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slavghoul · 1 year

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Interview from Rock Hard [FR] Magazine 5/2023

In which Tobias talks about Spillways, Phantomime, how he chooses what songs to cover, the state of the world, why he loves churches, and some touring technicalities.

Rock Hard: Let's go back to the version of "Spillways" that you recorded with Joe Elliott, the singer of Def Leppard. How did this collaboration come about?

Unfortunately, this story is less sexy than it would have been if I could have done exactly what I wanted. Before Impera was released, I regularly mentioned Def Leppard in interviews because some of the experimentation on that album was inspired by that band, their writing style. […] As I often mentioned Def Leppard, people around me eventually told me that Joe Elliott and Phil Collen regularly spoke highly of Ghost in interviews. Since I obviously thought it was cool, someone suggested a collaboration. A good collaboration shouldn't be forced, it should happen naturally. The best ones are often the ones that weren't supposed to happen. Two drunk musicians somewhere accidentally writing a good song... Crosby, Stills & Nash style. People who, by chance, find themselves together in a different context from the one they are used to and do something together, by accident. Something magical! That's how I would ideally have wanted it to happen. So I said I was ready to call Joe Elliott and see if we had a rapport. We started talking on the phone and texting a lot, me living in Sweden and him in Dublin. As we were both on the move almost all the time, and he was on tour, we couldn't meet. Suddenly, out of nowhere, he tells me that he has recorded some vocals for 'Spillways'! Quite frankly, I was surprised because I wasn't expecting it. I was anticipating a possible collaboration, but in a different way. To be honest, I thought we would create something new later on. But when I heard the result, I thought two things. Firstly, I found it very flattering. Secondly, I thought Joe brought something new and cool to "Spillways".

But you would have preferred to have the opportunity to write a new song with him.

Yes, that's the way I saw it, but I'm happy with the way it turned out. And then I said to Joe, "You know how we post those funny little episodes on our social media?" He replied "Yes, I think I saw that!" and kindly agreed to participate in one of them. Nowadays, many artists are over-solicited to record video clips for anything and everything in order to keep their channels updated: "Come and see us in concert in such and such a city!", etc. etc. The aim is obviously to keep the media space occupied.

By creating "content"!

Exactly! And that's exactly what I don't want to do. That's why, instead of all this crap, we started some time ago to create these little humorous episodes. One day, for example, I came up with the idea of an episode set in 1969 featuring a sort of "pre-Ghost" group. To do this, I obviously had to write a new song, which I did with this psychedelic track, 'Kiss The Go-Goat', which I thought was funny. When we recorded it, 'Mary On A Cross', another song of the same type, came along. So we ended up with two sides of a single that became 'Seven Inches Of Satanic Panic.’ Instead of just announcing the release on our networks, we chose to shoot a new video in which we featured Papa Nihil and explained the origins of this so-called 'pre-Ghost' band. I thought it was a much more clever and fun way of presenting the single. We do the same when it comes to announcing an album release or a future tour. Joe Elliott has a great sense of humour and is capable of self-mockery, so he kindly agreed to play this little game.

Ghost have made a habit of releasing an EP between their albums, mostly, if not entirely, made up of covers: If You Have Ghost (2013), Popestar (2016) and now Phantomime. How is it not just about “creating content”?

For me, it's a kind of exercise. I like analogies. Let's imagine that the place we are in is a theatre, and that this theatre, in order to be viable, has to host performances all year round. At least fifty weeks a year. Daytime rehearsals, evening performances... You are the director of the place and you know that the play that is currently being performed there will end at the end of the month. So you look for something else to program in order to make the most of the place and keep your staff busy. Maybe an old classic like Doctor Glass (Hjalmar Söderberg, 1905), an adaptation of John Steinbeck, or a rereading of Shakespeare's Hamlet that you could revisit by inviting this actor or that director, renting out your theatre for three extra months for the occasion. Working on this old material, even if it means not releasing it if it doesn't work. We do that to keep the team active, enthusiastic, focused. That's my way of working. I worked simultaneously on the Impera album and the demos of the covers that are on Phantomime. One day I could record 'Spillways' and two hours before leaving the studio to go home, I could look at any of the covers and decide which ones to keep. So, as soon as Impera was finished, I was able to concentrate on those covers that the album's producer wasn't interested in putting on the record. Which was fine with me. I spent some time sorting out the covers I had recorded as demos. There were ten in total, but I only kept five. Because with those five tracks I thought I could come up with a really strong rock EP. In my albums, there are highs, lows, really metal tracks, ballads, instrumentals, etc. So I thought it was a good idea to make a really strong rock EP. I felt it would be cool if this new EP was viscerally rock’n’roll. The opening track, "See No Evil" by Television, sounds like the Rolling Stones on methamphetamine! (laughs)

You like the songs you cover, that's a prerequisite. But their lyrics also play a very important role in your choice.

Yes, that's what makes me choose a song or not.

Is that the number one criterion?

Erm... (he thinks for a long time) If I hesitate between two songs, yes, absolutely! Let's go back to Leonard Cohen, for example. For the bonus tracks of Prequelle, I chose "Avalanche" because it seemed to me to have a biblical and existential significance. This was not the case with 'Take This Waltz', another Cohen song that I liked as much, if not more. The latter, with its Viennese waltz feel, would have metaphorically taken us to Austria, which would not have been very coherent, unfortunately.

Should these covers speak about God, the Devil, ask questions about religion?

They must speak about evil, about good. Be existential, biblical, philosophical, but seen from a certain perspective. Or at least tick one of those boxes, like 'Hanging Around' (The Stranglers) which is about Christ. Some of the other covers I've recorded are more specific, such as 'Phantom Of The Opera' (Iron Maiden), which is about horror. I also make my choice according to the humour of the songs I want to cover. It should be close to my own sense of humour.

You mentioned the first Phantomime cover, "See No Evil". It takes on a different resonance today because, on January 28, 2023, we sadly learned of the death of Tom Verlaine, the leader of Television.

When I recorded this cover in 2021, just after completing Impera, it was already a tribute. But obviously, with Tom's death, this song takes on another resonance, that of a final posthumous salute. I've been listening to Television for twenty years, and I love them and have always considered them a great band. In indie clubs they always play the same song, 'Marquee Moon', but Television had many other good songs, especially on their first two albums: Marquee Moon (1977) and Adventure (1978). I like those two best. It's a band that had a huge influence on one of my previous bands, Subvision. So much so that at the time, I thought several times of covering Television songs that I loved: "See No Evil", but also "Elevation" and "Foxhole".

The first single from Phantomime is Genesis' 'Jesus He Knows Me', a scathing critique of televangelist stars like Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker and Robert Tilton. Ugly people who have made their fortune by 'promising salvation’ to naive believers for big bucks. Can we expect to see you wearing a wig in its video, as singer/drummer Phil Collins did in the original video for this song in 1991?

(Laughs) We've already shot the video for this cover version (editor’s note: the interview was conducted on 11 March 2023) and I'm not in it, but it's a direct nod to the original video. I've always liked this song - except for the reggae part, which I thought was horrible in the Genesis version and which I reworked - and it's funny to see how this 1991 text is still relevant today. Except, of course, for a few "old-time" words, like "phone book". The televangelists are still there on television promising things to people who take their word for it and shower them with money because they are assured of "salvation", they are promised heaven. I also rearranged Iron Maiden's 'Phantom of The Opera' after taking care to contact Steve Harris for his approval.

Indeed, in your retelling of this song, you are the Phantom and not its victim...

Yes, I wanted to be the Phantom. I submitted the idea to Steve, who gave me the green light. I only made some surgical changes. Similarly, I would have liked to have proposed the same thing to Phil Collins so that the text of "Jesus He Knows Me" would have been more in line with the times. Change, for example, "but she don't know about my girlfriend / or the man I met last night" to "or the dude I screwed last night". Alas, lack of time prevented me from doing so. And then, since this was a slippery slope, I thought: - What if Collins refuses? Or what if he gets pissed off? - We could have made these changes without asking anyone's permission - as long as the artists get their royalties, it's not a problem - but there was no way I was going to do it. Neither I nor my label wanted to alienate anyone, obviously.

In 1977, in "Hanging Around" by The Stranglers, which you also cover on Phantomime, the singer Hugh Cornwell sings about several things, but also about Christ "telling his mother not to worry because he's comfortable in the city where he's high above the ground". Is that why you chose it?

Actually, the key thing that made me choose this song from the band over any other is that I grew up listening to the album it's taken from, Rattus Norvegicus (1977), the Stranglers' first release. There are a lot of songs on that album that I would have loved to play because, as a musician, I really like to play those kinds of songs. ‘Hanging Around' was a good fit for us because of the lyrics, but also because it was more in keeping with our style. Ghost are obviously a metal and hard rock band, but also have a strong punk sensibility. Punk, but well played (smiles). For me, The Stranglers have always done "well played punk": this band knows how to play, how to arrange its music, unlike GBH and Discharge, to name but two. Mind you, I also like the latter, but not for the same reasons. A lot of punk bands from the late 70s/early 80s sounded "sloppy". It wasn't for lack of trying to play better. When The Clash and The Jam went into the studio, they tried to do their best and they sounded great! The same goes for The Adverts. Those guys were doing their best. Nowadays, some people think that being a punk is to play badly on purpose, to be messy. No, no, no ! But I digress...

What is the reason for the nod to Metallica's 'Fade To Black' in the solo on 'Hanging Around'?

Just for fun. When I'm working on a guitar solo, I throw things in here and there, like a messy painter. It's like stretching a canvas on a wall and making big brush strokes... But when I start to feel like I've got something cool, I dig in more surgically, a bit like a collage artist would. I interweave little elements, and when it comes time to insert a solo into a piece, I refine things by continuing to add new elements. Generally, a solo gives you a space of freedom in the middle of an otherwise totally structured song. That's when you can come up with different things in terms of melody. So that's the way I do it, even on the demos of the covers. I ask my sound engineer, Martin Eriksson Sandmark, to play me the draft of the solos I've been working on over and over again, and then I try out different things, whatever comes to mind. It's as if I'm drawing a mental map of what the solo will become. Sometimes, if I'm on a part sometimes, if I'm on a bluesy part, I'll let myself play a few notes of Gary Moore’s "Still Got The Blues", or, if I'm tapping, Van Halen's "Eruption". When I was working on the solo for 'Hanging Around', I felt like playing this part of Metallica's 'Fade To Black', just for fun. And it ended up on the demo. I'm a decent guitar player, but I'm not at the level I could have reached if I'd worked harder. I could just record these solos in the studio, where you can always slow things down when you play them and then speed them up and put them on the album, but Fredrik Akesson can play these parts without tricks and with much more finesse than I can. He recorded the solo for "Hanging Around" as I had presented it on the demo, with this nod to Metallica, and we thought it was so cool that we kept it.

Hugh Cornwell, the ex-singer of The Stranglers, said in an interview that, although he was not a believer, he loved visiting churches. Is this also true for you? Are you also attracted to churches?

