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flanpucci · 1 month

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I already talked about why I love Pucci on a logical sort of level but I didn't get in depth about what I think and feel about him as a character and why he stuck with me enough to get him permanently tattooed on my skin so I'm gonna get into it a little bit. Feel free to skip this one because it's not really analysis and delves a tiny bit into interpretation/headcanon so I guess it's more blogposting than anything.

To be honest although I really liked his design and the cool black representation he is, and Whitesnake was instantly my favorite stand, I didn't like him right away, I thought he was a little bit of a weirdo in his introduction scene with Miraschon, and it took some time for him to grow on me. His design and themes land right in the middle of stuff I've been interested in since forever (Christianity, the moon, space, technology, arts, science...) so of course I had an interest in him. I remember that I really liked the fact that even though he's a priest he's knee deep in the occult with the green baby and making Foo Fighters etc, I thought that was super interesting. It took me til the end of the part to root for him, and then when he was defeated, I realized that I wasn't as happy as I should have been lol.

I guess one of the first reasons why I was touched by Pucci on a personal level is that I felt really strongly empathic towards him, and his behavior and actions just let me feel like I caught a glimpse of his many emotions inside, even though he has a thick facade. For example, his loneliness felt very real to me. Having lost most of his family, and his dear ones by his own fault, them being taken away from him, him choosing to live a celibate life in the clergy, shutting himself in a prison for the biggest part of his life... His self inflicted suffering just saddened me a lot deep down inside. He's also got big existential dread, wondering about the greater purpose of his life from his childhood. Isn't this something that touches everyone at some point?

But not many people have their entire beliefs about their existence and identity crushed at a young age in their life. Pucci, when his brother is found out to be alive, has everything that he built himself upon, his justification for being alive, completely shattered. It then turns into tragedy, yet he seems to find a little hope and comfort with Dio, only for them to be crushed again when he dies. And then he holds on to this impossible grief for 22 whole years, unable to accept that his fate in this world is to suffer so much loss. We don't see him sad after his sister died, we don't see him cry or flinch. Living his life in this manner, he surely had to have a lot of pent up emotion, which he surely dealt with by dissociating them from himself and pushing them onto Whitesnake. But not entirely, it's a little 'see-through'. When you think of it, he's amongst the most 'perfect' characters in the series, he's superior, composed, poised, tightly upkept, articulate. He has both an advantage in status and seniority in age over almost everyone in the part. He seems to be well adjusted and respected by people working in the prison, and in the city. Yet he's also very faillible, often prone to panic, he begs for his life at multiple times. Scenes like the frog scene where he slips and messes up the prime number count because there are frogs on his expensive pants make him reek of humanity when otherwise he could easily feel 'out of reach' and inhuman because of how superior he is (like let's say, Kars is, which is a lot of his appeal though!). Same when I recently discovered his watch is worth several thousand dollars. It felt like peeking into his true self right through the wall of righteousness that he built to protect himself and further the plan. His bad sides and inclination towards cardinal sins are really fun to watch and try to notice. That's also why I don't like when people pass him off as a good person, because to me he's really not, he wouldn't be half as interesting if he was! But he's not completely evil either, and as Weather tells him, being so sure that his evil is necessary for a greater purpose is what makes it even more heart breaking to me.

On top of that, his quirks and unique traits make him both very endearing and relatable, especially if you happen to have similar ones! In my case counting has been my primary means of shutting down anxiety attacks for years now, and when I saw him do it too, I automatically felt really drawn to him. Same goes for his ramblings in the worst moments, they made him really stand out, and I felt drawn to him because of some examples he used that hit close to my interests. If you've read my other analysis maybe you know that I tend to interpret him as autistic and so this hits close to home too. In the same manner, the fact that such a cool and powerful character grew up with a canon disability (in his foot) made me feel happy as a disabled person.

There are scenes where he expresses love and devotion very directly and in a raw way, which is very rare, and was also surprising because of how indirect he usually is to make a point... His love for Dio however you wish to interpret the nature of it is deep and sincere and rooted in both despair towards his impossible situation and the hope that maybe another miracle could occur and turn things around for him. I thought the evolution of the way he talks about Dio was really interesting and it moved me to see him very attached to his dear friend. Also the scenes with Dio let us see how sweet and interested he is when he's with someone he gets along with, and how different Dio behaved towards him made me like Dio a lot more too.

When I watched Stone Ocean I had just finished The Outer Wilds and FFXIV Endwalker, and in a way these 3 pieces of media hit the same nerve in me. I was thinking a lot about the purpose of existence and the end of the universe, so I really wanted Pucci to fulfill his potential and go as far as he could, taking the entire universe with him, breaking every rule of his world and becoming bigger than the story itself. It's still how I see him and why I admire him a lot. I was very shaken by his death and the part it played in the entire series. In a sense I get the feeling that he was obsessed with destiny because he knew he was created to do something, and he was right, he was created by Araki only to suffer his horrible backstory, to have everything taken from him. But his extraordinary inability to accept it pushed him to break the wall of the story and try to subtract himself from it, while opening everyone's eyes on the cruelty of the (fictional?) world they live in, and giving humanity the possibility to be at peace with it. The first time I saw the ending, I was completely crushed by the weight Araki put on him, making his total erasure from the world the only condition for everyone's life to suddenly become better, almost perfect. I was disgusted that it was expected from me to be happy that the world was finally rid of him when it all started with an impossible to predict chain of events. Now that I look back at the ending, I think maybe I misunderstood it, and I've decided to believe that he maybe was freed from the curse that was his existence in the story, and that he took upon him many of all the 'wrong' that was in the original world, making it all right for the other characters. I hope Perla is happy in the new universe... Even though this is probably just delusional coping...

Although I feel sorry for Pucci and wish he could have solved his problems differently, I'm glad the story is sad as it is because otherwise I wouldn't have felt so deeply for him. In a sense I felt his pain so strongly that I was instantly drawn emotionally to find a way to 'solve' his situation, he's like I tormented soul that I have to appease, and that's why I pick up a pen and draw, write, or spread love and wholesomeness. That's also why I draw him peaceful or sleeping most of the time, why I bring my plushie to see nice things 😔🫶 I also get a lot of different feelings coming from Araki's way of drawing him throughout the part, and I think Pucci was a character that Araki learned to love and understand along the way too, instead of liking him from the start like he did Dio or Jolyne, but he probably was a lot to handle even for him lol.

Jojo's been one of my favorite mangas for more than 7 years now and I'm so glad Pucci was the last boss for it, embodying and carrying in him the legendary Dio without being overshadowed by such a legendary character, while giving the story and Dio's character the last missing piece of the puzzle to truly tie things up nicely. Saying goodbye to him and to Stone Ocean after watching it also meant saying goodbye to the universe that I had loved and enjoyed for many years so it was bittersweet. In any case he's the peak, the climax, the strongest and has permanently changed the course of one of the best mangas in existence with his actions, and I take a lot of pride in my taste and the fact that my favorite character is the one who did all that haha 😫

And lastly I'd like to say that even if it's not really related to Pucci as a character, this last year that I've been active in fandom, liking him as pushed me to develop my skills, I started drawing, got back into writing, went on trips cause I wanted an excuse to bring him to the Louvre, go out of my way and explore new places when I made that collection of pictures representing the 14 words, made friends, I'm going to Japan soon and I'll be bringing him with me to meet them, he has fueled my imagination and given me more inspiration than I've ever felt, and I'm forever grateful for that. It is not easy nowadays to feel very intense positive emotions, life can be stressful and tiring, so I'm thankful that liking him has given me the push I needed to start doing many new things, interest myself in the wonders of the world, go to church, explore my city, go see art, travel, feed my mind with knowledge and beauty. Heck I even listened to that Handel's CD, it was wonderful. And read an essay on prime numbers when I have math dyslexia!?

I don't know how much deeper I can get without sounding completely off my rocker so I'll leave you guys here, hope you enjoyed and feel free to tell me how you relate to your favorite characters and how much they mean to you!

Fame redraw for illustration by me~

#enrico pucci #pucci #jjba #jojo's bizarre adventure #stone ocean #jojo #wild as fuck post #i might be crazy #as you can see i dont relate at all with being an obsessive person too /s

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jjba-smash-or-pass · 2 months

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Least Favorite Main Villain?

Favorite Song Reference?

Favorite Jobro?

Least Favorite Jobro?

Favorite Minor Villain?

Character you wished had more screentime?

I think my least favorite major villain is Diavolo. He's a good character in theory, but he just kinda falls flat to me. He's another example of part 5's missed potential to me, but I haven't really done any character analysis on why, unlike I have with Giorno.

