as hard as it did. But when you’re in the throes of emotional turmoil, compounded by the steadily increasing dread from living in a world which is, at the best of times, distressing, there’s real value to be found in music which feels intent on saying “I feel it too.” I often felt like this album was talking directly to me, like I was confiding in a good friend on just how screwed up everything feels. But, I’d like to end this segment with something a bit more uplifting. Just after the midpoint of the album comes “HEALMODE,” wherein Rosenstock describes a simple scene: “Perfect rainy days where all you need is me, and all I need is you.” It’s a peaceful song, in contrast with the rest of the album’s blood pumping skate-punk, and, despite being ostensibly personal, it still feels like a statement: “There are good feelings to be found in this world, and finding them is more than possible.” Solidarity comes from shared struggle, but what it produces is hope. Hope for a future in which we all attain our very own healmode. So to Jeff Rosenstock, I send a hearty thank you. I’m going to go chase my very own healmode, with the help of some “HELLMODE” along the way.

#punk rock #punk #pop punk #punk music #jeff rosenstock #hellmode #indie music #indie #indie rock #new music #music #music writing #music recs #songs #music blog

[itsdoctorcat]

song recommendation of the day: Pash Rash by Jeff Rosenstock

My trajectory is crystal clear / I can see it in the stars / That frame the shame above my neck / That frame the shame above my neck

Pash Rash is a wonderfully upbeat and very short punk rock anthem released by Jeff Rosenstock, who I personally think is one of the most important artists of the modern punk scene. The song is awesome if you want a quick pick-me-up in mood, and if you’re a drummer it’s an entertaining one to learn (since the rhythm changes slightly every 10 or so seconds). I personally listen to this before any big outing or in the mornings before busy days to get myself feeling good. It’s also easy to memorise and chant along to.

If you’re into punk rock or power pop, check out the rest of his album, WORRY, which is a silly but brilliant mish-mash of synths, fun drum lines, provocative lyrics and pop-punk chants. As the title suggests, the album takes on different sources of worry in Rosenstock’s life, especially tackling financial anxiety and the fear of figuring out how to survive the future. It was really hard for me to actually pick a song out of the album to recommend since all of them are gems (especially Festival Song, We Begged 2 Explode, HELLLLHOOOLE and Wave Goodnight To Me imo).

If you liked this rec, feel free to check my others with the #srotd tag :]

#jeff rosenstock #punk rock #power pop #pop punk #indie rock #srotd #song recs #music #WORRY. #there’s even a ska-punk song on the track list if you’re into that #ska-punk #music recommendation #song recommendation #doc rambles #I ended up picking pash rash due to its personal significance to me #bring that this is one of the first songs I learned on drums for my band #we never actually got to play it but I still practice it all the time #Spotify

[translationandbetrayals]

Satoru Kosaki: a Modern Anime Composer

fading memories

I don’t remember the first time I listened to a Satoru Kosaki composition. I think it might have been in Youtube, probably in a Loquendo or anime related video, and I know for sure that it was before watching any of the anime he actually scored. Nonetheless, I am also sure that I was impacted by them as soon as I became familiar with any of those themes, which wasn’t really hard considering how recurrent they were within the anime and early video-making community. I’m talking 2008-to-2012 kind of old.

The tracks were immediately recognizable and memorable, and while I wasn’t even initially aware they came from anime (I, for some reason, assumed they were public domain compositions, perhaps because of their repeated use), for better or worse, I ended up growing to like them, as funny and engaging. So that was effective.

I would later realize most of the themes I ended up accustomed to came from one source: the Lucky Star soundtrack, plus some of the Haruhi OSTs that might have been used too. Lucky Star is, if someone happens to not know about it, a comedy anime, which aims for mostly a familiar, comfortable ambience that I think gets captured perfectly in its OST. In fact, I think few OSTs come even close to the specific area Lucky Star’s so successfully hits.

Perhaps the exception could be the Azumanga Daioh OST, which might have been an influence based on the fact both works had the same music production company, Lantis, and that the very style of Lucky Star is quite similar as Azumanga’s, even adaptation wise, as both are 4-koma adapted as full-time weekly television slots.

lucky cool star

Now I’ve been talking about Satoru Kosaki scoring work. It is popular and good enough and as I said his work in Lucky Star is longstanding. But if you’re anywhere familiar with Lucky Star as a show you might be wondering about another thing. Who composed that motherflippin’ crazy OP theme? Was it Kosaki? Well yes it was.

There’s also some comparison to Azumanga Daioh, in that it presents a similarly crazed tune, but it also goes nuts in a different direction to Azumanga’s Soramimi Cake. While Soramimi Cake has an olden soul, closer to a folksy euro-japo mesh with nonsensical lyrics (think yodeling+enka), Motteke! Sailor Fuku sounds more like a cocaine driven hardcore edm moe hip-hop meltdown. Now this sounds more like a song that will revolutionize the industry and become a blueprint for following modern anime songs to come. And so it was, basically. After Lucky Star, everyone wanted to have their own deranged cutesy anime themes. And so you can blame Kosaki for your Umaru-chans, Nyarukos, Go! Go! Maniacs, etc.

Something that must be stressed about Kosaki’s theme for Lucky Star is that, on top of being so amazingly crazy and addictive, it was good music too. It was very well arranged and composed, and you should be thankful that he decided to bless us with equally amazing music, and even mentored or accompanied fellow artists that took on a similar approach to anime compositions. And that’s how MONACA enters the picture, as an active music collective of which Kosaki is part, that has had a hand, either by its members, or together as a group, in some of the most remarkable musical productions of recent times, even outside anime. (And like half of these are Hidekazu Tanaka’s... should I make a post about him?)

MONACA! with Kosaki at the middle-left

One of the most defining features of Kosaki’s work is his versatility. I have mostly talked about the Lucky Star music, but that should not be taken as his only reference. He’s able to manage climactic action just as well as the comfortable and funny.

Broadcast episode 12, Live Alive, is to me the actual climax of the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. I don’t know if the same effect would’ve been accomplished without its signature insert song, now one of the most popular anisongs ever: God Knows, sung by Aya Hirano, who voices Haruhi in the show. It is likely you have listened to God Knows before, after all, it was at one time the most viewed anime related song in Youtube, and its popularity has gone way beyond the -admittedly already popular- source material.

god knows this is good

And this versatility affects not only the scope of his dramatic sensibilities, but also the stylistic elements of his work, which takes on a variety of musical genres. And that is just evident by looking at his anime song work, which even outside of the Lucky Star fusion finds moe-sung ska-punk, soviet-inspired funky metal mashups, hip-hop crossover anthems, PLATINUM DISCO, borderline outsider music, avant-pop delusion, epic rocking tracks, some idol music masterpieces, and of course, classic, straight melancholic J-pop.

This variety in style becomes even clearer when looking at his OST work, which tends to be wildly eclectic, either by his MONACA collaborations (like the soundtracks to Kizumonogatari, Beastars, or the Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya movie), or simply by virtue of his own character, in the various projects he scored individually (such as the aforementioned Haruhi and Lucky Star, or Bakemonogatari).

For example, the Kizumonogatari tracks which he composed include funny elevator jazz, french-spoken bossa, suspenseful ambient music, and sentimental, classical inspired stuff. I also really enjoy the Beastars work he’s done and I take it as proof he hasn’t gone stale, quite the opposite. He seems way more confident now in approaching different, out-there styles and arrangements, while also portraying a somewhat amusing maturity: he sounds to me a lot more like the Kuricorder Pops Orchestra or Oranges & Lemons, through the now classic Kosaki trademark nonetheless. And it’s probably because of his established success that he’s able to indulge in such styles now, while still maintaining his high profile as a popular music composer.

kiss-shot acerola-orion heart-under-blade

Even if you are not very well versed in anime, or even if you don’t like anime at all, but partake in current youth culture, it’s most likely that you’ve heard something made by him. Be it by memes referencing Kosaki’s past works, by the liberal use of his music to accompany mid-level internet content, or by his presence as a composer in some of the most successful and far-reaching anime today, such as Beastars and the Monogatari Series, his work has its footprints all around popular media. And I’m thankful that it happened this way, as he ended up enriching something I dearly know and love: the modern anime music industry.

our lord speaking

Salvador González Turrientes

Sources and recommended additional material:

A summary of Kosaki's first of many appearances in Anisong Station 

His second appearance in Anisong Station, in which he talks about Lucky Star 

Another Anisong Station episode, featuring Lantis founder Shunji Inoue 

Satoru Kosaki’s VGMdb entry, which credits -in English- most of his video game and anime music appearances

The Wikipedia article, duh

The official Monaca profile list, including an archive of his body of work (in Japanese)

#Anime #Japan #personalstory #submission

[targentis]

some underrated artists for y’all

this is gonna be a long post, obviously, so i’m putting it all under the cut. enjoy! all these artists have my seal of approval, as in, i absolutely love almost every song they’ve ever made, which is quite the achievement because i am very picky.

here’s a link to a playlist i’ve made out of all of the tracks i’m mentioning below!: (spotify) (youtube)

Skott

you will hear me singing her praises until the end of time. Skott grew up in Dalarna, Sweden, and wasn’t exposed to mainstream pop music until she was a teenager. she actually started out composing soundtracks for video games, and her current music really reflects that style, even if it’s a completely different genre. now she makes beautiful, atmospheric pop music, and it’s my FAVORITE. her vocals are haunting, and her instrumentation even more so.

top fave tracks: Glitter & Gloss, Mermaid, This Vibe, Wolf

The Vincent Black Shadow

they’re ancient. they haven’t released any new music since like 2011. BUT. BUT!! LISTEN TO ME. every song they HAVE released? an absolute bop. a total banger. i am in love with their sound. it’s a very wide-spanning mix of genres, self-described as “blending a visual style influenced by European cabaret of the 1930s with music that's a spirited gumbo of pop, punk, metal, and ska,” but don’t let that long list overwhelm you--it’s all very cohesive. take a listen for yourself.

top fave tracks: Stupid Intruders, Don’t Make Me So Mad, Dig Dig Dig, Metro

Faye Webster

i don’t know what to categorize her music as? i’ve heard it classed as folk and R&B. well, either way--the first time i heard her music, i didn’t think i’d like it. but there’s a hypnotic quality about it that’s kind of addictive. it’s ALMOST country, y’all. she’s from Atlanta, Georgia and you can hear the yee haw influence. but it’s so soft and dreamy, you forget what you’re listening to. 

top fave tracks: She Won’t Go Away, Give Me a Chance*, Room Temperature, Right Side of My Neck

*sorry to those listening to the YouTube playlist--couldn’t find a non-live version of this song!

The Unlikely Candidates

there’s only one way i can describe their music, and that’s FRESH. The Unlikely Candidates make rock music that’s wonderfully melodic and expertly produced. you know what they sound like? they sound like Imagine Dragons if Imagine Dragons wasn’t overplayed and actually made creative decisions. also, their vocalist kind of sounds like Brendon Urie. just sayin.

top fave tracks: World in My Pocket, Call My Name, Danger To Myself, Reaction

Amaranthe

you think i could make this post without recommending Amaranthe? they’ve been one of my favorite bands since 2015. i’ve been giving this schtick to everyone i meet. they make melodic pop metal, and it slaps. they have three vocalists: two clean, melodic vocalists, and one growler. Elize Ryd’s singing is literally the best i’ve EVER heard. their lyrics are really cheesy and don’t really make any sense, but honestly? their sound makes up for it so much. what i��ve learned from years of recommending them is that they’re an Acquired Taste, but why not try them out?

top fave tracks: Army of the Night, Amaranthine, Afterlife, Unreal

#descussion #des recs #music #skott #the vincent black shadow #faye webster #the unlikely candidates #amaranthe #can you tell ive been wanting to make this post for a while hddhbbhf i just love them bro!!

[simon-egg]

Gary King - Playlist

I have created a spotify playlist of songs that particularly resonate with The World's End's main man - Gary King. Gary is an incredibly complex and deeply emotional character, a cool (or at least he tries to be) but broken man. In a strange way, watchers of the film may kind of want to be like him but at the same time would hate to become him. He's an asshole but it is understood why he does what he does. Yes, some of his actions are inexcusable but despite that, most of us can not help wanting him to find some form of happiness. In the end he ultimately finds and deserves happiness. When it comes down to it I love Gary King and here is my playlist of songs that particularly apply to him and his story.

The playlist - spotify link

Below the bar, I have listed the songs on the playlist and my reasoning for including them on the list. Some of these songs appeared in the movie (bigger text), the rest really resonate with the story and would fit on the soundtrack. This took me a while.

Firstly I have to point out that I have chosen these songs in a particular order - an order of which kind of follows the emotions and events in the film. That and music tastes are opinionated, although I love these songs, they are all of a similar style and vibe that fits Gary, whether you like them or not is up to you - mostly punk, ska, goth, new wave and alternative rock. I wanted to choose iconic artists too such as The Doors, Ramones, New Order, Sisters of Mercy, Queen, Joy Division and The Rolling Stones.

Any relevant lyrics I will include in my explanations in italics.

Loaded - Primal Scream

The World’s End begins with this song so it seems fitting that the playlist should do so too. Not only that but it is a fantastic song, of which Edgar and Simon have said that this is a song which Gary particularly takes the lyrics to heart.

we wanna be free, we wanna be free to do what we wanna do And we wanna get loaded and we wanna have a good time And that's what we're gonna do

- and that is something that Gary Precisely sets out to do.

I Want To Break Free - Queen

… I had to include a Queen song on this list and more than anything at the beginning of the film, Gary wants to break free and do whatever he wants, regardless of the consequences.

I’m Free - Mono - The Rolling Stones

Once Gary is out of the psych ward/ hospital and has managed to convince his friends to come with him on his wild adventure he plays this song in his car in the film. 

The first free songs on this playlist follow a theme 

(loaded) - he realises that he wants to be free

(I want To Break Free) - He knows that he needs to be free 

(I’m Free) - He becomes free.

I'm free to do what I want any old time

Friday Night - Saturday Morning - The Specials

A song with a really cool vibe about a man going out drinking with his friends and getting really really drunk... sound familiar? Also The events of The World’s End occur on a Friday Night/ Saturday Morning.

I go out on Friday night and I come home on Saturday morning...

Too Much Too Young - The Specials

Another song by The Specials, now this one really applies to Gary. It’s a song about a man who doesn’t want to grow up and is mocking his friends for doing so. All of Gary’s friends have grown up - wives, kids, jobs e.c.t, Gary doesn’t seem to grasp why his friends have done this, even mocking them for doing so.

You done too much much too young You're married with a kid when you could be having fun with me You done too much much too young Now you're married with a son when you should be having fun with me

So Young - Suede

Continuing with the young theme, Gary is utterly desperate to return to his teenage self and this a song about being young, reckless and free.

Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) - The Doors

Absolutely fantastic song! This song is used in the film just after the gang find out about the aliens and carry on the pub crawl, so not to look suspicious. The scene in question is really well choreographed in time with the music and has to be one of my favourite scenes of the film.

The song has a really cool, sinister vibe and really applies to the story. Well, it’s a song that involves the compulsive need to go to multiple different bars in one night. If the person/ people in the song don’t make it to the next whisky bar they ‘must die’. In he case of those in the World’s End, not continuing the crawl could mean literal death or metaphorical in Gary’s case as he is so desperate to complete the crawl.

Oh, show me the way to the next whiskey bar Oh, don't ask why, no, don't ask why For we must find the next whiskey 

Or if we don't find the next whiskey bar I tell you we must die, I tell you we must die I tell you, I tell you, I tell you we must die

Blue Monday - New Order

Okay I love this song, it’s an absolute banger and the vibe it has is so atmospheric! That and the lyrics do remind me of Gary.

Those who came before me lived through their vocations From the past until completion, they'll turn away no more And still I find it so hard to say what I need to say But I'm quite sure that you'll tell me just how I should feel today

...

Tell me, how do I feel

Tell me now, how should I feel

...

Tell me how does it feel, when your heart grows cold, grows cold, cold

More - Sisters of Mercy

Gary’s favourite band is Sisters of Mercy, I had to include something from them, that and this is a good song...

This song also has the lyric ‘And I need all the love I can get’ repeated, Gary certainly needs all the love he can get.

Too Drunk to Fuck - Dead Kennedys

The title says it all... too drunk to fuck...

As I mentioned, I wanted the songs to follow in a particular order - how the film goes. 9 songs out of 15 in and at this point the gang are absolutely hammered. Probably represents the gang in The Mermaid.

I Wanna Be Sedated - Ramones

Great and classic Ramones tune. Giving off Gary vibes again - the feeling of not wanting to be conscious or wanting to be so out of it and numb is a feeling that Gary sadly seems to want to feel.

Hurry hurry hurry, before I go insane I can't control my fingers, I can't control my brain Oh no oh oh oh oh

Disorder - Joy Division

When thinking of how this song relates to The World’s end, think of the scene towards the end when Andy is desperately trying to stop Gary from drinking that final pint. Andy notices the bandages and hospital tag around his wrist and Gary breaks down. As a song, disorder is energetic, slowly building up to a big emotional conclusion, like a breakdown, just like in the scene.

i’ve got the spirit, but lose the feeling, I've got the spirit, but lose the feeling, Feeling, feeling, feeling, feeling, feeling, feeling, feeling.

Fall Back Down - Rancid

The next three songs are more about the interesting relationship between Gary and Andy. I feel like this song is appropriate at the end, when the three remaining Musketeers are arguing with the network and Andy is sticking up for Gary even after all they have been through.

