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padme-parker · 4 years

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no regrets [AU!Anakin Skywalker x Reader]

Summary: You leave Anakin, only a letter in your place.

Word Count: 2.5k

Warnings: some swear words I think, angst, mentions of cancer, some fluff if you look hard enough, this is pretty fucking cliche btw!

A/N: so I was listening to Lewis Capaldi’s discography and that shit was so sad. Like all of his songs are so fucking sad that it inspired me to write this. Mainly the songs: “Forever”, “Fade.”, “Before You Go.” and “Headspace.” (I highly suggest listening to his songs while ur reading!) along with a handful of songs I was listening to while writing this. Also this is my first time uploading my writing so forgive me if it's all over the place. I was just excited to write this lol.

The thumping of the bass made his ears ring, that’s the first thing Anakin noticed when he got home. He was totally and completely shitfaced, drunk out of his mind. The next thing he noticed was the deafening silence. Sure, it was midnight but he knew how much of a night owl you were. He also knew how much you loved to paint at night, a slight breeze from the open window, and music quietly playing in the background. Loud enough just to be heard by the two of you, quiet enough so he could hear the stroke of your brush against the canvas. Oftentimes he would come up behind you, lightly grasping your hips and began to sway along to the music. And some nights he would just sit back and watch you. However tonight wasn’t one of those nights. Tonight would be different, and the next night, and the night after that. Anakin walked towards the bedroom, careful not to wake you just in case you were asleep. When he walked into the room, his eyes immediately searched for you, but landed upon emptiness, that’s when it caught his attention. The last thing he noticed was the envelope placed upon his pillow.

Grasping the envelope, Anakin took out its content. It was a letter, just for his eyes.

Dear Anakin,

By the time you read this, I’ll be gone. Believe me, I wish I could’ve done this in person but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. As I write this letter, you’ll be out celebrating with Obi Wan and Padme. Enjoying life, that’s what you should be doing. And I know it must be shitty to come home to this, but I just couldn’t leave while you were still here. There were so many things I wanted to tell you, but I couldn’t. But you deserve to know this.

The truth is, I don’t love you anymore, Anakin. I’m not sure when I fell out of love with you, but the one thing I knew was that I couldn’t stay and drag you down with me. Sometimes I wonder how we got here, how I got us here. Then I remembered why, him. In the past six months I met someone else. At first we were just friends. But there was something between us, a connection. The second I laid eyes on him, I knew that he was the one I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with. Yet, there you were. Anakin, you were- and still are my world, but he’s my whole fucking universe. Without him I feel like I’d cease to exist. Each day, the more I fell in love with him, the more I fell out of love with you. Until one day, I came to my senses and realized what the hell I was doing. All those days I spent with him, coming home late at night, you never questioned me. Stars Anakin, I’m so sorry I took advantage of your trust. I never thought we’d end up like this. I never thought this would happen.

You deserve to be happy. But we both know that’s not something I can give you. You deserve to be able to move on without ever having to see me again. That’s why I’ve decided to leave. Not just move out of the apartment, or town, but move out of state altogether. Please don’t come looking for me.

I want you to know that none of this is your fault. Anakin, I love you so much, but we’re just not meant to be. You were my epic love, not my soulmate. But remember, you’re still someone who had a huge impact on my life. I don’t think I could ever forget you, nor do I think that I want to. I know that even on my deathbed, I’ll be thinking of you.

Forever Yours,

Y/N

P.S. take the time you need Anakin, but don’t get hung up on me. There are people out there who love you, you just don’t see it yet.

He let out a sharp breath, dropping the letter, and began to sob. For the next hour, all he could do was cry. He struggled to breathe, he couldn’t believe what he was reading. What did I do wrong? Where did I go wrong? Was I not enough? He wanted to scream, but chose not to, sparing his neighbors from hearing his sorrows. Anakin was spiraling, he was heaving now. Struggling to breathe he crawled out of his room and into the living room. Your painting materials still left in the corner, easel propped up, and miscellaneous pieces of art scattered across his home.

Anakin couldn’t escape from you, you were unknowingly ripping the air out of his lungs. Everywhere he looked, he was reminded of you. It was ironic really, how was he supposed to move on if he had to see everything that reminded him of you.

A couple of years passed since you disappeared from Anakin’s life. He had moved on but deep down inside he never really did recover. He was sad at first, but then became angry. How could you use him like this? But of course, like you promised, there were people there for him. Obi Wan and Padme had always been there for him, especially Padme. She was the first one to check up on him when he wasn’t returning their calls. The first to get him to stop crying, the first to cheer him up, the first to get him to go out again, and the first person to say “I love you.” since you’d left. Anakin had felt like he was betraying you, he had fallen in love with someone who wasn’t you, but then he remembered what you did and said. He had the right to move on with someone else.

When Anakin felt like he was ready, six month after your breakup, he asked Padme to be his girlfriend. A year and a half later, he asked her to spend the rest of her life with him. Nine months later, they welcomed their twins into the world.

Both Obi Wan and Padme had been there by his side, along with Dean. He met Dean at the bar, both of them looking like shit. It started with a simple nod, then their small group of three now had four people. Dean became close to Obi Wan and Padme too, helping Anakin to return to his life before you left. It was going well until today.

Anakin moved out of his old apartment a long time ago. He donated most of your belongings and sold your paintings. Except for one. It was a painting that the two of you had created together. A minimal black outline of your silhouettes from your favorite photo together. Simple, but it had meaning to it. The picture itself was taken at a party, a drink in your hand while Anakins was thrown over your shoulder. You were smiling at the camera, drink aimed towards it. However, Anakin was looking at you, a big goofy smile on his face. If there was one memory of you he wanted to keep, it was that one. So instead of selling the painting, he kept it. Obviously he didn’t hang it up, instead he kept in it buried deep inside his closet. Only taking it out whenever he really missed you.

Even though he kept the painting, every aspect of you was completely erased. It’s like you never existed to him. Instead of lining the halls with pictures of the two of you, they were filled with pictures of Anakin and Padme. A small polaroid of them on their first date. A picture at the bar of Anakin, Padme, Obi Wan, and Dean. A bunch of wedding pictures. And finally, pictures of his family. He’d memorized every corner of his new home, never wanting to forget about it because he knew at any given moment, his life could be ripped from his fingers. Everything had been ingrained into his memory, from the toys scattered across the floor to the pristine kitchen. Where Padme was currently making dinner, “Hey Ani, you’ve got some mail, I put it on the table.” He walked towards the table and picked up the envelope, he could recognize your handwriting. Anakin felt like the world was playing a sick joke on him, after all these years, why would you write back now?

“Hey Padme, I’m gonna go change real quick.” He didn’t wait for Padme’s reply before he ran off to his closet, he knew he needed to be alone when he read its contents. Locking the door, he ripped open the envelope and took out your letter.

Anakin,

I know I’m probably the last person you want to hear from, but you deserve to know the truth. The real reason as to why I left. By the time you read this, I’ll be dead. Remember how I told you that I had met someone new? That was a lie. In those six month, I was at multiple doctors' offices getting tested. I knew something was wrong with me but none of the doctors could tell me why. Until one was able to. I had stage 3 ovarian cancer, the chances of me surviving were low. That’s why I left.

Anakin’s eyes went wide, the paper shaking in his hands. “Cancer… she has..” he whispered to himself, he could feel the tears starting to roll down his face. All this time, he hated her for something she never did.

I knew how much you wanted to have a family, and it was something I wanted to give you. But when I found out that I couldn’t do that, I knew you’d be crushed. This was something we both had dreamed of. It was easier for me to make up a lie. I wouldn’t allow myself to put the both of us through this pain. You shouldn’t have to bear my burdens. I wasn’t going to let you waste your life away trying to take care of me. So I hid the truth from you and left like a coward. Understand that I needed you to hate me, Anakin. That you wouldn’t come looking for me or just expect me to come back one day. Even though I did want to come back, I had to hold myself back. I knew you were going to move on eventually.

Do you remember the guy I was talking about? The one who I was so “madly in love with” that I left you? Yeah, well his name is Dean, He’s one of the nurses who was taking care of me during those six months, and for the past couple years he’s been my eyes. Anakin, I never fell out of love with you. Even as I lay on my deathbed, you’re all I can think about.