I'm not really huge into the type of music that Araki references in his works (I mostly listen to soundtracks from stuff I like), but I do really vibe with Killer Queen (the song and the Stand)

Favorite Jobro is probably Ermes. Just like Foo Fighters is the upgraded version of Kakyoin, Ermes is the upgraded version of Polnareff to me. Ermes's character takes the Princess Bride-inspired backstory of Polnareff and adds some (much-needed) depth to it, although it lost a bit of its impact because her past was only given to the reader right before the fight where it was resolved.

My least favorite jobro is Kakyoin, which is surprising to me now that I think about it. Just like Josuke, huge crush on him in the past, and just like Foo Fighters, I can relate to his feeling of being othered. And this isn't to say I don't like his character, I just so happen to like how the other jobros were handled. All this to say I will still fight people who say his character is bad.

Favorite minor villain has to be Steely Dan, because he's the epitome of part 3 villain writing. He's a dick for the sake of it, he's fairly attractive, he's working for Dio for vain reasons, the way his Stand was defeated was just bullshit (affectionate) enough to teeter on that suspension of disbelief, and he rightfully got the everloving shit beaten out of him by Jotaro. Truly, what more could you ask for from a part 3 villain.

I honestly think the entirety of Jojo would be better if Enyaba had more screen time, or at least if her Stand fight was given more importance. I'm sure Araki didn't know it at the time, but she becomes an insanely important character for the lore of Jojo as a whole. She's the one who tells Diavolo about the importance of the Stand arrows, and also gives those arrows to many different important people. And the way she was defeated was... because Star Platinum sucked in her Stand. When I say bullshit here I mean it in a half-affectionate half-derogatory way. And that's not even what killed her, which was Steely Dan! Jotaro should've been allowed to finish her off once and for all, considering her importance later.

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disappointingyet · 9 months

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The Decline Of Western Civilisation

Director Penelope Spheeris Stars Claude Bessy, Exene, Darby Crash, Ron Reyes, Nicole USA 1981 Language English 1hr 40mins Colour/Black & white

The classic LA punk doc

I feel it’s rare to have a (theatrically released) documentary that is much less well-known than its sequel. But The Decline Of Western Civilisation II: The Metal Years had famous people in it, some much-quoted funny moments and set up director Penelope Spheeris up to make the massive hit comedy Wayne’s World. The first Decline, on the other hand, is bleaker, occasionally funny in a very dark way and put Spheeris on the way to directing the grim (and fairly obscure) squatland drama Suburbia. And at the time none of these people were celebrities and even subsequently, the only person here who has nudged fame is Pat Smear, the guitar player from Germs, who was a touring member of Nirvana in their last days and is currently a Foo Fighter.

But make no mistake, The Decline Of Western Civilisation is an extraordinary music documentary. Filmed in late 1979 and early 1980, it drops us right into the middle of punk in Los Angeles. There’s no voiceover – although we do occasionally hear Spheeris asking questions – so the description and analysis comes from bands, fans, managers, club owners, bouncers and the staff of Slash magazine.*

In what I think was an accident of timing, Spheeris caught a pivotal moment. The early punk scene in Los Angeles had been open-minded and stylistically diverse. Here we see the codifying of hardcore punk and the amped-up aggression of bands like Black Flag, Circle Jerks and Fear and their audiences. Fear, in particular, incite their gobbing crowd with a steady stream of homophobic derision.

The contrast is with Catholic Discipline, led by Slash editor Claude Bessy (aka Kickboy Face), whose guitar player Phranc was a trilby-sporting lesbian. (And Catholic Discipline are shown playing at venue we learn had banned the hardcore bands by this point.) Their crowd looks like a relatively sophisticated bunch who have put a lot of time into their outfits. But they also, it should be said, seem a lot less into the occasion than the kids at the Circle Jerks show.

There wasn’t (it seems) even the language to describe what was going on those crowds. Everyone refers to pogoing, but these kids aren’t jumping up and down on the spot, they are smashing into each other and creating a vortex of bodies, and clambering up onto stage and getting shoved off. It seems the terms slam dancing (moshing was an even later coinage as I remember it) and stage diving were not yet in common use.

So how does Spheeris put us in this world? We get a lot of footage of the bands on stage, which might be hard work for some viewers. But because Spheeris and her camera crew are interested in the scene as a whole, there’s always something anthropologically interesting to note**, even if you can’t tell where one Fear song begins and the next one ends.

And then there are the interviews. This the opposite of the uniform talking-head approach, although the great access Spheeris had helps. Interviews with kids from the scene are face-on in a stark room with a bare light bulb hanging down, shot in black & white and tinted blue. Venue owner Brendan Mullen is filmed on a cliff high above Los Angeles. Nicole, the long-suffering manager of Germs, talks in close-up with her clothes merging into the black background.

Germs lead singer Darby Crash, by contrast, is filmed cooking eggs and bacon in a grubby kitchen – this is probably the film’s most notorious segment, as his mate blithely recounts stumbling across the body of a workman at her parents’ house. Spheeris [unseen]: “Didn’t you feel bad that the guy was dead?” Michelle: “No, not at all. Because I hate painters." During the X interview, singer John Doe is tattooing LA music scene character Top Jimmy's arm while the band’s other singer, Exene, talks through her collection of fundamentalist Christian pamphlets that she’s collected on the streets of LA.

All of which is to say that faced with my key question about movie docs – is this actually a movie? (rather than TV or – these days – YouTube content) – the answer is about as emphatic a ‘yes’ as is possible. This is a visually fascinating bit of film-making, regardless of what’s being said. But the what’s being said is interesting, too. Both the letters from readers to Slash magazine and some of the things the kids filmed under the light bulb say are (to a 2023 viewer) evidence that it wasn’t the internet that created all manner of unpleasantness – it was always there, and (in the case of the readers’ letters), people used to bother to actually write and post trolling nonsense (I was going to say and pay for postage, but I’m guessing a lot of these were kids using stamps from their mom’s desk.)

This is one of those movies I’ve known about for decades, but only finally now got a chance to see. And yet somehow it went way past my expectations – this is one of the great rock documentaries.

(In the UK, all three TDOWC movies are currently available to stream for free – legally! – on Plex.)

*OK, so maybe worth saying I know a certain amount about this stuff – for instance, I’ve read We’ve Got The Neutron Bomb: The Untold Story Of LA Punk so I had a lot of context that the more casual viewer wouldn’t. But I still think it would be an absorbing watch if you don’t know anything (you don’t have to have read a book to realise that Darby Crash was very bad news).

**For instance, at this point at least, both in terms of the bands and their audience, this was less all-white than you might imagine/despite the bile spewed by a couple of the interviewees. (Not as far as I know shown in this film, but definitely already a key figure was Spot, RIP.) This is part of my 'Every girl should be given an electric guitar on her 16th birthday' series of reviews

#punk movies #the decline of western civilisation

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animehouse-moe · 7 months

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I'm terrible with timeliness and acknowledging things, but I hit 300 followers on Tumblr a couple of days ago now, which I thought was pretty cool. The conditioned response is a "thank you", but that doesn't feel right (and not in a selfish way, at least I believe). It's really cool that 300 people actually follow me and this account on a platform as I talk about anime and manga and whatnot, but it's one of those things where the longer I think about it the more I wonder as to why.

It's not like I offer anything unique with my stuff. I don't post art or fanfictions or anything that I can say is my creativity alone. As far as I see it, I'm just a crazy person scribbling away at a wall in an empty and white room. But I also don't really make any attempts to humanize myself in a lot of what I share, mostly because I struggle with riding the line between getting my point across effectively and in a meaningful fashion, and sounding like a person instead of an AI-generated response.

So maybe I should try a little to express myself some more, starting now.

I never intended to ever make something like this, nor do a lot of people. I was a university student over 2 years ago now that wanted to work on a project, but I needed a direction, a purpose. I deeply struggle with creation without reason, so I tried to find a way to drop a carrot in front of my face to encourage progress. A blog website is a very simple and easy thing to build to fill out your project portfolio, so I thought on what I'd be interested in making it for. Cars? Cool, but too costly to really do much of anything with. Computer hardware? Similar struggle. At that time, "Anime" came to mind as a cheap and accessible focus thanks to my increased watch time of media due to covid, so I ran with it.

I would just build fake or temporary blog posts to fill out the site and test it. Then I thought, if I'm going to have a blog site I should probably make a Twitter account for it as well. Oh, I should probably do this too, and that also. And so I accidentally made an entire platform based off an idea for a programming project. After about a year I abandoned the blog website because the project was "complete" and it's not like I was getting much traffic to it. But I kept the Twitter going, and going. And then one day I ended up here, and just kept going until I reached this follower count. It's weird to think about, in a sense. I never intended this for last, but it won't let go of me. It's even weirder because in all of my life I've never really been one to do anything like this before.