Andy: ‘he is a bit of a cock, but he's my cock!’

Okay now, the lyrics to this song really apply to Gary and especially Gary and Andy.

Don't worry about me I'm gonna make it alright Got my enemies cross-haired and in my sight I take a bitter situation gonna make it right In the shadows of darkness I stand in the light Ya see it's our style to keep it true I had a bad year, a lot I've gone through I've been knocked out, beat down, black and blue

If I fall back down You're gonna help me back up again If I fall back down You're gonna be my friend

Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve)? - The Buzzcocks

An iconic and energetic punk tune. When it comes down to it Gary loves Andy and Andy loves Gary. Look, love can mean a lot of things, when I say they love each other that kind of love is up to your interpretation... aka it doesn’t necessarily mean they must romantically love each other. If you interpret it as romantic love, that’s fine too. I do certainly think that Andy must somewhat know that his love for Gary spells bad news.

(Gary talking about Andy):  ‘I loved him and I'm not being funny, he loved me too.’...

You spurn my natural emotions You make me feel like dirt and I'm hurt And if I start a commotion I run the risk of losing you and that's worse

Outlaws - Green Day 

This is the most modern song on the playlist by far (though it still carries the same vibe) but dudes, it is such a relevant song to Gary and Andy. 

It is about two childhood friends who were rebels that did everything together, they were young and free and wild. Then they grew up. The person the song was about (in this case, Gary) changed/ never changed when they should have and is now a lost individual.

Life after youth Faded in twilight The dawn of a criminal in bloom First love First forgiveness We were delinquents Freaks of a faded memory

Outlaws, when we were forever young When we were outlaws We're outlaws of redemption, baby Hooligans We destroyed suburbia When we were outlaws Outlaws of forever

I found a knife by the railroad track You took a train and you can't go back

Forever now, forever now you'll roam...

Yes the song finishes with the lyric ‘forever now you’ll roam’ and the film finishes with Gary essentially roaming indefinitely. Neat.

Electricity - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the dark (OMD)

As the aliens leave so do all the technological advancements they brought with them, sending earth back to the ‘dark ages’. This song is about electricity, our reliance on it and loosing power.

Are Friends Electric? - Gary Numan/ Tubeway Army

By the end of film Gary is left with his only friends being the blanks. These are not human and it’s questionable whether they’re even alive or capable of being emotional, free-thinking or intelligent. Although he’s happy in a sad kind of way he’s still alone.

Also the lyric ‘there’s a man outside in a gray hat, long coat, smoking a cigarette’ sounds like Gary when he turned up at The Rising Sun (the pub at the end). Other than smoking, he was wearing a long coat and a gray hat.

This Corrosion - Sisters Of Mercy

This was the last song that was featured in The World’s End, over the wonderful scene when Gary and the blanks arrive at the pub, asking for 5 waters and starting a fight. It's an optimistic song because who wants to end on a sad note, right? That and it’s Sisters of Mercy again, Gary’s favourite band.... and it’s a fantastically powerful song.

#let me know what you think of the post/ playlist please #the world's end #the cornetto trilogy #gary king #simon pegg #Andrew knightly #my pegg post

[savagegardenforever]

Savage Garden - Open-Ended Interview disc

 Track 1) About: To The Moon And Back

 Darren: To The Moon And Back, I guess, um...  one of our... favorite songs only because it was written very early on in the piece. Um...  It was on our first demo and probably the reason why we got a record deal. Um...  It was initially a piece of music that Daniel showed to me and it was pretty complete. I think that my job was really simple. I took it away and uh...  the next day I had the melody and the lyric and just sang it and uh...  we both had goosebumps.

 Daniel: This was the song I had to sort of fight for, to get onto the demo tape because I believed in it so much. It...  went to number one. Three years ago, I said, "This is gonna go to number one." So it actually did, throughout the whole of Australia, it went to number one.

 Darren: One thing we didn't say about To The Moon And Back was the fact that it was *incredibly hard* to record because the demo was so...  perfect. It was a really simple song and it had out of key singing in the demo...  um...  had cheap keyboard sounds, but it was so believable. And that's the reason why everyone hooked on that song. And recording To The Moon And Back , we really tried to jazz it up, change it, and make it this and make it that and we almost lost it. I think we only just got To The Moon And Back.

 Track 2) Have You Always Been Pop Fans?

 Darren: I'd have to say that I definitely was a pop fan um...  because I grew up, you know, I was born in 1972 and I watched the whole pop thing happen. I think that the album that changed my life wasn't The Beatles, it was Prince's Purple Rain...  um...  y'know, Duran Duran...  "Pretty in Pink" was one of my favorite teen films, so yeah, I was living and breathing the whole Flu-Row experience, I guess. (Editors Note: possibly a reference to "Yuppie Flu" - 80s media slang for chronic fatigue syndrome, which affected many young people during this period.)

Daniel (laughs): Pop definitely not all the time for me. Um...  I went through a phase of ska and punk, "oi!" music for a while there when I was a teenager, but what that did is open up a lot of various types of influences throughout my music. Um...  and I think it's done, y'know, not a bad job.

 Track 3) About: Carry On Dancing

 Daniel: Carry On Dancing... very grand, very avant-garde, very over-the-top. Expels a lot of Darren's inner personality. I love the combination of strings and pianos. Uh... in the recording process, we managed to get some timpani samples and some... uh... castanets and what not, so uh... this...  we just tried to make this bigger than life.

 Darren: Um... I think Carry On Dancing is probably *my* favorite track on the record. It just jumps out at you and uh... I remember hearing the finished mix and...  it was bigger than I'd hoped it could get. It was just... um... it just feels so grandiose; I think that's a good word for it. When I hear it, I see things like um...  a masquerade ball in the 18th century and a werewolf or a vampire perhaps outside stalking the people inside. It's a very uh... moody track and it's one that I love to sing live.

 Track 4) What's The Difference In Your Personalities? - Darren

 Darren: I think Carry On Dancing sums up my personality in the way that it is theatrical... it is grandiose. You know, it's got the big breakdance section in the middle, with the claps and the castanets. And uh... I guess it sums up my interest in vampires and that kind of thing. (both laugh)

 Track 5) What's The Difference In Your Personalities? - Daniel

 Daniel: I'm probably a lot more introverted than Darren. Um... I sit on things perhaps a little longer. I… take things away. I'm a Cancer, which is a star sign. I'll go in, walk sideways into it, grab it, walk sideways out of it, and then get back and think about what I've just done. There is a difference, it's very, very hard to put... it into words from my point of view but...

 Darren: I think the difference is that I'm impulsive and you're not, but being impulsive is very dangerous anyway, so...  (laughs)

 Daniel: Yeah, I'll think... I digest things perhaps a little longer than Darren would.

 Track 6) About: Tears Of Pearls

 Darren: Tears Of Pearls... um... it's funny, I love the track listing of the Australian album. It's actually different to the rest of the world. To me, it starts off with...  To The Moon And Back and we hear the strings and Carry On Dancing comes in at full force, and Pearls carries it along. It's... again, we hear the strings section. Um...  it was a very different song. I mean, once again, this was a piece of music that Daniel showed to me. We were driving in his car once and...  we were never really that keen on it, and it changed a lot during the recording process, and Charles Fisher did a wonderful job of producing...  just the little things in that track... like there's a string line which is in unison with my melody. There's a glockenspiel in the chorus. It was all very...  um...  Diana Ross and The Supremes, Motown kind of production values which we'd talked a little bit about. Um...  it's nice. It's a got a real Eastern feel to it now in the guitar solos and um... I think it's quite exciting. And once again, live...  it really um...  there's a lot of adrenaline there. I like it.

 Daniel: It is a good live song. Um...  I don't... actually recall writing it. For some strange reason, I can't remember writing this song. And it sort of popped up in the recording process, and it was a few people's favorites within their companies, and Charles and the people that we were dealing with. And I, I just didn't know where it had come from. It'd come out of nowhere. But I did like the change that it took in the recording session with the Eastern feel, the... the guitar riffs and the intros. Um...  it was a... sort of a technical thing, and one of the... the bottom E string was actually tuned to a D...   um...  I think accidentally. And it was... actually sounded a little sitar-y like, um...  and it worked.

 Track 7) Why Did You Choose A Career In Music?

 Darren: I think... I didn't choose it. Neither of us chose this career, but for different reasons, I think. Daniel didn't choose to be a musician because… it was almost like a family tradition. I didn't choose it because from as young as I can remember, every time I saw anyone on television or went to a concert, I was secretly substituting myself there. I've always been a voyeur. I've always stood outside a concert or a performance and thought, "I wish that was me,"or if that "was me, what would I do?" so I can't answer that question. I think the whole reason I'm doing this is the answer to that question. I think once I get to a point which is, I don't know, worldwide success or something, it will actually teach me something. I think I have to learn something about this career, and I'm not sure what that is.

 Daniel: I think I actually got into making music before that I actually got into listening to music. And I still don't listen to a hell of a lot of music these days. It's a bizarre thing. I think from a lot of covers bands in previous days learning a thousand songs kind of burnt you out very quickly on what...  what we had a chance to listen to. So I've still yet to experiment with music that I really, really love.

 Track 8) About: I Want You (Part 1)

 Daniel: I Want You... this took 3, 4 different avenues in the writing process. Um... it's actually given us the opportunity to write 2 or 3 other songs out of it. Great one for live, since how it was a good single. The people love it. It's a really good song.

 Darren: I think I Want You is really special. I think that it has such a unique sound, and once again, I sometimes don't even feel responsible for it, because I listen to the CD in context and it always seems to jump out at you. I think it was a really obvious choice for a first single. I think it's got a hell of a lot of personality. I'm really proud of just the production value and I love the blend of the vocals. There's about 12 vocals in the chorus, um... all double- tracked and harmonized. And the vocal in the verse is so fast and so um... intricate and it always seems to fascinate people, and I like it.

 Track 9) About: I Want You (Part 2)

 Darren: It just seemed to happen. I remember (sighs) coming back... the next day in the little room out in the front and sort of singing it. It was really quickly written, to be honest. I mean, we... I think I sang this song 2 days before we flew to Sydney to record the record. And we had it on TDK tape, (Daniel, in the background: That's right, in bed) just on a TDK tape. And it was the least produced or finished demo that we had for this record and was, in fact, almost shelved. It was... we tentatively put it up for selection, and it was politely looked at but sort of sat by the wayside. But by the time we recorded about 8 tracks, I guess we just slipped it in and...  somehow it was assumed that we'd record this one and it, it seemed to uh... turn out really well.

 Track 10) Do You Remember The Day You Met?

 Darren: Absolutely. Um... it was probably one of those turning points in your life. I think you... meet a few special people in your life - one of them would be your soul-mate, and one would be that special person that you would connect with. And I think Daniel is probably one of those people. Um... I saw an ad in a music trader for a band that needed a singer, and I called Daniel up and there was about 5 or 6 ads I could have chosen. I chose his ad. It was the first audition I ever went to. Um... when I spoke to him on the phone, I clicked, and even after the audition, I remember leaving his house, I went to a restaurant with a friend of mine and I actually said to her, "I think that I'm gonna be really successful. Like I can feel it in my bones. Just from meeting this person."

 Daniel: Hmmm... I definitely remember the phone call. Um... that was the first thing... the first time I've ever heard someone speak so humble, yet he had a , he had a little  power in his voice that I just picked up on and loved. And actually to the point where he came around and I met with him. It wasn't a definite "Oh, of course." It was "There's something happening here, y'know something happening." And once he sang, I realized he had y'know a superb voice. Um... the relationship sort of tended to grow from there.

 Track 11) About: Truly Madly Deeply

 Darren: Truly Madly Deeply is... one of our favorite songs. It's strange, this one, because before we recorded the record, it was a very different song. It was Faster, it had a completely different chorus. And during the process of recording the record, I guess we changed a lot. We'd...  (sighs) been relocated to Sydney. We were there for 8 months. It was the first time either of us had really left our families. Um... we were living in a one bedroom apartment, on each other's...  case every day. It was quite a stressful situation, and...  it was the last song that we recorded for the record. And I think, we talk about this now, even though it's a love song and it's based on a very personal experience, it's still a song about being homesick for us actually, just about the people that you love. And uh... we re-wrote it, and it...  suddenly the tempo came down. The chorus lyric changed... um... and it was a real surprise. It was intended to be a very quiet, down-key finish to the record. And um...   that's how we tried to produce it. And... during the recording process, it just showed itself as a much stronger track, and uh... when we looked at the finished record, we realized it was probably one of the strongest tracks... on there.

 Daniel: There was a day when um... Charles and I were just hanging around, not really doing much in the studio, and uh, we had this song, Tru - uh...  Magical Kisses it was called and uh... we wanted to play around with it a little bit. And we found a loop from um...  some CD there and it was like...  really slow, and we were trying to put it to this track and it just wasn't working. So we said, "Well, why don't we slow the whole song down so it fits this loop?" And that was the way it sort of ended up getting, you know, half the speed that, that it started out with. And it was a bonus. It just came out of nowhere. A definite bonus.

 Darren: I remember I wrote the chorus... in...  I think it's called Bayswater Brasserie... on um... Bayswater Road (Daniel, in the background: Bayswater, yeah) by Sydney...  um over a cappuccino and...  we actually had... um a keyboard and everything set up on in the hotel and I went back and we sort of sang the song. (Daniel, in the background: Yeah) And it just seemed right. And suddenly this song was a much more credible, believable song than Magical Kisses had ever been, (Daniel, in the background: Yeah) and it was because it was from the heart.

 Track 12) Did You Imagine A Career Together In Music?

 Darren: I don't think there was ever a stage when we decided that it was started...  and that's why I think there'll never be a stage when we realize that it's over. I think it will just happen. It's like...  we decided to invest a night to write a song together and see how it went, and that song was A Thousand Words, and it's a song that's on this record. And we were so confident after that, that we just decided to come back to each other's house every day. And really that's all this band has been. It's just a decision for both of us to keep coming back every day and keep doing it. But now we have a record deal. (Daniel, in the background: Mmm) Now we have an album out.

 Daniel: Now we have to do it. (both laugh)

 Darren: But it was always just... um... wow, that was promising - lets, let's keep doing it. And then, before we knew it, we were a band and we were...  you know, we had a record deal and we had songs on the radio.

 Daniel: In some way I enjoy going for my goals than actually getting my goals. I think the struggle of achieving something...  is a hell of a lot more rewarding while you're doing it because it happens gradually, rather than just...  I mean winning the lotto I wouldn't be...  a struggle, would it? And it would be... it would happen fairly easy, where working up to earn, you know, if money is your success, a million dollars, then I guess th-that's probably more enjoyable and it will take a lot longer and you would look back on the whole thing and go,"Yep, I enjoyed this. I, y'know, I'm well deserved of it."

 Track 13) About: Violet

 Daniel: Great idea from Charles of the bass line came out in the studio, um, just started distorting it, made it really fuzzy, funky, blues... this song's got everything.

 Darren: Violet... it seems like every song we're talking about changed during the recording process, but...  this song, I guess one of the only things that changed was the bass line. It...  moves and jumps now, and it's fat and fuzzy and very funky and um... as soon as that happened, the whole song just...  came alive and then we were lucky enough to have Rex Goh and come in and play some fantastic guitar...  on the track. Um... it's probably one of my favorite tracks as well. I can't decide whether it's really commercial or whether it's just really cool but I... I really like it and...  um... it reminds me of the energy that you hear in a Prince track or um... Need You Tonight by INXS. There's just something about it. It has a sonic quality that just... it bubbles and pops...   along. I really enjoy listening to it.

 Daniel: It was actually a really hard song to record cause it was our first one. Darren and I had just flown down to Sydney, just met with this producer called Charles Fisher, walked into the studio, and all looked at each other and said "Where do we start?" And one of us said "Violet." (sighs) And about a month later, we actually got something happening on Violet. That's how long it took before we actually got something moving in the studio.

 Darren: We actually... shelved it halfway through and thought well, hang on. You know, spent copious amounts of time working on the rhythm loop and the bass line, just trying to make it work, and in the end the solution was really simple.

 Track 14) How Do You Feel About The Public Person Music Has Turned You Into?

 Daniel: It's definitely not part of my makeup, I don't think. Um...  I'd like to peak to an audience through a guitar or through a keyboard, rather than...  my personality. Um... it's not to say I can't do it because I've learnt to do it. And I'm having y'know, having to do it. I enjoy some days of it, and I hate other days of it. It's just... it's... you've got to be ready for it, basically.

 Darren: I'd, I love being a public person because I think I'm a person who feels the need to express... himself all the time, whether or not people want to hear it or not. Um... but I know one thing... doing this job has made me realize...   um... a lot of things about myself that I didn't know. Because...  you hear everything you said come back at you. You...  see your words printed, and for the first time in your life, you see yourself from an objective point of view. And that can be a very humbling experience... um... and it's certainly changing...  my personality. For good or bad, it's changing me.

 Daniel: In a good way or a bad way?

 Darren: I think in a good way. I think it's making me...  it's, it's making me stop doing things that I've always done and never thought about. It's making me think a little bit more about what I say. About... um... the fact that I'm, I'm a person who always, you know, I'm a very one-sided person and see everything from my point of view, and it's...  making me realize that...  um there's a zillion personalities and there are a zillion opinions in, in the world. And that's what I mean about humbling me a little bit.