Dean says that you’ve moved on and married Padme. I’m going to be honest, at first I was shocked and a little sad. But then I remembered why I did this in the first place. Anakin, I’ve seen the way she looks at you. Even when we were still together I could tell how much love she had for you. She didn’t act on her feelings because I was still there, which I’m grateful for. But once I left, she saw the opportunity to comfort you, so she did. You looked at me like I was your whole world, but Padme, she looks at you like your her whole damn universe. Truth is, you weren’t my world, you’re my fucking universe Anakin, even if you don’t know it. You weren’t just my epic love, to me, you were my soulmate. But you and Padme? The two of you are soulmates, made for eachother. Dean has shown me pictures of the two of you. I’ve never seen you so happy, even when we were together. I know she brings out a side of you that I was never able to.

There was a point where I was getting better and I wanted to come back. To apologize and maybe try again, but Dean advised against doing so. At that moment in time, you had just proposed to Padme. Who was I to come back into your life just to take away your happiness? So I watched from afar. I watched as you went on with your life and completely forgot about me. And I did it with a smile on my face, because you were happy. Anakin, simply knowing that you were happy and content with your life made me happy, even if I wasn’t the cause of it. For a while, I was better. Then it got worse, my cancer got more aggressive. From there, I was condemned in my own home.

As the months went on, I got more sick and closer to death. After your wedding, Dean came over to my place and showed me videos of you and Padme. I couldn’t help but let out a few tears, you were getting everything you wanted. I really wish I could’ve been there to see you, Ani, but I wouldn’t want to ruin your wedding. I was so ecstatic for you when I’d heard that you were having a child! Twins nonetheless, you must’ve been radiating joy. I really am happy for you Anakin. I only wanted the best for you.

Do you remember the night on the rooftop? You cooked dinner for us on our two year anniversary. It was the most romantic thing anyone had done for me. Do you also remember what we promised to each other? “No regrets.” As simple as it was, I broke our promise, Ani. I regret not telling you. I regret leaving you. I regret ever hurting you. Anakin, I am deeply sorry for any pain I’ve caused you. But if I hadn’t left, you wouldn’t be where you are right now. Do you regret not looking for me?

Anakin stopped reading for a second to think, did he regret how things played out? He wiped his tears before continuing,

Don’t get me wrong, I would’ve loved to stay with you, Anakin, but I couldn’t let myself. I hope the universe will continue giving you what you want, because you deserve it, Ani. You deserve to be happy.

Forever Yours,

Y/N Y/L/N

P.S. somewhere across the stars and galaxies, I’ll be watching over you. I’ll always be with you.

Anakin dropped to the floor, the letter along with him. Muffled sobs could be heard on the other side of the door, but Padme was too preoccupied to hear. Why didn’t I go after her? Why didn’t I try harder? Why didn’t I notice? He asked himself. The truth was that Anakin did regret not going after you, he regretted not trying to get closure from you. Because he knew that if he had gone after you, you would’ve told him the truth. He knew you would tell him the truth because he knew that you couldn’t look him in the eyes and lie to him. That’s why you left, only leaving a letter behind. And he knew if you told him the truth, he would have forgiven you. He would’ve spent the rest of his life, right next to you. Making sure you were alright. Anakin knew he would’ve taken you back in a heartbeat, because he still loves you. Even after you falsely broke his heart and left him, his love for you outweighed the hate he felt.

He got up somberly walking towards the hidden painting. He took it into his hands along with another object. He sat back down, now clutching the memory to his chest. His heart felt heavy, but nothing felt heavier than the small black velvet box resting upon his grasp.

“No regrets, huh?”

(A/N): Okay so I know that the goodbye letter is all over the place, but if I was writing a letter to someone I love, my thoughts wouldn’t be able to process properly. So forgive me if some of it seemed random, I’m still new to this stuff. I also feel like this is very cliche but when I heard Forever, my mind was immediately like “omg this song is good inspo for a sad fic.” I also feel like I should’ve added more flashbacks but I’m not sure where they would’ve been placed.... anyways I hope you enjoyed it :)

#anakin skywalker #anakin skywalker x reader #anakin skywalker imagine #anakin skywalker angst #anakin skywalker x reader angst #au!anakin #au!anakin skywalker #star wars

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bubblesandgutz · 4 years

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Every Record I Own - Day 622: Jaye Jayle Prisyn

The following is the bio I wrote for Jaye Jayle’s 2020 album, Prisyn.

Evan Patterson has always been a wanderer and an explorer. It’s evident in the constant evolution of his musical projects since his earliest days as a guitarist in left-of-center bands out of Louisville, but it’s best exemplified by the constant creative shifts within the fever-dream blues of his current project Jaye Jayle. Their sophomore album No Trails and Other Unholy Paths was a mission statement of that restless search across barren canvases, a proclamation of turning away from one’s past and marching into the unknown. But with the latest Jaye Jayle album Prisyn, Patterson takes his boldest leap into unknown territories yet, capturing immediate moments in his ever-shifting surroundings with the most basic tool at his disposal—the GarageBand app on an iPhone 8. Instead of his usual backing band, he paired up with Ben Chisholm (White Horse, Revelator, Chelsea Wolfe) as collaborator and producer to create an electronic album completely unlike anything else in his discography.

The project began with a request from couture designer Ashley Rose. The up-and-coming designer proposed that Patterson team up with Chelsea Wolfe and Ben Chisholm to create a soundtrack for one of her upcoming fashion shows. Patterson was in the early stages of a massive eleven-week stretch of touring—starting with a European jaunt with his rekindled band Young Widows, continuing on with Jaye Jayle, and returning to the US to play guitar for Emma Ruth Rundle—and used the extensive downtime in the van to flesh out ideas on his phone. “So I sent the track to Ben and he sent it back the next day with additional instrumentation, sounds, and effects,” Patterson recalls. “It was wild. He suggested we make a whole record that way, and it just took off from there.”

By the end of the three-month tour, Patterson and Chisholm had an LP’s worth of songs waiting for vocal treatments. “I initially wanted it to be an instrumental record called Songs For Iggy because I literally had this dream where I made an instrumental album with that title and Iggy Pop found out about it and sang on it,” Patterson recalls. Pop’s album The Idiot had been an enormous influence on the songwriter in recent years, and it seemed like the proper homage to a fellow sonic explorer. But as time passed and other guest vocalists were proposed, Patterson finally decided that the album would be the next phase, or perhaps even just a strange detour, for Jaye Jayle. “I had no idea what I was gonna sing, how it was gonna go. So I printed out all these poems, stories, and journal entries I’d made on my phone over the course of the year and went into the studio with my friend Warren (Christopher Gray). We’d eventually find things that rhythmically worked, and that’s how all the lyrics and singing happened. It was all gut instinct, improvisational.”

Consequently, Prisyn’s ten tracks are composites of various snapshots of Patterson’s three-month tour, with the music taking shape on one leg of the journey and the lyrical components coming from some other moment on the road. “The vocal approach isn’t meant to be full of hooks and melody,” Patterson notes. “The music is framed almost as a film score for my life. Instead of David Attenborough or William S. Burroughs as a narrator, I used this opportunity to narrate visuals from my reality.” You can hear that commentary quality on songs like “Blueberries,” which came to fruition during a late night drive through a thunderstorm in Atlanta. The white-knuckle experience manifests in the static blasts, ominous bass synth lines, and cascading arpeggios, and in the background you can hear Patterson reading a short story about trading his eyes with a blind man. Meanwhile, the gloomy electric piano lounge vibes on “Guntime” came from some non-descript drive, with lyrics that capture the much more harrowing experience of having a car full of teenagers point an Uzi at the Jaye Jayle tour van as they drove into Paris, creating a strange sense of distance to the event, as if it was viewed in an out-of-body experience. The expanded horizons provided by extensive touring also served as a point of contrast for Patterson’s comparatively conservative hometown of Louisville, which became the muse for “Don’t Blame the Rain.” The track sounds like a drug induced panic attack in a European discotheque, though the lyrics tackle Southern conservatism and Patterson’s efforts to rise above a culture he doesn’t believe in.

But perhaps the most evocative track on the album is “The River Spree.” Patterson crafted the music—an organic mixture of digital contrabass and interweaving drones—while driving across the long barren stretch of Kansas. But the lyrics capture a moment across the Atlantic, when Patterson found himself lost in Berlin late at night, peaking on acid, without a working phone, and without knowing the whereabouts of his bandmates. He charts his journey over the six-minute song with a drug-high ambivalence, recounting a mugging with the same stoicism as breathing in the night air while “thinking about David / thinking about Iggy.” It sounds like Alan Vega singing from an opium den, comfortably numb while recounting some urban nightmare.