Yes, passionately! I believe in them like I believe in Star Wars. I've always thought of churches as stage props. Walking into one of them is a bit like walking onto a film set of the original Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom. It's awe-inspiring, even though you know it's just cardboard. Churches have magical powers because they are centuries-old buildings and we know that a lot of things have happened within their walls. Not that I'm trying to throw up on these places of worship, but when I go into a church I don't hear God, but the whispers of time. I am not an atheist, although intellectually I can see that there are many reasons why I should be. I believe in a Force, in an Energy. I also believe that we don't know many things, but that there is a balance between these different energies. The white and the black.

Good and Evil...

Absolutely! Right now the world is in crisis, but we're going to get through it. It's a vicious circle. We do ourselves a disservice if we think that if the world were rid of people like Vladimir Putin, Alexander Lukashenko, Jair Bolsonaro and the ayatollahs of Iran and Iraq, we would be out of the woods. I think all this can happen - and I hope it will, in a way - but Good and Evil will always be there. That balance is necessary. But I am an optimist by nature. I believe that there is a future for Volodymyr Zelensky and the Eastern bloc. That there is perhaps a chance to put into practice what was tried there some thirty years ago. And I believe in a free Iran, in a possible return to what this country was in 1978. What a beautiful day that would be! But that doesn't mean there wouldn't be a new war somewhere else in the world. I'm an eternal optimist, but let's face it: history is always starting over. As I said, it's a question of balance, a permanent coming and going. Because I believe in this Force I was talking about earlier, I truly believe that the West can win, that the way we live and the way we have built our society is a step forward that shows progress and can make a large majority of people happy. Not all, but most. But even if we all lived in love and peace for five years, something else would come along to create chaos! An alien or something! (laughs) That's how it works. Our mistake is to believe in the status quo, in nirvana. It's not going to happen. It's always about balance. The Vatican and organised religion... All that crap is just to pick people's pockets, to control them, to take their energy and scare them into plundering them. The same goes for the GOP (editor’s note: the American "Grand Old Party", suspected of having Christian nationalist leanings), which only deceives people in order to take their money! That's all you need to know. It's simple, so simple to understand. All this does not mean that the energy that emanates from churches is not real. When you walk into one of them, you feel - or so I believe - the energy of all those who have gone before you, for decades, for centuries. Their fears, their hopes, etc. So much so, sometimes, that you can feel oppressed, even upset. So I can walk into a church and feel a sense of awe. I love visiting these places, especially from an aesthetic point of view.

On Phantomime, you also cover "We Don't Need Another Hero" by Tina Turner. Don't you think that, given the state of the world today, we do need "another hero"?

I think Zelensky has shown how much we like heroes, how important they are to us. I think back, for example, to how the world went wild when Andrés Iniesta scored the decisive goal in the 116th minute to help Spain win the 2010 World Cup against the Netherlands. I believe in human determination and how it can inspire the world to distinguish between what is important... and what is really important. What is important for our daily lives. Yes, it's cool to have a complete collection of Venom's work, but it doesn't matter if I’m missing the most important thing. In the last ten years especially, the western world has been focusing on tons of unimportant things trying to pit people against each other, cancel culture and all that stuff... It proves that we are spoiled children. Our mentality shows it when it comes to security. Seeing Zelensky defend himself as he does appeals to our most primal instincts: it's beautiful and very inspiring. Nothing else is more important than that. It is the only thing that matters... Otherwise we have to be prepared for a lot of people to live in misery.

Next August, you will tour in the USA with Amon Amarth. I noticed that they will not accompany you on the last date, in Los Angeles, on September 11, 2023. There is no opening act, you ask the audience not to use their phones, etc. That sounds like a live DVD!

Yes, we are indeed planning to film this show, but it won't be the end of the Impera era cycle, even if we will not have so many dates left after this concert. There will still be a few shows in South America and Australia.

Nothing in Japan? A country that one might think Ghost was made for.

At the moment, it's not very clear. We had a lot of discussions with the Japanese promoters, as there was talk of us appearing on the bill of a Japanese festival scheduled for this month. Unfortunately, the festival was postponed... and then rescheduled for March! I think they originally had a big headliner, but the headliner didn't show up. So they cancelled, and then considered a smaller edition with Pantera. With all the back and forth, we ended up dropping out because it was too risky for us to play one date there after six months of inactivity. Our team is currently taking a break, but we preferred to use this time to rehearse for our next shows. The first one will be in Rouen on May 21st. We learned a good lesson the last time we played Hellfest. It was so hot that day, the conditions were so extreme, that we almost had a storm. We really had to fight against the elements and it affected me (Editor's note: the last encore of the show was not played, as Tobias was suffering from vocal problems). It was a very tough show. What really pissed me off was not the fact that I lost my voice, but the fact that the festival-goers who were there were not treated to our entire production. It was indeed difficult to foresee these extreme conditions. This summer we have to play festivals again, so we have reworked our production, which will be better adapted to the complicated weather. On this tour we will play in Spain, Finland, Norway, Greece, all within a few days of each other. So we'll be touring with two identical stages, so we can do all these shows without too much downtime. It's not very ecological, I'm sorry to say, because sometimes we'll have to take a plane to get to these cities in time. Not great, but it's the only way...

Will you play any of the Phantomime covers live?

One thing is for sure: we will play 'Jesus He Knows Me' because it's the first single from the new EP. As for the rest, we'll see during the rehearsals how the set evolves - because it's going to evolve a bit from the 2022 set. We're thinking of playing some songs from Impera that we've left out so far.

#the band ghost #tobias forge #interview

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marshvlovestv · 11 days

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In honor of me having so much video game music downloaded on my phone that I ran out of storage and had to buy a new phone. My favorite track from each video game OST I have!

Bastion: Brusher Patrol (Such a bizarre clash of styles, I can't help but love this one. Shout-out to the part that sounds like Darren quietly scatting in the background.) (Also special shout-out to Build That Wall, probably my favorite vocal track in any Supergiant game)

Celeste: Scattered and Lost (I am such a normie for this choice but face it this track absolutely slaps.)

Chicory: A Colorful Tale: Song of the Wielders (I love how this song has actual lyrics but I still prefer to sing along with the Simlish version that Pizza and Chicory sing.)

The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood: Illusion (First of all I love how every character in this game has their own theme I go feral for that kind of thing. Kurielle is probably one of the characters who stood out to me the least but by god is her theme gorgeous. I love the vocals and how a later track includes a sneaky reprise.)

Cuphead: Dramatic Fanatic (Tap dancing :D)

There are literally thirty of these so I'm doing a read more

Death's Door: The Grey Crow (A heartbreaking boss fight scored with the appropriate amount of anguish)

Deltarune: Cyber Battle (This melody is so underrated and ya know what, so are the characters associated with it. Sweet Cap'n Cakes forever.)

Elsinore: Donne, The Boat Boy (I love this song because it's associated with Lady Guildenstern, aka the best character in gaming full stop, but it's also just a fun little sea shanty that I think they made up for this game so I love that. Also has a lyrical version.)

Evergate: Police (Okay so the level with the police drones is one of the more frustrating ones in the game but the music is hauntingly beautiful so I give it a pass)

Going Under: trust fall (Marv is easily one of the most hateable video game antagonists of all time but damn if his boss theme doesn't slap)

Hades: Last Words (The rolling and the tolling of the bells bells bells bells bells)

Harmony: The Fall of Reverie: Reverie Ascendant (Lena Raine does these medley tracks so good man)

Hollow Knight: Dung Defender (By far the catchiest song about poop on my entire phone)

Ikenfell: Rose Thorns (So the insanely long final boss fight against Oxley overshadowed Aeldra's boss fight in my memory for a long time, but when I watched another playthrough and bought the OST I realized "Oh her theme bops SO much harder than his ever could")

Inscryption: A Final Duel (A hardcore remix of The Scrybe of Magicks, aka one of the only melodic tracks on the album and therefore the one every YouTube video about Inscryption uses in the background. I prefer the epic version just a bit more because honestly that Magnificus setpiece is the best moment in the game)

Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass: Fun, Sunny Day (A fun and silly track as the title suggests, elevated even more by the context in which it plays in the game. The area music alternates between this and the more somber Rainy Sunday to illustrate that Jimmy mother is bipolar [very cute and silly game])

Omori: Bready Steady Go (Like the absolute dipshit I am I actually completely missed the optional Orange Oasis when I played this game myself. Every Let's Player finds it somehow, though, and when they fight the Unbread Twins I invariably stand up and dance along to the boss music.)

One Step from Eden: Perpetual Motion (It's just a good-ass track y'all)

Ori and the Blind Forest: Conundrum (In a soundtrack of sweeping orchestral pieces, this more subdued version of theme that only plays during one small puzzle section might seem a weird choice. But I've always really liked it)

Ori and the Will of the Wisps: Kwolok's Malaise (Kwolok's leitmotif is perfect for a giant frog and the boss remix takes it to it's logical conclusion)

Paradise Killer: Go! Go! Style (This track makes me feel like I'm having a sugar rush. The whole OST does actually but this one especially)

Pyre: Path to Glory (It's just got a really unique vibe to it. I like it)

Scarlet Hollow: Avery (Chill and really beautiful. Avery themself is kind of a sleeper character at this point but I can't wait for Brandon to remix their theme when they get assimilated into a giant plant monster)

Slay the Princess: The Princess (Okay full disclosure I've only played this game once so I don't have the full context for a lot of the tracks on this OST. Maybe hearing them alongside their respective princesses will make me like them more, but for now the title theme is too iconic to beat.)

Sounds of Sympathy (the OST for the game anthology Essays on Empathy): Zen and the Art of Transhumanism (In the Essays on Empathy documentary, fingerspit talked about how she prefers writing obscenely long tracks so the loop doesn't get annoying. Unfortunately for her my favorite track on this album is only three minutes long. It's a lovely little bop.)

Spiritfarer: Mind Palace (I played Spiritfarer before any of the character updates were released, so I didn't get Daria's mind palace sequences in my game. And I mean, they look very platforming-heavy so I'm okay with that, but god this is a gorgeous piece.)

Transistor: Impossible (I think this is Royce Bracket's boss theme? I don't know when any of the tracks on this OST specifically play in game. Regardless of all that this one gets me pumped.)

Unavowed: One Man's Power (I couldn't find a video of this one, but it's gentle saxophone solo that plays when Logan Brown is introduced. I think it fits is character really well and just sounds really nice)

Undertale: Death by Glamour (Best song for best character, enough said)

Wandersong: Moonscape (God knows this game gave me a lot of great options to pick from, but I settled on this one because it's so uplifting.)