 Track 15) About: All Around Me

 Darren: All Around Me? Quirky, freaky, bizarre, fun. Um... initially it was my attempt, lyrically, to include an aspect of Daniel's life in our music, Because I felt a bit selfish that I'd taken over certain themes and whatever, and Daniel has an obsession...  (sighs) with Meg Ryan, but it's a healthy one. He loves Meg Ryan very much. (Daniel laughs) And in our little home studio there's about 14 or 15 pictures of Meg... some of them wall-mounted. One of them from me as a gift to Daniel. And there's a scene in a Meg Ryan film called "When a Man Loves a Woman" and she's dancing. And she dances in a certain way and she says the words "stick-on tattoo." And the way she says those words is the personality of this song. We wrote a song... for Meg Ryan to dance to, (Daniel laughs) and it's all about being obsessed with Meg Ryan.

 Daniel: And I thank you for that. (both laugh)

 Darren: Although you'd never know it in the end.

 Daniel: Um... it's, it's... a very bitty song. The song's...  in...  bits and pieces, and it's a little funky and a little disco and it's...  there's hippie elements to the song as well. It's like, (Darren, interrupting: There's... ) computerized hippies.

 Darren: It's pretty camp too. (Daniel: Mmm!) It's pretty...  crazy (Daniel: Mmm.) and we were really uh...  unsure about whether to put it on the record or not, and...  it was only decided at the very last minute to put it on. Only because it, I think it's one of the only tracks where we really let our hair down. I'm really proud of the rap in the middle. It's (Daniel: Fantastic lyrics... ) quirky, but it's... lyrically, I'm really proud of it and you know, everyone who listens to the record says "Who did the rap?" And I'm like "Well, me." Well yeah, it's just a quirky little song. It's not meant to be taken seriously.

 Track 16) In "All Around Me," Darren's Voice Has Been Treated In The Studio

 Darren: It's like being an actor. It's like performing. (Break in recording - Darren's voice changes slightly) It's doing to your voice...  um what a costume can do to your voice in... a stage play. Um...  to be honest, really, the only effected part of this song is the rap. And it's actually the speed of the vocal and it was... it was a mistake. I was stuffing around with the vary speed...   dial on the multi-track recorder, and I realized that you could change the pitch of your voice. So I um... pitched it up...  a notch, basically. Like it's pretty close to the normal pitch of my voice, so there's a hell of a lot of play acting happening in that rap. Um...  and when it came back, it sounded like chipmunks on steroids. (Daniel laughs) And I really liked it, so we kept it.

 Track 17) About: Universe

 Daniel: Uh, Universe... um...  it actually started out...  it sounded like Eric Clapton had met Joe Tetriani in a pub and said, "Let's go home now and write a song." (laughs) When it first started, it was a, a guitar-based...  groove. Um...  With some sort of, like a, lush sort of keyboards creeping in here and there. Then I gave it to Darren and he did this.

 Darren: Well, I heard it in a different way. I thought once again, like Moon And Back, I thought it was one of the strongest pieces of music that Daniel had written, at that stage, he's since eclipsed himself. But at that stage, it really was, and I just had some ideas for a feel and the bass line subsequently changed. It became more Smokey Robinson, I guess. Um... to be honest, we'd been listening to That's The Way Love Goes by Janet Jackson - I thought it was a fantastic, sexy slow groove and I really wanted to sing a sexy, slow song and that was Universe. Um... then, mixing the track was another story. It was um... finished and recorded and mixed by Chris Lord-Alge, and we really liked it. We were really happy with it. When we went to America, the Americans had an idea for it And they really wanted to see if they could change it. Um... and it was given to Mike Pela, who's done a lot of work with Sade, Fine Young Cannibals, um... and when he came back with the finished track, it sounded like a Smokey Robinson song. It was really...  really ironic that it would go that way. Um... really sweet, I think it's a really... it's almost a perfect pop song.

 Track 18) Charles Fisher Has Produced This Album. How Much Influence Has He Had?

 Darren: It's funny, not... as much as we believed a producer would do. I think we went into this record waiting for...  people to just turn it into a...  greatrecord. We had the songs. Tell me where to sing, tell Daniel what to play, we'll do it. It was slow process, and what it did...  it taught us to take responsibility. More than anything, I think Charles...  taught us to make it our record, without taking anything away from Charles. He made us sit down and make decisions and be responsible for what was on tape. Um... taught me a lot about...  the physical nature of recording, about...  using equipment, um... introduced us to the sampler, suggests little...  little sections in songs, which you don't think... are that important, but in the end, actually really top off the song. Especially in a song...  there's a B-side called Promises and there was an outro section he suggested me inserting that in the middle of that, in the middle of the song and I did, and to this day, it's such a great... it's a perfect arrangement now, like the song arrangement is perfect.

 Daniel: Charles' motto would be "Less is more." And...  it was a perfect motto to have, for Darren and I, because we like to feel things out. We liked as much as we can put down, we'll put it down. Um... and we needed someone like Charles to go, "Okay, think about this, guys, why do you actually want to do this? You don't have to if you do this." And it was as simple as that. And we'd go, "Yeah, great idea." And it was a handful of them that helped make Charles produce this record the way he had. That's all it was. It was so simple.

 Darren: It was um...  simplifying things. Him saying "You don't need it to be that chaotic. Do this. Do that." And then, his real talent...  is that Charles baby-sits the record when you leave. He spent two weeks tweaking it. We came back into the mix and there were...  little glockenspiels and there were...   string...  sections in there and just tiny little pad bits that he had added at the end. Um... which just... they were like the seasoning, you know, on the meal. It just really... touched it off really nicely.

 Track 19) About: A Thousand Words

 Darren: The first track Daniel and I wrote and finished together was A Thousand Words. And it was... funny, I remember sitting in his front room and we said, "Let's...  we're gonna do this, let's write some songs" and he said "What do you want to do?" And I said, "I've been working on this song" and...  I pulled out the chords to Right On Time by... uh... that band, whatever that was (Daniel: Nightclubs... ) (Darren demonstrating the tune: Dan-dan-dan-d-dan dan) really simple house song and y'know and sang this different melody over the top, thinking I could fudge it, and Daniel said, "Eh, well, you know, we could go that way, but a zillion bands have, y'know, what do you actually want to do?" and we started talking about music and I was really into Achtung Baby... by U2 at the time and, I don't know, Daniel... was a big fan of INXS and Seal, I guess. But he pulled out a chord progression, which is the chord progression in this song and I pulled out a like a Manchester kind of beat...  to go over the top of it, and it became... it filled the room. I remember thinking, "Wow, this is the most full, you know, piece of music I've ever heard in my life." And when I look back now, Daniel probably thought it was really simple, but for me, it was the most musical thing I'd ever seen or heard and...  lyrically, it was...   about a real conflict that I've had with...  uh, uh... a friend of mine and it's someone I don't even speak to anymore. Um...  it's funny, I'd had an argument with the person and uh...  the song basically is about me phoning the person up and just telling them all the things that I'd always wanted to say to them, and that's, that's why it's called A Thousand Words...  um...  cause it's about me realizing that... in the end, (sighs) um...  however sad...  it is to admit it, there's probably not...  a single word you could say...  to make me... want to go through... this hell...  and, and get back on line again and, and have this a part of my life again and it's funny because I since...  sort of reconciled with that person and now I'm really not in that person's life anymore, but...  the song...  sums up the whole...  vibe of that relationship for me, and yeah.

 Daniel: A Thousand Words... (laughs) A Thousand Words is a song...  that was... it was the virgin song. It was the first song that, that happened. I, I still think you can see Darren and I learning about each other...  in listening to that song. It's...  that was sitting there sort of like looking up at Darren and looking up at Daniel and the songs can say different things to each of us. But I think it's great that it's on our first record because it means a lot in that way.

 Track 20) You Obviously Admire Each Other

 Darren: Yeah, we do admire each other because our jobs are completely different. And I can't do what Daniel does and I'm not jealous (Daniel, in the background: Not jealous) of it. (Daniel: Yeah) I just admire it. And vice versa.

 Daniel: Yeah, it's like, I mean I know my job, Darren knows his, and it's working so why, why would the hell would you want to change it? Y'know...  um, it's, it's a good relationship, y'know.

 Darren: I think it's... it is with fondness that we remember writing songs and recording songs because it's never a struggle. It's never a battle. It's just "here, I've done this"...  and it... it's a little game almost.  We try to...  top each other. Daniel will...  write a piece of music and it's like...  oh my God, it threatens me because it's better than anything we've done so I'llgo "Okay" and I'll have to go away.

 Daniel (laughs): It is... it's very much like that.

 Darren: And I come up with something that's better than...  than ever, and then, so I might come up with a song lyrically that just blows him out of the water and the melody's really quick and he'll go, "Well, have a go at this." And then he'll pull Carry On Dancing out of the hat and just show me that and...  

Daniel (laughs): That's why I think a lot of people say... a lot of people who know that story say that we can't write a B-side, because we're constantly...   struggling up against each other to make it a better song than what it was actually supposed to be, I mean, B-side, it's like hey, let's just fill a, a song on a single here, but (Darren: We have... ) we just can't do it. It's like no, I want to write a great song with this.

 Darren: We have a lot of trouble (Daniel: Mmm) writing a B-side. (Daniel: Mmm) Someone once said to us "Don't write B-sides. Just write songs." And just...   you know, some songs you'll spend more money on and others you won't, but for me it's like "but every one could be a potential hit," (Daniel laughs) "What do we do? What do we do?" But, you know.

 Track 21) About: Break Me Shake Me

 Daniel: Break Me Shake Me... again, was re-written from a track called Stepping Stone. For anybody who can get...  their hands on our first demo tape... there should be a few out there somewhere.

 Darren: I would strongly advise it, but...  

 Daniel: (laughs) Um... this is a guitar rock song, this is about...  putting a guitar over your shoulder and being a hero for me (laughs). Live, it's a great performing, performing song. The light and shade in this song is incredible. It's just either in your face...  or it's whispering at you. Um...  I think it's a really strong track.

 Darren: Break Me Shake Me, once again, to me, it's...  I see this song, A Thousand Words and Mine as like a little trilogy. Or, it's a theme in the record and to me they're all really moody and we play them very close together live. Um...  Break Me Shake Me, once again, is about conflict with a friendship, um...   but it's someone that I, I love dearly but...  it was about a very real...   tension, and very real conflict that I had with the person. And um...  it was a song called Stepping Stone. And...  we reconciled after that song and we becamefriends and everything was fine, but the same...  sorts of things started tohappen to our relationship and um...  subsequently, the song had to be re- written. Because the first song didn't describe the situation anymore. This is part two...  to that song. Um...  and yeah, it's schizophrenic. It really is quite crazy. I remember we started recording Break...  uh...  Stepping Stone and it just didn't feel right and I started singing a different melody. I started singing the words "I never thought I'd change my opinion again" um... and Daniel said, "That's a great melody," and then we...  ended up re-writing the song. Um... love it. It's probably close to my favorite song on the record, probably just underneath Carry On Dancing and live, it's my favorite song to do. It's just... great.

 Track 22) Is It Important For You To Play This Music Live?

 Darren: These songs... were born out of...  a union which really started on stage. We, we met in live bands. And then we...  retreated to a studio. And even though I love...  song-writing, recording is not the most pleasant experience. It really isn't. Writing songs is great. Recording songs is tedious, and...  it can be scary because... you're always...  verging on losing the song... and it's, you always feel like you just got it. You just saved it. And you shove the lid on it, and that's the record. And it's there. But it, I don't know, it's like you get to re-live it again live. They're actually almost re-writing themselves, so live for me is a necessary.

 Daniel: Mmm...  likewise. I think that I could survive on song-writing and live performance only in all what happens within this business and that's from videos, the photo-shoots, the press, whatever, I mean, if I could just have that hour up on stage and then a few hours during the day to write a song to get up on that stage, I'd be happy. That's all I need.

 Darren: I need a little bit more than that but...  (both laugh) cause I really do enjoy... I love the visuals. I love writing, I love being involved in video and the creative side, and I do enjoy media, but...  um...  yeah...  writing songs and  being on stage is probably what this is all about.

  Track 23) About: Mine

 Darren: You Could Be Mine is, it's a song that's really, musically, all about delay. (Daniel: Mmm) Um... it started off with a bass line and a drum beat which delayed, and subsequently every instrument just had to be delayed too. Um... I think...

 Daniel: Well, I only had one delay unit. (Darren laughs) And it could only feed the whole thing through or nothing. (Both laugh)

 Darren: And it's just beautiful. It's, it's a swirling...  um...  it's one of my favorite songs on the record. I think that it slowly builds, it's quite beautiful, and it's a very cyclic song. When I hear it, I think of...  like a...   slow tornado or um... I think it's really romantic and really moody and very tragic, and um...  I think Daniel did a fantastic job with... (Daniel: I) the instrumentation.

 Daniel: I really enjoyed working with the strings. I...  It was one of the first songs that I had sort of... thought about doing a string arrangement, in some of the string breakdowns and what not. And I really...  thoroughly enjoyed it. Um...  I would love to actually...  work on films...  or something like that, just as a hobby at the end of all of this or something, because I really enjoyed bringing out...  emotion within the stringed instrument world.

 Darren: That's the thing, I think, with this song and a lot of songs is that I think they feel...  visual or almost a little bit cinematic, and Carry On Dancing has that feel and I think this does as well, and uh...  

 Daniel: Mm-hmm - To The Moon And Back at the end...  

 Darren: Mmm...  so it's really easy...  it's um...  I like it because it's a song about... unquenchable desire and I think that's a really...  it's a common theme...  um...  I think in our song-writing... .in my song-writing.

 Track 24) About The Albums Artwork

 Darren: Artwork was always a really important um, issue for me. And if I could, I would have included a 20-page color booklet. And there would have been, you know, art references and all sorts of things. And obviously for our first record, it just wasn't possible. The interesting thing about the front cover is that the name of the band is called Savage Garden. That's inspired from...  a reference in Anne Rice's vampire novels and she talks about a vampire's world is a savage garden because they're beautiful, they're immortal...  um... they have all these fantastic super powers, and yet...  the reality is that they're just like a savage beast because they have to kill to survive. And in the end, they're just like an earthworm or a lion or, you know, a caveman in the jungle. They're all part of a savage garden. And um... a photographer in New York, Yelena Yemchuck, she works with um...  the Smashing Pumpkins. When she heard the name of the band, she came out to the photo shoot with a Hieronymous Bosch painting and it was called The Garden of Early Delights, and inside that painting there was... all this beautiful imagery, and there was fruit and, and owls and stuff, and so that carried through to the photo shoot and uh...  it just seemed like a really natural thing to put throughout the record. It just seemed to sum it up really nicely. (Break in recording - Darren's voice changes slightly) I think the front cover's just a really interesting photograph. It was actually...  it's taken out of context...  it was a funnier photo. The photo's actually quite funny, and when you look at it blown up, it's actually the two of us sitting next to a 60's television, and I'm rolling my eyes and Daniel's staring down the camera. And...  it was funny because I think it showed how different we are. Um... when they blew it up, it actually becomes a lot more serious, and I think that the front cover, the way it's cropped, is a lot more dramatic...  uh...  and I like it because it's just stark and it's black and it's white and without meaning to, I think it does say a lot about us as individuals.

 Daniel: Absolutely, yeah. I'm an angry, twisted person. (Darren laughs) And you're like "woo hoo!" (both laugh)

 Track 25) About: Santa Monica

 Daniel Uh... Santa Monica...  um...  this was a song that was never...  had no intentions to actually be on this record. It was recorded in Brisbane at home...   for zero dollars. This song cost nothing to record. Um...  and the song, as itself, is...  the reason why you didn't have to spend any money on it. It was just saying "I'm a great song." (Both laugh)

 Darren: Um... Santa Monica was intended to be a B-side, and it's... we actually pushed... a recorded track off this record to put this one on. We dropped a track to put this on. Um... it was a song that, for me, started with a hand- held tape recorder on the way to a train station. We had finished recording the record, and I was walking along, and the, the pace of my walk probably set the tempo of the song. And... the chorus came straight away. The chorus, melody and the lyric was there, I sang into the tape deck and uh...  I went back to Daniel and said, "Look, I've got this song. I think it's really, really good," and played it. Um...  but I...  there was no verse progression...  at all. And so Daniel played a progression and I started singing over that and it just came...   really easily, and... lyrically, it's one of my favorite songs. Um...  it's funny because it, it's, it really has captured for me just a sense of um...  uncertainty...  we were feeling or I was feeling at the time of the record. It, it ties in...  my American...  reaction and my experiences with America as a first-timer and uh... for me, just hints at a little bit about the public mask that we've started to put on and uh...  how... through the telephone or through...  my computer or on the internet...  um...  I can hide behind something and I can be anything I want to be and you wouldn't know the difference. And that's that song.

 Track 26) The Future

 Darren: In the future, I think...  I'd just like to be able to have the opportunity to make another one of these records, to be honest. It's really hard to see...  too far down the line. I see, y'know, us making another 2 or 3 really good records and then I wanna start to get a bit crazy. (Daniel: Mm-hmm) I wanna start to...  shake things up a little bit. I can see...  I'd be doing different things. I really want to get into films and writing and visual things. Um... maybe even stage musicals. I'm not sure. There's... there are other things I wanna do, apart from... just being the lead singer of Savage Garden, but...  for the next 10 years or 3 or 4 albums, it definitely involves me working with Daniel Jones (Daniel: Mmm) and writing songs together. Um...  