“It’s a very odd record,” Patterson says of Prisyn. The album title, a play on the idea of a synthetic prison, alludes to Patterson’s desire for artistic freedom and the album’s conflicted use of addictive technologies, but in the time of the pandemic he also views it as an example of overcoming adversity in desperate times—it’s a record that could have been made under the jail-like confines of quarantine, with Patterson and Chisholm having never been in the same room at the same time. “These songs have a totally different energy, and that’s the exciting thing about making art. Things have to progress. I don’t wanna draw the same picture for the rest of my life. Maybe that keeps you from being a master at it, but being a master isn’t the key to art. It’s having that constant expression, the constant outlet, the constant change.”

#jaye jayle #everyrecordiown

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gloriadenton · 5 years

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⭐ for Tomorrow's Lovers Will Be Found please :)

Yesssssss, I loved writing this fic!

- Inspired by scioscribe’s totally wonderful Trick or Treat prompt for hurt/comfort after One-Eyed Jack’s turning into something tender and romantic. I absolutely love how Audrey and Cooper act around each other after One-Eyed Jack’s, how fragile and tender and careful everything feels, and I feel like it works so well as a moment in time for something to happen between them. It was so much fun to write for this part of s2.

- The title is from “50s” by House of Wolves (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4j0WtwlDwJA), a profound Audrey jam that I found through this 8tracks: https://8tracks.com/seaswallowme/kiss-me-like-it-s-the-fifties

- (Other tracks I had on repeat: Are You The One That I’ve Been Waiting For by Nick Cave, Lord Knows Best by Dirty Beaches, Fire to the Stars by Angelo Badalamenti, Fever by Meiko.)

- I really liked the idea of a first time/getting-together fic set as a coda to “Lonely Souls,” both for the emotional intensity and because Cooper’s very open to following mystic directives. I had the idea that one way for him to get past the high school issue would be for him to feel like he has permission to think of a relationship with Audrey as part of the magic, intuitive, mysterious side of his life, where he stops worrying about external codes of ethics and lets himself try to do good in other ways.

- Also it meant I could write an opening with Margaret, and I love their whole dynamic so much – how respectful Cooper is with her, and how she has to tell him when to be patient and listen sometimes. (And as a sidebar, I totally think Margaret would appreciate Audrey and Cooper as a couple: they’re maybe the only two people weird and otherworldly enough to match her and her husband, and somebody has to be that couple.)

- I tried to ease myself into Cooper’s POV with something vaguely like the cadence of his Diane tapes, but still wanted it to be a little more skewed and strange than his normal observations on evidence, so that’s when I had the idea of him reading the time from the beer bottles outside the Roadhouse.

- I love how much Cooper touches Audrey during and after the rescue from One-Eyed Jack’s, so I had to sneak in a reference to it when he sees her in the Timber Room.

- I’m low-key obsessed with One-Eyed Jack’s and the Black Lodge as mirrors of each other, and I love the idea that Audrey’s kind of come back from the underworld in a way that we usually associate with Cooper. (Also, I love how Audrey totally mythologizes herself with the Little Red Riding Hood story at One-Eyed Jack’s, hence “the girl with the pomegranates.”)

- I worried so much about the dialogue for this scene, oh my god. (I feel like I’m profoundly not a dialogue writer, so that’s always something that worries me, plus all of Audrey and Cooper’s conversations are so iconic and weird and beautiful.)

- I love the noir-typical imagery that comes with Twin Peaks. I really enjoyed trying to tap into that a little with lines like “a rotary dial to nowhere.”

- Also, I love that scene Audrey has with one of the other girls at One-Eyed Jack’s before she sees Battis (who I think is also the girl who comes onto Cooper when he’s undercover?), and I love the idea of her talking to them some more. I wanted it to be a little like a continuation of her relationship with Laura.

- I really, really love writing them kiss. I’m always weak for old Hollywood imagery, so I tried to get a kind of… lush 1940s credits feel with the description of the powered silk in her lipstick.

- I also spent a lot of time watching Hays Code era kisses and trying to figure out what makes some of them look so filthy and romantic for when they kiss again later.

- I love how awfulmazing the decorations in Cooper’s room are, and how very Ben Horne they are (there’s deer hooves holding up a decorative shotgun!) and I wanted to show Cooper being very careful and tender and considerate of Audrey as a counterpoint to the predatory atmosphere that Ben’s effectively set up around them.

- It’s my diehard headcanon that both of them learned to kiss from the movies. (Or moreso that both of them learned most of their social interactions from the movies. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH OKAY.)

- I love how thorough and precise Cooper is about everything, and I loved trying to write ways for this to come across during sex as well.

- I also really wanted to focus on Audrey’s sexual agency, how she has really intense ideas and desires even if she hasn’t had any practical experience.

- Cooper needs to always go down on her. That’s my considered opinion.

- I wanted to fit in so much more detail and injury porn when Cooper gets undressed, but then the deadline snuck up on me. NEXT TIME.

- I don’t know if it should have been an author’s note at the end, because I tried to keep their afterglow talk kind of canon-typical levels of oblique, but: the song they’re talking about is “Don’t Smoke in Bed.” I really liked trying to write a moment for them just as Audrey starts to become a part of Cooper’s life, so that’s where the discography for Diane came from.

- And just. DARLINGS. They’re one of my OTPs to the point where I feel like it’s very difficult to do them justice in fic, but it felt so good to post something for them, and I can’t wait to write them again.

#charlottenewtons #ask game

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emmaruthrundlesh · 6 years

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Emma Ruth Rundle Interview // Rock’n’Roll Journalist

(via Rock’n’Roll Journalist) “Dark” singer-songwriter is a term which deserves an official registration based on the modern wave of talented female artists. Next to Chelsea Wolfe, there is also Emma Ruth Rundle rapidly building her space on the market. Her captivating voice and an amazing taste for cold melodies are more than addictive. If you look at her list of favorite albums, the magic of her sound suddenly makes more sense. In addition we also spoke about her gear, challenges on a tour and beauties of Prague, which is also on her current European tour schedule on 18th of October.

Would like to give some introduction to your list?

This is not so much a list of my favorite albums of all time. Much of these are rather pieces I return to over and over as they are especially significant for me.

40 Watt Sun – The Inside Room (2011)

One of my all time favorite albums, English 3 piece, 40 Watt Sun, combine a slower, heavy guitar driven washes over which Patrick Walker literally pours his heart out. HIs lyrics and voice are incredibly eloquent and beautiful. The songs are, at times, in the 8 plus minute category so there is plenty of time to be reeled into their world and taken through Walker’s emotional landscapes. One of my biggest influences in the last few years.

Kate Bush – The Sensual World (1989)

A longstanding favorite and go to listen for me. Kate Bush has a few phases and different sounding albums but there is always her at the core. I think The Sensual World has become the diamond album in her discography, for me, because of the song Love and the Anger. It’s one of the catchiest and uplifting songs I’ve ever heard. Just watch the video and see Kate dancing at the end…How can you not fall in love? Also some really tasteful world influence and killer guitar by David Gilmour on Rocket’s Tale. Love it all the way through.

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Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream (1993)

It’s very frustrating to wake up and look at the internet these days only to be greeted by any number of people and music blogs STILL making fun of Billy Corgan – not going to lie, it bums me out and makes me feel sad for a world of critics who can’t take it the simple fact that Billy has recorded THE BEST guitar tone of all time and he did so on Siamese Dream. The songwriting is brilliant and this is really an album that takes you to a place, especially by the time you reach Silverfuck. Sure, I jump over the hits – I don’t need to hear Today every time I want to enjoy this masterpiece but if you’re somehow not familiar take the whole trip and revel in what I think is some of the most important guitar playing of the 90’s.

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James Blake – Self Titled (2011)

A groundbreaking beauty of an album. James Blake managed to write and produce this minimal pop R and B (with strong classical influences) that won him the Mercury Prize. There is nothing but pure perfection and genius on this record. Even the cover art is elegant and humble in a way. I guess there is some sense of humility in Blake’s writing that takes me in even further and I become invested in all his repetitive and disintegrated lines, waiting for them to break or modulate in any number of ways as they do on this album.

Cloakroom – Time Well (2018)

I came to know Cloakroom just by association. They had done a lot of touring with label mates Russian Circles as well as some other folks I know. I sort of disregarded this band for a time – not sure why – but when Time Well came out on Relapse earlier this year, I was completely head over heals in love with these Midwestern boys. The guitar playing and textures as well as the cleverly timed riffs (for lack of a better word, this band isn’t metal at all but heavy in a deferent way) and the bonus of Doyle’s of introspective vocal has won them a very special place in my heart and headphones.