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popbloganddropit · 7 days

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Cowboy Carter - Beyoncé

1. AMERIICAN REQUIEM: Just light the CMAs on fire, B! An impeccable intro to this album with varied sounds throughout the song that is representative of the sonic journey this album is going to take you on. 4.5/5

2. BLACKBIIRD: Stunning. Knowing no background about the song, I think it would still stop you in your tracks to hear these women harmonize and deliver each line with the perfect performance, emotional but not overdone. With the addition of the knowledge that Paul McCartney wrote this song about black women in the civil rights movement adds to the feeling behind the song and the feeling this version should have always existed. 5/5

3. 16 CARRIAGES- I heard the first two singles described as Texas Hold ‘Em being for country fans that weren’t sure about Beyonce and 16 Carriages as being for Beyonce fans that weren’t sure about country music and that holds up. This song describes Beyoncé’s ascension in the industry, and while I do like it, it’s missing something that makes me NEED to return to it like some of the other tracks here and on RENNAISSANCE. The way the chorus builds up into the titular line is really striking, and does stick around in my head. 4/5

4. PROTECTOR- This song is so sweet, just the right amount of hymnal to feel it in your spirit. The protector into projector line is *chef’s kiss*. 4.5/5

5. MY ROSE- an interlude, but I really wish it were longer because it’s got some really gorgeous and touching moments. 3.5/5

6. SMOKE HOUR- again not rating this, just had to note how tickled I was to hear Willie Nelson say KNTRY radio.

7. TEXAS HOLD ‘EM- I think this song has been stuck in my head since the Super Bowl. It’s so fun and makes you want to learn how to line dance in a pair of Daisy Dukes. 4.5/5

8. BODYGUARD- so smooth and sexy. If I were figuring out what to do with the Bond franchise, I would build a movie fit to make this the theme song and it would be a for sure blockbuster. 5/5

9. JOLENE- there’s probably too much discourse around this song for how serious it is, the Creole banjee bitch is having fun, so we can ignore a few corny lyrics (don’t raise full grown men though, ladies). There’s some really fun stuff going on in the background too, which is keeps a familiar melody interesting. 3.5/5

10. DAUGHTER- MURDER AT THE OPERA, and it is me who has been slayed. 5/5

11. SPAGHETTII- Beyonce having rap as a little side hobby she keeps in her back pocket is so cunty, country, petty of her. This would be one notch better if the hook in the chorus did a touch more for me lyrically. Beyonce’s harmonies over Shaboozey’s verse is perfection, though, so I will overlook it. 4/5

12. ALLIGATOR TEARS- the driving beat in the background never lets you feel at ease with Beyonce’s soulful yet slick performance. 4.5/5

13. JUST FOR FUN- a souldul, heavenly performance. Bey and Willie Jones sound great together. Willie fits in so well, his voice adds a gravelly, twangy flair. This is the CHURCH GIRL of this album for me. It’s objectively good, but something about it just doesn’t go all the way for me. 4/5

14. II MOST WANTED - This so fun! Miley and Beyonce’s vocals sound great together. A music video for this song would be magnificent. Fringe and rhinestones everywhere, vintage cars speeding through the desert, and I can picture them singing together on an upright piano in an old-timey saloon. This song does remind me of Gaga’s “You and I” and some of Joanne. She would have been a great option for this duet too. This song was meant to be belted out your car window at sunset. 4.5/5

15. LEVII’S JEANS- It’s most notable how clean and smooth Post Malone sounds! Everyone cleans up their act for Beyonce! I prefer “II MOST WANTED” a bit more of these two duets, but this is a fun little number. 4/5

16. FLAMENCO- it’s giving mafia but make it country. I know it was noted that a lot of these songs were inspired by movie and I would love to know what movie this one was. FLAMENCO has a bit of a theatrical flair. 4/5

17. THE LINDA MARTELL SHOW- Again, not rating this, I just think it’s very important to the thesis of this album. Genres are limiting. More on this later.

18. YA YA- this song begins the best stretch of the record and is a highlight on an album chock full of great moments. “YA YA” really showcases so many things that Beyonce does well. The intro call and response showing her cheeky sense of humor, then takes off like a shotgun with killer vocals and some social commentary (“whole let of red in that white and blue”) and moves into a sickening Beach Boys interpolation and is ass-shakeable throughout the whole thing (plus some some wild guitar shredding). And it keeps the country line dance-y vibe the whole time. An instant Beyonce classic. 5/5

19. OH LOUISIANA- an excellent transition, because you honestly do need a minute after YA YA. Would love to eventually hear the unedited vocals and/or an explanation of how they made Beyonce sound like this??? Going to skip a rating because this is just a transitional moment; I think very few people are playing this intentionally on repeat as a solo track.

20. DESERT EAGLE- sexy with a hot bass line running through it. Beyoncé makes do-si-do sound cooler than it ever has. The only possible complaint is we need an extended version since it’s only ~70 seconds long. 5/5

21. RIIVERDANCE- only Beyoncé could get away with the combining “Folsom Prison Blues”-esque verses, The Gift esque “running through the river”’s, a hint of 2010’s folk-pop stomp claps, and a and cheeky twerk anthem, “bounce on that shit, no hands”and absolutely get away with it. 5/5

22. II HANDS II HEAVEN- love the “no hands” of the previous song moving into this. This wouldn’t be out of place on Renaissance, but belongs here lyrically and musically as well. It’s not a stand out track, but still very solid. 4/5

23. TYRANT- I really like the beginning and I wish there was a little more of it or it was its own song. I also really like the second part, so it’s not too sad. This is the tight black leather type of country song. That string in the background and the beat are doing some work, which really rides an interesting line between country and RnB. 4/5

24. SWEET/HONEY/BUCKIN- a JOURNEY of a song, I would take 5 minute cuts of any of these portions. It’s a mix of everything that’s on the rest of the album. SWEET starts off with Beyoncé’s soulful vocals and gets a verse from Shaboozey that balances a country and rap fusion significantly better than most garbage on country radio that sounds like rap for people who are afraid to leave their suburb. The claps that follow are scientifically designed to make you want to dance. Into a slower, sensual(but short) HONEY interlude that then takes off like horse into the BUCKIN section which is just a goddamn banger. Sickening how hype this gets. Does Beyonce say “Look at that horse” because you could lift a horse when it’s playing?? 5/5

25. AMEN- an AMERICAN REQUIEM reprise that is a nice bow on the end of this gift Beyonce has bestowed upon us. Works perfectly if you want to go ahead and start the album over again (and you might) or go right in to RENAISSANCE. 4/5

I overall do love so much of this album. If we were to compare to Act i, I would say Renaissance is better as it is, for me, a no skip, play front to back album that is so cohesive. I think the Linda Martell interlude is key to understanding Cowboy Carter, because what is genre and is it important? I think the thesis of this album is that genre is limiting. To the critics that will say xyz elements aren’t country enough, she’s got Willie, Dolly P, and Linda Martell’s co-sign. Country fans checking this out will find Beyonce playing with so many different genres but can hopefully see the country twist she has put on them. In the opposite direction, Beyonce fans who might limit themselves to modern pop and RnB might discover the original Blackbird or Jolene, or they might look at works by the interlude or featured artists and find something they love and relate to. How much of genre do we relate to who it is coming from? Can a Beatles cover by Beyonce be country? Does it matter if it’s “country” if you like it anyway? Beyoncé is exploring and pushing the boundaries of every genre here. Where Renaissance feels very tight and cohesive as a record, Cowboy Carter is the Wild West with a little something for everyone. There does seem to be a general consensus that it’s a little long, but there’s no agreement on what should be cut. I love the way the interludes divide the record up into cohesive segments and those segments would feel incomplete if you removed songs from them, so I must come to the conclusion that the more Beyonce, the better. There are rumors she might do a rock album next, but the real message to be found here is that she can do anything she wants.

This album gets an average of 4.4 and I do feel it is absolutely an album that works together from front to back, so we will round up to a 4.5/5.

Top 3: Bodyguard,Ya Ya, Sweet/Honey/Buckin

What’s Next:

A review straight from The Tortured Poets Department. Thinking I might split it up into a few pieces. This already took me a while and 31 songs is A LOT!

#pop music #music review #beyonce #beyhive #cowboy carter #country #country music

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celestialtarot11 · 6 months

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Your mercury and how you take pics of others & yourself ☕️

• Virgo mercuries usually keep polaroids, screenshots of funny moments, and videos. Love to revisit the past, and share them with people. “Lol look what I found of you” chokehold kind of vibe 🤣 they want to let you know they still saved that moment, even when you thought it was long gone. Virgo mercury doesn’t always take pictures of themselves, but when they’re feeling it 💅🏻 its a vibe.

• Leo mercuries keep videos and probably have the most funniest moments recorded ever in the friend group. Probably had to buy more storage with all the stuff they have. They want to keep videos with them being involved in it too. There is always something so distinctive in their pictures too, whether thats a gold necklace or silver. Their hair is done so nicely. They’re always glowing

• Cancer mercuries probably edit their pictures or videos with a nostalgic filter. Like those 2016 tumblr photos, except they use the filters to capture that nostalgia. They love a good sit down and want their friends to pay attention to the memories they kept <3 does not like to share pictures with those they aren’t close with. Cancers have a beautiful glow as well, but its a nighttime kind of vibe. Late nights & r&b kind of vibe.

• Taurus mercury won’t share the memories they have unless they know you’re their bestie. You’ll be surprised by how much they keep when they show you. Taurus mercury could take random pictures of whats around them actually, like you’d find a picture of bread in their phone for what reason?? (Because it’s the cheap version ya’ll 🤣)

• Libra mercuries love a good polaroid pic, natural lighting, and will not hesitate to whip their phone out to take pictures. Loves taking many, and will edit them in a collage at least once. They have an eye for detail, so they might tell you how to pose and where 🤣 and you’ll be sassed around until they get the right vibe. May also prefer writing down memories if they’re not a picture person

• Sagittarius mercury, ya’ll might like taking pictures of yourself. Like taking pictures of food with the people they care about. You love taking funny videos with your friends and might have them reenact what originally happened for the laugh. Like lip syncing to songs in their videos.

• Capricorn mercury. Ya’ll don’t like taking pictures of anyone unless its your family and friends. And it’ll stay for a long time until otherwise. Ya’ll don’t really bring up the picture either in conversation, its just there sitting.

• Pisces mercury have a whole photo dump of everything. So it’ll be difficult to find what you’re looking for, but they’ve got you at least once in it. Once they love you, you’ll be drowning in their photo album 🤣 most of their memories form through music though, so if you haven’t made it in their photo album, just know they remember you through music <3

• Aquarius mercury, ya’ll go all out in creating cute scrapbooks for those you really care about. If not, you don’t bother with taking pictures at all. You might invest in a good camera too, and edit your pictures in a way that’s different from the rest. Ya’ll might like taking videos and pictures of getting high/friends getting high. Could like a lot of RBG lighting in their pictures.

• Scorpio mercury y’all like taking pictures of yourself as you get older and your friend group. You may have realized your friends take pictures of you first over the years, instead of you taking pictures of them. The type to have memes saved even if it’s out of pocket. Ya’ll really like them aesthetic power couple pics you see on Pinterest too, you might try to recreate it with your partner 👀 and damn right it turns out the same.