 Daniel: I think you could weigh up all the pros and cons now and look 2...   weeks into the future and sometimes it looks that negative, that you could destroy it before you even realize how damn positive the whole thing is. Um... it's there...  it's ready to be kicked along for as long as it can be. And I think...  it's gonna be a lot of fun for us. And I think we will get...  another successful record out, and that's the short-term goal that I'm heading for. And I believe that it's gonna be bigger and better and stronger than this one. And why would you stop at anything less?

 Darren: I think even in the shortest-term goal, it would be...  to successfully take this record on the road...  and uh... just...  see the next stage. Y'know, here's the recorded piece of music and here's the live performance and see how we can take those experiences away and write music and see what happens. Just get on board and see what happens.

 Track 27) Callouts / Introductions

 Darren: Hey this is Darren and Daniel from Savage Garden...

Daniel: ...and here's a track from our debut record

 Darren: Hey, this is Darren Hayes, and I'm from Savage Garden

 Daniel: Hi, this is Daniel Jones, and I'm from Savage Garden

#savage garden #daniel jones #darren hayes #interview #1996

[dentalrecordsmusic]

Starry-Eyed Curiosity: An Interview with Curtis Cooper

Photo courtesy of Catherine Dempsey

"Every time Rancid puts out a new single, I feel like I've heard it so many times,” says Curtis Cooper. "They don't even care anymore. I think there's a limit to good creativity if you stick to the same genre, but if you're flexible you can write forever.”

Cooper is seated in a porch chair playing with their blond locks. Their Choking Victim t-shirt is a noticeable reflection of their roots, but not the end-all-be-all. Cooper lists their influences all over the musical map, from Elliot Smith to The Unseen, Amy Winehouse to Bright Eyes — wherever they find their home in the world of noise and sound is simply whatever strikes them with surprise and beatific style.

Cooper began playing music when they were four, learning Elvis melodies “because [they] couldn’t physically play chords yet.” After finding themselves in the midst of Beatles worship, Cooper discovered Nirvana when they were 12. “I just learned Nirvana songs for years and I got really into punk in high school when I was 16, and I started playing in bands but it was more like, ‘Let's get as drunk as we can.’ No one was paying attention to what was going on.”

Cooper’s first ever band was called Don’t Get Caught! when they were 17, an obvious nod at an Against Me! reference complete with an exclamation point for emphasis. "A lot of the songs were just about getting fucked up and drinking and drugs and they were nonsensicle and we didn't put in the time and we were just getting fucked up,” Cooper says. "That was just that point in time. At the time for me, music was secondary and drinking and drugs were the priority. It's a bit more focused these days,” they say with a laugh.

The 29-year-old Philly native has dipped their toe into genres and sounds that are scattered and yet oddly fitting. They first came to DRM’s attention back when they were fronting the punk outfit Community Service. The band released J-a.w/n< in August 2013 and found that they quickly became a staple of the Philadelphia punk scene. The band was fun, upbeat, no-frills punk rock with a silly sly smile and an undertone of ska.

"When I started Community Service it was a demo thing and it was just me playing dumb demo shit and then I started trying to focus more, and it wasn't just punk,” they say. "It was sad boy songs and punk and I remember when I got back to Philly [from Boston] and was playing with this nasty drummer Luke Dillon, after we graduated and moved back home I kept playing with Miles and Will and we did that for a couple years. We got all the stupid out of our system."

Touring was no easy feat for Cooper and their bandmates. Most baby bands tend to take any show they can get their hands on — Community Service was no different. "We would start in Baltimore and then we'd take a show in Rockhill, South Carolina which is like an 8-hour drive and sometimes the routes would take us close to home [in Philly] and that's what would fuck us up,” they say. "If we passed through Philly and had a day off, you'd be like, 'I wish I could be home now, why am I playing these stupid shows?’”

The band had a habit of playing hard in more ways than simply playing their instruments. "I was always fine mentally but you could see the others where slipping, after two and a half weeks in a car, we were just drinking [alcohol] and Red Bull, drinking and Red Bull,” they say. "I would get home and be like, ‘What did I do to myself?’ Some people would be in the van freaking out like, ‘What the fuck are we doing?!'"

Around the same time Cooper was playing with Community Service, they went on to write and perform solo acoustic-based music, releasing their first solo record, Laughing In Line in January 2016. "Right after I started doing my acoustic stuff I was like, ‘Ehh I'm kind of done with punk,’” they say. "I still go to punk shows every once in a while but the scene isn't as rewarding to me but it depends on the kind of punk. It was really into rewarding stupid behavior like how much can you drink? That makes you cool. How many studs are on your jacket? So stupid. Are you kidding me? Fuck you.”

Cooper’s disillusionment in the punk scene sent them on a path towards more expressive and sensitive songwriting. "I feel like I was faking it in the punk scene,” they say. "I'm not hardcore at all. Dip my toe in kind of thing. I have a bunch of songs I wrote for my friend Morgan [Ganou] to sing and in my head I'm writing for Amy Winehouse. I like the energy of punk, but that energy could come from all kinds of music."

An album as colorfully composed as its accompanying artwork, Laughing In Line was Cooper’s introduction to their more sultry, creative, and quietly shocking approach to music. With songs featuring another talented voice, such as Ganou on track three “Happy and Sane,” Cooper was able to reach for influences, sounds, textures, and stark silences to create an atmosphere fit for indie-pop-acoustic dreams made reality. "When you play loud people talk over you,” Cooper says. "When you play quiet people will shut up and then they talk right over you. But I've learned that if I play loud and then I just shut up really fast it grabs people's attention. When I was playing house shows that was my trick. Then I started writing songs around those tricks which I definitely did for Laughing.”

Then along came Messy, a noisy, turbulent, and dingy journey through one’s own insecurities and bouts with self-destruction which Cooper reluctantly dropped in November 2017 and largely written on electric guitar in stark contrast to the last release, Laughing In Line. "I was so suicidal and I hope I'm never there in my life again,” they say. "I don't wanna do that. I was drinking a ton during that record. I go to sobriety meetings every now and then these days. I would just get drunk, wake up the next morning, and I'm suicidal. There's real addicts and they're struggling to survive. I don't have that problem but it's just like a mental instability problem. I guess the big thing I've learned is I say ‘no' to a lot of things. I can't hang out with everyone I used to hang out with.”

Messy was a hugely intimate portrayal of Cooper, who was uncertain the record would be too intense for listeners to digest. "Messy was way too personal and I went way too far,” they say. "I've never been one to shy away from sharing personal stuff but it was just way too honest. Some of the songs I did change the lyrics too and it was still way too honest. I would've gone back and changed the lyrics and made them more convoluted and not so direct. Buried the vocals more in the mix."

Being a non-binary artist plays a role in how Cooper is able to create their art, often avoiding people and things that don’t stick out as enjoyable or pleasant for them. "I wanna hang out with people who are cool with me being non-binary and know how to use my pronouns properly and don't care what I'm wearing. Those are the people I wanna hang out with,” they say. "People get stuck in saying they'll hang out with certain people and then I'm like, ‘Why the fuck did I say yes to this?' That's another side. Saying ‘no' doesn't mean you're a dick and people could interpret that as being a dick, but that's on them. There are people who don't like you, that's fine, fuck them.”

Cooper is noticeably thrilled to have completed their latest record, which currently has no working title. After starting with 15 tracks, they wrote it down to ten. They say there will be two instrumentals and claim it’s "weird and fun to play." This one is slated to be acoustic-based but it's built on some "Elliot Smith worship" and "a million double vocals.” "I recorded it in my room and it's not very clean,” they say. "It's definitely gonna be like a 'bedroom pop’ record.”

Cooper has extensive plans to tour this summer, joining Thin Lips who will be opening for Hop Along for a month, then Slaughter Beach Dog immediately after. Thin Lips just released their new single "A Song For Those Who Miss You All The Time.” "I gotta learn these Thin Lips songs and it's way harder than I thought it would be,” Cooper says. "I really did not think it would take me so long. They're fucking tough! The chords are so fucking weird so I have to do that, and we get back from tour September 5 and then I have an Amy Winehouse set on September 14th which is an hour long. I have to learn all these Amy Winehouse songs which is so much fun. It's in Germantown on her birthday. It's gonna be sick.”

Cooper has always had a ton of love for Amy Winehouse — when they first heard her prominent single, “Rehab,” they quickly went out and bought her sophomore record Back to Black. "I feel like I'm the weak link in the Amy Winehouse band so I gotta get my shit together,” they say. "It's gonna be difficult but so worth it. I feel like learning someone's songs gets you into their mindset. You're getting better and diving deeper. This is what its like to be depressed and going through addiction and also being so talented and making something so beautiful out of it. Amy sounds like a horn and she can just wail."

The future looks as though it’s painted in gold for Cooper, though it’s uncertain and constantly changing. However, their persistent hold on creativity and artistry leads one to believe that they aren’t done yet, and they won’t be done for some time. "I'm gonna be doing this forever so you can only write for yourself and if you don't like what you're doing then you're not gonna have fun,” they say. "I wanna be in a Primus cover band and an Amy Winehouse cover band and that would be insane,” Cooper says with a laugh.

Cooper will be playing with their full band (Jack Zaferes on Bass, Scott Stitzer on Drums) on June 28 at Space 1026 with Mal Blum and the Blums, Teenage Halloween and Ramona. They will also be playing with Thin Lips on  July 24 opening for The Japandroids at Boot and Saddle, and August 25 at Philamoca opening for Slaughter Beach, Dog. Thin Lips with be on tour with Hop Along from July 28 - August 21 on a full US Tour, and then will be touring with Slaughter Beach, Dog from August 23 - September 2.

Keep up with Curtis Cooper on Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, Apple Music, and Bandcamp.

Catherine Dempsey has been laughing in line. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter.

#curtis cooper #community service #laughing in line #messy #punk rock #philadelphia #philly #acoustic #indie #music #interview #catherine dempsey #thin lips #hop along #teenage halloween #slaughter beach dog #the japandroids

[idthellyeah-blog]

A totally timely and significant review of Rancid’s “...And Out Come The Wolves”

(I honestly don’t remember when I wrote this, maybe 2015. Definitely just got jacked up on something and decided that I needed to write a track by track review of an album I loved when I was a cool punk teen. It has just been sitting in my Google Drive patiently waiting to be posted.)

 I remember the first time I ever heard/saw Rancid was when the video for “Salvation” off of their second album “Let’s Go” premiered on MTV. Such an 80’s/90’s kid thing to do, discovering a new band by seeing a music video on TV, ugh. I thought the leather clad mohawked bad boys were amazing and perfect and so cool...that I immediately tried to spike my hair using gelatin (tru punx only) and got a leather jacket (did not look that cool and was very sweaty).  When “...And Out Come The Wolves” came out the next year (1995, I’m old AF) I was totally enamored and had found my #1 favorite album of all time (that lasted for like a year until music got better).  I was supposed to go see Rancid at a big show in Omaha, I lived in a small town called Columbus that was roughly 90 minutes away from the big city...but the day of my mom didn’t let me go because I had bad math grades.  I reacted the way any entitled white teen did, by laying in the garage and crying and playing their album.  That show wound up being a huge to-do when fans tore up seats in the venue and threw cushions at the band leading to Rancid not playing Omaha for a long time.  I missed out on some cool bad-ass punk rock shit, first world problems. Fast forward to today when I decided that I, Ian Douglas Terry, needed to write out a song-by-song review of this quintessential punk album.  I’m a real music nut, and obviously very good at structured writing...so here we go!  (Rock on)

1. Maxwell Murder - Oh boy, this one starts with like a subway train sound and then the beginning of a killer/complicated Matt Freeman bass line.  That dude SHREDS the bass, and even has a wild solo in this song.  That’s tight.  Why did they stop letting him sing?  He sounded like a fun Muppet on their first album and I loved his songs.  Maybe he wanted to focus on just shredding the bass and using tons of pomade.

2. The 11th Hour - This song is great.  It is poppy and upbeat and about a woman having dreams and demanding answers.  Hell yeah.  I love good punk music that supports women and feminism and figuring out where the power lies (spoiler alert, it starts and ends with you).  Remember how Brody from The Distillers left Tim Armstrong for the dude from Queens of the Stone Age? And then he got all fat and got a beard?  I can completely relate to that, and have been there sans beard.

3. Roots Radicals - This song RULES.  I had to look up what “Moonstompers” were and who “Desmond Dekker” was.  I remember trying to relate to this like it could somehow compare to living in a town with 20,000 people and the nicest Wal-Mart in the tri-county area.  Remember how there was that Spanish language cover of this on one of those “Give Em The Boot” comps that Hellcat put out? That was real tight.

4. Time Bomb - Hit single baby!  This had a huge hand in getting punk kids into reggae/ska for sure.  Killer organ solo, lots of rude boy shit going, I loved it so much.  Tim Armstrong totally re-used lyrics from the song “Motorcycle Ride” from the previous album...which is hilarious.  Like c’mon dawg...you should know your own lyrics.  I learned how to do the solo from this and felt like a guitar god (it is a very easy solo, like almost too easy).

5. Olympia, WA - I love songs like this that are about cities that the band isn’t from...so you have to fire up your imagination (or just read the lyrics) and be like, “What went down in Olympia, Washington????”.  Turns out it was mostly hanging out on different streets in New York and playing pinball with Puerto Ricans while wishing you were with a person who you were sleeping with in Washington.  Hell yeah, just like Shakespeare.

6. Lock, Step & Gone - Songs about docks were HUGE in my youth.  Dropkick Murphy’s had like eight songs about boys on them, and this Rancid song alludes to them.  I loved all of the blue collar, working class ideology that had nothing to remotely do with my comfortable upper middle class (not sure if that’s accurate because my parents were teachers, and like is there even a middle class any more?) life. This song definitely sums itself up at then end when it says “There’s a whole lot of nothin”.

7. Junky Man - Another theme that I could definitely relate to in a town of 20,000 people with like ten people who did meth...Junkies!  This song is pretty great because the dude from the Basketball Diaries does some sick poetry in it...that movie was nuts.  I like that song that he later wrote/sang about all the people he knew who died. The only way poetry can be cool is if the person is an insane drug addict with cool/sad stories to tell. Otherwise it is just loud diary reading.

8. Listed MIA - At this point I wholeheartedly agree with this song, “I’m checking out”.  I don’t know if I ever really liked this song or if this was just part of the “I accidentally left it playing after the first four songs that I liked were over”.  Lars says the derogatory f-word for homosexuals in it, because people called him that word...that doesn’t seem cool man.  I get that it rhymes with “maggots”, but maybe give white dudes in the Midwest less reasons to sing that word out loud.

9. Ruby Soho - This is one of the best songs ever, hands down.  It is beautiful and you can barely understand what Tim Armstrong is saying but it is wonderful.  I feel like deciphering his lyrics led me to be able to understand most speech impediments, so hell yeah.  This song is about loving someone a lot but having to leave them because it isn’t working out. This song was the blueprint for every romantic relationship I’ve ever had in my entire life so it might be a gypsy curse.

10. Daly City Train - Oh hell yeah, fun Reggae drums!  Through punk and ska I grew to appreciate Reggae, but through being bummed out about that culture’s deep seated homophobia and the fact that most of it is super repetitive and boring and for dad’s on vacation.  I’m just glad that 311 taught me to love those smooth Caribbean sounds again (oh god am I joking or am I serious, I can’t tell any more please save me).

11. Journey to the End of the Easy Bay - I can still play this bass line and was very proud of myself the first time I half-way pulled it off.  It doesn’t sound as smooth and nuanced as the way Matt Freeman plays it, but goddamn it I think that was the height of my skill as a musician.  This song rules themes about needing to belong and finding a place with people who thought and felt the same as you...and then losing it as everyone grows out of it.  This was most of my early 20’s. I grew up in a scene with similarly minded people, it eventually ended and I still have contact with some of those people but that point in my life will never be replicated. I finally belonged somewhere and was part of something bigger than me.  Now I do comedy and it is bleak, entitled, and sad and mostly alcoholics talking about their dicks.  Please take me back.

12. She’s Automatic - This is not a bad song but a very confusing way to describe a woman.  I get that it means she is effortless in “the way that she moves” but maybe I’m not giving Lars any poetic license because he looks like a guy who punched books. This woman sounds great though, and I’m sure they dated for three months.  Revisiting this and that era reminds me that I almost had sex with a girl at the first X-men movie...man, being punk ruled.

13. Old Friend - Back to the Raggae!  This song is pretty great, but they really missed an opportunity of selling this to a heartburn medicine company.  “Good morning heartache, you’re like an old friend come and see me again”...that would be perfect for a commercial of a guy eating a giant plate of lasagna and making a “Oh boy, I did it again!” face.  The Transplants sold a song to that fruit shampoo, maybe this is something I can retroactively help negotiate.

14. Disorder and Disarray -  I love when punk bands have songs about “business men” being evil and the industry being bad.  Like when Against Me were part of an Anarchist collective and then on a major label putting out really bad music.  Rancid was at least on Epitaph, which while arguably not “cool” it was at least run by a kind of punk dude who is responsible for the biggest/shittiest corporate garbage of a festival, The Warped Tour.  This song has a part towards the end where they talk to each other like David Lee Roth would do in Van Halen songs, that rules.