Brian Eno – Thursday Afternoon (1985)

In his 11th studio album, Eno has fully mastered the very new world he himself pioneered and invented: Ambient music. Thursday Afternoon is just one long daydream of a song with nothing but the babbling of the synthesized (or whatever he’s employed on this) brook. Nothing “happens” on this album. There is no break or moment of great change or rhythm even… it’s just the most relaxing music on Earth which is why I find my way back to it so often. Pure peace streamed right from the source of new sound.

I’m not an ethnomusicologist

Tori Amos – Boys for Pele (1996)

Tori Amos peaked, for me, on this 18 track album. It was her first time self producing as well and there is something so fierce and desperate in her lyrics and voice. While generally regarded as a singer songwriter, which I think conjures up a picture of a subdued character sitting in a coffee shop somewhere, Tori is really more of a badass and this album rocks it ways though piano and harpsichord driven tunes. I love everything about how the record was recorded and sounds as well. Even the music videos that came from this album are great. If you don’t know, you should.

Earth – Hex; Or Printing the Infernal Method (2005)

I am not sure when I first became aware of the legendary instrumental band Earth but I am sure it was later on in life than for some other more tuned in people. Hex is an album that I listened to a lot while on tour and desperately in need of refuge from the chaos of being trapped with so many other people traveling across the globe. Hex is like a soundtrack and works incredibly well for someone who’s trapped staring out a window, avoiding conversations for most of the day. If there was ever a time to describe something as dusty sounding, this is it. Having really loved the Neil Young soundtrack to Dead Man – Hex felt like a sister album to me or in that world. It has a special ability to take you into a barren landscape and push out all your youngness which is so needed!

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The Body – No One Deserves Happiness (2016)

This record came into my life at a time of physiologically shattering life change and a very hot summer in LA. Most would describe The Body and an “experimental” or harsh noise (at times) project. No One Deserves Happiness introduces female forward singing over the backdrop of the bands soul reaping sounds. Chip’s hollow screams have manifested a truly horrific creature in my mind. There is a blend of classical reverence and choral singing within The Body’s noise land and it turns on a part of my brain while listening. I feel comforted by this album somehow.

Stars Of The Lid – And Their Refinement Of The Decline (2007)

Another instrumental masterpiece – SOTL also have classical inclinations or leanings or is this contemporary classical music? I’m not an ethnomusicologist. Washes of treated instruments grip your xanaxed out sandbag body and drag you slowly and mournfully in waves under a pink ocean of wonder and obliteration of the self. I have fallen asleep in my most anxiety ridden times to this album as it swallows you like no other can.

In the heart of Europe

In late October you will be coming to Prague to very intimate club called 007. Did you ever have a chance to properly walk around Prague?

I never played a solo show in Prague, but I performed here with my previous bands already. Every time I made sure, me and my band mates have enough time to check the city. It was amazing every time and I just can’t wait to come again. I visited Prague the last time in 2010 and our tour manager was Tomáš Zakopal, who was local, so he prepared a beautiful commented tour for us.

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Could you please present to us your collection of guitars? From the most recent live footages I see you are a big fan of Fender guitars and especially a model called Coronado II.

This piece actually belongs to Evan Patterson, who plays guitar in my band as well in my support band Jaye Jayle. Guitar #1 in my collection is a classic mahogany piece from Cordoba. There is also one from Chinese brand Blueridge, inspired by OM model OM from Martin…(I’m sorry, I am little bit sick)… Within electric guitars my most favorite is standard Gibson SG. It was quite cheap second hand acquisition in one music store. Another piece is Fender Baritone Jaguar special HH. Then there is Fender Stratocaster. I can’t remember the exact model, but it’s quite unique as it has two humbuckers. Next to that I also have one white model from Guild. Longer I play I realize it is very important for me to have two humbuckers within electric guitars. And finally there is one really crappy SG, which I would really like to get rid of, as it is badly made. (Laugh)

Some preferences within microphones?

I use BLUE enCORE 200 the most. Probably as it was a gift. I like its sound, as it can work very well with mids and highs. Another reason is very practical. I realized I get sick more often if I use in-house microphones. If I use my own microphone, I have bigger chances to stay well.

Life on a tour

I am sorry, you don’t feel well. Do you think it’s also because of air conditioners during this years’ crazy summer season?

Not sure to be honest. I was just getting back from a European tour and I must have caught something on a plain.

Longer I play I realize it is very important for me to have two humbuckers within electric guitars

How are you trying to stay in a good shape on a tour? There is a European tour coming up during fall and that’s quite challenging season for immunity.

One can just do maximum and hope. If I can, I try to stay warm and eat plenty of hot meals. I try to rest, as much as I can and get plenty of sleep. But it’s not always that easy, where there is so much drinking and everything else which belongs to a tour life. It is practically a miracle if you survive a tour without any harm.

Is there some European location, which you really look forward to visit during upcoming European tour? It doesn’t necessarily have to be Prague…

It’s funny, as everybody in the team looks forward for the Prague the most. Evan is practically obsessed with Prague and I just can’t wait to meet friends, which I haven’t seen for years. I am also looking forward to see Porto, Lisbon and also Madrid, as I’ve never been to Spain. In general I love to visit well known places as well as completely new locations.

#Emma Ruth Rundle

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janiedean · 6 years

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(anon sorry I blacked that out in case some people are still lurking on here and that that as proof of we know what but let me tell you I LAUGHED FOR TEN MINUTES XDDD)

OH HEINOUS ANON WITH EXCEEDINGLY GOOD SONG TASTE, of course you’re getting it! :D

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The Price You Pay is the seventh’s song on the second record from The River (which as we said before is a double album) from 1980. It’s also one of the greatest mysteries of modern music and of Springsteen’s discography as it’s still not exactly clear to anyone except for Bruce why the fuck this song has been played live more in the last fifteen years than in the eighties when it’s a fucking masterpiece (meaning: it was played 30 times during the tour immediately following The River and then *43* in the last one plus a few others in the middle) and it should be like a staple if you ask me, but such is the mystery of how Bruce picks songs to play. Idk. IT’S A MASTERPIECE and honestly it’s not the best on the second record of that album just because Drive All Night and Point Blank exist but that’s another entire discussion.

So, without further ado, let’s go into it.

You make up your mind, you choose the chance you take You ride to where the highway ends and the desert breaks Out on to an open road you ride until the day You learn to sleep at night with the price you pay

First problem: what is this song about? Is it a love song? Is it a song criticizing something? Is it a song about the human condition? We just don’t know except that it has some of all of that and more as well. Also, same as Thunder Road and Adam Raised a Cain, at the beginning it has the title at the end of every stanza which works for a more cinematic feel because it’s a narration that doesn’t get stopped, and then goes into a refrain only twice, not every time it technically should.

First stanza: someone (the narrator? someone he’s talking to? a generic you?) takes a decision, a chance after making up his mind, breaks things with their past and rides to where the highway ends and the desert breaks which is another of the SpringsteenTM imagery standards (driving through the lone highway is a staple guys) beyond highways and through open roads until the day, ie riding towards freedom and a better life (maybe?) or a clean break with your previous. And you learn to sleep at night with the price you pay, ie you have to learn with the suffering that your choice brought and the price you paid for it (that suffering). So, again: someone tries to make their own American dream by breaking all things off with his previous life and learns to deal with the suffering they have to pay in exchange for this newfound freedom.

Now with their hands held high, they reached out for the open skies And in one last breath they built the roads they'd ride to their death Driving on through the night, unable to break away From the restless pull of the price you pay

Second stanza: now we have a they, not a you. Who are they? Some people who with hands held high, reached out for the open skies (freedom) and built the roads they’d ride to their death - so, people who as the person from the above stanza automatically did that the moment they decided to just drive away and look for freedom? We just don’t know, but they drive through the night always and they’re unable to break away from the restless pull of the price they paid to get there, so they can’t be fully free and they have that suffering on their shoulders always and even if their choice brought them to the open skies it wasn’t enough or it didn’t work out.

Oh, the price you pay, oh, the price you pay Now you can't walk away from the price you pay

Here we have our only refrain which only confirms the above - people have paid a price for that freedom (partial at least) and they can’t walk away from all the suffering it brought them. Hmmm? But it will be clearer later, I think.