That's about it for the history though, I should probably add some details to the present.

As I write this I'm listening to a playlist of my favorite Nine Inch Nails songs. I'm a really big fan of their earlier work from albums like The Downward Spiral, that Industrial Rock sound is just so satisfying to me. But I'm also a bit of a music whore myself. When I say "everything except Country" I really mean it. Everything under the sun aside from Country music I'm cool with, but no matter how many phases I go through in terms of genres, I'll always gravitate towards the older music I used to listen on the radio to in my dad's car as we traveled for sports tournaments when I was younger. Foo Fighters, Muse, Soundgarden, Rage Against The Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, all the great bands of the early 2000s.

I also really do love art books. I'm terrible at art though I've never seriously tried, no matter how many times I tell myself I will. It does make me feel like an asshole though when I comment on art when I have no talent. It makes me feel unqualified to offer input on it, and makes me painfully aware of how shallow my analysis can be in comparison to what actually knowledgeable people can provide. I feel very similar with how I talk about anime. I refuse to view my words as an end all be all to any of the creative aspects because I've never even tried to what some of these authors/staff members have. But just like the couch potato dad will critique all the star athletes making hundreds of thousands a game, I'll sit myself down at my desk and belt out my complaints with very little reservation. A very hypocritical activity.

Sometimes I struggle with a healthy relationship between myself and this account. I think it's important to view them as two separate things for sanity's sake as well as to stave off an inflating ego, but it doesn't always happen. There's days I feel guilty for not saying something, for not making use of the platform I've created. I can feel a need to post, to be productive and compare myself to actual content creators despite my adamant declaration that I'm not one. It's a silly thing, but the internet and social media can be a terrible place that inspires people to desperation, to a deep desire for validation and popularity and that the numbers that you can see matter a great deal. It's not really fun.

Despite my (self proclaimed) "knowledge" of social media and the spheres of it that I engage with, I'm pretty terrible with outreach. Someone asking questions or challenging a point that I've written are things I can do very naturally, but genuine outreach and interaction is something that I struggle with. Should I do a giveaway? What's the best way to do it to make sure it goes to someone that deserves it? How should I go about finding similar accounts to interact or collaborate with? Is it okay if I reply to this post or ask a question? Truthfully, I might go as far as to say that I'm socially inept in regards to social media. It's a wave that I struggle to ride despite my reliance on it in several ways. But it's something I'm at least trying to stick with, so if there's any accounts similar to mine or anybody reading this thinks I'd be interesting in, tell me about them. Yes, a pathetically lazy request to make, but I just find myself intensely apathetic to a lot of the forced nature of social media.

But I'm still here, for whatever reason that may be. And I like talking about anime, manga, and all sorts of other similar things, for whatever reason that may be. And people follow me and like my posts, for whatever reason that may be.

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quickdeaths · 9 months

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🌸 If you get this, answer with 3 random facts about yourself and send it to the last 7 blogs in your notifications, anonymously or not! Let's get to know the person behind the blog. 🌸

I don't do chain asks, but thank you! I had to think up more facts, oh dear.

In the past, I've been an English teacher, a computer skills instructor, the director of a small summer camp program, a movie theater worker, and a freelance writer doing listicle/top 10 style content, and somewhat more substantive media analysis/essay style content. I got my Master's Degree last year but I don't really know what my future looks like, career-wise. Dream job, though, I'd really like to be a full-time writer, whether that's doing essays, or writing novels, or being a journalist.

I don't have any pets at my apartment because $$$, but I'm a cat person for sure. My parents have a beautiful little orange lad named Theo and I miss him very much. I'm housesitting for my parents this fall so they don't have to board him, and I'm always happy to see his cute little face.

I was in a band in high school. I had a friend who was a great singer looking for more musical outlets outside of performing in musicals, and I was a really shitty guitar player who was just happy to be there hahaha. In addition to talent shows, our school did an Unplugged show twice a year in our school library for a very chill, intimate-type vibe for student musicians doing piano or singing or acoustic guitar music or whatever. We performed at both shows one year as a duo, with him singing and me playing guitar. I know we did Space Oddity by David Bowie at our first performance, and I thiiiiink we did The Passenger by Iggy Pop at the second one. We had a couple other songs we knew how to do, too (I remember learning the acoustic version of Everlong by Foo Fighters and it taking me forever to get it down) but never ended up performing. We broke up because we both got busy and because I really was a pretty bad guitarist who took forever to learn new songs.

#thenextbestidol #thanks for the ask!

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vivern-of-nosgoth · 2 years

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Big Interview with Martin Persner from nordic music magazine GAFFA

by Andreas Trella, 2022 June 9

(machine translation from swedish)

From the Magna Carta Cartel, further into the Ghost circus and back again. Martin Persner can tell you about a dizzying rock carousel that has now resulted in the old music project having a new album - 13 years later.

Somewhere in the middle of a hopeful 2000s, a bunch of good friends sat with their guitars in their arms on a sofa in the airport city of Linköping. The notes they lazed together and recorded as demos were soon given the collective name Magna Carta Cartel. These demos were then recorded in the studio and first became an EP, and in 2009 the full-length album Goodmorning Restrained.

So had the Magna Carta Cartel - or MCC - gone from sofa hanging to a promising band that with its unique atmospheric music seemed to have endless future possibilities. But in the same sofa, it was one of the friends who had managed to stumble across completely different tones.

Just under a year after Goodmorning Restrained, the Magna Carta Cartel suddenly becomes completely silent. This at the same time as a very mysterious band that was said to originate from the same city is starting to spread through Myspace. A band with completely masked members, except for the band's singer who seemed to be a very old gentleman wearing a satanic papal costume and with a corpse-painted face. The group went by the name Ghost.

The time in Ghost lives on in me very much. Whether I like it or not, my time as Omega is probably the most remarkable thing on my resume. And whether I like it or not, it's still how people refer to me.

The rumor about the exciting new rock band Ghost spread like wildfire all over the world. With their bubbly swinging pop rock songs, mixed with extremely dark and satanic lyrics, the band quickly became a cultural phenomenon. Maybe mainly because of the mystique surrounding the band. Since Ghost did not seem to provide any information about himself, speculation began to spread wildly about which old rock foxes were actually hiding behind the demonic masks. And who the older frontman could be.

WILLY WONKAS GOLD TICKET

Ghost would soon go from playing in cramped hometown clubs to filling arenas, hosting Grammys and being hailed by several legends in the industry such as Metallica's James Hetfield and Foo Fighters Dave Grohl. Linköping's scary little Ghost had suddenly started to become one of the world's biggest rock bands. And behind one of the increasingly coveted masks stood Martin Persner.

It may not have been a direct policy, but we never celebrated anything with Ghost. Whatever we had achieved, we never stopped feeling "now we have succeeded" or "now we have reached our goal". Instead, it was always an analysis of how we could do things even better based on what we had achieved.

Because we were actually not old rock foxes at all. Of course we had struggled with the music and were in our 30s when Ghost became a band. But this was the first time we got to taste the fruit of what we always dreamed of. So when things started to happen, we took it as seriously as possible. We had received Willy Wonka's gold ticket, and it was to be used in full.

Persner and his friends had received the key to the fine salons and personally felt that the most important thing was not to take anything for granted. It was a matter of managing the chance he and his comrades had been given in the best possible way.

That Ghost happened at all was a pure stroke of luck. But the work after that is an enormous job with so many endless thoughts behind it that it is hardly possible to describe.

Ghost, which was initially completely silent in terms of press, soon began to do more and more interviews. However, it was never the frontman Papa Emeritus who answered any questions. Instead, it was usually the lead guitarist "Alpha".

However, fans soon gave this member the nickname "Special Ghoul" instead. For people had managed to figure out that it was actually not the band's lead guitarist behind this mask during interviews. In fact, it was Papa in his own high person. Ghost's founder Tobias Forge, who was the friend who sat on the same couch as Persner and during an MCC meeting, had stumbled upon what would be the first Ghost song.

But in addition to Forge - or "Special Ghoul" - the band's other guitarist "Omega" also started to sue. Which was Martin Persner's alter ego.

There is something absolutely fantastic about being masked in a group. I do not want to say that I stepped into any role with the mask on. But they definitely stepped into a "fashion". And then watching and playing music with their friends in the same equipment gives an indescribable feeling of cohesion. It was absolutely wonderful.