15. The Wars End - I get that this is a song about little Sammy being a punk rocker but at this point I think they should have admitted this album was fine with 10-12 songs and maybe some of these were super repetitive and unnecessary.  It's like you’re forcing it. I can’t imagine the dude who recorded it had a lot of fun and he probably fell asleep and was startled awake and had to pretend like he’d been paying attention the whole time.

16. You Don’t Care Nothin - This starts out with the exact chord progression from Journey To The End Of The East Bay….c’mon guys. You Don’t Care Nothin about being succinct and making your songs individual expressions of art! The themes even seem like something they’ve already gone over.  I’m going to eat some soup, brb.

17. As Wicked - Is this a different song or a weird breakdown?  Oh, it’s a different song.  Well...this soup is pretty good.  Chicken Noodle, but the chunky kind.  It isn’t amazing but it is good. I should really cook more.  Maybe I’ll order Chinese later.

18. Avenues & Alleyways - I don’t really have a problem with this song because it has the “Oi oi oi” chant that the bands I was in during High School would do and we had no idea why other than popular bands doing it.  It is very catchy.  It sounds like the other two songs were just building up to finally getting your attention back. Plus it has a breakdown with people clapping, that is always fun.  This has to be the last song right? It is the perfect last song on an album!

19. The Way I Feel -  FUUUUUUUCK!  What? Really should have ended the album on that last song, it had a good “anthem” vibe and at least wrapped this up into a somewhat sensible endeavor.  This song could have been stuck in the middle somewhere, or maybe just not recorded with about seven others?  The Way I Feel about this album is that there are some parts that hold up and are still fun to listen to, but the rest of it just seems like I’m being forced to read my own teenage diary and it is boring and sad. Nostalgia is a bummer, I can’t imagine having Rancid still be my favorite band.  I’d probably still wear a chain wallet and spiky bracelet and be one of those obnoxious old drunk weirdos I see at shows that stick out like crazy sore thumbs. Bummer dude.

    Oh wow, what a journey (to the end of the east bay, am I right?)...I’m glad I was finally able to get this review out so people could finally know what this album means to me and my generation of lazy weirdos. This took me six months to write and I should be congratulated for being a journalist with tons of integrity and great taste.  True punks never die, they just eventually chill out and shop at Kohl’s.

[sometimesalwaysmusic]

SLACK BRIDGES

Slack Bridges (SB) has been making waves in the capital, having played many of the major and up-and-coming festivals in the region in their (relatively) short lifespan. In advance of their debut LP release show at the Rainbow Bistro, we caught up with bassist Garrett Bass for an in-depth conversation on influences, guests in their live show and maintaining their serious momentum moving into 2018.

VITALS

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/slackbridges/

Web: http://www.slackbridges.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slackbridges/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/slackbridges

Upcoming Release: Joy of Joys (LP, Nov 2017)

Upcoming shows: Saturday, November 11 - Slack Bridges LP Release, with Mushy Gushy & Zattar. The Rainbow, Ottawa, ON. 9PM.

SA: How did Slack Bridges come to be? SB: In 2014, Chris (guitar) and myself had just started rehearsing with a local soul group and we realized we’d rather just work with each other. We started meeting up semi-regularly and putting some song skeletons together, but a combination of us having trouble finding a singer and both pretty busy meant that the songs just sat there for about a year and a half. In late 2015, I heard an album by an old pal Matt Gilmour under his alias “Gold Bonds” and really loved the sound of his voice. I showed Chris and we decided to reach out and see if Matt liked any of the tracks. The rest happened pretty quickly - Matt joined, he recommended our drummer Paul, I tracked down our keyboardist Marcus and things started coming together. Now as we release our first full length (we put out an EP last May), we have Zac Sedlar on alto sax and a few musicians who play off and on with us.

SA: What bands, musicians or artists would you cite as the biggest influences on your sound? SB: As a group of people, our tastes in soulful and funky music are pretty diverse, but we all speak the same language. So, half of the time we’re referencing the vintage stuff, from Chicago style soul like Curtis Mayfield, southern soul like Don Bryant, Anne Peebles, etc. and jazz fusion pioneers like Herbie Hancock… and then the other half of the time we’re referencing classic hip-hop and modern R&B guys like Anderson .Paak, Kendrick, etc.  I think it’s pretty cool that you can be so varied but still under the same umbrella. When we’re writing we’re referencing across the map.. “hey can you try some Chicago soul strings at that part?” “Can we get some of that Saturday Night Live sax ripping in the background here?” “How can we get a big Kendrick-style Moog bass on this one?” It’s cool! This type of diversity really shows through on our new record. We really do yield influence from the history of soulful music throughout the ages.

SA: Thus far in the band’s lifetime, what has been your biggest success? SB: We played Bluesfest this summer, which was pretty great. We also played Ottawa’s first soul music fest this year which some of us played a big role in putting on. It was really cool to see this kind of music as a community-builder, and a way of bringing people together. I’d say the biggest success has been getting a grant from the Ontario Arts Council though. It was really cool to have a big agency like that believe in what we’re up to! Plus it allowed us to take the album we’d been picking away at and get some guest musicians on it, get it professionally mixed, mastered, pressed on vinyl… we would be dropping a very different product right now without that cash. It's safe to say that we are proud of our record and earning that grant.

SA: On the other hand, what is the biggest challenge you have faced, and how have you dealt with it? SB:  We’re mainly 9-5ers and being in a band can be a big time management piece compared to how it used to be when we were kids. We’ve got 6 schedules to work around and we’re always trying to find a fine balance between being fun, efficient and reducing burn-out. For example, I’m a teacher and Matt is a grad student, so we work hard all year and then have summer off. Right at that point, Chris starts working 10-12 hour days at all the festivals. It’s a lot of juggling to get people together and gett’er done. Fortunately, when we all get in the jam space and play music together it’s a blast and definitely cathartic.   

SA: How do you approach the song-writing process? SB: I actually had a friend read the back of the album and say “oh come on, you guys don’t actually all write the songs together. Who brings in the song?” To which my response was… yeah, actually, we do, and it’s crazy. Haha! Usually someone busts out an idea and we just jam the hell out of until we have a song. I’ll record what we have and dump it onto the net, Matt will brainstorm and revise some lyrics for the following week and we’ll keep at it for about 4-5 weeks until it’s a done deal. Sometimes, we improvise or revise for fun, but crafting a song is one of the funnest parts of being in a band for all of us, and we compose democratically. I think that our new record is definitely a reflection of this democratic and diverse approach too.

SA: What are your thoughts on the Ottawa music scene? SB:  I’ve been here for about 12 years and it’s better now that it ever was. There’s a ton of variety! I feel like you could see  a wide array of music any night of the week if you’re not too picky about genre. I can name a few artists worth watching in just about any portion of the scene… soul/funk, jazz, punk, rock n’ roll, garage, reggae/ska, indie, songwriter, folk, celtic, gypsy. We feel lucky to be part of Ottawa's music infrastructure, and are excited to grow with it as it becomes more accessible to others. It's always sweet to see new people come out, new bands, labels, venues, and organizations dedicated to improving our creative community.  

SA: You are set to release your debut full length album, Joy of Joys, at the Rainbow Bistro on November 11. Social media tells us that you've been rehearsing with Olexandra from the Peptides. Can you tell us how that rehearsals have been going, and what can fans expect from your upcoming release show? SB: Our set is feeling great! After festival season it’s nice to be able to add some new material. We have some really fantastic people joining us on the 11th. Olexandra has been a huge supporter of this band and does such a great job with the Peptides, so it’s awesome to have her come up for a bunch of songs. We’ll also have Nick Dyson crushing it on trumpet and a couple other surprises up our sleeves. Expect a fun, intense, energetic, dynamic, and powerful set. We will be be playing songs off of our new record, as well as some brand new material. There will be lots of opportunities to dance and wild out. Our friends DJ Zattar and Mushy Gushy will also be playing some killer tunes as well. It's going to be a really great party.

SA: Given each band members' history with bands of a variety of genres, what made you want to follow this style with this band, and how has your song-writing approach compared or contrasted with past projects? SB:  For most of us, we’ve just really always wanted to play in this kind of group but it wasn’t a possibility a few years ago. In terms of songwriting, half of us come from a punk rock background where you jam out a song until it sounds good, and the other come from a jazz or blues background where you improvise and really explore an arrangement. Put the two together and it makes for some really fun songwriting. That being said, we all have a fascination with complex, impressive, and tastefully executed music from the heart. That remains consistent in our songwriting, but our new record shows an honesty and maturity in how we have evolved as people and songwriters alike. That growth is something we all go through.

SA: Ottawa Jazz Festival, Ottawa Bluesfest, House of Paint, and the list goes on. You guys have hit a lot of the major festivals coming through Ottawa thus far. Though this is quite the enviable position, how do you keep this kind of momentum building, given all the tremendous successes that 2017 had for the band? SB: We managed to do a lot without an official LP out, which was pretty amazing! A lot of what got us into those festivals was word-of-mouth, which we’re super grateful for, but we’re really excited to be able to push a unique record that we put a lot of work into and give new listeners a clearer idea of what we do. I think now the goal is to keep building momentum, enjoy writing and releasing even more material, and see if we can take our momentum to some of the bigger festivals in Montreal, Toronto and Halifax, etc. 

SA: What comes next for Slack Bridges post album release, and moving into 2018? We wish you guys the best, and good luck! SB: We’ll just be trying to get the record out there for the next little bit, hopefully collaborating with some more great Ottawa talent in the process. Otherwise, we’re just going to keep experimenting and writing soulful music and try to represent Ottawa one funky track at a time! 

#slackbridges #ottawa #newmusic #funk #soul #joyofjoys #albumrelease #houseofpaint #ottawabluesfest #ottawajazzfestival #rainbowbistro #thepeptides #ontario #canada

[objectivesubjectivity]

“Let’s not blow it right now / Let’s not do something we’d both regret”

In March of 2001, I went to see Reel Big Fish (and to a lesser extent, Sum 41) at the Roseland Theatre in Portland, OR. I was a sophomore in high school and throughly intrenched in the ska and pop punk revolution; this was to be a show for the ages. But while I remember little of the nerd-bro antics of RBF, the heavy metal and/or hip-hop breakdowns of soon-to-be-famous Sum 41, and literally nothing of the first band, Double O Seven, I have vivid memories of the short lived, alt-rock act, Benjamins.

Playing second on the bill, Benjamins were comprised of three pudgy dudes and a lanky bassist with an impressive Jew-fro. From the jump, they felt vastly out of place in the spiky hair, slightly emaciated, “pretty-boy” world of early 2000s pop-punk. Musically they didn’t quite fit either, pulling more from Superdrag and Weezer than New Found Glory and Blink-182. But despite all of this, they donned unwavering smiles and played furiously catchy power-pop with a joyous energy. The entire performance could be summed up with the phrase, “we’re just happy to be here.”

The next week, I went to my local record store and bought the album. That same joy flowed through every single track and I instantly fell in love. Songs like “Wonderful” and “Dr. Frank Was Right,” made it on to nearly every single one of my mix cds (partially due to merit, partially due to the fact that I was pretty sure none of my friends had ever heard of this band). I strummed my way through “Weather’s Here, Wish You Were Beautiful,” while straining my vocal chords, attempting to sing along. I turned to it when I was crushing (“You’re so great, you know / A total shooting star”) and when I was crushed (“I just want someone to be there on my birthday”). I distictly remember at least one bout of unrequited love being exercised by shouting along to “Gave it Away” (”I don’t give a FUCK who you FUCK!”). “The Art of Disappointment,” was my pearled oyster, my grand discovery, my bedrock.

Unfortunately, whatever possessed them that fateful evening at the Roseland was short lived because, by the end of the year, they had disbanded, due to in-fighting. This was to be their one and only full length album. There was no way in hell it wasn’t making my Top 100 list.

This past week, I tried desperately to listen detached from my personal history in order to provide a more objective view of what I like about the album now. And in doing so, I ran into major obstacles. “The Art of Disappointment,” possesses both the brilliance and buffoonery of a relatively unheard-of band with nothing to lose. I admired the youthful inhibition that led to its tug-at-your-heart-strings vulnerability, the unnecessary (but somehow great?) modulation of the final chorus in “Shine,” and the past-it’s-prime inclusion of the secret track busting in after about a minute of silence (the song also happens to be as good as any other track on the whole damn thing). But at the same time, that inhibition led to sloppy lyrics (“Why’re you still breathing my air?/You’re like gum in my hair,”), self-aggrandizing whose irony, or lack of, isn’t clearly defined, and the use of a bong-rip sound effect, underscoring, or more aptly, telegraphing the lyric “All those nights we spent hiding from the world.”

And it gave me pause. What other albums am I denying in order to look the other way at every misstep? Do the moments of greatness outweigh the cringe-worthy ones? Can I honestly separate my memory of this band from the way in which I approach the album now?

I ended up listening to the full thing four times to try and grapple with this decision and I came to the following conclusion: we’re only two weeks into this thing. There’s no necessity for this album to leave the contender list just yet. But, if the time comes, I’ll be ready to wish it a fond farewell. And I have a feeling Benjamins will understand. After all, they’re probably just happy to be here.

Side-note: It is purely coincidental that the first two albums in the list are from bands I discovered at concerts. And, if my memory serves me correctly, these may be the only two albums on the list from bands I discovered at concerts. Go figure.

Another side-note: I couldn’t figure out how to put this analogy into the blog so I’ll share it here: Benjamins are to Music what Freaks and Geeks is to Television. I so desperately wanted to hear/see what they would do next but never got the chance. Plus, I bet the dudes in Benjamins played D&D.

What I listened to last week (in addition to the Top 100 Contender):

Top 100 contenders in bold.

Coheed and Cambria — The Afterman: Descension

American Football — American Football (2019): This is their most consistent and engaging effort yet. Easily one of my favorites of the year so far.

Khalid — American Teen

Asamov — And Now…

Albums listened to in total: 2,261

Top 100 Contenders: 119

This week’s album: Local H — As Good As Dead

Think I missed an album? Challenge me! The list is alphabetical by letter.

#benjamins #the art of disappointment #drive thru records #power pop #alternative rock #alt-rock #memories #Music Monday #music blog #music blogger #music #collection #obsession #top 100 #list #coabba

[gigsoupmusic]

The 1975 'Notes on a Conditional Form'