Now they'd come so far and they'd waited so long Just to end up caught in a dream where everything goes wrong Where the dark of night holds back the light of the day And you've gotta stand and fight for the price you pay

Next one: we have they again - can it be the people from the stanza just before? Probably - and it’s still people fighting for a better life except that they come so far and wait so long to end up caught in a dream where everything goes wrong, so their quest has ended up badly because rather than winning and getting out and living their life, the dark of the night holds back the light of the day and the only thing that’s left for them is stand and fight for their choices even if it ruined their life. Notice the usual dream gone wrong imagery (not the first or last time it happens) and the light/day contrast which in this case is especially pushed in front (with the night holding the day back). Again, we have the second and last refrain but then the song gets slower and we start getting To The Point:

Little girl down on the strand With that pretty little baby in your hands Do you remember the story of the promised land How he crossed the desert sands And could not enter the chosen land On the banks of the river he stayed To face the price you pay

Now we’re getting somewhere specific ie: he’s talking to a little girl down on the strand with a pretty little baby in her hands (is she a young mother with the father who bailed? most likely, it wouldn’t be the first nor the last in his production) and asks her if she remembers the story of the promised land as in that Moses at the end of his life was denied entry to the promised land even if he had spent forty years in the desert leading his people to it (please I read the OT in italian don’t ask me the reason I can’t explain it in english lmao) and so even with his suffering and all the effort he put into bringing his people back home be couldn’t because of basically having slighted God once or not having always been absolutely faithful to His commands - so he had to pay the price and watch it from afar before he died without setting foot into it. Again, we have the Christian/Catholic imagery striking to Make A Point, as in, showing us a famous example of the price you pay and making the girl he’s talking to immediately recognize what he means. Notice that he’s using Old Testament imagery and the OT is the part of the bible where the whole sins of the father thing is established, ie The Other Huge AF Religious Theme In Bruce Music.

So let the game start, you better run you little wild heart You can run through all the nights and all the days But just across the county line, a stranger passing through put up a sign That counts the men fallen away to the price you pay, and girl before the end of the day, I'm gonna tear it down and throw it away

AAAAND now: ‘let the game start’ = so you want to take a clean break from everything and go? Great, in the game of life you win or you pay the price so go at it, as in run you little wild heart (little wild suggests she has a chance of managing it though since she might be little but she’s fierce) and she has to run through all the nights and all the days to even attempt to succeed.

Now, key image of the whole song: a stranger (ie someone you don’t know that you have no idea of who is doing things out of his own volition without permission) passing through put up a sign that counts the many fallen away to the price you pay, as in, he put up a reminder of everyone who died for that chance to have a better life and reach their own promised land that was denied them (tbh this song works better if you take it as a spiritual sequel to The Promised Land on Darkness ie a song about doing just that but way more optimistic about it, and spoilers, TPL is not exactly optimistic the way a Thunder Road is) so basically telling you ‘don’t you even try, you’re going to die, too many people tried and never came back, just stay where you are and don’t go for it, you might not find the promised land but you’ll live and who cares if your life is mediocre, right?’.

Fair enough. And what does the narrator want to do?

Before the end of the day, he’s going to tear it down and throw it away, as in: he doesn’t give two fucks about other people not managing it and is more than ready to pay his price if it means that he has a chance to and he wants to so no one else also sees it, and all of the people who are willing to pay that price have a chance to get to that promised land instead of dying on the other side of the river for someone else’s sins. This is basically about wanting to reclaim your own choices and getting away from something you don’t want and for which you have to suffer but for which you should be able to pay the price and succeed rather than do it and be confined to unhappiness, and you cannot do it thinking about all the people who didn’t manage it, otherwise that promised land is going to stay empty forever while everyone should have a chance at it, and again, it’s about getting rid of ‘you can’t do this because you have to pay for other people’s mistakes’ and ‘you can’t have what you dream of because the way is too hard’. Sure it’s hard and you have to suffer, but if you don’t tear that one sign down then you will never get there in the first place and maybe you should start by doing exactly that.

#bruce springsteen #this was 100% OH HEY HAVE A RANT #thanks anon YOU HAVE FUCKING AWESOME TASTE #TPYP IS AN AMAZING SONGS ILU #janie rants

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huntressjinsoul · 6 years

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The Making Of

Summary: AU. As they decide to turn over a new leaf and a better deal, TBD signs to a new record label and meets their new songwriter, MC.

A/N: Slightly nsfw. Happy Kaitlyn Appreciation Week! Thank you for hosting @aryn-choices

Kaitlyn looked around the building and its surroundings before looking at the man in front of her.

“Alright, welcome, TBD, to HDS Productions. I know it’s a little unorthodox, but I’d like to give you a tour of our building,” the CEO of the record company, Chris Powell said. “I know we’re fairly a new label, but thank you for choosing us.”

“Oh it’s no problem. You were the most genuine label offering us a good contract,” Amara smiled.

“Thank you, we try our best to be authentic to our clients,” Chris beamed. “I’m sorry my partner, Ms. Becca Davenport, isn’t here to welcome you as well. She had to attend to one of our other clients.”

“Oh it’s fine, Mr. Powell,” Annisa replied.

“Please, at this label, we’re on a first name basis with everyone. Now, c’mon let’s start this tour.” Chris led them through the building, noting important people. “While I manage the label and its overall business affairs, Becca looks over the legal stuff and the contracts.” They reached another private office, and knocked before opening it. “This is Zack, he’s in A&R and the head of promo for all of our artists.”

“Hey, you must be TBD. I look forward to working with you guys,” Zack grinned.

“Nice to meet you Zack,” Kaitlyn grinned as she shook his hand.

“Alright, moving on next door is the head of our marketing team and publicity. She also creates the cover art for our artists’ singles and albums,” Chris explained. “I think she’s away for lunch now, but you’ll meet Abbie later. Now onto the most important part, the recording studios.”

As TBD looked around the booths, Kaitlyn heard a loud laugh coming from one of the booths. She directed her attention to the two men and, more specifically, the woman. “Who are they, Chris?”

“Ah, that’s one of our signed artists, Zig Ortega. The other guy is Tyler, our senior producer, and the woman is MC, one of our senior songwriters. It looks like they’re on a break, let’s go meet them.”

Chris opened the door and popped his head in the room. “Hey guys, our new clients are here and I’m giving them a tour.”

“Hey, I’m Zig, one of the artists,” Zig smiled politely.

“Sup? So can I take a look at those drums in that booth there? Because I’m digging them,” Rachel stated. Chris shrugged and nodded before Rachel went inside the booth.

“She’s… not one for talking with new people,” Kaitlyn explained.

“Hey it be like that,” Tyler chuckled. “It’s nice to meet you girls, I’m Tyler.”

“And I’m MC, songwriter,” MC smiled widely. Kaitlyn was enraptured by her smile and was too busy staring at MC to greet her.

Thankfully, Amara saved her. “Hey, I’m Amara. These two are Kaitlyn and Annisa. And the one checking out the drums is Rachel. We can’t wait to work with you guys.”

“The feeling is mutual,” MC replied sweetly. “Now, I’m used to writing more pop and R&B, but I think I can take on the challenge of writing some metal and rock.”

“Oh don’t worry, Kaitlyn can help you. She writes most of our discography,” Annisa said as she playfully bumps her elbow at said girl.

“Cool, it looks like we’ll be spending a lot of time together then,” MC grinned at Kaitlyn.

“G-great, I look forward to it,” she hastily replied.

“This is your chance to ask her out,” Annisa told Kaitlyn as they sat in Rachel’s van on their way to HDS Productions. Annisa grabbed a stale pizza crust up from under her seat. “Rachel would it kill you if you cleaned up your van?” She scrunched up her nose in disgust.

“Yes, yes it would,” Rachel replied bluntly.

“What do you mean?” Kaitlyn asked, feigning innocence.

“We all know you’ve got the hots for MC. So don’t play dumb,” Amara interjected from the passenger seat, throwing a smirk at Kaitlyn. For the last couple of days, TBD worked with a few producers and songwriters to get a feel of the artistry. They collectively agreed that it’d be best to work with Tyler, MC, and another one of the senior songwriters, James. “Maybe try not to undress her with your eyes whenever you look at her?”

“Ugh I thought that I was discreet,” Kaitlyn groaned. The last couple of days gave her a challenge between work and pleasure. Through her eyes, Kaitlyn was being discreet and there was a little flirtation between her and MC. In actuality, the rest of TBD suffered second hand embarrassment from all the stuttering and butchered pickup lines Kaitlyn tried with MC.