• Gemini mercury, ya’ll are the ones that go all out. All the poses and always recording funny moments. Ya’ll are the first to have your phone out and recording 🤣 you guys are not afraid to take pictures of what you find is cute. Your instagram posts are probably intriguing, always something new to look at.

• Aries mercury in men are dry when it comes to pictures. Might find it hard to initiate wanting pictures, or feels uncomfortable in them. Probably prefers pictures of them at the gym 🤣 women are out there, they love being apart of what’s going on, and try to include themselves. They are a priority in every picture 💅🏻 and will have everything in order to look good.

Thank ya’ll for reading! It was interesting trying to come up with how the mercury signs take pictures 🤣 if you want to add anything please feel free to do so!

Book a reading with me here 🤍

#joking abt taurus merc #i hope i got all the zodiac signs #devi post #astrology #divination #astrology community #witchcraft

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akookminsupporter · 9 months

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Your post about face off inspired me to say this because I truly feel nervous to say it in most army spaces but… like crazy is my least favorite song from face and I feel like the only person who doesn’t love it. I definitely see a lot of love for SMF2, especially since it was a prerelease and it has incredible choreo but like… to me face off and alone are SO MUCH more interesting than like crazy, both in terms of lyrics/storytelling and it terms of musical arrangement. I definitely love and appreciate LC for its use in the narrative of face as a whole (jm exploring his identity and place in his relationships before cutting them off in alone and then the explosive reclamation of SMF2), but it just… doesn’t inspire me or give me the intense rollercoaster of emotions the other songs give me.

I hope none of this came off as hate or anything, I really just want to share my feelings, obviously everyone is allowed to like the songs they like!! I just haven’t seen many people talk about this and wanted to see if I was alone (no pun intended). During the promotions it really felt like I was almost… obligated to love LC since it was the title song and the one being performed/awarded on music shows. Oftentimes in big and passionate fandoms like army anything short of abject love and adulation for something is seen as anti behavior or not being a ‘real fan’

Anon, as long as your message is respectful I don't judge if you don't like a song. I don't expect everyone to like a song or stream like a madman or vote like a madman. Here I encourage people to do what they want.

It's totally respectable what you say. What's more, I wasn't blown away by the song or the video from the start, unlike STMFP2 or the other songs in the album. LC grew on me but it's taken time and that's ok. So you're not the only person who doesn't love the song and that's ok. It's normal because music like almost everything in life is about personal taste. You can't and shouldn't force it.

Face-Off and Alone are masterpieces from the lyrics to Jimin's voice, I really hope he does more songs in that style because they suit him so well. Those are without a doubt my favourite songs along with Letter, SMFPT2 is in a category by itself.

LC is a very good and catchy song that's not in dispute but it's not exactly my style of music so it took me a while to get used to it. The acapella version that Jimin did on a show I can't remember the name of, I liked much better.

It's sad that you're afraid to say I don't like something as much as others and that's one of the problems with this fandom, that many believe that you have to like absolutely everything the members release and that if you don't you're not a true fan. That's ABSURD. This is not an obligation, this is a hobby. This is based on personal taste, personal preferences and as such, it's all based on what you like, not what others expect you to like.

#anon #ask #bts fan opinions #bts solo careers

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superfastdrag0nfish · 3 months

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Well, as I said in my first post; not an oc but I love this character so much so I decided to make my own interpretation/AU of her to use it as a insert in Gorillaz!!

She's originally a Lego character so-- yeah, just to clarify again, she's not mine! I just own this version/history of her!!

Name: 龙小娇 | Lóng Xiǎojiāo or Mei

Age: 14 ( when she "joined" to the band) | 32 ( actual phase )

Born: 12 May 1991

Nationality: Chinese

Occupations/Instruments: Singer, Keyboard, Synthesizer and Guitar, Racer, Vlogger,

Height: 1.58

Nicknames: Mei ( her former artist name) | Annoying girl ( by Murdoc) | MeiMei ( by Noodle) | Dragon girl ( by herself)

Since she was young, Mei was interested in instruments and music in general, starting to play some instruments at a young age. Her first contact with the band was at the release of their first album, Mei saw them on a music TV channel and since that day she became a big fan of them, this motivated her to formalize herself more in a musical career, she opened a vlog channel where she uploaded her daily life and her musical covers and some of her own songs, aspiring to became famous to one day be able to collaborate with the band, her parents didn't agree with her musical career but it wasn't an impediment for her.

When the band got separated, Mei was very disappointed because her dream of collaborating with them was frustrated because of this.

During the next years she continued with the music and vlogs, becoming popular in her own country, making new friends, among them a boy named Rakuen, who was someone close to the members of Gorillaz, then when they finally decided to became a band again, they were looking for new collaborators, Rakuen took advantage of this to show them some of Mei's videos where she sang, making her a potential candidate for a collaboration, 2-D who was delighted with Mei's talent and with the permission (which was difficult to get... ) from Murdoc, they finally invited Mei through an email to collaborate with them, Mei didn't expect this because she believed that they would never get together again after their separation but she didn't hesitate to accept, her dream was about to come true but now the hard thing would be travel to England from China, but she wasn't a girl who gave up easily, so with a lot of effort, she managed to convince her parents so they moved to that country.

Once she arrived at Kong Studios she was excited, when she met Rakuen and found out that it was thanks to him that she was able to fulfill her dream, she was totally grateful to him. After a couple of tests and a short audition, Mei joined to the band because her talent as a singer and her creativity in the instrumentals were liked by Murdoc, so he decided to join her in the band as a supporting member. Mei accepted without hesitation, helping in the production of Demon Days.

♪Noodle♪

The first person (apart from Rakuen) who Mei became more closer was Noodle, maybe because they were around the same age, both managed to get closer to each other and finally became best friends, constantly appearing in Mei's vlogs. Both usually annoy Murdoc with jokes or pranks, they do the same with the other members, but Murdoc's temperament is fun for both of them so he is usually the most constant victim of their jokes.

Mei helped with the filming of the Dare video, there is even a version in which both are protagonists in the video but it was discarded as Mei's request since she preferred her friend to be the star of the video.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

♪★Stuart "2-D" Pot★♪

Since her arrival at Kong Studios, 2-D was really kind to her, he greatly admired the talent that the young woman had and he told that to her since the beginning, Mei also expressed her great admiration for 2-D, they have a really good friendship and even Mei sometimes considers him as an older brother ( even if sometimes 2-D's clumsy attitudes makes Mei look more like the older sister... )

Mei tends to defend 2-D a lot when Murdoc insults him or physically abuse him, Murdoc's attitudes to Stu sometimes makes Mei quite angry but she doesn't try to do much to stop him either because she trusts that one day 2-D will learn to stop Murdoc's abuses by himself.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

† Murdoc F. Niccals †

When 2-D showed him the same video that Rakuen showed to him of Mei, he did not seem so convinced of giving her the opportunity to collaborate with the band, this because of the style of music that Mei uses, but after much insistence they managed to convince him and then invite Mei, when she arrived Murdoc treated her "bad" but it was something that Mei took as a reason to bother him, they were total opposites because Mei was a fairly positive and cheerful girl, their personalities clashed too much since the first audition but fascinated with her talent in person, Murdoc decided to join her to the band not only as a collaboration but as another member, but not in a such important position beyond being a support member.

Mei doesn't understand why 2-D is so afraid of Murdoc, she cannot feel the same way, in fact he seems like someone funny and who ( very deep down ) has a sensitive and tender side, she usually bothers him with this very constantly.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

| • Russell Hobbs • |

She usually talks a lot with Russell, he seems like someone kind even though he seems like a serious person, just like with Noodle, Russell tends to worry a lot about Mei since she is still young, so he usually takes care of her from all the crazy things that Mei does. They both admire each other and even Mei wants to learn to play the drums as well as Russell does.

Mei usually complains with Russell when he bothers 2-D ( sometimes), she knows that maybe he doesn't do it in a cruel mode like maybe Murdoc does, but Mei's need to protect 2-D makes her sometimes upset by those attitudes.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

For first I need to clarify that Rakuen isn't my creation and I don't want to pretend that he actually is!! All the credits goes to mecto-honey/koganai-hikaru!! I just wanted to include him because I'm a big fan of mecto and as I said before, all of this is just for fun and my "au" is just because I want to draw silly things about ditjy's videos and I wanted to put a """self insert""" in those.

×• Rakuen •×

Mei met Rakuen as he used to comment on her videos a few months after she started in her channel, there was an occasion when Mei started a small conversation with Rakuen talking about Mei's music and since that day they started a great friendship despite living in distant countries.

As was mentioned before; Rakuen was the one who recommended Mei for the future collaboration that the band was looking for, Rakuen had been friends with the guys in the band for a long time so that was very helpful in giving Mei that opportunity and knowing that she was a big fan of Gorillaz, He didn't hesitate to help her.

Rakuen is one of the people Mei trusts the most, now that they live in the same place Mei often makes him appear frequently in her videos, he is also the one she takes more often for a ride on her motorcycle.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Well, I think that's all for now, as I said this was made just for fun so maybe the lore is really bad and some parts doesn't make sense but yeah- just for the silly things >w<!! 🖤

And I'll clarify again that Mei isn't my oc!!! I just used her because I love the character sm! And I feel comfy using her!

I'll use the oc tags just for reach! ✨

Oh! Yeah, an extra fact is that the singer I'll use as Mei's music is VAVA ✨ and for the instrumentals yk, some of the Gorillaz songs! Also I'm starting to learn how to make silly music so maybe I'll use some of them too!

𝄞𖤛𝄞𖤛𝄞𖤛𝄞𖤛𝄞𖤛𝄞𖤛𝄞𖤛𝄞𖤛𝄞𖤛𝄞𖤛𝄞

oh and sorry for the bad english, my first language is spanish--

#gorillaz #noodle gorillaz #russell hobbs #2d gorillaz #stuart pot #murdoc niccals #gorillaz oc #self insert #tags just for reach!!#lmk mei #mei dragon #long xiaojiao #my weird art #oh and idk how to make gorillaz art style help--#i'll learn it I PROMISEEEE #rakuen uchiha #s--sides

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torithehoshi · 6 months

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CCCC Digital Doodle Dump - Oct 2023

Right - bear with me. Due to the sheer amount of digital doodles I have (and yes, I am emphasizing digital for a reason) and the amount of thoughts I have didn't make posting them separately feel right so I'm trying a different format for this.

The TLDR is, I had a lot of fun drawing CCCC related things last month. And y'all may as well be prepared for the long-run with me. My main goal was to get used to drawing HMS in my style (mostly hair and little design things based on my interpretations) and it's still something that'll be changing? But it's cool to see how things have changed and I'd like to share them.

Right - with that out of the way. Everything's under the Read More due to the sheer amount of text.

Second First attempt at drawing the trio in my style - and you can especially tell with the little notes I have (trust me - there's a version with even more notes).