“How can you solve all the problems around you when you can’t even solve the ones in your head?” That question was the nucleus of DIY ska-punk champion Jeff Rosenstock’s ‘Powerlessness’, a frenetic and panicked blurt. In the two years since Rosenstock put himself on blast, The 1975 have taken that question and rattled it: throttled it to the point of no return. The Manchester group enjoy the existential; songs about the fear of death are masked as love songs, mental illness represented in the form of an uncontrollable sentient brain. In doing so, The 1975 have been one of the most exciting and unpredictable acts in British music for the last decade. The past eighteen months have seen the band outdo themselves - releasing two albums totalling thirty-seven songs - in an attempt to find answers. And with their fourth album, The 1975, for the first time, only seem to ask more questions. ‘Notes on a Conditional Form’ was formally announced as the second part in The 1975’s ‘Music For Cars’ era on 31st May 2018. That same day they released ‘Give Yourself A Try’. That was the lead single from album three and the first part, ‘A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships’ - a sprawling but mesmerising record of airtight emotion, intent and craft. The era’s title predates their 2013 self-titled debut; an EP by the same name was released over seven years ago. What ‘Notes on a Conditional Form’ was originally intended to be and what it ultimately is are undoubtedly not the same. For one, ‘Notes’ has been postponed twice - 21st February and 24th April were not to be. Their March 2020 UK tour should have been a post-album celebration; instead, an in limbo rehearsal for their next step. Then the tour for their widely-celebrated British Album of the Year Brit Award-winning ‘Brief Inquiry’ overlapped with album four’s recording. Consequently ‘Notes’ was recorded over eighteen months in fifteen studios. You can hear the tension of the recording process in the music. As a result, ‘Notes’ is an exhausted sign of the times: a studio album from a band that could not settle in one. It is sporadic, intense and deeply troubled. It will easily be the album that shapes the band’s legacy. An overarching sense of purpose clouds the album. It is as if The 1975 are aware of the expectation fans, critics, and the band, have put on the record. What should they be saying? ‘Notes’ starts off with a clear vision but gets lost in all the hysteria. The promise of potential commences the album. As with the three preceding albums, ‘The 1975’ kicks things off. The first album made use of the blow-job-referencing lyrics and sounded suitably sleazy. Albums two and three inevitably sounded more self-critical and desolate. Here, they trade sex acts for activism. Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg is the first voice you will hear. For five minutes, she speaks her unfiltered, unflinching truth. “Solving the climate crisis is the greatest and most complex challenge that Homo sapiens have ever faced,” she states. It is a terrifying and brutal opener. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWcfzAfuFyE For the sake of the message, it is superb. A confessional and explosive piece that opens your mind from the off. However, what do The 1975 expect? Will fans of the band actively listen to the five-minute spoken-word climate change TED talk every time they play the album? However seriously the band takes the issue (and to their credit, they really do), it pierces the vision of a complete album from the beginning. A dispensable, skippable (and painfully tedious) opener. As the album unfolds, lead singer and the band’s seemingly omniscient idol Matty Healy gets sidetracked repetitively. On ‘I Think There’s Something You Should Know’, he lists mindless thoughts over a cold electronic instrumental, none of which are things anyone should know. “I'd like to meet myself and smoke clouds”, for example. You did not need to tell us. ‘Playing On My Mind’, a genuinely beautiful acoustic number finds Healy rambling about more personal thoughts. One-liners like, “Let's find something to watch then watch our phones for half the time”, bite with wit and cynicism. While couplets such as: “And I won’t get clothes online 'cause I get worried about the fit / That rule don’t apply concerning my relationships”, sting with the self-deprecating tone Healy has made a name for himself with. A moving and confessional number, it is brilliant but in the context of an album that opens with a seventeen year-old climate change activist telling you: “It’s time to rebel”, it borders on self indulgence. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKdPxXWm7Jg As always, The 1975 have broadened their horizons. It is incredibly rare to find a band in modern pop experimenting as much as they do. The 1975 use genre like an identity: ‘People’ addresses human extinction over a shocking hardcore instrumental; ‘Me & You Together Song’ adopts Busted’s persona to sing of an idyllic romance that likely will not happen; ‘If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)’ sees the group become Tears For Fears in an attempt to humanise internet sex. ‘Roadkill’, in a radical trip, is the band’s first foray into trucker rock. Perhaps an ode to one of Healy’s favourites Pinegrove, they use the corny caricature to exaggerate the ridiculousness of Healy’s thought process. “I feel like my tucked-up erection, there’s pressure all over my head”, might just be the most stupid lyric of 2020. Judging by the lyric, “And I took shit for being quiet during the election, maybe that’s fair but I’m a busy guy”, this is The 1975 at their most carefree. It is a healthy and entertaining excursion. The aforementioned song sticks out even more considering how heavy the album is: in theme and instrumentation. The 1975 engage in electronics more than ever on ‘Notes’. ‘Having No Head’ is a six-minute instrumental floor-filler, where drummer and producer George Daniel takes centre-stage. What starts as vintage The 1975 plink-plonk blossoms into a cathartic thumper at the halfway mark. ‘Shiny Collarbone’ is at once cringe-inducing and absolutely thrilling. Featuring Jamaican dancehall act Cutty Ranks, it is the furthest the band has pushed themselves. There is little purpose in this shape-shifting hit, perhaps only to replicate the sensation of feeling mindless. Then ‘Yeah I Know’, the first proper unreleased single on the project is reminiscent of ‘Kid A’-meets-'Blinded By the Lights'. With a pitched chorus chanting “Hit that shit”, it is not as lyrically adventurous but still a fascinating audible experience. This raises the question of what purpose the omnipresent pitched vocals serve. Providing a concerning edge to lyrics like “Do you wanna go and get fucked up?” (‘The Birthday Party'), could it be an attempt to segregate Matty Healy from his internal demons? It is a loose thread, but at least it is a thread. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYYQpTbBSBM Perhaps the most crushing fact that dominates the listening experience of ‘Notes’ is that the months of build-up showed how great the singles are. ‘People’ is by far the most exciting single a major act has released in the past half-decade. No other band would dare go near that. ‘If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)’ is something the band can conjure with considerate ease. It is almost heartbreaking that the band are so clearly capable of writing some of the best songs in their career, but feel obliged to hide them amongst ten or so shockingly flimsy cuts. And they really can write some absolute belters. ‘Nothing Revealed/Everything Denied’ is as if Brockhampton had more talent. With The London Community Gospel Choir in support, Healy’s voice feels more assured. As with ‘If I Believe You’ from their second record, the strategic employment of a gospel choir to make Healy's insecurities feel more validated is a stroke of genius. Enrapturing and infectious, you will find yourself chanting the chorus at home. This is then followed by ‘Tonight (I Wish I Was Your Boy)’. Label mate No Rome contributes to the writing for this The Temptations-sampling pop gem. George Daniel knocks this one out of the park; this will go off at their shows. Concluding with a sax solo, The 1975 find comfort in another gorgeous love song. Unfortunately ‘Notes on a Conditional Form’ tries to be too much. Twenty-two songs and eighty minutes: of course it is going to be a challenge. This is a record that starts off confronting the end of humanity and by the halfway mark sees Matty Healy singing: “Oh, please ignore me, I'm just feeling sorry for myself.” It is simply not thought through enough, or it is thought through too much. They take on styles like throwing darts at a board. The consistent inconsistency becomes grating after a while. However The 1975, to their credit, stick the landing. ‘Don’t Worry’ is penned by Tim Healy, Matty’s father. The song, written when Matty was two years old, has been adapted into a Bon Iver-esque lullaby. It is a tear-jerker, an ode to a father-son relationship barely explored before in the band’s discography. “Don’t worry, darling ‘cause I’m here with you.” It would be a stretch even for The 1975’s biggest critics to not be moved by it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0mzMd17jG0 The album’s closer ‘Guys’ has been suggested by a portion of fans to be the band’s farewell. Realistically it is unlikely to be a sendoff for a band with plenty more to say. For an album as chaotic and frustratingly careless as this, ‘Guys’ is, at last, a simple, effective track. In all the chaos that Matty Healy tries to decipher over the previous twenty-one songs, the only thing that makes sense is his love for his friends. Stripping away the facade, this almost-live performance with straightforward lyrics is the antidote to his problems.There is no flashy production here; no bass-drop; no FKA twigs or Phoebe Bridgers (They make appearances on this record! A lot happens!); no hypothetical life-questioning melancholy. It is simply a song about four guys who love each other. Matty Healy asks a lot of questions on this disorientated, muddled album. Most of them remain unanswered. If this album can tell Healy anything it is this: his guys, his bandmates, are the answer to all his questions. 'Notes on a Conditional Form' by The 1975 is out now via Dirty Hit Read the full article

#The1975

[englishlistwords]

When one sets out to compile a list like the Top Ten Libertarian Rock Bands, one is faced with a few challenges:

Rock purists will object and say, “Hey, they’re not libertarian!” because most rock purists balk at libertarian ideas.

Libertarian purists will object and say, “Hey, they’re not libertarian!” because they refuse to touch with a ten-foot pole anything that could remotely violate the non-aggression principle.

There simply aren’t many outspoken libertarians in mainstream rock today.

My response is that sometimes people are libertarian by accident.  Wasn’t rock n’ roll born in an anti-establishment, anti-authority environment?  Even many leftist rock bands (i.e., nearly all rock bands) produce a lot of individual songs that could be libertarian-sympathetic, whether they are anti-war or anti-authority.

With that said, these are the top 10 libertarian rock bands, in no particular order.

1. Rush

The classic case of a libertarian band is Rush, whose influence and popularity is hard to overstate.  Rush are prog-rock royalty.  It’s hard to believe that their immense, progressive sound and musical virtuosity is produced by a mere three men.

Not only has Rush’s 40 year career made them a highly venerated rock band in general, but the main lyricist and octopus drummer, Neil Peart, was often inspired by the great classical liberal novelist, philosopher, and left-wing punching bag Ayn Rand.  That fact is apparent on several Rush songs such as The Trees (an allegory of smaller trees complaining about larger trees simply for being larger and hogging all the light), A Farewell to Kings (fairly self-explanatory), 2112 (an epic story of a dystopian future of absolute rule), Anthem (the same title as a Rand novella), and the hit Tom Sawyer (paints a picture of a rugged, Randian individualist).

2. Muse

The British-born Muse is one of the freshest, most popular art rock bands making music today.  They share several things with Rush: the same band member count, a mono-syllabic quadruple character name, as well as an affinity for “progressive” song-writing.  In addition, Muse adds a healthy dose of piano, synthesizer, pop-style melodies, and Black Sabbath-esque metal/hard rock guitar riffs.

Muse lyrics tend to be highly skeptical and critical of the established powers.  Lead singer Matthew Bellamy likes Henry George (a sort of Marxist on land-ownership, but libertarian on everything else) and “left-libertarianism”.

Looking at their music catalog, a non-aggression principle fan could find plenty with which to identify.  The 2006 album “Black Holes and Revelations” opens with a not-so-subtle attack on a political figure entitled Take a Bow.  Others like Exo-Politics, Assassin, and Knights of Cydonia have subversive/individual liberty themes.

The political rebellion increases on subsequent albums the Resistance and the 2nd Law (see the Uprising, Resistance, and Supremacy).

When we finally come to the album Drones in 2015, the civil disobedience is at fever pitch.  The album’s theme “drones” applies not only to the controversial unmanned aircraft used by the US military, but also to the idea that the average citizen or soldier could become an unthinking shell, doing whatever they’re told.  See songs like Reapers and Psycho.

3. The Kinks

You may be thinking, The Kinks?  The “You Really Got Me” band from the 60s?  That’s right, the Kinks.  It’s a little known fact that “You Really Got Me” is a subtle ode to overzealous police arrests.  While that is actually not true at all, there is a lot more to the Kinks than their biggest hit.

Much of the Kinks’ catalog is in fact dedicated to decrying the initiation of force, the welfare state, clandestine spying, or other big government woes.  There is perhaps no better example of this than “20th Century Man” on the 1971 album Muswell Hillbillies. Front-man and songwriter Ray Davies sings:

I was born in a welfare state fueled by bureaucracy

Controlled by civil servants and people dressed in grey

Got no privacy, got no liberty

‘Cause the 20th century people took it all away from me

And this was 1971.  Oh Ray, if you could see us now.  Actually, he can.  He is still living and still making music.  Hm, funny.  Anyway, there are some other libertarian gems on Muswell Hillbillies such as Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues, where Ray’s paranoia causes him to worry greatly – about things that are kinda true; and Here Come the People In Grey, a tribute to intrusive government workers.

Some other standout tracks from the Kinks on this subject would be:

Brainwashed, sung to a retired World War I vet who has grown dependent on and trusting of the powers that be

Some Mother’s Son, a beautiful, tragic ballad about men dying in war

Live Life, an exhortation to keep cool and do your own thing in spite of political upheaval and media sensationalism

Got To Be Free, an expression of longing to, well, be free

4. BackWordz

Though BackWordz is the newest band on this list, they are probably also the most outspoken and plainly libertarian.  Their mission is a sort of libertarian evangelization through the vehicle of Linkin Park-esque metal drenched in hip hop.  They are no joke, as their debut album “Veracity” charted at number 2 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart.  This is remarkable for a couple reasons. The first is the fact they are an independent artist with no major label backing.  Another reason is that they are not the typical anger-infused, chest-beating hard rock band – as a sampling of their song titles shows:

Individualism, railing against collectivism and affirming the right of secession

Self-Ownership, criticizing the idea that the State can save us

Praxeology, a term developed by libertarian super-hero Ludwig von Mises, is the study of human action – has any rock band ever had Ludwig von Mises as the subject of a song?

Statism says: “I’m on a life mission to abolish all the government”

Democracy Sucks, the title says it all

One of the most radical bands to come out in a while, I look forward to seeing where BackWordz goes.  They have potential to hugely expand their audience with their high-quality production and song-writing.  Let the songs get a listener’s blood pumping first and once the lyrics start the sink in, perhaps some minds can be changed.

5. Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper is the father (not mother) of shock rock.  As his band was developing in the late 60s, Alice says:

…it was quite obvious that rock was full of idols and heroes, but there were no villains. I couldn’t find a villain in the bunch. I thought, ‘If nobody wants to play Captain Hook, I do!’

Not only did Alice Cooper cause parents with conservative values heartburn about his affinity for rebellion, horror film lore, and a creepy stage show, he might well also cause statists alarm.

He has an anti-political streak and says

I hate politics with a passion…I know people incorporate politics into rock n’ roll – and I think that the antithesis of rock n’ roll is politics. That would be like me singing the Dow Jones report.

He elsewhere says:

“If you’re listening to a rock star in order to get your information on who to vote for, you’re a bigger moron than they are. Why are we rock stars? Because we’re morons. We sleep all day, we play music at night and very rarely do we sit around reading the Washington Journal.”

(Note: it’s a separate question whether or not the Washington Journal contains good ideas.)  Not only does he want his music free of politics, but he has several gems that outright attack and lampoon politicians and the whole process.  His latest album “Paranormal” especially has some politically skeptical tracks, something any libertarian could appreciate.  Some standout songs would be:

Elected, about a pompous spotlight-phile running for office

Rats, could be how the elites and rulers see the populace

Lock Me Up, a taunt to those who don’t like what Alice has to say: “You can take my head and cut it off but you ain’t gonna change my mind”

Freedom, an anti-authority anthem for freedom of expression

Private Public Breakdown, about a politician who has lost his grip of reality (soooo, all politicians; Alice possibly has Donald Trump in mind)

6. The Interrupters

Remember the late 90s?  The Mighty Mighty Bosstones were skanking all over the radio, welfare reform had been achieved, and the President of the US declared that the era of big government was over.  Congress actually passed a “balanced” budget. The correlation between ska/punk and smaller government is undeniable.  Now, that connection has reemerged in the form of the female-fronted punk band, the Interrupters.

There is a very real chance that the Interrupters have a Ron Paul sticker somewhere on their gear, because their front woman, Aimee Allen, actually wrote Ron Paul’s presidential campaign song.  As you’d expect from someone with such good taste in candidates, many of the Interrupters songs center on the ideas of liberty.

Not only are the lyrics libertarian-friendly, but the songs are just plain good songs.  Chuck Berry style guitar leads overlay no-frills punk rock songwriting with rich vocal harmonies.  The melodies and progressions are so catchy, the only way your foot won’t be tapping along is if it is tied down by some oppressive police state.  Some of my favorites are:

Liberty, a pretty straightforward lament about the rights we are losing

Babylon, uses biblical imagery, encouraging listeners to “rebel against the kings of Babylon” – even mentions money-printing to the delight of Austrians everywhere

Can’t Be Trusted, celebrating the reasons for us not to trust the authorities

Take Back the Power, a pretty transparent message

Outrage, about the tendency of people nowadays to be constantly outraged about something, anything

7. Megadeth

One of the “Big Four” in thrash metal, Megadeth are heavy metal titans who have been head-banging since 1983.  Heavy metal is a genre whose imagery is rife with libertarian sympathies: oppressive tyrants, bloody warfare, rebellion against the ruling powers, and on and on.  Megadeth takes the prize for anti-state themes in their songs, in spite of frontman and former Rick Santorum endorser Dave Mustaine being politically nonsensical sometimes. (They also take the prize for “Band Name Most Likely Created By A Middle Schooler.”)  If we can look past the Santorum misstep, Dave comes sort of close to embracing libertarianism: “I probably [am] a lot more along the lines of what a Libertarian is”.

The title track of “Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying?” is a metal classic, and although it comes short of chucking the whole state apparatus, it raises some pertinent questions:

What do you mean I couldn’t be the president of the United States of America?  Tell me something.  It’s still “We the people” RIGHT?

Holy Wars decries wars of religion in which “brother kills brother.”  Symphony of Destruction chillingly warns of giving a dictator absolute control:

Take a mortal man, put him in control.  Watch him become a god, watch peoples’ heads-a-roll.

Dave and co. have really nailed it, though, on their most recent Grammy-winning album, Dystopia.  Track after track describe a tyrannical government coupled with a decaying society.  In addition, it’s right up there with Megadeth’s best albums.  The title track is about what you’d think, and includes the line “What you don’t know, the legend goes, can’t hurt you.  If you only want to live and die in a cage.”  Perhaps my favorite is The Emperor, a snarling punk outcry against the man in charge, pointing out what should be obvious (no clothes).

8. NOFX

Finding a punk band that appreciates private property is tough.  There are many who are great on criticizing the U.S. war machine (Anti-Flag, Bad Religion) or presidents with the last name Bush (Green Day).  These are noble things to be sure.  Sadly, there just are not any major punk bands that haven’t drunk the socialist Kool Aid (red Kool Aid, presumably).  NOFX is not too different in that respect.  However, they are right on several key issues: foreign policy (see We March To The Beat Of Indifferent Drum), freedom of expression (see Separation of Church and Skate), and freedom of speech (see Freedumb).  What sets NOFX over the top is their tribute to actual real libertarianism, The Plan.  In it they sing:

Call us libertarian, cause we do as we please Don’t need fear, or force, or farce to know morality Morals aren’t a substance you can shove in someone’s ear They’re basically a byproduct of, a mind thinking clear

Having come up in the 90s, it’s also refreshing that they don’t appear to buy into today’s identity politics.  Their songs are littered with rude, locker room humor, and they poke fun at all sorts of different demographics.  While this may cause some to take offense, at least NOFX do not advocate locking people in prison just for speaking.  Indeed, if the Social Justice Warriors ever take over (Lord, please no), expect to see NOFX albums at the top of the burn pile.

9. Thrice

Thrice has wandered the back alleys between the “metalcore”, “post-hardcore”, and “indie rock” sub-genres since 1998, and still going strong at the time of this writing. In a Thrice song, you can’t be sure if you might hear screaming, beautiful singing, acoustic guitar, keyboards, or face melting metal licks.  Themes of personal brokenness, relational challenges, theology, social evils, and distrust of the status quo fill lyricist/frontman Dustin Kensrue’s lyrics.  Kensrue doesn’t seem to embrace a particular political ideology, but admits “I would align with a fair amount of Libertarian stuff at times.”

You may be able to guess this from songs like “Blood on the Sand“, a condemnation of the US wars in the Middle East or “Under a Killing Moon“, a song about totalitarian leadership in search of “witches to burn.”  “Doublespeak” examines the tendency of people to not want to know the truth about “who pulls the strings.”  “Black Honey” shows the folly and futility of wars in the Middle East, comparing the US government to someone slapping a swarm of bees and wondering why they get stung.  “The Earth Will Shake” is an awesome, skull-pounding chain-gang spiritual about prisoners longing for freedom – and if the earthquake doesn’t topple the prison walls, this song will.