THE BEAUTIFUL HANDS OF THE VAMPIRE

In several statements from Omega in these interviews, the masked Persner mentions that part of the masking is for Ghost's music and the concept itself to take precedence over who the people behind the masks actually are. But despite this, it was precisely Omega that was chosen as a clear favorite among the seemingly identical nameless guests. Fans literally fell completely in love with Omega and on forums and in the comments section, declarations of love for the masked musician were poured out.

I quickly began to understand that people were not really smart in their heads, haha. It was really not that hard to tell the difference between what people thought or wanted me to be, against who I was actually under the mask. It was absolutely super fun when people came forward and were happy and wanted to be kind, hugged and in some cases even kissed and all that. But you should not take that too personally. Especially not when these admirers literally do not have a fucking idea of who you really are.

Did it become difficult for people to paint you up to something other than what you felt you actually were?

No not directly maybe. But it was interesting to hear who you were for different people. People could come up and tell me how specifically good I was at playing guitar, while I just thought: "Damn how embarrassing, my neighbor who barely plays in any band is 100 times better than me on guitar".

Because Omega was disguised from head to toe, these fans in love had to zoom in on the only thing that was exposed. In addition to the penetrating charm that people saw in interviews and Persner's expressive stage language, you could actually see his eyes and hands through the disguise. Which then led to an infinite number of statements about Omega's magically deep eyes and fantastically beautiful and lust-filled hands.

It was absurd, haha. Because no I do not have the most beautiful hands in the world. But it was exciting that these people managed to paint the romanticized picture of my nervousness-bitten nails and my dirty fucking garden hands. And I'm not the smartest or most charming in the world either. Many times people laughed at how big-eyed people could be. Sometimes people also wondered if people only did one thing. Or if it was this madness idolism was about.

But it must still have given you proper self-confidence?

Yeah absolutely. But my self-esteem I have always had the same worries with. No matter what scene you have been allowed to stand on, or how your hands, eyes or personality have been seduced. But self-confidence naturally increases when you get to see what you are worth in the room you are then in, so to speak. And it is almost impossible not to stand on the pedestals that people build under one's feet. It's probably inevitable. But I always had the attitude to take all this with a pinch of salt. To never ever let this praise rise to my head. Because it's not healthy to get drunk on that.

Doesn't that kind of get an extremely high level of attention for your art, and does it not become extremely addictive and difficult to control?

Yes. You get hooked on that. And that feeling never disappears after you have experienced it. That thirst always remains. You eventually become a vampire. And right now I have not "eaten" for a very long time, if you understand what I mean. But at the same time, you do not listen to too much praise either. Because you never get to feel that you are in the goal as well.

FROM GHOST TO CARTEL

During a Ghost tour in 2016, fans noticed that Omega suddenly started playing on a Gibson SG without the Omega logo, instead of the characteristic Gibson RD that has become a hallmark of the band. It was also soon noticed that the only thing left of the original Omega on stage was his mask and costume. Martin Persner had been asked by Forge to leave Ghost after about two years of unrest and an unstable mood that had slowly eroded their previously strong friendship.

Did it feel weird to see Ghost from the outside?

Initially yes. But not nowadays. Or maybe a little sometimes. It's more that you observe and think: “Well, did he do this now then? It was nice, but he should not have done this instead, maybe? ”. Sometimes you feel that you might want to poke your touch a little like before. But sometimes you think: "Damn how nice he did this". Tobias has fantastic songwriters with him nowadays. Which, of course, makes me a little surprised, as I know he can write at least as good songs on his own. I think and know that he does such immensely good stuff all by himself. Although it never hurts to have experts who can come up with good advice per se.

Could you imagine being masked on stage with a Papa Emeritus by your side again at some point in the future?

Yes, I probably would. Or hmm… yes. I choose not to think about it so much. But yes it … I do not know. Maybe. Playing music disguised is fun, and playing Ghost songs is great fun. So yes, but at the same time I do not know.

Ghost continues to roll with Forge alone as the original member and manages to take the band to larger arenas and more sold and streamed Ghost albums. This while Persner finally gets the chance to revive his Magna Carta Cartel which has been cryogenically asleep on the Linköping sofa since 2009.

What was it like to revive MCC again after the whole Ghost carousel?

It was a challenge. Above all, to define and concretize something that has previously been quite indefinable. MCC was once something completely unpretentious that is now something completely different. And we are very ambitious. And also pretentious. To say otherwise would be a hoax. We like what we do, but of course we want others to do the same. We definitely do not make music solely for our own sake, but definitely have an ambition to reach out to people other than ourselves. But yes it has been difficult to jump into the Magna Carta Cartel again after the Ghost turn. But behind my mask, I have learned an enormous amount that has been invaluable in being able to go in and revive MCC again.

So Ghost felt more concrete from the start than MCC did?

Absolutely. Both the current work plan and to build up a perhaps more concrete framework for what this MCC entity actually is. I still find it quite difficult to identify exactly what the Magna Carta Cartel really is. But it is something you have to work on. Because there is considerably much more going on behind the scenes for MCC than you might think from the outside.

HAVING TO BEAR YOUR OWN FACE AGAIN

In March 2017, Persner takes off his mask and announces publicly on Youtube for the whole world that he is no longer part of Ghost and that Magna Carta Cartel is back with Persner on vocals and guitar, Pär Glendor on bass, brother Arvid Persner on drums and Niels Nielsen as a live member on guitar. A little later that year, MCC finally releases new music again in the form of the EP The Demon King which is followed by a shorter European tour.

What was it like to wear your own face on stage again?

I did not like that. I would really like to continue playing masquerade, but it does not feel really relevant right now. For example, I personally have never liked to be photographed and tense in front of cameras. But when you were masked, it was not a big problem. So now all of a sudden having to see pictures and movies when I myself am on stage in my own body actually feels a bit perverse.

You have no plans to redirect MCC to a masked band then?

Haha, no damn how sad it would feel. MCC is maskless, and it is the music that is in absolute focus. Who we are in the band should play a much smaller role. But I'm just a little above to perform without a mask so far. But it will probably be resolved soon.

Since 2017, Persner has more or less spent all his waking time on the Magna Carta Cartel. And for tactical reasons, the album The Dying Option has both been fermented and then baked in the oven for an extra long time in order to be as worthy a fresh start to a bygone era as possible.

I'm very happy with the record. However, there has been some anxiety that those who already know who we are with Goodmorning Restrained as a reference template will probably wonder what the hell we did at The Dying Option. But that is what we also find interesting. We want to do something that people to some extent may not fully anticipate.

When does MCC go on a The Dying Option tour then?

I can not answer that right now. But we will definitely go out and play, that much I can say. MCC is not a studio project. So we both want and will go out and play. But I'm not yet going to say when, where or how.

The Dying Option - Magna Carta Cartel's first album in 13 years - will be released on Spotify, CD, cassette and digital download on June 10th. The vinyl version of the album is scheduled for release in November.

Source

#phew it was long #very good interview I like it #martin persner #MCC #magna carta cartel #ghost band #the band ghost #omega ghoul #the dying option

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infiinitys · 1 year

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TOMMY MARTINEZ. HE/HIM / have you ever heard of EVERLONG by foo fighters, well, it describes JACE ESCARRA to a tee! the twenty-nine year old, and CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROFESSOR was spotted browsing through the stalls at portobello road market last sunday, do you know them? would you say HE is more verbose or more CANDID instead? anyway, they remind me of a praised mind that never stops turning, always looking out for danger, a pen poised behind his ear to grade papers & hair neatly pulled back in a sleek bun. maybe you’ll bump into them soon!

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝚃𝚁𝙸𝙶𝙶𝙴𝚁 𝚆𝙰𝚁𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶 : murder, knives, blood, death, weapondry, law enforcement

𝐁𝐈𝐎𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐇𝐘

Jace is the child of a single mother, the product of a fling that was never meant to go anywhere. His father was never really in the picture, the occasional phone call coming for him every year. Than two. Maybe the occasional Christmas. They stopped all together when he was around ten.

Isobel Escarra did whatever she could so she and her son could get by. She had grown up in Cape Cod, and wanted her son to have the same closeness to the beach that she did. She worked two jobs, one as a barista and at a laundromat.

Jace loved growing up by the beach. When his mother was working he was often looked after by his uncle and his cousin, who have both enriched his life more than he can possibly express.

He proved to be quite intelligent as a very young boy, testing far past the genius level of IQ. In his regular academics he was certainly not being challenged, and it added a further amount of pressure on Isobel to find a way to stimulate her boy's genius.

It was decided that he would move up several grades, sacrificing his social skills for his academic ones.