A lot of my references were from the videos, especially Light & Night as well as the instrumental album cover, and fan interpretations I've seen that I liked and wanted to give a shot at (primarily Mind's mechanical hands/arms were from seeing @/maybedr3am's design) and some of my own interpretations or thoughts (but I wouldn't be surprised if some of those mixes with fan interpretations. Most of them I can't recall for the life of me except Heart having sharp teeth. I know others have done it - I just hadn't at the time seen a lot). But for the most part, there is a lot of me getting used to drawing hair specifically since I wanted them all to look somewhat different and it was good to practice that.

Some of these notes do not make sense to me right now - and I doubt they made sense at the time tbh (looking at that one near Soul)

While I much preferred starting primarily going off of the videos, Mind was an exception. ...Accidentally. I struggled really hard with him and still do so that note is funny in hindsight. I liked the robot/android-esque (?) angle/reference to 'mechanical hands' folks went with but forgot I don't draw robots much. It was frustrating me and in that time, I gave him snake bites to, as I say in the notes, mirror screws. ... And now they're just part of my Mind design because I like them too much.

Also!! I mentioned that I have a version with a lot more notes (and a different attempt at Mind I hated). I didn't really want a bunch of doodles of my sona around, so this version is for somewhat easier reading. It also left me with extra space for one more thing and I was listening to Dream so, a doodle based off the last verse it was! (I love that song, it's so good)

Second one which is a compilation of a bunch of different doodle sheets I did!! These are ones I really liked and also were mostly finished. But also each of the sheets (which is an amalgamation of three) were done at different times which you can see in my indecisiveness in what I liked in making Mind look more robotic bar just the arms and the one doodle where the hair sticking a top of Heart's head changes.

Soul, surprisingly, changes very little bar me not being able to decide if he'll have that accessory or not. Also me being stupid inconsistent with remembering to color in his hands (his whole body has that split color).

Anyways - like three of these are meme/shitpost adjacent. You'll also see me trying to think about how to incorporate the crown to Mind's design since I hadn't really tried - but I've since moved it to post-Cacophony or post-Light design ideas/headcanons. I like the hairpin idea a lot. (Note: In this headcanon, Heart also has something but it's a bracelet and... there's a lack of hands in this so... yeah. Mind made it) Also me doing a thing I like to just give random new outfits when drawing a character and... Heart's the one I had the most fun drawing.

The only completely separate one! Mostly 'cause I already had it set to be separate.

It's a height headcanon thing I drew to visualize things for myself since I'm not the best with height. All it is, is that I think they're all the same height based off of what CJ said in the Medium Q&A. But then you have little details like Mind wearing platform shoes that basically make him 6'0" and Soul slouching a lot making him "the shortest". (Also hi completely human Mind design)

This was also originally done on the same doodle sheet where the "Fuck it we ball" one was on btw. Time wise, that was before I started changing how I drew the little hair sticking out on Heart's head which - speaking of...

Despite still drawing them interacting, I started to make clip files to practice drawing them on their own. I was already kind of doing that traditionally and I thought this would be a good way to get me to focus on one of the members. Especially since drawing with my tablet pen and pencil feels different but especially with these three.

Also - focusing on them individually felt like a good way to get used to how I draw them overall. I have one for Soul and Mind now, but not at the time. Idk if I'll share more of those later unless I can format them like actual reference sheets.

Fundamentally, this serves the same purpose as the first sheet. Trying out a bunch of things, just letting my hand... draw and seeing what I like and don't. Maybe even noting some little actions that I see myself drawing them doing (like the hands balled up in fists a lot). Also! It explains why I changed the shape of the hair at the top! I think the heart shape is cute - but as I did it more, I found with me trying to make his bangs look like a heart... just for me and my style specifically, it started to feel much. But then I had another idea in making it a bit more cartoon-y, which was the kind of circle/halo shape to create an angel motif and it fit well with how I see Heart. So that's how it is now!

It's actually fascinating seeing that I suddenly started changing how I drew his hair? I started this after making this for the record (which now I remember - I referenced these), and something just... changed. I don't like it considering I was actively trying to draw curls. I have a better grasp on it now though - I think.

-----

Anyways - that's everything! Uh - thanks for reading all my ramblings if you did. I have no idea if I'll format any future art dumps/doodle dumps like this again but we'll see. Doing this made me notice both advantages and disadvantages to this so... It'll really depend if I have the same amount to say, haha.

#Chonny Jash #Chonny's Charming Chaos Compendium #CJ Heart #CJ Mind #CJ Soul #Tori's Doodles of Mellarky #Tori types things #I think in terms of advantages and disadvantages specifically...#You can see what I like. Default to when I doodle #But honestly if you've seen enough of my doodles it's probably already clear #It's probably why I wind up not sharing a lot of them but I think my progress with this was interesting #so having it all in one post is at least neat for me in the future #I think this blog serves well to be a bit of a journal as well

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clubnate · 10 months

Note

I am not the anon who followed for cobra and now will accept my fate as a tai fan, but please, please, please explain the connection between The Academy Is and Cobra Starship.

Unabridged is preferred tbh.

i got 2 anons about this and this is literally the thing i'm the most insane about omg ok warning this is gonna be long cause i'm just gonna include everything ive got on my google doc about this

TLDR; same record labels, snakes on a plane, lots of tours together, music videos, webshows and general friendship is the conncection

It starts pre-cobra with midtown. iirc, tai were just fans of midtown pre-tai and in the early days, they're from chicago and came up in the same scene as fob, mike carden (tais guitarists) old band had fob open for them and he was even asked to join fob in an early version of it, so fob, tai and midtown all eventually become friends which is when they met gabe and eventually they toured with midtown twice in 04-05.

2006- midtown dies in 05 and from the ashes rises COBRA STARSHIP. Cobras gets signed to fueled by ramen and decaydance records, which is the same 2 labels as TAI. while gabe's working on the music, tai's bassist, sisky finds out about snakes on a plane and suggested submitting their song to be on the soundtrack. Then william beckett the singer of TAI suggested to gabe that this would be perfect for cobras and he should put a song forward, which he does. Gabe makes some changes to the lyrics, adds william, travie and maja and Bring it (snakes on a plane) was born. (source) Sometime around 2006-2005 gabe briefly featured in the music video for 'the phrase that pays'

2007- things ramp up and they start touring together. Both bands are supporting acts on the honda civic 2007 tour and are featured at 3 separate Decaydance fest shows in Paris, Kohn and London. They also do a series of international festivals together like reading and leeds, pukkelpop, summer sonic, ect AND they do an australia tour just the 2 of them, this was all through summer. At the end of the year cobras jump on TAI's headliner tour, they weren't supposed to butviva la cobra came out earlier than planned so they had no tour to promote it so tai let them open for the last month or so. Both were also apart of the MTVu campus takeover this year. TAI had a webshow and cobra are featured multiple times from 2007-2008, this is actually where they got the idea for cobra cam and even stole TAI's camera man to film it. also somewhere someone released official merch that included cobra, TAI and fob that said 'gabe is not a ynonym for sisky' and they promoted it together.

2008- Both bands are part of the lineup for warped tour this year, snakes was played a lot and when suarez had to leave the tour for a couple days, sisky and the butcher (TAI's drummer) covered for him. TAI's album was released in august and featured backing vocals from Ryland, Alex and Gabe, and every member of cobra is mentioned in the thank yous. Right after warped both bands go to australia and opened for panic at the disco (bonus info: victoria, sisky and ryan went bar hopping for ryans 22nd), then right after they go and do a japan tour with the hush sound and the cab. For welcome to the new administration, suarez remixed TAI's song 'automatic eyes'

2009 onwards- Things slowed down after this. The butcher is briefly featured in the good girls go bad music video. in 2011 both band play at the 15th anniversary of fueled by ramen, this ended up being TAI's last show before they split. After they split, butcher was the drum tech for cobra from 2011-2012. When TAI had a reunion in 2015, suarez played bass for sisky with carly rae jepsen so he could play on their reunion tour. Also around 2015 Gabe and Mike started TAG music together, i think mike has left since then though.

Extras: at every TAI show since their 2022 reunion they have played snakes on a plane, with gabe or without. Gabe also always does backing vocals for the song 'classifieds' if he's there. Sisky used to do travies rap during snakes if he wasn't there, he did it a bunch on warped 2008.

Sisky commented this during cobrakkah in 2021 and i think about it a lot tbh. I think they were just best friends who got to tour the world together in their youth and are still friends and still hold a lot of love for eachother :,)

hope that wasn't too much, i'm pretty sure i covered everything that i know about. Decaydance is my favourite thing so i have a google doc of all their connections so i remember them all :D

something to add would be that TAI are opening for fob on the 3rd in LA and a few cobras live there, so i wouldn't be suprised if they show up for snakes on a plane!

EDIT: if you want photos of any of these things I mentioned I probably have some so please ask! and if you don't want to, search my tag #thepolycule and there's a bunch of photos of decaydance bands hanging out together, including TAI and cobra

#i like to think of it as if 2 bands could date tai and cobra wouldve been married by now #ask #anon #cobra starship #the academy is #the academy is...#the polycule #decaydance records

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maxsix · 4 months

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Favourite KPOP Songs of 2023

So I am 3 days late posting this but I wanted to do it to keep up the tradition. It's fun looking back at old lists. My criteria isn't so much based on technical merit but rather the songs that I wanted to listen to over and over again for whatever reason.

Cupid by Fifty Fifty. No doubt, this is social media's song of the year. I have never seen a song that is actually good become so organically viral, only to be reduced to absolutely nothing because of abysmal management. Not even New Jeans was this widespread this year (to me). Cupid was playing at my local supermarket and even people who know nothing about kpop loved this song. It ranks low for me because I'm definitely sick of hearing it by now. Regardless, it is still a very well written pop song.

Ayo by NCT 127. Okay, hear me out: NCT is like durian. You either completely understand why it is called the King of Fruits or you think I should be put in jail for saying that. If you are a brave connoisseur who refuses to be confined by societal pressure, then know what it's like to open your third eye and consume NCT for what they are: completely weird but never boring. It's an experience. If you don't get it, I don't know what to tell you.

Tinnitus by TXT. Temptation is my least favourite TXT album from the last 3 years but I think that is mostly due to how much I hated Sugar Rush Ride. I've been re-listening to a lot of their material again and okay, I'll give this one a pass: it's a mood. Thanks Kang Taehyun. I don't know if it was very intentional but his voice is all I hear on the final version. Man, that dude's voice always gets me somehow, I don't know how he does it.

Rover by Kai. It's not even that good of a song and yet, it was everywhere and I was gaslit into liking it. The viral dance made it the hit it became but to be fair, much of this was really down to his star power and ability to make really good choices that suit his strengths (dance first, vocals second). This is EXO Kai we are talking about after all; when he delivers, he really delivers. New Gen boys can take some notes.

Drama by Aespa. This is like Asian Junk Food. It's objectively so terrible, full of empty calories, no nutritional value but they took the Terrible and sprinkled MSG on it, so now it's TastyTerrible. As someone who wants to learn film editing, the MV is excellent and an example of top tier editing without choppy cuts. I have not noticed editing this neat and time consuming since Seventeen's 'HOT'.