10. Bob Dylan

It would probably be folly to label Bob Dylan “libertarian,” as he is generally impossible to label. Dylan has unquestionably shaped popular music since the 60s.  A few years after he started playing folk, he exchanged his acoustic guitar for an electric guitar and started accompanying his beautiful, poetic, cryptic lyrics with rock music.  Outrage from many of his folk fans followed.  However, having heard this new sound, it occurred to the Beatles and every other rock band at the time that their songs didn’t have to all be about puppy love.  Dylan has taken so many forked roads in his career that no one (and perhaps not even he) can guess where he will go next.

Maybe it’s that whole “I do what I want” attitude that contributes to the streaks of liberty found in many of his songs.  Though his protest songs from the 60s are usually associated with the left, which was doing most of the protesting, libertarians can still latch on to:

Masters of War, a bleak condemnation of war profiteers

With God on Our Side, exposes the inconsistency of how cultures justify war, and who we choose for enemies and allies

Blowin’ in the Wind, his classic, hit song that asks questions like “How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man?” and “How many deaths will it take ’til he knows that too many people have died?”

Rainy Day Women #12 & 35, a lament about how people often want to “stone you” for minding your own business and doing your own thing

Man of Peace, a scathing blast at politicians and people in power: “Sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace.”

I Shall Be Released, a beautiful folk/gospel ballad of a prisoner looking forward in hope to his freedom

Honorable Mentions

It’s a good thing that not all of the contenders would fit in a group of 10 – we need more libertarian artists!  So here are some honorable mentions:

LEAH, an independent artist who plays fantasy/celtic influenced metal.  She has a few songs that hint at her own personal beliefs, which are libertarian.

Tatiana Moroz is a singer/songwriter with a beautiful voice who worked with the Ron Paul presidential campaigns and is active in the cryptocurrency community.

Jordan Page is a singer/songwriter who campaigned with Ron Paul.  A hard rock sound and solid, liberty-themed lyrics.

Anti-Flag is a politically radical punk band – great on anti-war and government oppression themes, but not so great on private property.  Check out “Die For Your Government” or “911 For Peace.”

Incubus is a massively popular alternative rock band who rose to fame in the 90s.  Song themes include hubris in political leaders and thinking for yourself.

Thrash metal is back, and Havok brings the liberty message along with copious amounts of hair banging around.  Give a listen to “Give Me Liberty…Or Give Me Death.”

My ego is not so great that I would dream of being near the top 10, but if you’d like to check out my own libertarian music, my song “Send In The Tanks” could be a good start.

[pussymagicuniverse]

Werewolf Heart, a Hallow's Eve #meowlist by Jessie Lynn McMains

This year, for Pussy Magic’s second Hallow’s Eve: SCREAM issue, our music-lover, Jessie, compiled a spooky list of tracks for you to enjoy with some details below about the songs and musicians, why she chose them, and lyrics that she loves. Enjoy, Kittens, and we’ll see you later for the special upcoming issue!

1. Tom Waits — Dirt in the Ground

I could easily make an entire Halloween-season playlist using only Tom Waits songs, and it was difficult to narrow it down to just one. I chose this one for two reasons. One being that it is both spooky and sad, a perfect ode for this holiday which is all about honoring the dead and accepting death as a natural part of the life cycle. The other being my own personal associations with it—at a Halloween party in 2003, while in costume as a fallen angel, I performed an a capella version of this song.

The quill from a buzzard The blood writes the word I want to know am I the sky or a bird? ‘Cause hell is boiling over And heaven is full We’re chained to the world And we all gotta pull 

2. Johnny Cash — The Man Comes Around

This song isn’t so much creepy-sounding as it is lyrically terrifying. If anyone can make me believe in a Biblical-style apocalypse, it’s Johnny Cash. It also gets Halloween bonus points for its use in Dawn of the Dead.

The hairs on your arm will stand up At the terror in each sip and in each sup Will you partake of that last offered cup Or disappear into the potter’s ground? When the man comes around 

3. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds — Red Right Hand 

Nick Cave is another artist who could fill up an entire Halloween playlist all on his own. Be it with the Birthday Party or the Bad Seeds, the man can write a scary tune. This is by no means his scariest song (as far as I’m concerned, that titles belongs to “Song of Joy”*), but it does have a definite foreboding feeling; particularly during the organ solo. Ultimately, I chose this one for the playlist because of its use in the Scream franchise.

(*Fun fact: in “Song of Joy,” Nick references the same passage from Milton’s Paradise Lost that “Red Right Hand” was drawn from.)

You’ll see him in your nightmares You’ll see him in your dreams He’ll appear out of nowhere but He ain’t what he seems You’ll see him in your head On the TV screen Hey buddy, I’m warning You to turn it off 

4. Puerto Muerto — The Hangman’s Song

A sad and beautiful apocalyptic death-song. This is another one I once performed, at a Halloween show in 2009. And, like “The Man Comes Around,” this song is also on the Dawn of the Dead soundtrack.

The days will turn black, you soon will see. Soon we’ll all be swinging from a tree. Pray your neck breaks when the rope is taut. Pray your mother isn’t there to see. 

5. Delta Rae — I Will Never Die

Fleur suggested this song and as soon as I heard it I knew it was going on the playlist. It has a powerful, witchy, incantatory feeling to it, and the imagery in the lyrics is perfectly eerie. And I have a weakness for any song that uses chains as percussion instruments. 

Hickory, oak, pine and weed Bury my heart underneath these trees And when a southern wind comes to raise my soul Spread my spirit like a flock of crows 

6. Nina Simone — I Put A Spell On You

This tune is a must on any Halloween playlist. I adore the original Screamin’ Jay Hawkins version, but I think Nina Simone’s version is the sexiest and witchiest. Her deep, commanding voice and the jazzy sway of the music will put a spell on you for certain.

 I put a spell on you ‘Cause you’re mine You better stop the things you do I ain’t lyin’ No, I ain’t lyin’ 

7. Eartha Kitt — I Want To Be Evil

In this fun little tune, the inimitable Eartha Kitt (aka Catwoman) asks why bad boys get to have all the fun. C’mon, good girls and non-binary babes, cast off the shackles of gender-based behavioral expectations and be evil!

I want to be horrid, I want to drink booze And whatever I’ve got, I’m eager to lose I want to be evil, little evil me Just as mean and evil as I can be! 

8. Jill Tracy — Evil Night Together

Being bad can feel so good. This vampy dark cabaret number is the love song a femme fatale would sing in a film noir. It’s the kind of song you’d use to seduce the person you want as your partner. And by partner, I mean partner-in-crime.

I’ll hold your hand while they drag the river I’ll cuddle you in the undertow I’ll keep my hand on your trigger finger I’ll take you down where the train tracks go Let’s wile away the hours Let’s spend an evil night together 

9. Lana Del Rey - Season of the Witch

This is another seasonal classic. Hole’s cover is my favorite, but it’s not available on Spotify, and this version by Our Lady of Vintage Cool, Lana Del Rey, is really good, too. (Also, it appears on the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark soundtrack.)

When I look out my window, many sights to see. And when I look in my window, so many different people to be. That it’s strange. So strange. 

10. Austra — Spellwork 

Dark and danceable witchy synth-pop. Thanks to Cassidy Scanlon for the suggestion.

You must be the call The evil at night Speaking words of grace While spellwork delights Feel my desire, it burns like a fire 

11. World/Inferno Friendship Society — One for the Witches! 

The World/Inferno Friendship Society is another band that could easily fill up a Halloween playlist all on their own. Hell, their biggest show of the year is their Hallowmas show every October the 31st. I chose this one because it is an anthem of mine (so much so that I have a tattoo relating to it); it is an anthem for all witches and weirdos and misfits. You know? I mean, do ya know? 

“Supposed to be? I never gave it any thought Never gave a damn about what I’m supposed to be But if you’re asking what I am? I’m a fucking walking question mark I am a walking fucking time bomb!” 

12. Hag Face — Witch Stomp

This short instrumental tune sounds something like if Elvira had a garage band, and you combined their music with a tape of spooky sound effects. It’s fuzzed-out grunge, dark and hypnotic, and full of screams and howls.

13. The Distillers — I Am A Revenant

In folklore, a revenant is an animated corpse that is believed to have revived from death to haunt the living. In this loud-fast-rules punk song, Brody Dalle reminds us that even if the bastards kill us, we can return to haunt them for the rest of their days. 

We are the revenants We will rise up from the dead We become the living We’ve come back to reclaim our stolen breath 

14. Against Me! — Dead Rats 

This isn’t specifically a Halloween song (in fact, the only holiday it references is Easter), but sound and image-wise, it’s perfect. It’s a heartbroken rager, a love song for a fucked-up goth girl. It reminds me of so many girls I’ve known and loved; so many girls I’ve been.

Dear succubus, I miss you more than the rest But there’s a little bit less divide each time I look back In the eaves of your attic, I know how to haunt Shallow graves for all dead rats I like the dark clouds the best 

15. The Cramps — Sheena’s in a Goth Gang 

I had to include The Cramps and their brand of horror-surf-punk-psychobilly. In this song, Sheena’s not a punk rocker no more...she’s in a goth gang, now.

Mixed up women Do you have one in your house? She’s in the forbidden Vampire underground In the cult of the cobra Snakes in her hair She looks so macabre With her cobweb stare 

16. The Damned — Nasty

This song is such a rollicking tribute to horror and slasher flicks. Listen to it, then go watch the performance they did on The Young Ones, with Dave Vanian at his vampiric finest. Only pop music can save us now!

The axe is sharp And the blade is keen Creature features spill from the screen Shadows fall and all is gloom You’re not so safe In the safety of your room

17. Siouxsie and the Banshees — Halloween

This would be a poor excuse for a Halloween playlist if I didn’t include a song by the Queen of Goth herself, Siouxsie Sioux. It was a toss-up between this one and “Spellbound,” but I chose this one for the drive of the drums, the angular slash of the guitars, and the surreal and atmospheric lyrics. 

A sweet reminder In the ice-blue nursery Of a childish murder Of hidden luster And she cries “Trick or Treat” “Trick or Treat” The bitter and the sweet 

18. Bauhaus — Bela Lugosi’s Dead

I almost feel like I should apologize for including this song, but listen: this year’s Hallow’s Eve edition of Pussy Magic has a pop culture bent, and I’m currently working on a chapbook inspired by Bela Lugosi (amongst other classic horror actors), so I couldn’t not include it. Not to mention it’s a goth classic with the clattering-bone percussion, the reverb, the mesmeric bass line. Every time I listen to it I feel like I’m in a goth club in the ‘80s, all decked out in black lace and too much makeup, smoking clove cigarettes and dancing.

White on white translucent black capes Back on the rack Bela Lugosi’s dead The bats have left the bell tower The victims have been bled 

19. Oingo Boingo — Dead Man’s Party

Another Halloween classic by my favorite new wave/rock/ska/whatever (seriously, how does one classify Oingo Boingo’s music?) group of weirdos. It’s one of those great songs where the lyrics can be read into really deeply if you so choose, but it’s also just a hell of a lot of fun.

I got my best suit and my tie With a shiny silver dollar on either eye I hear the chauffeur comin’ to my door Says there’s room for maybe just one more 

20. The Gun Club — Death Party 

Poor old Jeffrey Lee. He had a lot of devils, and nowhere can you hear that better than in the yowl of this song. Musically, it’s something akin to Jim Morrison having psychedelic visions in the L.A desert, combined with blues, country, and punk. Lyrically, it’s about being drawn to self-destruction. 

Throw down your heartache, throw down your worldly blues They’ll tear your heart out, lookin at you wail the blues Come to the death party, you ain’t got nothing to lose 

21. Concrete Blonde — Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)

Concrete Blonde always had a dark side, but with the album Bloodletting they went even deeper into goth-rock territory. This, the title track, was inspired by Anne Rice’s novel Interview with the Vampire, and has a sexy swagger perfect for a creature of the night.

There’s a crack in the mirror And a bloodstain on the bed Oh, you were a vampire And baby, I’m the walking dead 

22. Sonic Youth — Halloween 

According to Kim Gordon, the lyrics to this song were inspired by watching Henry Rollins perform with Black Flag, which makes me chuckle. But in any case, this is a strange, creepy, and yeah, kinda sexy tune. There’s something ritualistic about it, like the incantation of a priestess as filtered through the lens of Sonic Youth’s noisy art-punk.

It’s the devil in me Makes me stare at you as you Twist up along you Sing your song and you’re Slipping up to me and you’re So close I just uh Want to touch you

23. Pixies — On Graveyard Hill

This track off the new Pixies album definitely has that off-kilter rock’n’roll Pixies sound I know and love. And the lyrics make it a perfect fit for a Halloween playlist.

In the poisonous forest, Donna lights up her torches Her eyes are flying saucers Her hair is black and gorgeous I see her down at the crossroads She can lead you to madness She’s leading me into darkness, in the witching hour

24. Tempers — What Isn’t There 

As I’ve been writing these descriptions and listening to the playlist again, I’ve realized a lot of the tracks are long—like, between five and ten minutes long. I think that’s fitting for this season and this holiday. Imagine the long songs on this playlist as aural films to get lost inside. This track by Tempers makes for a very dark and moody piece of ‘cinema.’ Thanks to Cassidy Scanlon for the suggestion.

25. Sigils — Samhain

If all metal sounded like this I would listen to more metal. I love the heavy drone of this song, so eerie and mysterious. And the lyrics make me picture teenagers sitting around an autumn bonfire, stoned, telling scary stories.

Everything is gold The wind a sickly sweet The smell of rotting leaves Bathe in ashes from the fire 

26. Dax Riggs — Ghost Movement

Yet another artist whose entire oeuvre, from Acid Bath to deadboy & the Elephantmen to his solo stuff, lends itself well to this season. This one’s a personal favorite when I’ve got those haunted blues. (After you’ve listened to the playlist, go listen to Dax’s cover of the Misfits’s “Skulls,” which he turned into a ballad.)

Kissed a blue girl While it rained broken glass Rode a bolt of white light With Satan on my lap 

27. Queens of the Stone Age — Mosquito Song

With imagery straight out of Hannibal Lecter’s cookbook, this song is a gorgeously scary ode to the cycle of life and death.

Cutting boards, hanging hooks Bloody knives, cooking books Promising you won’t feel a thing at all Swallow and chew, eat you alive All of us food, that hasn’t died 

28. Rasputina — Gingerbread Coffin

I would be remiss as a former creepy little girl who totally held doll funerals and as an overly dramatic goth who totally had a Rasputina phase if I didn’t include this song.

We brought, but not used A collection of knives We’ll remember this moment Through all of our lives She’ll rise

29. Dead Man’s Bones — Werewolf Heart

I’d never heard of Dead Man’s Bones until I was looking for songs for this playlist, but I love this song so much that I went to find more about the band and discovered... Ryan Gosling co-wrote this album with Zach Shields. Like: “Hey girl, I heard you liked ghosts and monsters and love stories, so I wrote you this monster-ghost-love story...” 

You’d look nice in a grave I smile at the moon, death is on my face And if you wait too long Then you’ll never see the dawn again 

30. Cat Power — Werewolf

I've had a long-time love for this eerie and beautiful Cat Power tune.

Oh the werewolf, oh the werewolf Comes stepping along He don’t even break the branches where he’s gone Once I saw him in the moonlight, when the bats were a flying I saw the werewolf, and the werewolf was crying

31. Neko Case — Deep Red Bells

This song was one of the inspirations for my poem which is appearing in the Hallow’s Eve issue. (The other inspiration was Seanan McGuire’s book The Girl in the Green Silk Gown.) It is a sad tribute to the murdered girls who are often forgotten.

Does your soul cast about like an old paper bag Past empty lots and early graves Of those like you who lost their way Murdered on the interstate While the red bells rang like thunder?

32. Nina Nastasia — In the Graveyard 

This season is all about honoring our dead, but sometimes we’re just not ready.

Someone told me that I should visit you in the graveyard Pull out all the weeds But I’m still lonely and I’m not ready You scared me when you hid behind the trees

33. Hozier — In a Week (feat. Karen Crowley)

This is another song, like “Dirt in the Ground” and “Mosquito Song,” which is about the cycle of life and death (we’re all gonna be dirt in the ground / all of us food that hasn’t died / after the foxes have known our taste). And call me weird and morbid, but I think it is one of the most romantic songs ever written. These lovers will not be parted even in death; death will only bind them closer together.

And they’d find us in a week When the buzzards get loud After the insects have made their claim After the foxes have known our taste After the raven has had its say I’d be home with you

Jessie Lynn McMains (they/them) is a poet, writer, zine-maker, and small press owner. They are a queer and non-binary mama to two wild kiddos. Aside from words, music is their favorite thing in the world. They’re also obsessed with tarot, the Midwest/Great Lakes/Rust Belt, ghosts, and the undying spirit of punk rock. You can find their website at recklesschants.net, or find them on Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram @rustbeltjessie.

[vinylbay777]

Albums Coming Out in December 2018

December is here! As the year begins to draw to a close, there is still much to look forward to in the coming weeks. That includes new album releases.

Even with the holiday slow down, there are still some hot new releases coming before we hit 2019. Zayn Malik’s long-awaited new album will be hitting shelves. In hip-hop, Ice Cube makes his solo return after nearly a decade away while up-and-comer XXXTentacion drops his first posthumous album. Established rockers like Van Morrison, John Mellencamp and Bruce Springsteen all have albums coming out. This month will also see new pop punk releases from AFI and Reel Big Fish.