He had completed high school by the age of fourteen, college with two degrees in forensic science and psychology by the age of nineteen. Soon after, he made the decision to set his sights on the FBI Academy.

Jace has proved himself to have an untaught familiarity with computers, initially working in the Cyber Crime unit following his graduation.

However, his talent for analyzing behavior would prove to be vital to the Behavioral Analysis Unit, whom he would he begin to work for following six months at Cyber Crime.

It took a beat before Jace began to earn the respect of his coworkers, soon showing just how wrong it was for people to underestimate him and his mind.

He didn't realize just how vile those they were investigating would be, looking into the depths of extremely damaged psyche's would certainly take a lot out of anyone.

However, Jace managed to stay the course. When cases were solved, victims were reunited with families, when happy endings were met -- it reminded him why he does what he does.

Everything changed about two years ago, however, following the incarceration of The Power Hungry Killer. He was a man who only targeted women in power, likely due to what Jace believed to be a feeling of incompetence or because a woman in power had burned him before.

Perhaps this was why he believed that it was he who would be able to push him the furthest, a man significantly younger than he was -- he might not have posed as much of a threat to him.

He couldn't have been more wrong, amplified by the fact that the other was armed with a shiv. He was held at knife point that day and even though it only took about two minutes for guards to be by his side to subdue his attacker -- to Jace, it felt like hours.

At the time, his life had been growing pretty stable. He had just gotten into a new relationship, he was well respected + well liked at work and finally settled into his new apartment overlooking DC. However, in the handful of months he remained at the unit following his attack, he was clearly shaken.

His decision to leave the unit and the country all together had proved to be quite the shock to not just his team, but his girlfriend as well. He had dumped her with what felt like without warning before packing up his place again and taking a professor position in Notting Hill.

He's finally beginning to get his feet underneath him again, having invested in a farm-style property, intending to do most of the renovations himself.

𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐒

He has a pitbull named Buddy, who he lovingly calls Air Bud.

Has developed the fattest crush on a certain Lindsay Duffy and he wants to say something, but he's terrified of ruining their friendship.

Definitely misses what being out in the field gave him instead of the actual act of doing so.

He teaches several classes in the criminal justice realm, including one pertaining to behavioral analysis.

Perhaps what makes it easy for him to work with his students is his age, even if socially he finds it difficult at times to interact with them.

more to come.

𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐒

TBA.

#jace // about #nottinghillintro

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ventussolder · 1 year

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Wait I can't fi nd it but my analysis pf foo fighters pretender connection to hlvr has come full circle holdup

#text

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bunnakit · 3 months

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Shuffle your favorite playlist and post the first five songs that come up. Then copy/paste this ask to your favorite mutuals. 💌💜

ohohooo a little treat for meeee ~ using my general 'liked songs' list since it's so long and varied

We Have It All - Pim Stones 🌸 this song is a huuuuuge part of my playlist because it really sums up my novel vibe so perfectly in a song

Crushed - Apollo 🌸 aww this makes me miss doing my Not Me playlist analysis, this is one of my fav instrumental vibes from the Not Me track list

The Pretender - Foo Fighters 🌸 well, i'm nothing if not a grunge/alt rock loving millenial, it's what my mother raised me with and i won't abandon my roots

Insatiable - Masayoshi Shoken 🌸 i heard this song so, so much grinding through shadowbringers to get caught up before endwalker dropped but i never, ever got sick of it. (yes i play final fantasy xiv, AST main on aether/cactuar bbyyy)

Altissia Under Siege - Yasunori Mitsuda 🌸 spotify is really calling out my gamer roots tonight. all of the music throughout all of final fantasy xv and it's DLC is incredible but this one is just an absolute masterpiece, nothing could have paid a better homage to the character of ignis than this.

#bunn asks #jamie my beloved #ask game #pim stones #foo fighters #ffxiv #final fantasy xiv #ffxv #final fantasy xv #ignis scientia

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fullmusicbardsquared · 1 year

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society if foo fighters and hermes got even a quarter of the analysis and meta art/writing that those part 2 bitches get:

#talking in my head #jjba

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cyarskaren52 · 5 months

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YEAR IN REVIEW

The 100 Best Songs of 2023

Lana, Drake, Miley, Tyler, and many more

BY ROLLING STONE

DECEMBER 1, 2023

KYLIE MINOGUE RACED back to the center of the dance floor with a viral smash. A surprise Shakira track broke the internet. Sexyy Redd owned every summer DJ set. And NewJeans rode a drum-and-bass beat to pop heaven. It was a massive year for música Mexicana and Afropop, for noisy guitar bands, left-field hip-hop, and fearless country storytelling. Taylor Swift had a pretty good year too.

100

Foo Fighters, ‘Under You’

ERIKA GOLDRING/GETTY IMAGES

But Here We Are, the 11th album from Foo Fighters, explores grief in unflinching detail — it was recorded in the wake of Foos drummer Taylor Hawkins’ March 2022 passing and the death of leader Dave Grohl’s mother a few months later. “Under You” has the sunny power-pop-adjacent feel of earlier Foo Fighters tracks like “Learn to Fly,” but its lyrics depict Grohl being nearly suffocated by the pain of losing someone. “Someday I’ll come out from under you,” he declares, well aware that despite the catchy melodies he’s laying down, grief still hangs over him. —M.J.

Jung Kook feat. Latto, ‘Seven’

YOUTUBE

BTS member Jung Kook’s soulful vocals are backed by an insistent garage beat on this swirling confection that’s squarely focused on getting down every day of the week. He drives home his lust with some well-placed falsetto runs, while his foil, the “Big Energy” MC Latto, delivers a winking verse that manages to turn the dance-floor-filling DJ staple “Cha Cha Slide” into a teasing come-on. —M.J.

Hemlocke Springs, ‘Enknee1’

YOUTUBE

Don’t let Hemlocke Springs’ beloved TikTok bridge “girlfriend” give you the wrong impression — this new indie artist is no one-hit wonder. “Enknee1” is both a hyper-pop sensation and a sharp coming-of-age analysis — and who better to reflect on that subject than a Dartmouth Ph.D. hopeful turned viral star? “But I have learnt people aren’t puzzles (No),” she sings before sliding into the sweeping synth chorus emblematic of her awkward, authentic charm. “But thеy puzzle me, be thе things they don’t want to be.” She turns that confusion into something relentlessly catchy. More, please. —C.J.

Geese, ‘Mysterious Love’

YOUTUBE

These Brooklyn kids are just passing the age when they can order an IPA in the bars they play, but they’ve clearly spent plenty of their prodigious youth immersed in the vicissitudes of their parents’ (OK, grandparents’) record collections. They really know how to fuck up the oldies. “Mysterious Love” sounds like post-punk guerrillas laying siege to a classic-rock radio station, piling up prog power, avant-rock chaos, boogie wonderment, and psychedelic sprawl. It’s proof that their 2021 hype-magnet debut Projector was no fluke. —J.D.

Addison Rae feat. Charli XCX, ‘2 Die 4’

OSCAR DEL AGUILA/VARIETY/GETTY IMAGES

Addison Rae’s pop career felt conspicuously short after she dropped her debut single, “Obsessed,” in 2021. But after several songs leaked online — and exploded on TikTok after— it was abundantly clear that was only the beginning. The star of the leaks was “2 Die 4,” a slinky hit with the type of ear-worm hook that burrows in your brain forever. For the official release, Rae linked up with Charli XCX, who adds a little sexy soul to match Rae’s budding pop princess prowess. —B.S.

Aespa, ‘Spicy’

YOUTUBE

The K-pop group Aespa tried something new this year with “Spicy,” the lead single from their third EP, My World — The Third Mini Album. Previous releases had an experimental sound and leaned heavily into AR and virtual reality with a unique concept featuring an imagined world, villains, and avatar members. “Spicy” showcased a new side of Karina, Giselle, Winter, and Ningning. With strong vocals, grimy synths, rolling bass, and huge drum buildups, the song brought the girls closer into the real world of universal pop thrills, reminiscent of early 2000s pop a la Britney Spears. As they tell us in the lyrics, it’s a “10 out of 10, honestly.” —K.K.

Samia, ‘Charm You’

YOUTUBE

On “Charm You,” Samia makes a cathartic breakthrough over a sunny, simple instrumental. “I just saw my whole life flash before your eyes/and I don’t want to charm anyone this time,” she sings. A declaration that vulnerable might deserve either pity or fanfare, but Samia sounds surprisingly relaxed as her vocals float over buoyant guitar strums. The effervescent track is a standout on Samia’s second album, Honey, which showcases what she does best: pointedly chronicle the nuances of desire, devastation, and the delight of learning how to dance through it all. —L.L.