Back To Me by The Rose. A group with solid talent and well written songs. I wish every success for them to be honest. I am posting the live video because they are one of those groups who are better live and won't give you The Fear watching it. I wish I could've seen them because I genuinely just love their voices and sound. They've filled the void left behind by Day 6.

Hard by Shinee. It's just your typical weird and perfect Shinee pop song but with a distinctly 90s flavour in my opinion. They are just all so talented that it's virtually impossible to ignore them. SM production is always so slick but with Shinee it is something to gild the lily rather than hard carry the entire song and group. Onew vocals never takes a day off, he was flawless even in the raw recordings.

Kitsch by IVE. It's just so cute and comforting in the way a harmless little pop song can be. It's like a fresh breeze. There's no pressure to do anything but enjoy it. In the absence of Blackpink, they are definitely my favourite girl group at the moment.

This World by Ateez. I do actually prefer it to Bouncy because it has that dystopian and almost gothic feel to it. I don't think it would've made a good title track because it's not as explosive as Bouncy but it 100% would fit into a movie or montage sequence. It absolutely goes so hard in the car, especially at night.

Flower by Jisoo. I think this was just a very smart choice for her and her team. It did not have anything too complex or overly dramatic. It suits her elegance and brand perfectly. It was also very pleasant and kinda of prettily boring? The dance was very popular and cute without being obnoxious. She is very much a Great Gowns Beautiful Gowns and "Go on girl, give us nothing!" idol but I have a soft spot for her. I can't believe we live in a world where Jisoo has the best Blackpink solo song.

3D (Alternate Version) by Jungkook. I did not like it when it was released (with that awful rap feature) but the purely Jungkook and performance versions of it really improved everything. I am really happy that Golden is as good as it is, because I think most Jungkook stans from 2013 lived in fear he would only release Mid Tier pop songs. I think most features on the album are unnecessary. Jungkook has presence and star power on his own. Everything else diluted what we all came for.

Blue Blood by IVE. It's an unexpectedly more mature sound from them and I loved it. I think the driving backing track makes this one of the best driving songs. It has this dark eloquence to it, which I always vibe with. One of their best B sides for sure.

Off The Record by IVE. This was the best track off their album this year. That title track was heinous. OTR was so calm and comforting and there is something about it that reminded me of Gfriend and OhMyGirl where it's just a good song with any histrionics. I do not think IVE suit that bad girl crush concept at all. They always had this expensive High Teen aura and it really took at hit with Baddie imo.

Ring (Unplugged/Acoustic Version) by TXT. This isn't cheating, they released this one on a July 2023 album. Even if it was cheating, I would've still put it on here. It's well written, well produced, well paced and suits everyone in the group. But personally, I always saw this as a Kang Taehyun song (even though he didn't even write it). His aura is all over it. Controversial opinion but I think this has one of Yeonjun's best rap verses because the slower tempo works so much better for his voice and flow.

Crazy Form by Ateez. Ah the Male version of Junk Food with MSG. I don't think it's anywhere near their best song but it's a good fun time and after the tough year(s) we have all had, it's nice to jam to something silly. It's very SKZ adjacent but in my opinion, with much better production and editing because the team behind Ateez are better at it. I'm also including this because it made me really see Jeong Yunho. If you know you know.

Roll With Me by Hyungwon/Shownu. Technically The H/S version of Wildfire is my favourite from them this year but since it wasn't official, I'll go with my second favourite release. It once again proves that Hyungwon is my favourite man (musically) in Monsta X. I like his style, tastes and instincts. It's true that he is my overall favourite in MX but I'm mature now! It's not just the visuals, I truly put his musical output as the number 1 reason I like him.

Standing Next To You by Jungkook. Listen, listen, listen.....I have been following this dude since 2013. I always KNEW he could give more and be more. Even though SNTY isn't even 100% of what I think he can do, it was enough for me to feel all these 10 years were not wasted lol. This deserved this stop purely for the instrumentation and production value alone. Granted, it is very westernised but good music is good music. This is the only time where a feature (remix) actually added something.

Silver Light by Ateez. The sister to Cyberpunk. It is really like its title: a sparkling God Ray of light that cuts through the darkness. It's mysterious but also so hopeful and comforting. They just scraped in with this at the last minute but it is already one of my absolutely favourite Ateez songs. Instant love from 1st listen. The type of song I wish I was more conscious and present for so I could go back to experience it again for the first time. Park Seonghwa supremacy because this is now a song I associate with him. He's not even my Ateez bias but he is my favourite and the most important Ateez member to me. How that works, I do not know.

My favourite song of 2023:

Chasing That Feeling by TXT. They achieved the trifecta in 2023 for me: favourite song, favourite lyric, favourite choreography. I'm not even going to link to the official MV because the choreography needs to be seen unobstructed and undiluted. This is the type of song that I barely have any critiques on (and if I did, they would all be minor). The type of song that I would put as my bio. The type of song I want my best friend to play at my funeral. This era was also the one that pushed Choi Soobin into my life when he knew damm well that my heart has been closed for business for the last 12 months. The power this song had on me was all consuming and cannot be overstated, ok?

#favourite songs of the year #top 2023 kpop songs #there are a lot of songs i liked but don't listen to a lot #i don't think any of this is a surprise #i'm a nice friendly pop girl now i promise #ateez #txt #tomorrow x together #exo kai #aespa #nct #5050 #jungkook #ive #monsta x

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ihearyou-jikook · 1 year

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This is dedicated to some sweet Jimin Vocals 🎤🎵

A highlight of snippets of Jimin vocals that live rent-free in my mind.

***Side note: I know I keep posting about Jimin. I told you before I refuse to leave Jiminland for now. I know JK is preparing for his album. But Jimin already wrecked me and I know JK is going to ruin me. Jikook is going for the good ol’ 1, 2 punch. TKO. && I want it. I’m here for it. But I’m not ready for it.

Alright, let’s get this ish. Go Go Go! 👇🏽

Home

This song is my jam. It may actually be my favorite BTS song. I wish wish wish in the recorded version you could hear the part I want to highlight better, but it just doesn’t do it justice. So I frequently watch the Jimmy Fallon performance to get my fix. I will never get over how Jimin sounds here. Nevvvver.

vimeo

Full Video & Credit Here

Vibe

Is it just me or does Jimin sounds like Michael Jackson here?? Like his voice is so versatile it’s unbelievable.

vimeo

Full Video & Credit Here

Run BTS

This song is a banger. Every time I listen to it, I remember RM talking about how Jimin’s voice has this edge to it.

vimeo

Full Video & Credit Here

And I can't help myself. Gonna drop this gif.

Credit: Best of Me

***Side note: Jimin with long fluffy hair is a must. Like he whips that hair around when he’s dancing and its just…..😵

Like Crazy - English Intro

I typically prefer Korean versions of songs just because I love the way the language sounds. The english version of Like Crazy was so well done AND the intro vocals just hit different. It sounds higher, angelic, and sexier than the Korean version and it gets me every time.

vimeo

Full Video & Credit Here

Boy with Luv - TMA

This ad-lib. Period.

vimeo

Full Video & Credit Here

Letter

Angel voice hummmm. Talk sweet to me Jimin!!!

vimeo

Full Video & Credit Here

Filter

Last but not least, the ever-sexy: Filter. I love Jimin’s background vocals that fill up this song and literally consumes me. I want to drown in his vocals yall.

vimeo

Full Video & Credit Here

There are so many more to highlight but these are the ones always popping up in my mind.

I would love to hear about anyone else's fav Jimin vocal highlights.

I will do one for JK in the future probably after his album drops. If I make it through the album. 😵

#jimin #park jimin #face album #jimin filter #my park filter #bts home #jimin letter #jimin like crazy #run bts #Vimeo

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black-arcana · 10 months

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WITHIN TEMPTATION's SHARON DEN ADEL: 'The New Album Is Gonna Be Quite Different From What People Are Used To From Us'

During a June 17 press conference at Hellfest in Clisson, France, WITHIN TEMPTATION singer Sharon Den Adel spoke about the progress of the songwriting and recording sessions for the band's upcoming studio album. She said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We always try to evolve musically. And the things we're trying now [are] really challenging for us. The new album is gonna be quite different from what people are used to from us, I guess. It's old and new again, but we are implementing… We're inspired by new bands that are really actually doing a new sound now and trying to implement that in our music. And it's quite technical. It's a little bit more technical, the songs we're gonna release on the new album."

Asked whether WITHIN TEMPTATION would ever consider releasing only singles in the future or they prefer to stick to the album format, Sharon said: "Well, I think, if you look at dance music, and other genres sometimes as well, they only release singles. And I think they have an advantage and they have a disadvantage. For us, the reason that we wanted to [release several singles prior to the new album] is that you have a longer time spent for media to be talking about your music. Because a lot of times, when you bring out a record, it's, like, [you release] three singles and then you bring out the album, and then you have a media span of, well, let's say, a few weeks, and then it's gone. And now we try to drag everything out of you guys [in the media]. [Laughs] Because we've been working on songs also for such a long time, it is nice to have a little bit more media attention towards it. And besides that, I think with the singles, you can also write in the moment and then release it, instead of having to wait two years before it finally ends up on an album."

Last month, WITHIN TEMPTATION released a visualizer for its latest single, "Wireless". The AI clip was by created by Adriano Theel of Titanfilmmedia.de.

WITHIN TEMPTATION first released "Entertain You", "The Purge" and "Shed My Skin", singles that have all thrilled their fanbase, had great critical reception in Europe, peaked in the Top 20 of the U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Indicator charts and topped the official German charts. In July 2022, WITHIN TEMPTATION also released the official Jeb Hardwick-directed music video for the "Don't Pray For Me" single. It was the fourth single of the band's independent releases and will lead up to WITHIN TEMPTATION's next studio album.

Last December, WITHIN TEMPTATION released the official music video for "The Fire Within" single. The clip was filmed during the band's "Worlds Collide" European tour with EVANESCENCE. "The Fire Within" seven-inch single featured both the single version and instrumental version of the track.

This past May, Den Adel told Germany's Rock Antenne about WITHIN TEMPTATION's decision to shift its focus from releasing albums to releasing a series of singles, enabling the bandmembers to indulge themselves in their creative processes thus delivering freshly inspired music. Asked if this new process has resulted in each song requiring much longer to complete, Sharon said: "Well, to be honest, for us, this time, since we started doing only singles, it takes so much more time, so much more effort, because every single is a single. It's not just a random song on the album, where you also have, like, one or two or three in the end on the album, which are good but are not singles. But now we've been releasing a lot of songs that we think are singles and that we like ourselves very much. And of course, it was a way of releasing our stuff since just before corona started, actually. [We thought], 'What we're gonna do [this time] is different. We're not gonna release an album. We're just gonna do singles every time, just for the fun and see how that works.' And also with media attention and stuff, because a lot of times when you've recorded the single, they have the attention for that specific single, and then the next one, and then the album comes out and nobody talks about you anymore. And it goes a lot of effort and a lot of attention and time into a whole record. And now we get certain media for certain singles and other media for other singles, because it depends when they think it's something for them, then when they will join you on that adventure. So that's interesting to see that there's a different way of doing that. And I think in a way, especially during the corona time, it was the best thing for us to do, to stay in contact with everybody and to give people who like our music something and for us to stay sane while being locked up in our houses, of course. So it was a double win-win situation."