Vinyl Bay 777, Long Island’s music outlet, loves new music. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of some of December 2018’s most anticipated new album releases. Here are seven we can’t wait to get our hands on.

(Note: This list does not reflect what we have or will get in store.)

1.       XXXTentacion, ‘Skins’: Rapper XXXTentacion releases his third album today, the first following his death in June. The artist had been lauded as one of the best new voices in the hip-hop game, amassing a large following within a short period of time. (12/7)

2.       Van Morrison, ‘The Prophet Speaks’: The next installment in Van Morrison’s string of cover / original albums hits shelves today. This time, the singer takes on vocal jazz and R&B, paying homage to greats like Sam Cooke, Willie Dixon and John Lee Hooker. (12/7)

3.       AFI, ‘The Missing Man’ EP: Following a string of teaser photos with only a silhouette of frontman Davey Havok present, dark pop-punk band AFI announced the release of a brand new EP, ‘The Missing Man.’ From the singles released thus far, it feels like the band is going back to their roots with the dark, pop-y sound of their early albums. (12/7)

4.       Ice Cube, ‘Everythang’s Corrupt’: After focusing on his successful NWA biopic ‘Straight Outta Compton,’ Ice Cube is back with his first solo album in eight years, ‘Everythang’s Corrupt.’ Not one to shy away from politics, the album is filled with tracks that challenging authority and making you think. (12/7)

5.       ZAYN, ‘Icarus Falls’: Former One Direction singer Zayn Malik returns with his sophomore solo album this month. More than a year in the making, the singer has released seven singles from the 27-track album so far, many of which have been charting around the world. (12/14)

6.       Bruce Springsteen, ‘Springsteen on Broadway’: For those who didn’t have a chance to see Bruce Springsteen’s one-man Broadway show before it closes this month (or those who want to relive it), The Boss is releasing a soundtrack album from the show. Featuring songs and commentary, it’s a companion piece to the Netflix special that also drops this month. (12/14)

7.       Reel Big Fish, ‘Life Sucks…Let’s Dance!’: It has been six years, but ska punks Reel Big Fish are finally releasing a new album, ‘Life Sucks…Let’s Dance,’ this month. According to an interview with AltPress, frontman Aaron Barrett said of the album, “There’s a little pissed off-ness in there and some sarcastic, funny lyrics as usual. Also, I just got married, so there might be a few sappy love songs on the album, too.” He continued, “We all get along really well these days, and everybody was excited to make a new record. Everybody had lots of great ideas and really got creative with everything, and I really think it shows.” (12/21)

Despite being at the end of the year, December still has some highly anticipated new albums hitting shelves. Check out some of our picks above and let us know what albums you’re looking forward to snagging in the comments below.

                                                              ---

Discover music new and old at Vinyl Bay 777. As Long Island’s favorite new independent record shop, we have thousands of titles to choose from in a variety of genres to suit most music fans. Browse our wide selection of new and used vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, music DVDs, memorabilia and more in store at our Plainview location or online at vinylbay777.com. Whether you’re looking for something new or to rediscover the classics, we have you covered. And with more titles being added to our selection all the time, you never know what you might find at Vinyl Bay 777.

#new music #new release #albums #December #2018

[goenchantingcollectormaker-blog]

Boombox 360: Which Xbox spilling administration rocks harder? Ars looks at elements to see whether Rhapsody or Xbox Music is appropriate for you.

The Xbox 360 is one of the top of the line amusement supports ever. It has effectively turned into the front room buddy it is today by changing itself from a one-trap comfort into a comprehensive gushing media set-best box. At no time in the future do you require an augmented stereo framework or costly Blu-beam player to dial premium amusement into your home—you can basically utilize the Xbox 360 and a couple of memberships to your most loved administrations.

Those administration offerings incorporate Microsoft's Xbox Music go for $9.99 a month, a rethought form of the organization's Zune image that enables you to stream a great many tunes to a PC, Xbox, or Windows Phone. As of not long ago, Xbox Music was one of the main music spilling administrations accessible to Xbox 360 clients, however that has changed now: Rhapsody has additionally entered the scene. The outsider administration offers a portion of an indistinguishable components from Xbox Music, however it's free with a Xbox Live Gold membership or $9.99 for clients who wish to use the administration on different gadgets.

Xbox Music and Rhapsody are the main two gushing music benefits at present accessible that really enable you to clergyman your own particular music libraries and playlists. Will investigate both to check whether they're justified regardless of the month to month responsibility.

Playing music

When Rhapsody begins up, it defaults to a begin page with a slide that goes through the most tuned in to craftsmen, tracks, and collections. From here, clients can choose whether or not to look for a craftsman or go straight to a playlist by moving the simple adhere to one side or right.

On Xbox Music, the front board shows new music, beat craftsmen, and best tunes. There are additionally included specialists and melodies in addition to choices for inquiry or classifications, the last of which enables you to begin a radio station in light of a particular kind of music. Moving to one side or right gives you the capacity to get to your playlists, make new ones, get to "stuck" craftsmen and collections, or begin a Smart DJ or VJ playlist. There's additionally a Recommended board, which gives you a chance to search out new music.Both Rhapsody and Xbox Music offer extensive libraries of music: the previous gloats 16 million tunes, while the last claims a list of around 18 million. We put these numbers under serious scrutiny to see whether one could beat the other by diving into our own somewhat cloud library of music—and by darken, we mean music not generally included on the radio.

While hunting down electronic music, both administrations perceived the band Tesla Boy, yet just Xbox Music offered their most recent single, which was discharged for the current year. Song recorded an EP that surfaced in 2011 as the gathering's most recent collection. In different examples, Rhapsody offered more discharges, as with the non mainstream band Geographer. While Xbox Music just went as far back as the trio's second collection, Rhapsody offered Geographer's initially discharge.

For hip-jump aficionados, both Rhapsody and Xbox Music searched out even the most darken gatherings. Head bangers, then again, will welcome that both music administrations offer access to the whole discography of their most loved Nordic metal band, Korpiklaani. In this utilization case, both music administrations conveyed intensive outcomes, and however Xbox Music offered access to the band's most recent melody, Rhapsody had the most exhaustive inventory.

With both music administrations, you can choose whether to play an entire craftsman's discography, their most prevalent tracks, or start up a particular collection. Song additionally spares your latest looks for specialists, collections, or tracks, which can be useful for rapidly getting to craftsmen, yet it's somewhat futile when it files seeks with grammatical mistakes. Xbox Music executes this somewhat better by enabling you to "stick" particular craftsmen for less demanding access.Rhapsody music supporters should minister their playlists by means of the program or desktop customer before they can play anything from their library on the Xbox. They can likewise flip to one side board on every craftsman's page to discover comparative music. Alternately, Xbox Music offers the capacity to begin another playlist and really add tracks and collections to it from the reassure with only a couple clicks as opposed to doing as such from the PC.

On the radio

Finding new music is basic to keeping that library of music constantly developing. Finding that music can be extreme, yet it's somewhat simpler with Xbox Music. The administration offers a component called Smart DJ, which consequently creates a playlist in light of a collection, melody, or craftsman. How well it picks music that matches your most loved class depends altogether on how entrenched the craftsman is, be that as it may. Indeed, even still, it improved employment with this than Rhapsody did.With littler, lesser-known specialists, Rhapsody made playlists that occasionally felt separated. We set the Radio capacity to Grum, a UK-based electronic DJ. Composition stuck to this same pattern with a Missy Elliot melody—yet the two classifications are nothing similar. (Xbox Music made a superior showing with regards to on Smart DJ with a similar craftsman, playing just music that coordinated the class.)

Both music administrations improved surely understood specialists. When beginning a radio station with Ellie Goulding and Rx Bandits, both Xbox Music and Rhapsody completed tracks that legitimately spoke to both styles of music. Ellie Goulding was trailed by Marina and the Diamonds, another semi-electronic, popular music vocalist, while Rx Bandits was trailed by a plenty of ska groups and pop punk acts.

Song and Xbox Music additionally offer the capacity to look through every craftsman's page for different groups or artists that sound alike. Xbox even connections to different groups, record organizations, and makers who are related inside every craftsman's memoir.

Kinect-capacities

One of the more pleasant components of both Rhapsody and Xbox Music is that they both work with Xbox's Kinect, a sold-independently movement sensor contraption that enables you to control the support with hand developments and basic voice summons. This specific usefulness is valuable for clients who may be in a circumstance where they can't get to the controller to rearrange through tunes or dispatch an alternate playlist. It's only a perfect approach to associate with the console.Depending on how shut the Kinect is to the speaker, it can comprehend charges at a typical voice level, even with the music playing. It additionally helps if the earth encompassing it isn't excessively boisterous—the charging voice tends, making it impossible to get overwhelmed by the tumult behind it. To raise the Kinect menu, simply say "Xbox!" and a menu will fly up beneath the screen. Content is overlaid on each tile with the accessible orders.

In Rhapsody, you're constrained to exceptionally essential orders to explore just the tiles accessible on each screen. Each tile is assigned a number; you can essentially get out, "Xbox, Play 1!" to choose the tile that is marked with the main. With regards to hunting down a specific craftsman, you need to get the controller and filter through the different letters and images or utilize the signals highlight. The pursuit work doesn't yet perceive voice input.Xbox Music has the favorable position with Kinect usefulness since it's profoundly connected into the reassure's framework, so you can play out a voice seek inside Bing from the application or the Home page. At the point when voice charges are utilized, it will indicate real expressions and summons as opposed to assigned numbers for each tile. This makes the experience feel more brought together than Rhapsody's numbered tiles.

While Xbox Music offers better Kinect usefulness on account of its local combination, Rhapsody's isn't too a long ways behind. In any event the capacities are there.

Conclusion

For music mates who don't ordinarily rearrange through melodies and are anxious to find new music, Xbox Music is justified regardless of the month to month duty. It's likewise particularly helpful for the individuals who fundamentally use a Windows PC or Windows Phone, on the grounds that the administration works over those gadgets. Xbox Music likewise offers video playlists with a month to month membership, which could be valuable for the individuals who are really inspired by "music" TV.

Then again, Rhapsody on the Xbox is free with a Live Gold membership and it accompanies a monstrous library of music, in addition to the capacity to minister playlists on the web. This will speak to more finicky music significant others who aren't excessively intrigued by music disclosure. The additional advantage of a paid membership to Rhapsody is that it likewise chips away at Android, iOS, and Windows Phone, so cross-stage clients shouldn't need to feel like they will be secured to Microsoft's biological system.

Both administrations are strong in their own particular ideal, as they both offer huge music lists and Kinect usefulness. However, it totally relies on upon the environment you're willing to tie to. Those hoping to live in an all-Microsoft world may discover Xbox Music better suits their requirements, however staying with an outsider administration like Rhapsody bears the flexibility to move amongst stages and bring your music with you as you go.

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Halloween Songs For Preschool Children

One of the biggest issues about Halloween is the ridiculously great amount of music that provides the soundtrack for the holiday. We have put collectively our personal playlist from our favorite Halloween songs (and asked readers to suggest theirs too), so you must have plenty of music to get your get together began. Superstition ain't the way,” he preaches on this 1972 music, however there's something about that funk that still sounds nearly… spooky. One of the crucial regularly lined songs within the rock ‘n' roll canon, I Put a Spell on You” is an unsettling minor-key dirge with a gentle waltz tempo and lyrics that concern a jealous narrator who needs to regulate, and probably abuse, his lady. The Hearse Tune brings us brings us to the top of our listing of 13 Halloween songs acceptable for kids, nevertheless it's simply the beginning of the perfect Halloween social gathering you've but to throw. I was singing what I can bear in mind of it to my grandchildren, so if anyone is aware of all the verses please write. Flour-filled, orange balloons make super toss-it is to throw at a Halloween ghost. It was enjoyable to see the ship all decked out with Halloween decor and the themed activities had been fairly nice too. Some researchers have also suggested that these seemingly nonsensical rhymes have been not really meant for youngsters at all, nor are they nonsense. Within the UK movies are divided into categories depending on whether or not they're for kids, teenagers or adults. Mr. Halloweenster teaches youngsters, age three-7 years, that the perfect part of Halloween comes from their creativity and creativeness, particularly once they're making Halloween decorations, telling Halloween tales, carrying their costumes, and fooling around while marching in a Halloween parade or trick-or-treating. One of many few artists to have recorded two bona fide Halloween classics is Mike Oldfield , whose ‘Tubular Bells' has given us the chills for over 40 years, because of its iconic use in The Exorcist. In this song, the singer argues that Halloween is basically his day by day life. Though a contact extra psychedelic than horrific, the legendary Erickson has usually dabbled in songs in regards to the unseen. SCARIEST LYRIC: This music doesn't have lyrics but the scariest half is probably round 1:10. Groove Child Nation: High Nursery Rhymes - A collection of popular nursery rhymes, together with Little Miss Muffet, Rock-a-Bye Child, and Three Blind Mice. At Kaboose they've Creepy Coloring: You and the children can color within the Halloween pictures in your computer or print them out to paint in the class or at house. Another non-musical option to play at your occasion is an audio recording of a ghost story Verify your local library for options, and gather the company around to get pleasure from a spooky tale. See below for our most devilish Halloween playlist recommendations, from the eerie and obscure to widespread crowd-pleasers. Halloween Songs 30 scarey, spooky songs for kids with lyrics and music to hearken to. About 300 animal songs and animal nursery rhymes with lyrics and music to take heed to. Food Songs for youngsters, numerous songs about meals, consuming, drinking and eating with lyrics and music to listen to. About 60 songs listed alphabetically. It has the right amount of speed, aggressiveness, melody, and of course - cheesiness that you often heard in Helloween songs.

If no person at your Halloween get together imitates the zombie dance moves when this music comes on, you need better friends. On this web page, you will discover the entire songs from our Super Easy Songs - Halloween CD. Throughout the fall, we'll be releasing a brand new Halloween video each Wednesday, so you should definitely verify back typically. Add extra enjoyable to your class utilizing these free nursery rhymes and animated rhyming videos for youths. For every music video, I am including the activities I am doing with my own children to connect the track to other studying abilities. Various composer Best of” and so on sequence have numerous songs that can be utilized for the fall and Halloween. The phrases and music for the Soul-Cake track (which begins A soul, a soul, a soul-cake!”) can be found as Soul-Cake Spherical on Digital Tradition. Because the band moved into the Nineteen Eighties, they modified their sound and fell into making the kind of ska-influenced new wave that was beginning to take over the popular music scene at the time. Prime members get pleasure from FREE One-Day and Two-Day supply on eligible gadgets, unlimited video streaming, 30-minute early entry to prime offers & extra. From beelzebub booty bass to trick-or-treat trap, listed here are eight fabulously freaky Miami music originals for your Halloween fiesta. All the extra cause to get it on the stereo at a party, as people are guaranteed to recognise Rih-Rih's song. Obtain Halloween Music - Scary Sounds and get within the groove with scary sounds. Should you're one of the service's free or premium listeners, discovering the proper music for this year's Halloween party shouldn't be a problem. Not precisely a mysterious or even really a spooky music, in the context of Halloween Howlin' for You” produces some good imagery of a blood-starved (or perhaps just love-starved) werewolf — but the first verse does appear to trace on the constructing madness within the narrator's mind. On the eighth day of Halloween my real love gave to me eight monsters shrieking, seven spells are going, six goblins gobbling, 5 scary spooks, four skeletons, three black bats, two trick or treaters, and an owl in a lifeless oak tree. Older children may get a kick out of making their very own music video to traditional Halloween songs like Michael Jackson's Thriller. Given that we already collected our scariest pop , rock , and love songs, it made sense to chill our spines with a new beat. You must in all probability check out our Nursery Songs class for those who don't find what you're in search of. By means of dancing, these youngsters dance Halloween songs present a perfect opportunity in your children to foster these needed relationships. The quintessential Halloween track, the Monster Mash” is actually a dance inspired by the effectively-identified Mashed Potato”… though apparently can solely be performed by the dead! The lyrics for this song begin, Now the door is open, between spirit and physical realm...” From the Other Aspect of Midnight CD, this has music that sounds each foreboding and delightful, but the phrases are reasonably candy in the event you listen to them. The track is pop/punk gold although, I do not need to be buried in a pet sematary!” It would have everyone embarking on a drunken singalong very quickly. It is even considerably less horrific that different songs from the 1960s, if you think about Little Peggy March's stalker anthem of I Will Observe Him ” and The Angels' jovial promise of a severe beatdown in My Boyfriend's Again Despite it being somewhat annoying, Monster Mash” actually is the only strictly Halloween anthem there's. Let the thrills and chills start, remember the candy, tell us which songs you would add to the record in the feedback below! There are a number of good fashionable songs for Samhain that you may like, although some are Wiccan in outlook. It actually began life as an instrumental by Ron Hirsch (or saxophonist Mike Sharpe, there's been some dispute about who wrote the thing), so the lyrics had been a total afterthought. This is a stunning ethereal track on The Visit CD, and it's avaiable for purchase by the Loreena McKennitt official web page , although her web page is impossible to navigate. That is in all probability the primary time that almost all of us were actually scared by a music, and who else might do it higher than Eminem. Most of those songs were a part of an oral-primarily based society that relayed news, spread coded rumors about authority figures, and worked out its moral dilemmas (for kids and adults) in rhyme and tune. The truth is, up to now, Halloween has been referred to as San-Apple Night and Nutcrack Evening.