Ellie Goulding and Calvin Harris, ‘Miracle’

YOUTUBE

Nearly a decade had to pass for Ellie Goulding and Calvin Harris — the duo responsible for “I Need Your Love” and “Outside” in 2013 and 2014, respectively — to reunite for another electro-pop smash. “When you have that connection with someone, you miss it,” Goulding told Rolling Stone earlier this year. “It’s hard to just put that aside.” The result of their unique chemistry was “Miracle,” a psychedelic EDM hit in which Goulding asks, “Are you too cynical to believe in a miracle?” in her effervescent voice, backed by ethereal piano, Nineties synths, and a pumping bass. It was a gift to see these two back together. —T.M.

J Hus feat. Drake, ‘Who Told You’

BURAK CINGI/REDFERNS

Beautiful and Brutal Yard, the J Hus album from this summer, had the feeling of being just ahead of its time. Hus, a reliable provider of diaspora-spanning hits, connected with Drake on the pitch-perfect “Who Told You.” Of all of Drake’s globe-trotting ambitions, his forays into Afrobeats and sounds from West Africa bear the most fruit. Here we’re greeted by “One Dance” Drake, laying on the accent just a tad more subtly. Along with J Hus’ infectious hook, the song is an ideal anthem, one that I suspect finds a permanent spot in the pantheon of summer hits. —J.I.

Tove Lo, ‘Borderline’

YOUTUBE

Tove Lo co-wrote “Borderline” with fellow pop titan Dua Lipa, and it’s brimming with the kind of unforgettable melodies that are a hallmark of both artists’ best work. Built on a foundation of burbling bass and a Prince-like drum pattern, the song puts Tove Lo’s edgy lyrics about insecurity and codependence front and center. “I like to push you to the edge as long as you say you’re mine,” she sings, ramping up the intensity for an almost-shouted chorus that promises to make this relationship work, whatever the personal toll. Deeply unsettling in all the right ways. —J.F.

Tierra Whack, ‘Chanel Pit’

RAHUL BHATT*

The bars might look silly on paper (“What is that shit I smell?/I am that shit you smell”), but that’s half the point — the way Ms. Whack sends that nonsense caroming off the music-box beat, bouncing new flows like rubber balls, is what makes this absurdist gem shine. And, as always, her brilliance doesn’t come into full focus until you see the video, where she raps the entire thing while going through a car wash, minus the car. Plenty of artists made music that addressed the world’s pain and suffering in 2023. Let’s hear it for someone who knows how to keep it fun. —S.V.L.

Soccer Mommy, ‘Here’

DANIEL TOPETE

Sophie Allison, the indie-rock singer-songwriter who records as Soccer Mommy, delivered a great covers EP this year with Karaoke Night. Along with songs by Taylor Swift, R.E.M., Slowdive, and Sheryl Crow, she delivered a for-the-ages version of Pavement’s classic powerless-ballad “Here,” tapping into the heartbreak that only exists on the edges of Stephen Malkmus’ imperious performance on the 1992 original. It takes guts to throw yourself into a sacred indie-rock text like this, but she lovingly makes it her own to give us one of the all-time great Nineties covers. —J.D.

Myke Towers, ‘LALA’

YOUTUBE

There’s magic buried in the vocal chant from “LALA,” making the track so catchy that it stays planted in your brain long after it’s ended. The song has been blasting out of cars pretty much from the moment a snippet first came out in June — and that infectious sample sent it flying around TikTok with force. In a flash, it rose up the charts, making it onto the Billboard Hot 100. It also became testament to Myke Towers’ star-powered versatility: The sharp-as-nails spitter can launch caustic raps like no one else, but he’s also down for upbeat bangers that turn into streaming goliaths. —J.L.

Dijon, ‘Coogie’

STEVE JENNINGS/GETTY IMAGES

Dijon has never been afraid to expose the cracks of his voice in his folk- and R&B-inflected songs, but “Coogie” reveals him pushing himself and his songwriting to wrenching effect. As he sings of being held down by some inherent “meanness” or a bad spirit, he sounds increasingly more raspy and self-destructive. Along with an equally haphazard electric guitar, everything sounds like it’s drowning underwater. As the song never reaches a climax or moment of release, Dijon keeps the listener tight within his gripping performance — making way for a raw and slippery vision of indie music. —M.H.K.

Taylor Swift, ‘You’re Losing Me’

KEVIN WINTER/GETTY IMAGES/TAS RIGHTS MANAGEMENT

For her Eras Tour stop at MetLife Stadium in May, Taylor Swift caused mastermind chaos by exclusively releasing this Midnights-era track on a CD sold only at that weekend’s shows. That hasn’t stopped fans from turning to bootleg YouTube uploads to hear one of Swift’s most devastating songs about a relationship on its last pulse. Over a sample of her heartbeat, she delivers a gut-wrenching bridge that only a Sagittarius could write: Swift proclaims, “I’m the best thing at this party,” then immediately confesses, “I wouldn’t marry me either.” No bait-and-switch has ever cut so deep. —M.G.

Hotline TNT, ‘I Thought You’d Change’

YOUTUBE

A proud son of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin (well, probably not that proud), singer-guitarist Will Anderson has wound up in New York in his mid-30s fronting the fantastic shoegaze band Hotline TNT, unfurling his Midwestern sad-guy glory on the band’s new album, Cartwheel. On “I Thought You’d Change,” he takes a wicked case of relationship malaise, slathers it in gilded distortion and surging melodies, and what comes out is at once heartsick and heroic. The “you” in question probably won’t be changing anytime soon, but the noise in our boy’s head is there to pull him through. Always has, always will. —J.D.

CMAT, ‘Have Fun!’

YOUTUBE

Since debuting a few years ago, Dublin’s Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson has distinguished herself for songs long on clarity, wit, and killer melodies. This standout starts off vivid (and clear): “One hundred bright green birds atop a Tesco in Clapham/Me on you, it didn’t make sense, but it happened.” From there, Thompson laments a shitty relationship while riding bright, piano-led funk, flowing catchily as violins slash in and out and those damn birds start to haunt her. It adds up to something irresistible, and one of the year’s best breakup songs. —C.H.

The Rolling Stones feat. Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder, ‘Sweet Sounds of Heaven’

DANIEL LEAL/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

“Sweet Sounds of Heaven,” the Stones’ greatest latter-day gospel-rock rave-up, reaches an emotional peak two minutes and 38 seconds in, when Mick Jagger and Lady Gaga bellow, “I’m not going to hell in some dusty motel/And I’m not going down in the dirt … I’m finally quenching my thirst.” It’s a genuinely moving moment of catharsis, like they’ve survived some dark night of the soul, and it builds from there into soulful jam reminiscent of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” or Sticky Fingers’ “I Got the Blues,” thanks to Stevie Wonder’s funky keyboards and a fiery horn line. Has any other band sounded this good 60 years in? —K.G.

The Hives, ‘Bogus Operandi’

YOUTUBE

Twenty years ago, the Hives blasted out of Sweden with their matching suits, over-the-top bravado, and killer garage-punk tunes. After a long break, they came back this year with a new album, predictably titled The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons. “I go to work!,” Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist shouts on their blazing return single, and his fellow Hives answer his call with the same sugar-sharp energy that made them such a blast back in the day. Times may change, but some operandi remain as beautifully bogus as ever. —J.D.

The Last Dinner Party, ‘Nothing Matters’

YOUTUBE

The U.K.’s latest buzzy export is a baroque-rock dream. On “Nothing Matters,” the group is part ABBA, part Nineties Brit-pop throwback, and entirely bewitching. Lead singer Abigail Morris resigns herself to a surface-level romance of “a sailor and a nightingale dancing in convertibles.” The juicy chorus is increasingly raucous as the song wears on, exploding into irresistible, singalong-worthy “da-da-da”s. The song was a success on alt-rock radio this fall, and the band’s been getting themselves on the road ahead of their debut album, Prelude to Ecstasy, meaning that “Nothing Matters” is just the appetizer. —B.S.

Feeble Little Horse, ‘Freak’

With a name like Feeble Little Horse, the chances for dinky annoyingness are staggeringly high. But this Pittsburgh twee-noise band don’t just not suck, they transcend. “Freak,” from their album Girl With Fish, goes by in the space of a hardcore blurt, at just 1:47, with singer-bassist Lydia Slocum’s voice barely rising above a shy mumble as she sings, “I know you want me, freak/Sports star honeybee, on my team.” Yet she exudes tepid swagger, and the guitars go off like a mushroom cloud inside a snow globe, creating a lush little biosphere of shy, torrid gorgeousness. —J.D.