In an interview with Barbara Caserta of Linea Rock, Den Adel spoke about WITHIN TEMPTATION's new approach to making its music available. She said: "We already decided before we had the pandemic to do it this way. A lot of music scenes already do this — music genres, actually — but in the rock [world], we still do a lot of the traditional way of releasing albums. And we just wanted to try this out. And then the pandemic happened, and everybody started doing the same thing. Which is a good thing, because you live in the moment and you write something and you release it… So this is really how we feel at the moment, and it's what we re reflecting with our music, I think. It's a good thing."

Regarding the differences between recording and releasing singles and concentrating on making full-length albums, Sharon said: "We put a lot of time extra now into every single, where normally this is the maximum of singles that we release, and we're gonna release more. So I think there's more time spent to it. But it's scattered all over a time, so it's really sometimes difficult to get back into the flow of writing again; that's the negative side of it. So it has its positive and negative sides. And with a whole album, it takes sometimes two years when you've written a song that it finally gets released, and it already feels outdated sometimes. So now it's really [easy to give each track] a fast release."

WITHIN TEMPTATION's last album, "Resist", was released in February 2019 through Spinefarm Records, the specialist hard rock label of Universal Music Group.

"Resist" featured guest appearances by PAPA ROACH's Jacoby Shaddix, IN FLAMES' Anders Fridén and ARID's Jasper Steverlinck.

youtube

#sharon den adel #within temptation #Youtube

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weed-ols · 3 months

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Reviewing Every UKISS Release: By Unpopular Demand ~ Only One

Ah yes, their 1st studio album, and the peak of UKISS. I remember this coming out because it was around the time of the Olympics, and I don't know why that's the way I remember it.

But yeah, they were soooo popular now, they had tons of variety shows - Pops in Seoul for the English line, Chef's Kiss was right after this, and I think UKISS Vampire was done around after that, or after Break Time, I can't remember.

Only One - 1st Studio Album | 2010.02.03

I liked Bingeul Bingeul when it came out, and I still do prefer it to MMHN. Not entirely sure why, though it might be because I'll always associate with Chef's Kiss, and that makes me feel some real warm fuzzies. Also, was this when Soohyun's dating scandal happened? Or was it after this? Anyway, kudos for him to just going "thanks for making us the #1 trending topic XD"

This is something I meant to put in the Conti UKISS review but forgot, and it's that they seem so much taller in MMHN. Like I know Dongho and maybe Kevin and Eli were still growing, but all of them just seemed so much taller, for MMHN, and that's the importance of good styling.

So yeah, we're still in their woman-hating era, but it's a little dialed back now. I don't really have any good relevant tea about this era, which is a little weird. Was this when they had their first ever concert? I think it happened before Break Time, and if I remember correctly, it was because the Philippines LOVED Bingeul Bingeul and it went crazy viral there, so as a thank you they had a concert in Manila.

I don't think I ever watched the full concert, but I kinda feel like it would be the endearing disaster that any small-mid company's group would have when hosting a concert in somewhere not South Korea/Japan/even China. I think I remember the audio being really bad and I wasn't sure if it was just the video/recording problem or if it actually sounded like that on stage. Did they even have enough music to do a concert?

Oh right, and beware of this album on Spotify I don't know why it's so messed up, but there's 2 versions of it up, and like a couple songs show up on the Real School OST and none of this is consolidated. It is a hot mess, do I like tell Soohyun this on Bubble or on b.stage or what?

Intro | YouTube Music 2.6k | Spotify 1.3k

It's 20 seconds long what do I even say

The piano is nice until Kevin's autotuned voice kicks in

5/10 meh I like what I heard, but it's 20 seconds

Bingeul Bingeul (Audio) | YouTube Music 3.2M | Spotify 560k / 1.78M

I have 2 numbers for Spotify because the album version has 560k, but for some reason they the Real School OST there, and the numbers aren't consolidated and that one has 1.78M

Yeah I don't get it

"U U U UKISS AND BRAVE SOUND~" so iconic

I like that the whole premise of this song is "baby I love you please come back" like name a more dynamic duo than UKISS and being pathetic begging men

And the fact that this breakup is basically their fault, yet Kibum is still out here calling me bad? Uh excuse you you're the one who's in the wrong

Does that count as woman-hating? Perhaps

"You make me tingle tingle" absolutely horrific, thank you Eli

The "jjaeggakjjaeggak" part after Eli's rap is one of my favourites I don't know why, it's so catchy

This is mostly a Soohyun/Kevin duet featuring Kibum, Eli, Xander, and Dongho

Kiseop was there and he probably looked gorgeous

Not much to say about the singing since it's mostly been autotuned, but Kibum does sound much better here, and I like the contrast between him and Soohyun

The rappers rapped, that's for sure

Something about the way Dongho sings "you are the only one" is so cute

7.75/10, it's just a fun dance song, not much more I can add. Not earthshattering, but super catchy

Bingeul Bingeul (MV) | Fan upload 10M

Wait was this never uploaded officially?!?!

So I'm watching the alleged HD version and it's still giving 360p-480p, even though YouTube says it's 720p

Again, is this the same expensive camera for Shut Up!!?

But oh my god we've entered the iconic 2nd Gen MV Box

I forgot that it's not just The Box, but a Spinning Box

Get it??? They're making kissing gestures because U U U UKISS and~! It's so corny I love it

This part of the choreo is always gets me it's so fun to look at

The rapid cuts between the members lol

Again, some peak 2010 looks here

First, I gotta give my condolences to Dongho apparently it took like 7 bleach jobs to get his hair that light

I don't know if they did it in a single sitting, a couple, or spread out, but damn that's gotta hurt the scalp, even if he was young

He does look good with that pale blond though

Xander's hair is tragic they just gave him what they gave Kibum for MMHN, except it really doesn't suit Xander

Kiseop looks amazing as always

Kibum's hair is like a 3D sculpture I wanna know how much product is in it

I like Kevin's hair colour, that light brown always looks good on him, but I hate the bowl cut it's so not a good look

But yeah the studded jackets, necklaces, copious amounts of leather, so 2010 bad boy chic

Oh and we can't forget the skin-toned lipstick, guyliner for days, and emerging smoky eyes

I forgot the chorus dance is supposed to be done in a circle that's really cool, but I do just love a good circle moment in a dance

Now THAT is a look

Is it good? Is it bad? I don't really know but I love the eyeshadow

The hair isn't super flattering though

I have conflicting feelings about these white outfits

I love the overall look and feel of them, but I think a lot of them aren't flattering when they dance

Kevin and Kibum both have the longer jacket and it makes the dancing feel really clunky and difficult

They also have a padded shoulder look, which I actually do like most of the time, but here it makes them look like they have bad posture and permanently hunched shoulders

It's kinda giving cartoon proportions

So yeah, not much happens in this MV it's literally them dancing in The Box in the studded jackets, some solo shots in The Spinning Box, some other solo shots with the art projects drawn on them, and dancing shots in the white outfits

Yeah there's only 2 outfits in this MV, 3 if you count the art project looks

Yes NH give us no budget

Okay, let's be fair, they blew the entire budget on Kibum's hair products, Dongho's bleaching sessions, Eli's eye makeup, the white outfits, and the ink art shots

4.75/10 it was boring, and saved mostly by Eli's cool eye look, and the fact I don't despise every outfit here. At least they're not in a warehouse for this MV, or you know what, they probably are, but they're contained in The Spinning Box, so that's a little interesting

Bingeul Bingeul (Stages) | Highest viewed 1M (Music Core)

Because I cherish my eyes, I'm watching the 1M MuCore one because that one is in HD

I'm sorry but the opening kinda looks like Soohyun's shaking his butt for us

Oh and they're also using headsets for this, I think this is their first comeback using them

Bless the camera guy for giving us a wide shot of this it's my favourite part of the choreo

I love the use of use of differing heights it makes such an interesting image

Wait, are...are those capris? Are they all wearing capris other than Kibum??? Oh my god

Soohyun kinda looks like an exotic bird with that hair

There's a lot happening with that top - the leather vest, the different coloured sleeves

This is actually a pretty good look for Kibum, and he looks weirdly happy here

I think he winked before this too how cute

Camera guy why are you not focusing on Eli like yeah I love Soohyun too but sheesh how could you ignore Eli during this iconique line??

I love that you can hear them slapping their arms during the "nae ego" part of the rap

CAMERA GUY WHY WOULD YOU CUT AWAY FROM SOOHYUN'S BODY ROLL HE'S REALLY GOOD AT THOSE

I really don't like this outfit on Kevin it's not flattering at all on him

And I hate his hair

Also not loving Eli's top, but I appreciate the random clump of fabric

Ki brothers really do be the best dressed here

He had no lines in the song so they gave him the final pose lol

So I've always thought the Bingeul Bingeul dance was silly, especially the chorus part, but after seeing the MV I see the vision now

It looks really cool when they're in a circular formation, but stupid when they're in lines, but circles aren't the best for stages like this

The dance isn't particular difficult, I think the opening is probably the hardest due to the synchronization

The funny chorus bit was probably more difficult for the MV than here

I will say this kind of choreo falls flat without enough commitment, so while funny to watch, they definitely committed

Not much to say other than that. They clearly work well as group, they're all at a minimum competent dancers, and the only real standout here is Dongho

Like MMHN, this choreo is basically made for him, plus he has that kind of je ne sais quoi and pulls your eye

It was sung live, it was a Soohyun/Kevin live duet, the rappers rapped, and I suspect a loud backtrack for Kibum and Dongho

7.5/10 the stage design is kinda boring, and I don't like a lot of their looks, but it's a fine stage overall

A quick Bingeul Bingeul lookbook because I can still upload more images

I forgot it was a super shiny material

The fabric moves better than I thought, but I don't know I still don't love the look of it

The pants look especially bad in movement, like they're way too baggy because of how the fabric hangs and reflects light

And yeah, I still stand by Kibum and Kevin having the worst jackets

Also I think this was the first stage they did for this?

Mics were really good, and Eli ended this stage? Do they take turns for the final pose?

Why are half of them dressed for the same event and look like they lost the dress memo?

The random thing hanging off of Xander's jacket lol

I like Kibum's vest love the epaulettes

Why is Kiseop just wearing a button-up with epaulettes?

I don't even hate these looks individually, and I even see the running motif in them, but they don't feel unified

Kevin, Dongho, and Soohyun should have larger shoulder ornaments

Xander needs an epaulette or something

And Kiseop should be wearing a vest like Kibum or a jacket like the others

Kiseop finishes this one huh

I hate these looks I like the monochrome idea, but what's with the beige/khaki?