“As discreet as a bomb,” Rachel deadpanned. “If you don’t ask her out today, I’m going to do it for you.”

A few minutes later, the band was met by MC and James in the studio. “Hey girls. We’re going to do something a little different today. MC and I will talk to each of you individually to compose and write your parts on your single. Amara, Rachel, you’re with me. Kaitlyn and Annisa, you’re with MC.”

“You’re with me first, Annisa,” MC grinned. “Let’s go across the hall for more privacy.” During the wait, Kaitlyn mentally prepared herself for her time with MC. She calmed her nerves as if she was preparing to perform at one of her concerts. After a few minutes, MC and Annisa came back to the studio. “Alright, Kaitlyn, your turn.” She got up and followed MC to the other studio across the hall. “Ok. So I know we settled on a having a socially political song undermining our current government- great idea by the way- but is there anything else you’d like to add? Annisa said that you guys wanted it to be direct, no metaphors, no double meanings.”

“Yeah, I feel like we could use our music to inspire our audience to take a stand,” Kaitlyn explained. “I want it straight forward so everyone can see our stance and understand better.”

“Well, I think that’s an awesome idea. I’ve always believed that artists should be able to connect to their audience and inspire them,” MC smiled widely.

Kaitlyn felt her heart skip a beat upon seeing her smile and decided that now was a good time to bring up asking her out. “Hey, I was thinking, well, wondering. You’re single, I’m single, we should fix that,” Kaitlyn finished off lamely. She groaned and face palmed. “Ok, I really like you. And I’ve been so nervous to ask you out. My bandmates keep teasing me about it, and I’m finally growing some balls. Will you go on a date with me? You don’t have to say yes if you’re not interested, I underst- mmmph.”

She was cut off by a pair of lips kissing her own. After the initial shock, Kaitlyn eagerly kissed MC back. After a few more minutes, MC pulled away, but still remained close, smirking. “I was wondering when you’d make your move.”

“I- you- wha,” Kaitlyn stuttered.

MC giggled and played with Kaitlyn’s hair. “You were pretty obvious, Kait. I can call you Kait, right?”

“You can call me anytime,” Kaitlyn said dreamily. She snapped out of it when she heard MC laugh and blushed. “I mean, yeah you can call me that.”

“Now as much as I want to continue making out with you, we have work to do unfortunately,” MC said as she stroked the side of Kaitlyn’s face softly. Kaitlyn sighed in content and moved her face closer. “We can discuss the details of our date later.”

“One more kiss?” Kaitlyn pouted. MC smiled softly and kissed her once again.

Four Months Later

“Mmmm you sure we can’t just stay in bed all day?” Kaitlyn murmured as she kissed her way up to MC.

“You know I really want to but it’s your first album listening party, babe. That’s a huge deal,” MC sighed as Kaitlyn kissed her way towards her breasts. “You need to get glammed up soon.”

“Is it really that important though? I mean, I could call Amara and say that I’m sick,” Kaitlyn smirked as her fingers wondered down MC’s stomach.

MC groaned, “You really should go, Kait. It’s a party for TBD and your album release. Although, you’re making it really hard for me right now.”

“That’s not the only thing that’s hard.”

“Babe, you don’t have a penis.”

“Ooo but we could get one,” Kaitlyn smirked mischievously.

MC laughed and flipped both of them over. “We’ll revisit that later.” She kissed the rockstar soundly before sitting up to gather her clothes. “Now come on. Annisa texted me to drive you over to her apartment to get ready. And Rachel left a voicemail basically saying, ‘Stop fucking and get our girl over here pronto!’”

Kaitlyn groaned but complied. “We should, like, take a shower together though.” When MC glared at her, she countered. “Hey, I’m serious! We reek of sex and taking one together will be quicker. No funny business I promise.”

There was, in fact, funny business during that shower.

After dropping off Kaitlyn to Anissa and Amara’s apartment, MC drove off and prepared for the party as well. She arrived at the party early and was talking to Abbie and Becca when TBD made their appearance. She walked over to the band and greeted them. “Hey guys! Congratulations on the album! You all look great, especially you,” MC directed towards Kaitlyn, wrapping her arms around her girlfriend and kissing her soundly.

“Barf. I’m gonna go drink all of our bosses’ alcohol,” Rachel said as she walked off. Amara and Annisa rolled their eyes at her but followed her after thanking MC.

“Hey, Kaitlyn, congratulations on the release. Chris and I are very sure that this album will blow you guys up bigger than ever,” Becca said.

“Thanks, Becca, but TBD has to thank you and Chris for signing us on to HDS Productions. We made the best choice signing on here,” Kaitlyn replied.

“It’s no problem at all,” Becca grinned. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I heard Zack telling Tyler and Zig that he’s bringing the big guns out tonight and I have to find out what it is. Can’t have the whole flooding fiasco happen again,” she rolled her eyes playfully as she walked away.

When Kaitlyn looked at MC confusedly, MC replied, “I’ll tell you that story later. It was before HDS first opened for business.”

A few hours later into the party, Kaitlyn was resting outside and nursing a beer bottle in her hand.

“Hey, you tired?” MC asked behind her.

“Nah, just needed the fresh air,” she shrugged.

MC walked up behind her and held her from behind as Kaitlyn sighed and relaxed further into MC’s embrace. “I’m really happy and proud of you and TBD, I hope you know that,” MC mumbled into Kaitlyn’s hair.

“I know, and I am so happy that I met you. You, James, and Tyler helped us a whole lot. We’re so lucky to have an awesome record label.”

“I’m so glad Chris and Becca expanded their reach to rock and metal musicians. Without them, I wouldn’t have met you. I love you, Kaitlyn, and I can’t wait to see you grow into the talented artist you are.”

Kaitlyn turned around to face MC and kissed her deeply. She pulled away slightly, “I love you too, MC.”

#kaitlyn appreciation week #Kaitlyn Liao #kaitlyn x mc #the sophomore #fanfic #playchoices

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firmblog488 · 3 years

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Iphone Deezer

Sep 04,2019 • Filed to: Streaming Music Services & Sites Tips • Proven solutions

Iphone Deezer Software

Iphone Diverting Calls To Voicemail

Iphone Deezer Premium Free

Iphone Deezer Cache Leeren

Do you want to know what is Deezer and How Does Deezer work?

Deezer.com is an online music streaming website created in Paris, France. It has over 40 million soundtracks that it owns officially from various artists around the globe. It is one of the few sites that maintains a clean record and regularly pays to the original artists through advertisement revenue.

According to their records of 2013, they had over 30,000 radio channels. Followers are said to be an approx. Spotify apple music deezer. of 25 million as of last year and over 8 million paid subscribers. It is widespread and easily available across all platforms such as Android, iOS, Web, Windows Phone etc.

This is a short video on how to use Deezer for you I device.Sorry for camera quality, was filmed from my iPad. Step 1: Download the Deezer IPA file onto your computer. Step 2: Download Cydia Impactor from here. Step 3: Connect your device to your computer using a USB cable. Step 4: Open Cydia Impactor. Step 5: Drag and drop the IPA file downloaded in Step 1 onto Cydia Impactor Step 6: Cydia Impactor will ask for your Apple ID and password, which is verified with Apple only and is used to sign the IPA.

My music setting is the iPhone 8 and Sony wh-1000xm4. I need to better understand the sound quality that comes from the iPhone to my wireless bluetooth headphones. I learned that no matter the source, the iPhone only plays music in AAC. So if I use Deezer HiFi and stream HiFi (Flac) from it, on the.

If you want to get premium features of the Deezer app for free, then Download Deezer For iOS 14/13+/12+/11+/10+/9+/8+/7+ on iPhone, iPad which is a Tweaked and Modified version of Deezer.

You can easily use Deezer on your Mac by downloading the app and then enjoy instant access to your favorite music. You can also download the Deezer app on Windows 8 and Windows 10 and gather all of your music in one place.

The benefits of using Deezer over your average Online Music streamer are many. The search is simplified and helps you create the ultimate music library you have desired for years. The results are filtered under the labels of ‘Artists’ ‘Albums’ and ‘Genres’. If you’re in the mood to explore the artist and his whole collection, just click on his/her name and get their full discography in your hands. Hear the latest from your favorite artists and let Deezer pour in recommendations which never fail to amaze as they are always fitting to your taste. There is also a separate folder for all the music you have ever searched, a feature so unique and handy it hardly escapes the notice of the users. Deezer Mac imports all of your iTunes music in a flash in order for you to have all of your music at one place. Feel like a song’s lyrics are touching your soul? With Deezer you can access the lyrics of the song without having the hassle to search for the lyrics!