Tems, ‘Me & U’

YOUTUBE

Tems builds this sweet jam on supple Afrobeats with the simplest of words, and if its title conjures Prince, so does its conflation of the spiritual and the carnal, which comes across despite Tems’ professed intention to write about her relationship with Jesus. Between this, her co-writes with Rihanna, and her breakthrough cameos with Future, Wizkid, and Drake, this Nigerian queen clearly remains choosy about the company she keeps. —W.H.

Eladio Carrión feat. Bad Bunny, ‘Coco Chanel’

YOUTUBE

With the help of Bad Bunny, “Coco Chanel” — and its dembow influences and sexy lyrics — served as the anchor for Eladio Carrión’s great LP 3MEN2 KBRN. In its bars, Carrión and Benito reference everything from Ferragamo and Sega video games to Julieta Venegas and Avengers’ Thanos. When it dropped, the track also fed speculation that Benito was dating Kendall Jenner with the line, “The Puerto Rican sun is warmer than the one in Phoenix,” which was taken by many as a clever reference to Jenner’s ex, Devin Booker of NBA’s Phoenix Suns. —T.M.

XG, ‘Left Right’

YOUTUBE

On “Left Right,” XG masterfully creates the kind of late-Nineties and early-2000s-channeling hit that would otherwise only emerge from the use of an obvious sample. The record is nostalgic in presentation, but futuristic in delivery. The seven-piece Japanese girl group — based in South Korea — are evident students of the K-Pop titans. Each member’s strengths are highlighted as they demonstrate a vocal expertise that brings to mind their other prime influences: the R&B girl groups of the TRL era. —L.P.

Drake feat. Sexyy Red and SZA, ‘Rich Baby Daddy’

PRINCE WILLIAMS/WIREIMAGE

Drake’s “Rich Baby Daddy” sounds like an outtake from a So So Def Bass All Stars comp. It gets plenty of fuel from a Jessica Domingo vocal loop sample and kicks off with a command by Sexyy Red to “Bend that ass over! Let that coochie breathe!” In short, it’s a song where Drake lets women’s voices take center stage, even as he chimes in to add, “I’ve got some love inside of me/Please drag it out of me.” A guest vocal from 2023 MVP SZA only adds to the appeal of “Rich Baby Daddy” as a sweet and summery confection. —M.R.

Fifty Fifty, ‘Cupid’

YOUTUBE

The breakthrough single from K-pop group Fifty Fifty is a delectable chunk of happy-sad bubblegum, its plush harmonies and sing-song lead vocals making its gently frustrated lyrics (“So skeptical of love … but still, I want it more, more, more”) feel like they were transposed straight from a fluffy pink diary with a stubborn lock and entries written in loopy, heart-adorned script. Sadly, Fifty Fifty’s tenure was as fleeting as the romance “Cupid” longs for; three of its four members were cut from the group by its agency Attrakt in October, a few months after the track peaked in the Hot 100’s Top 20. —M.J.

Summer Walker feat. J. Cole, ‘To Summer, From Cole (Audio Hug)’

RICK KERN/GETTY IMAGES/HONEYLAND FESTIVAL

Summer Walker reportedly cried when she heard the “audio hug” J. Cole recorded for her 30-minute EP Clear 2: Soft Life. Indeed, “To Summer, From Cole” is a showcase for the North Carolina rapper, a soothing neo-soul track he co-produced with Kelvin “WU10” Wooten. “I just heard you had you another little baby, congratulations/I hope you got through it with no complications,” he raps in a mellow, gentlemanly tone. “On days you feelin’ like you on your own/I wrote this for you to put on.” Walker opens and closes the song with a simple melody and the words: “Call me when you need some love.” —M.R.

Chris Stapleton, ‘White Horse’

ASTRIDA VALIGORSKY/WIREIMAGE

“White Horse” is a powerhouse rock anthem that presses into uncharted territory for Chris Stapleton. “If you want a cowboy on a white horse/Ridin’ off into the sunset/If that’s the kind of love you wanna wait for/Hold on tight, girl, I ain’t there yet,” he belts over a stadium-worthy guitar riff. Co-produced with his wife, Morgane Stapleton, and Dave Cobb, and co-written alongside Semisonic frontman Dan Wilson, “White Horse” served as a rocking reminder that Stapleton is one of the greatest voices we’ve got. —J. Lonsdale

Armand Hammer, billy woods, ELUCID, and EL-P, ‘The Gods Must Be Crazy’

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“Your money’s no good here,” warns ELUCID on this standout cut from Armand Hammer’s We Buy Diabetic Test Strips. It’s a roundelay between two Brooklyn rappers who offer riffs on a Eurocentric world in disorder as they portend a post-apocalypse society where money and celebrity are meaningless. “White women with pepper spray in they purse/Interpolating Beyoncé/Illegal formations,” raps billy woods with brutally dry wit. Meanwhile, El-P of Run the Jewels accompanies the duo with a loopy, arrhythmic beat that mimics a globe slowly spinning off its axis. —M.R.

Gina Birch, ‘I Play My Bass Loud’

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Bassist Gina Birch is a DIY music legend whose work in the iconic London post-punk band the Raincoats helped lay the foundation for Nirvana, riot grrrl, and more. She released her solo debut this year, at 68 years old, and its title track was one of 2023’s most inspiring artistic declarations. The song recalled the Raincoats’ otherworldly feminist statement ”No One’s Little Girl,” with Birch’s joyful bass leading the way as she sang with wit and wisdom about grabbing your instrument and creating music that transforms your life, every time you poke out a note. —J.D.

Del Water Gap, ‘All We Ever Do Is Talk’

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Del Water Gap is a master of lovelorn melancholy on “All We Ever Do Is Talk,” a mournful ode to the honeymoon phase. The singer and songwriter finds himself riding a ceaseless emotional carousel in the wake of the realization that he can at once be full of love, but also fully devoid of those early feelings that once sent electricity through his veins. Over a moody Eighties-tinged track, he sprints through a maze of synths in search of understanding, asking over and over: “Will we ever get that feeling again?” —L.P.

Code Orange feat. Billy Corgan, ‘Take Shape’

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If your favorite part of high school was screaming along to Incubus on the drive home, don’t sleep on Code Orange. But even if they nail that 2000s period sound, that doesn’t mean they sound like something off an old CD that’s been skittering around on the floor of your car. “Take Shape” — featuring haunting vocals from Billy Corgan — exemplifies everything that makes Code Orange tick: absolutely punishing guitars, Jami Morgan’s harsh yet melodic vocals, and brain-flexing lyrics about breaking free from societal expectations. Just try not to run any red lights while listening to this track. —B.E.

Tyla, ‘Water’

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This year, 21 year-old year South African siren Tyla flooded the airwaves with her global smash, “Water.” This summer, after it’s just-challenging-enough choreography became a mainstay on TikToks and Instagram, the song itself rose to the top hip-hop and R&B radio. The fluid Amapiano-meets-Afrobeats production cascades beneath a saturated, choir-style vocal top-line that goads a lover to “make me sweat, make me hotter, make me lose her breath, make me water.” The track and its dance are fun, sexy, inspiring, and even a little humbling–since emulating Tyla’s control of her hips is no small thing.–M.C.

Jisoo, ‘Flower’

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Jisoo was the last member of Blackpink to release solo music, creating a feverish anticipation among fans. It was the worth the wait. “Flower” cemented the singer as a certified solo star. A sophisticated track with a staccato, Latin-tinged melody and Caribbean-inspired percussion, “Flower” feels instantly familiar yet unlike anything else on the radio. There’s a confidence to her voice that isn’t always as apparent when it’s blended with three other singers. But on this solo track, it’s clear that Jisoo is firmly in control. —T.C.

Thundercat and Tame Impala, ‘No More Lies’

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On this psychedelic-soul gem, Los Angeles is to blame for a relationship that doesn’t quite work. “I’m sorry, girl, didn’t mean to drag you in my dreams,” Thundercat sings, as he and Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker create a beautifully hazy track. The two musicians let the groove move them toward a sense of understanding that always seems to be alluringly out of their reach. “It just felt like we were definitely long lost bandmates from another era,” Thundercat told Rolling Stone about working with Parker. —L.P.

Becky G and DannyLux, ‘Cries in Spanish’

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As música Mexicana finds recognition on a global scale, strains of those same folk roots — the lovely melodic turns, those quirky accents in the strings — are beginning to penetrate mainstream pop. A ballad of quiet despair, this track from Becky G’s superlative third album — a tribute to her Mexican roots — reaches a majestic kind of transcendence when young prodigy DannyLux enters the stage riding a lilting sad sierreño pattern. The spiraling organ notes at the end add sophistication, but “Cries in Spanish” is all about the vocal luster of its two stars. —E.L.