And why are some members in all black but the others are mixed?

Not Soohyun wearing a black pleather crew neck with a black pleather jacket

The mics were really good here and they were all live, I think Dongho's voice cracked a little

Uh those are some looks

I hate those pants so much just let them wear long pants

Before there were those hidden socks and exposed ankles, there were the exposed calves and shins

The copious amounts of pleather is incredible

Without You | YouTube Music 924k | Spotify 388k

Oh my gosh I love this song it's one of my favourites

It's sounds so cute, so sweet, and it's so catchy like I'll honestly start humming this at work without even realizing it

The "baby I love you please come back" song like it's that good

Once again, cementing the fact they're at their best when begging

"Boo" #2

It's honestly amazing how dissonant the lyrics are to the music, like the song itself is fast-paced and cheery

Then the lyrics are basically them begging their girl to come back and crying themselves to sleep

And the fact that this is one of their encore songs, truly incredible

This is basically just a Soohyun/Kevin duet featuring Eli and Xander

They're both killing it though - Soohyun has that bitter voice that works great with the lyrics, while Kevin has that sweet voice that falsely advertises that this is an upbeat song

Their vocal synergy is unmatched

9/10 an all-time favourite of mine so yeah, I'm biased

Mworago (Audio) | YouTube Music 449k | Spotify 26k

Remember how there was supposed to be a 3D animated music video for this? Yeah me neither

The fact that there's a 15 second teaser of it on YouTube literally haunts me

The concept for it is probably rotting in NH's basement or something

So this is what I imagine to be the sequel of OK!

There's a line about the girl making them seem like a beggar, and what did they say in OK? That they weren't going to be a beggar

Thus based off of their pattern of "baby I love you even though you cheated on me", this could either be OK's prequel or sequel

Personally, I like this as the sequel because it makes it 10x funnier

The whole song is basically "you treat me like shit but baby I love you please come back", which is a new variant for this genre

Allegedly, Kiseop does the intro bit, but I'm not buying it. A couple of sites I've checked out attribute it to him, but I don't hear him?

So this is a Kevin-centric song featuring Soohyun and the rap line, with none for Kibum and Kiseop

I think his voice is very well-suited for it - he sounds just like a kicked puppy most of the time, but musters up the right aggression

Soohyun, sounding bitter as always

But they're both hampered by the autotune, that damned Brave autotune

I thought it was interesting they attached Eli's rap to the first verse to lead in to the chorus

Actually, Xander and Dongho both rap before the next chorus, interesting placements

It doesn't sound bad at all, I kinda like it

No funny one liners, unfortunately

8.25/10 more points than Bingeul Bingeul it's more creative and I love a good UKISS being pathetic beggars song

Mworago (Stages) | Highest viewed 89k (Fan upload) | 26k (Inkigayo)

I feel like I have no recollection of ever watching these stages before recently

Oh my gosh I actually love most of these outfits? The black/red is so nice

I love Kevin's little plaid jacket like it's so cute I want it

And not his statement necklace

Dongho has a kind of taupe trash bag shirt, love that for him

The vests are kinda taking me out

And Kibum's single arm warmer thing

Oh I love Kiseop's jacket too, especially the plaid lapels

They all have much better hair here; Dongho back to his bowl cut, Xander's looks more natural and comfortable, Soohyun has typical idol hair, Eli for some reason is blond again, Kibum rocking the same 'do from Bingeul Bingeul, Kiseop's is...very Kiseop, and Kevin's fluffy light hair

The makeup is very light too, love that though I hate the lipstick still

That pose kills me

His lips were moving during this so I guess this is Kiseop's part?

Head choreography was really in with them, huh?

It's kinda cute, makes sense since Soohyun's just shouting "what" the entire time

It's not even that similar but this screams Stalker

Why does he enter like that?

Same vibes as when you're not sure if you're entering the right room or if you're interrupting someone

This is so dramatic, and for what? I love it

It's not a super iconic dance but I like it anyway. It looks pretty aerobics-intensive

There's some weirdly soft moments in the choreo for this kind of dance song though. I don't hate it, but it feels a little out of place since so much of it is sharp and angular

It also makes a lot more use of height, lots of crouching and bending

Soohyun and Kevin are definitely singing live, their expressions say it all, and it becomes obvious when you hear Soohyun fighting with backtrack!Kevin, and when Kevin lets the backtrack take over to catch his breath

It's a bit harder to tell with the rappers since they also have that autotuned voice thing

7.25/10 I would watch it again, not super memorable, but some interesting choreo

I still have 5 images left before I hit the limit Mworago lookbook time

I like these more relaxed looks, very 2010

Wait is Eli wearing sweats?

Actually all the other videos are too crunchy never mind

Bang Bang Bang | YouTube Music 292k | Spotify 27k

UKISS party song hell yeah with a dash of um...I'm not entirely sure

I've read a couple translations of this and I'm still trying to piece it together

I think it's a "baby I love you please come back" and "angry we broke up so now I'm partying the pain away but it still hurts" mix?

It also feels like an allusion to sex? Like other than the bang bang bang part

Not counting it as a UKISS Sex Song but it's close, it just needs to be more explicit

I do appreciate the storytelling in the lyrics, starting off with "feel like shit gotta go have fun", the sex allusion, "baby I love you", "I'll never love again leave me alone >:(", "baby I miss youuuu", and ending with party lyrics again

It's basically another Soohyun/Kevin duet featuring everyone but Dongho

Interesting parallel with the Kibum/Soohyun and Kiseop/Kevin verses

Once again, I'm asking for more VinSeop verses their voices work well together

How do Soohyun, Kevin, and Xander all sound so nasally here? I thought it might've been the autotune or something but Kibum, Kiseop, and Eli sound relatively okay

Like I'm genuinely impressed I want them to try to recreate this some day

"Singing that!" I thought for the longest time Xander was saying "Sing it dad!"

Also Eli back to calling us bad girl huh

7.5/10 it's a fun song, super catchy, but the autotune is...a lot, and I mean there's not much else to it

Dancing Floor | YouTube Music 216k | Spotify 15.8k

Nasal kings here we go

Bang Bang Bang was just warm up here they're so nasally it's incredible

Like I think it was in that 2020 IG Live with Soohyun and Kevin where they're talking about old songs, someone brings up Dancing Floor, and they literally cannot replicate it

It gets mentioned again in their 2021 vocal line mini reunion and somehow Hoon nails it???

But yeah the lyrics are literally "I'm so depressed that my girl left me so now I'm gonna tear up the dance floor and become the disco king"

Gotta respect the mindset

Horrific how catchy this song is, but understandable since this is the same guy who did Mazeltov

It does feel like a proper Soohyun/Kevin main/lead vocalists + Kibum the subvocalists and accompanying rappers who get like 3 lines each as the bridge

Poor Kiseop with nothing

"Sing it daddy!" the only thing more surprising than hearing this incredible one liner, is the fact that Xander is the one who yells it and not Eli

6.5/10 just because of how horrific their nasally voices are in this my god. It is super catchy though

ManManHaNi (New ver.) | YouTube Music 12M | Spotify 451k

Not much to say, it's a MMHN all right

There's just added some more music and a slightly slower feel to the song, which is basically a negative for me

I think I prefer the original version because it's 8 seconds shorter, and I think it carries the momentum of the song better

Not loving the weird tempo change before the chorus like come on stop torturing me like this

But I do prefer the more stripped percussion for Eli's rap

Also not someone in the comment section saying the original MMHN is the same age them baby what you're a literal fetus

6.5/10 inferior MMHN variation, and I had to not only relisten to the original version for comparison, but I had to listen to this twice

OK! (Remix) | YouTube Music 14k | Spotify 5.2k

I know it's a remix and all that, but I wish it was an acoustic or stripped version

Like that was my biggest complaint with the original with how the autotune detracted from Kevin's voice

And now we just have a lot more noise layered on

6.25/10 not horrible, but there's nothing about this remix that improves on the original, except I guess add more dance beats

I Like You (Remix) | YouTube Music 8.1k | Spotify 2.2k

I like that this is basically a remix of the instrumental with the chorus repeating

Like the song was so unsalvageable they just had to remix the instrumental

This is basically something you'd do like an aerobics class to or whatever

6.25/10 I liked it more than the original

Talk To Me (Remix) | YouTube Music 44k | Spotify 5.9k

Okay this kinda slaps

The remix actually tones down the Soohyun vs Kevin shouting match so it just sounds like normal singing now, which makes this pretty nice to listen to (though not as funny)

The recurring keyboard/piano bit even adds a bit of class

7.25/10 I actually really like this and I'm gonna put it on a playlist now

Not Young (Remix) | YouTube Music 15k | Spotify 4.7k

The lively beat helps a bit

But now there's this weird...dissonance? Like this remix is still pretty soft, but it feels too hard for a song like Not Young

6.5/10 I'm very confused, not in a bad way, just...not sure of what to make of it. I don't hate it, but I also don't like it much more than the original, plus the weird clash between the lyrics and beat that just doesn't work

Give It To Me (Remix) | YouTube Music 10k | Spotify 2.3k

Since the song already had a strong beat, the remix works really well

The dance break sounds much better

I'm a bit confused by the choice to sort of 'hollow' their voices? I don't think that was necessary

The tempo feels a bit faster, and I think it fits a lot better with the whole "don't stop the beat move your feet" bit

7.25/10 another new song going to a playlist

Not really fun facts, but some funny tidbits I remember regarding this time - there's an interview of them from either the time they were filming the Bingeul Bingeul MV or just after, and it's so cute. One of the questions was who made the biggest first impression, and I remember Eli said Dongho because he thought he looked like a tacky country bumpkin. Kevin backhandedly compliments Soohyun by saying he took one look at him and knew he was probably the best singer there (cue Soohyun shouting "what, am I ugly?").

They also get asked who watches porn, and everyone kinda nervously looks around, except for Soohyun who proudly raises his arm, and slaps Kibum to raise his too. If you remember my last post, Kiseop had already admitted to watching it on Soohyun's laptop with Kevin, so those two are lying liars.

This tidbit is actually from 2023, but Soohyun was talking about his early days under NH, and how the lower management really liked him because he could sing well and worked hard (to the point they'd tell him to stop practicing and go back to the dorm because they couldn't sleep), but upper management hated him because he wasn't a flower boy. Apparently the higher-ups never called him by his name early on, just always "hey you", and never complimented him, and the first time they called him by his name was around Bingeul Bingeul and it made him cry. NH, I'll see you in hell.

We have one more release before this OT7 era is over, and while I do look upon this time very fondly, I'm excited for the 2011-2013 years, their back-to-back bangers, and the HD JP MVs I have in my possession.

#ukiss #uwukiss #this is such a weird year i thought i remembered more but i guess not #there are a ton of clips i have a vague memory of but they're impossible to find now because of how things were named back then #and all those disappeared lj and blogspot pages gone but never forgotten

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