As soon as you sign up and give them a taste of what you listen to, they provide you with ‘FLOW’ which is the collection of music from your favorite artists, once you click on Play all of your favorite music starts flowing in. In the start around 2006, Deezer was available only in France, Belgium and the United Kingdom. As time progressed they announced their plans to expand globally, they established themselves as the premium and first choice of users in Europe first and then further went to the United States. It is now available in countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand along with 35 Latin Countries with the exception of Brazil and Venezuela. On the Asian side of the globe it is available in Pakistan, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Deezer is now available across a staggering 160 countries worldwide and serves across multiple platforms.

Part 2. How does Deezer Function?

Deezer is perhaps the simplest online music streaming service you’ll ever have. Whenever you sign up it asks you to list down your favorite genres and your favorite artists. As soon as you do that it hooks you up with new ‘Flow’ feature they introduced back in 2012, what Flow does is incredible to say the least! It fuses all of your music in one place, once you allow Deezer to access your old albums and it constructs a playlist that includes songs with respect to your previous music albums and allows you to further expand your Music Library. It provides you with four subscription plans namely Discovery, Premium+ and Family.

Discovery comes free and is made for most of the users online, this version is ad-supported and the quality isn’t the best available. There is no offline mode and neither does it support TV, Hifi, or Google Chromecast. Premium+ is available for 9.99$ per month and includes support for Car, TV, Hifi and Google Chromecast. Family Subscription pack is available it 14.99$ per month and gives you at least 6 accounts to use plus it contains all of the features mentioned earlier. The MP3 Quality available on Family and Premium+ is 320kbit/s.

Part 3. Problems you might face while using Deezer

Although the engineers working behind the scenes have put in all the work to in order to ensure that customers do not face any sort of problem, some malfunctions might still occur and for them the Deezer Technical Support system has tried to help its users. For Example, if the Deezer Website stops responding or the music does not play properly try updating your browser and check your flash player.

In other ways you can clear your cache or even try using a different browser. If the problems are still, there change the computer you’re currently using and access Deezer from another source. This issue is common with iOS users where all of their songs disappeared; it mainly happened because of the major update that the operating systems went through.

Some users chose to perform a clean install. In order to download your tracks again, navigate the desired album/playlist or track and toggle the Download button so the color turns green, indicating it's enabled. Sometimes users from different countries might not have access to other songs this is mainly because of them being free users and the artists might not have the license of that particular region.

A Premium+ subscriber should be able to access their Deezer account from any country they choose. There will be slight variations on the catalogue available to you when you are abroad as the licensing agreements vary from territory to territory. There have been complaints that some songs only play for about 30 seconds, if you are using Fidelio AW2000 and having premium version of Deezer then sometimes the user is facing problem of playing songs for less time. There can be a possible reason of this problem is your speaker. To solve the problem of speaker you can reset your speaker by going in setting via airstudio app and then you can try again. You might be facing this problem because your Deezer account may have expired. If you’re facing difficulty in the Deezer app via your phone try reinstalling the app and the problems will disappear hopefully.

Part 4. Download Deezer Music by Free Third-Party Software-iMusic

iMusic is an all-in-one music manager tool, facilitating you to download music and playlists from over 3000 sites, transfer music among iPhone, iPad, iPod, iTunes and Android phones, record any audio you’re playing, clean up and fix iTunes Library (delete duplicate and broken tracks, get cover and tags, fix ID3 tag, etc). iMusic is a must-have music downloader and manager pro for music lovers to discover and download music, or backup and rebuild iTunes Library even from a Windows PC. iMusic has separate versions for both Windows PC and Mac, which is fully compatible with the latest Windows 10 and macOS 10.13 High Sierra.

iMusic - Download Deezer Music Free and Easily

Download music from more than 3000 music sites such as YouTube, Dailymotion, Vimeo, Vevo, Hulu, Spotify, and much more through copying and pasting the URLs.

Transfer music between a computer, iPhone, iTunes Library, iPad, iPod and Android phones making it easy to share songs.

Record music from radio stations and streaming sites and gets the identification of the songs including the title, album artist, and genre.

It acts as a management toolbox that lets you manage iPad, iPod, iPhone and Android phones iTunes Library through options like backup iTunes, recover iTunes Library, fix iTunes music tags and covers as well as remove music DRM protection.

Batch download of files is supported where you can download up to 100 songs at the same time.

1 click to transfer downloaded music and playlist to USB drive to enjoy in car.

Ability to burn downloaded songs and playlists to CDs easily.

Guide to Download Deezer Music by iMusic

Step 1: Download and install iMusic on your computer. Launch it and click the 'GET MUSIC' menu on the top of the software. Next, click the 'RECORD' button.

Step 2: Go to Deezer website, choose one song you liked, then play it .

Step 3: Click the 'Record' button and prepare to record the song you’re going to play. iMusic will detect the song and record it. During the process, the cover and artist for a record song will be added to the song automatically, making it quite easy for you to identify the songs in iTunes Library.

Iphone Deezer Software

Step 4: Once completed the record process, the recorded songs will be automatically added to your iTunes Library automatically. You could check the recorded songs in iTunes library.

Music Player

1. Apple Music

2. Music Player App

3. Music Software

4. How to

5. Festival Music Play

Deezer, one of the leading online music service providers, is offering the listening capability to millions of users across the globe through its online and Android/iPhone app services. With the service available over the smartphone for both Android and iOS users, it is stated to reach out to far more users within a short period. Let us have a look at the major benefits that a user would receive by installing the Deezer app on their Android or iOS device.

The premium version offered by Deezer allows the user to synchronize their collection from different devices, and further upload MP3s from a local computer to maintain “everything” on a single platform.

The elite customers gain additional feature to listen to their collection in Hi-def audio and pass them to Sonos device. (Note: Please check the compatibility of the Sonos device with Deezer before operating or opting for Elite version)

It has the second largest collection of songs with over 30 million songs.

It offers the quality in various outputs based on the subscription opted by the user.

Deezer also offers files in FLAC extension to ensure that listeners receive the delight of listening to exceptional sound with no deletion of information to miniature the file size like that of an MP3.

The songs collection spreads out through different categories, and users can search using an artist’s name, genre, year, or playlist.

Is Deezer free on iPhone?

The Deezer app for iOS or iPhone is a free-to-use application and does not require a payment like other online streaming apps. However, people who wish to listen to high-quality audio and save/download their collection will have to opt for a premium version that is available through in-app purchase.

Iphone Diverting Calls To Voicemail

The Deezer app for iPhone is a perfect way to outcast the traditional iTunes offered by Apple. It gives a personalized experience to the user, and the chance to change to according to the need and location. The important features are:

Flow: The Flow feature learns the pattern of the listener and understands the preference. It then collects the songs or playlists accordingly and suggests them for listening.

On-screen Lyrics: Search for the song, album, or song and play it back with lyrics displayed on the screen. You can easily pick up the lines and sing along with your friends or find yourself singing in peace.

Channels: It gives the power to hold live streaming stations, podcasts, and playlists in a single place. It is another region where you will come across other playlists curated by other editors.

Deezer Premium: Deezer is offering the premium version on a trial basis for 30-days. Explore the features and services provided to have a glimpse at the VIP experience. Additionally, listen to the collection of songs in Hi-Def audio and pass them to Sonos device (if you own one) for a greater listening experience.

Deezer on Android Device

Deezer is available for Android devices, and the minimum requirement is Android 1.6 OS. With the app, users can personalize the way they listen to music and gain access to over 30 million songs offered by Deezer. Those who are using Android can visit the Google Play Store and download the application. Opting for a free user would entitle the listener to hear to low-quality audio and with limitations spread across the layout. Premium version invites them to a different arena, by offering the collection in varying quality of sound and with no limitations.

How to listen to Deezer without downloading the application

Even without the Deezer application, both Android and iOS users have the chance to hear to music from Deezer using iMusic. The application helps in downloading songs from Deezer, which they can transfer to their preferred device in a few simple steps. With limitations imposed by Deezer for free users, choosing iSkysoft is the best solution. The reason behind the use of the software is due to its flexibility and stability. The important features are:

Discover – search for any song or artist using the built-in music library and download the song freely to a computer/Mac and move it to a device

Download – download any song from over 3,000 websites over the internet including YouTube, Spotify, Deezer, Dailymotion, and other online streaming portals. One can download audio from a video and save it as MP3 without losing the original quality.