Fall Out Boy, ‘Love From the Other Side’

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Fall Out Boy’s eighth studio album, So Much (for) Stardust, was the first time they’d worked with producer Neal Avron in nearly 15 years. The record’s lead single “Love From the Other Side,” was proof of how well their reunion was going to work. Everyone was firing on all cylinders: Avron built a soundscape of theatrical urgency around Pete Wentz’s unmistakable songwriting, while Patrick Stump braced for the impact of sacrificing himself to the beast of infatuation. Without falling back on regurgitative nostalgia, they created the most Fall Out Boy-sounding Fall Out Boy song in recent memory.—L.P.

Yahritza y Su Esencia and Grupo Frontera, ‘Frágil’

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Yahritza y Su Esencia’s “Soy El Único” was the first song to put the Mexican American trio on people’s radars. But “Frágil,” with Grupo Frontera, was the song where they really took off. On the norteño-cumbia track, Yahritza and Frontera’s Payo Solis sing about giving their entire, fragile heart away to a love interest. Yahritza’s high notes complement Solis’ masculine vocals as they sing about an ex-lover “whose soul doesn’t feel pain when it lies.” It was the first track from Yahritza to hit Number One on an airplay chart, and it marked out a pivotal point in Frontera’s ever-growing career. —T.M.

That Mexican OT With Paul Wall and DRODi, ‘Johnny Dang’

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One of the feel-good stories of rap in 2023 is the emergence of Virgil “That Mexican OT” Gazca. The Bay City, Texas, artist grinded on the mixtape circuit for years before breaking through with Lonestar Luchador and its centerpiece, “Johnny Dang.” Produced by TobiAli, it’s a legitimate banger where OT bounces all over the track even as he teases, “I’m just rhymin’ words, I don’t even know how to rap.” Guest spots from Freeport’s DRODi and Houston all-star Paul Wall add excitement to a hit that promises to “slide down your block, light it up with flames.” —M.R.

Jenny Lewis, ‘Psychos’

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Jenny Lewis proclaims herself a “rock & roll disciple” on “Psychos,” and proves her devotion with a series of truths on the Joy’All soft rocker, custom made for Seventies AM radio. Her Tao includes acknowledging that “life goes in cycles [like] a merry-go-round,” that when you sing about turning down the treble and dropping the bass, your music better sound gloriously tinny, and that, most transparently, “I’m not a psycho/I’m just trying to get laid.” Lewis knows, of course, that it’s that fun and funny candor that won rock & roll all its disciples in the first place. Respect to the guru, namaste. —K.G.

Mitski, ‘My Love Mine All Mine’

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When you listen to any love song from the 1940s, you get the distinct sense that everyone’s singing to ghosts — lovers are always lost, lonely, or waiting. Mitski captures that swoony mood of exquisite loss in this goth-country epic, which sees the protagonist asking the moon to remember her to her loved one even after her death. Sweeping and gorgeous, this is as close to a ballad as you’re going to get with Mitski, who — even in her lighter moments — seems always tethered to the fact that even the greatest love stories end.—B.E.

Earthgang and Spillage Village, ‘Die Today’

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They make it sound so effortless — like they’re just coming up with these super-catchy hooks and funny-AF lyrics on a summer Sunday, in between hammock swings. But the greats have a way of making the hard jobs look easy. And this track cements Earthgang’s status as one of the greats: loose and free, like your favorite pajama bottoms; witty and a little maudlin, like an episode of Six Feet Under. “Tell me baby if I die today,” the Atlanta duo sing, “Would you come and kiss my cold face?” Sounding like that? For sure. —N.S.

V, ‘Rainy Days’

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Each BTS solo project has its own distinct musical personality. V is the member of the group with the deepest love of R&B, soul, and jazz, a fan of legends like Chet Baker and Frank Sinatra who’s also a former saxophone player. He unfurled his old-school credentials on “Rainy Days,” crooning over a forlorn piano and laidback beat as he explored the refined depths of his deliciously cloudy baritone. The result was an undisputedly umbrella-worthy, new-look, quiet-storm pleasure. —J.D.

Yng Lvcas feat. Peso Pluma, ‘La Bebé’

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“Ella Baila Sola,” Peso Pluma’s corrido with Eslabón Armado, was a Top 10 hit, but it wasn’t his only major hit of the year. “La Bebé (Remix),” a Pluma-featuring track by the largely unknown Mexican reggaetonero Yng Lvcas, seemed to dominate Latin nightclubs overnight — and it played a huge role in Pluma’s 2023 takeover. Lvcas and Pluma sing to a muse who just wants to dance to a good reggaetón beat. “La Bebé” delivers exactly that. Mexico isn’t your typical reggaetón exporter, but with “La Bebé,” Lvcas told Rolling Stone he hopes it “propels Mexicans to look at their own people for the genre.” —T.M.

Tyler, the Creator feat. Vince Staples, ‘Stuntman’

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One of the highlights of Tyler, the Creator’s Call Me If You Get Lost deluxe is “Stuntman,” a track that exemplifies his creative genius. Vince Staples opens things up with a characteristically sharp verse over a minimalist mesh of claps, clangs, and colossal 808s, then Tyler arrives with a swagger that he carries throughout. The song’s de facto breakbeat is interspersed by a hook with a crescendo of synths that is indeed a perfect soundtrack for a multitalented artist to let us know, “I’ll show you how to stunt.” —A.G.

Twice, ‘Moonlight Sunrise’

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Twice played their first stateside stadium show last summer (which made them the first K-pop girl group to headline a stadium in the U.S.). It was a peak moment in their eight-year run. “Moonlight Sunrise,” the group’s second English-language single, was inspired by the moonlight at that Banc of California Stadium performance. “Baby, you can hit up my line when you need it/Said that you tried?/Baby, you succeeded,” they rap with elevated English skills. Twice underscored their maturity by showing an artistic range beyond their signature bubblegum pop, with a Miami bass-infused R&B track. —K.K.

Tainy feat. J Balvin, Young Miko, Jowell and Randy, ‘Colmillo’

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This masterful deluxe-edition bonus highlight from Puerto Rican superproducer Tainy’s stunningly brilliant Data is three or four bangers in one, the sound of an artist chasing his wildest musical impulses in whatever wild-style direction they take him. “Colmillo” opens as a house-music hallucination, then mutates into a club-swallowing reggaeton anthem that invites us to commune with the perreo gods, as if Tainy and his teeming crew of guests (veteran stars J Balvin, plus Jowell and Randy, as well as newcomer Young Miko) are holding our hand as we ascend to a velvet-rope party on the astral-plane. —J.D.

Shamir, ‘Oversized Sweater’

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Comfort is the theme of Shamir’s dreamy single, off his 2023 album, Homo Anxietatem (Latin for “anxious man”). “Oversized Sweater” delivers gorgeously on that warmth and familiarity, with Shamir making a perfect pastiche of Nineties indie pop and soft rock, reminiscent of Liz Phair, the Goo Goo Dolls, and Lisa Loeb. Inspired by a sweater he knitted in the months following a stint at a psych ward, the song is an uplifting tribute to the ways we look to soothe ourselves after a love has gone sour. “So I cuddle in the space/Of my oversized sweater/And sing until I believe in love again,” he sings on the chorus. The song fits as snugly as his favorite item of clothing. —B.S.

Feid, ‘Nx Tx Sientas Solx’

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Decades of Latin pop songs have drilled into our heads the questionable message that romantic love is the answer to everything, but Feid begs to disagree. The most intimate track on Mor, No Le Temas a La Oscuridad — the Colombian star’s sixth studio album — this dark expressionist miniature proposes replacing those post-heartbreak tears with an evening of dancing and self-acceptance. Anchored on deep bass accents and a nimble loop whose restless shuffle mirrors the protagonist’s emotional turmoil, “Nx Tx Sientas Solx” underscores the vulnerable, healing side of neo-reggaetón. —E.L.

Troye Sivan, ‘Rush’

Troye Sivan

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A sweaty, lusty ode to physical connection, Troye Sivan’s “Rush” combines a pumping house beat and a horny-guy-gang chant to staggering effect, with the Australian pop enigma playing winking ringmaster at its center. The unrelenting three minutes of “Rush” feel like a snapshot of those summer parties that seemingly never end, stretching from the not-late-enough sunset to the too-early sunrise and beyond, bodies pressed up against each other even after everyone has collapsed from giddy, gleeful exhaustion. —M.J.

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