Record – record an online streaming audio to MP3, save it, and export to an external device

Transfer – you can quickly transfer the downloaded songs from Deezer to Android/iOS devices without the need for iTunes or any other third-party application. You can even transfer songs between Android and iPhone directly.

Fix – check for mislabeled songs, missing album art, and other information and fix the same using a single click.

Rebuild – Backup library and move it to a new system.

Step-by-step guide for how to record Deezer using iMusic and transfer the recorded music to iPhone/Android phones

Step 1: Blues brothers bartender. Install iMusic trial variant after downloading it from the iSkysoft website. Start the program, and choose “Get Music” option. Click the “Record” feature.

Step 2: Press the record button symbol to prepare the program to record a song. Open Deezer website, search for a song/playlist/album, and begin playing the same. iMusic will recognize it automatically and start recording the song in original quality. At the same time, the program will search for iD3 tags and add the same to the song.

Step 3: Connect iPhone to your computer. You will observe this in the main window as follows. Click “Trust This Computer” on iPhone. (For Android phones, you have to enable “USB Debugging” in the settings.)

Iphone Deezer Premium Free

Iphone Deezer Cache Leeren

Step 4: Click “Device,” and press the “+” icon at top right corner. You can browse to the folder containing the recorded songs from Deezer and add them to iPhone directly.

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girlsbtrs · 3 years

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My Ladybird Moment (Significant Songs in Life)

Written by Mary Ragheb. Graphic by James N. Grey.

(First of all I wanna give the credit for this title to Pablo, that was all their idea and honestly it works perfectly.)

I know I’m not alone when I say that music has carried me through my whole life - whether that was me singing along with the Jonas Brothers in my best friend’s bedroom in elementary school or staring up at the ceiling blasting My Chemical Romance through my headphones in true emo-kid fashion. But I have always had a weird sensitivity to sound. It could be the ADHD talking but hear me out. Songs for me are ultimately almost always attached to some specific memory or feeling, so much so that I don’t think there’s an album in existence that I haven’t cried to at least once.

So I guess this is my ladybird moment/a playlist of my life????

Let’s start with artists and then we’ll get into songs. This is important because I’m starting with literal baby steps here.

Firstly, there’s Umm Kulthum, one of the most decorated and well-known Egyptian singers ever. I spent much of my childhood listening to her sing on cassettes that my parents brought back from Egypt. Obviously I didn’t know how popular she was when I was a child, but even when I catch my dad listening to her in his little home office, I feel a sense of innocent comfort - almost like when my mom used to wrap a blanket around me on our yearly road trips to New Jersey.

Second of all, I have to give an honorable mention to both the Jonas Brothers and One Direction. I mentioned the JoBros earlier, and I know I’m not alone in how much their music brought us joy as kids. My family couldn’t afford to get us iPods, so I spent a lot of time at friends’ houses listening to them on their older sisters’ CD players or flip phones. You remember those swivel-y ones that had a trackpad like an iPod? Yeah those. (Also don’t talk to me if your favorite brother wasn’t Joe. I will die on this hill.) Now One Direction. I wish I was kidding when I say that my first concert was seeing them OPEN for Big Time Rush in 2011. I think that’s the biggest flex I hold to this day. While I cringe at old pictures of me clad in clothes with the British flag all over them, they were honestly my introduction to fandom culture.

Third, let's get into emo baby. I started high school in a whole new country, which to say the least was a difficult adjustment. Kids can be cruel and that’s true no matter where you are, but by 13 and after being the new kid 4 times up to that point; you kinda become a target. And as cliche as it is, it’s what drove me to fall down a hole of Mayday Parade, Paramore and (drum roll please) - yep, you guessed it, All Time Low. Everyone who knows me knows that I love this band with my whole being. Now, there are a slew of reasons as to why. Obviously Therapy is one of them because my god I still cannot listen to that song without crying. Don’t Panic also came out when me and my family flew back to Boston after living abroad for a year. I remember driving through our old neighborhood while Outlines blasted through my headphones - ironically saying “I’m half remembered halfway across the world, twice removed from my second home.” But above all the intricate stories and lyrics that Alex has written over the years, ultimately they are the reason I met one of my best friends. That seems to be a common theme with me. I’ve taken it as the universe telling me to never stop listening to music. Like, ever.

Finally, let’s all get ready to give the greatest round of applause for my college introduction into K-Pop. To be honest, I blame Halsey for this. I have loved her since I heard Room 93 (and realized I was not straight, thanks Ashley), and I can pretty much recite every album she has front to back. So when I saw them work with BTS I figured, “okay, I guess I can get on board with this.” The best way I can describe it is that Simpsons meme where the kid goes “haha I’m in danger.” K-Pop fans have this theory that your “comfort group” comes to you when you’re ready and I don’t know how they hit the nail on the head but they’re not wrong. I didn’t have an ideal college experience whatsoever, I had a lot of trouble making friends because I honestly didn’t talk to anyone (my own fault, I know). And yet somehow when I started listening to BTS, I made a whole community of friends on the internet and ended up meeting two of my best friends who just happened to walk into my job. If anyone has an existential explanation for all this please let me know before I go ask Namjoon myself.

Okay now that we’ve finished that, let’s get into songs. These are in no particular order, but I guess a common theme that I can attribute to them is power. Not to sound like a tyrant or anything; power to me comes in all forms. The power of love, strength, dominance, and happiness.

Is There Somewhere by Halsey (Room 93)

When I say I feel like I’ve grown up alongside Halsey, I’m not kidding. Not only was this song the prelude to my coming out, but seeing her artistry develop since 2015 has made me feel like a greater part of something. Too cheesy? Ok moving on.

Jasey Rae by All Time Low (Put Up or Shut Up)

This isn’t going to be the only All Time Low song on this list for sure, but it is one of my absolute favorites. If the last chance I got to hear it live was at the 10 year So Wrong It’s Right Anniversary in 2017, then I can die content. I maintain that All Time Low don’t have a bad song in their discography, but Put Up or Shut Up is such a big comfort album for me that I still get the same tingles that I felt when I listened to it at 15.

Don’t Lean on Me by The Amity Affliction (Let the Ocean Take Me)

The Amity Affliction is another one of those bands that marks a really crucial point in my life when I had to reconcile with my mental health. Not to get super emo or anything, but having every single emotion and painful feeling laid out (or screamed out, thank you Joel) soothes the numbness that I had accepted for my pain. Honestly, you could put this song on and I would still scream “LET THE OCEAN TAKE ME” at the top of my lungs like I did at Warped Tour in 2018.

Going to Hell by The Pretty Reckless (Going to Hell)

I’m sure having The Pretty Reckless on this list surprises absolutely noone, but I really think that this album threw me into full blown feminist rage. I have never been one to dilute my feminism to make men more comfortable, but after seeing Taylor Momsen clad in leather singing in front of a band of all guys and commanding all the attention in the room (not to mention her VOICE) - I just wanted to be as badass and confident as her.

Breed by Nirvana (Nevermind)

Is anyone surprised that Nirvana also made the list? Another moment of feminist rage. Have you ever had a guy interrogate you about a band or show or literally anything that non-men enjoy because he thinks there is no way you could possibly REALLY enjoy it? Yeah, I got that a lot in high school. And still now as a grown ass woman but that’s not the point here. I watched a lot of music documentaries during my last two years of high school, mainly about the 80’s and 90’s and the evolution of grunge, hence fueling my love for documentaries even more. And as always, girls cannot seem to like anything without being scrutinized for it so my interest in Nirvana was met with a lot of “yeah but you don’t actually listen to them right?” So it seemed appropriate for my response to that to be to latch onto a song that literally starts with “I don’t care, I don’t care, I don’t care.”

Brick by Boring Brick by Paramore (Brand New Eyes)

Paramore also comes as no surprise here since I profess my love for miss Hayley on a daily basis. I could have picked any song from Paramore’s discography; they are the ultimate encompassment of comfort and happiness. But Brick by Boring Brick made (and still does make) me feel like running through a field in the rain wearing a torn up down and screaming at the top of my lungs.

Dear Maria, Count Me In by All Time Low (So Wrong, It’s Right)

Ah yes, the song that shoots serotonin straight through my veins. The first time I ever saw All Time Low, I was lucky enough to be able to photograph them. And even with a camera strapped to my side, I did not hesitate to jump up and crowdsurf the second the show was coming to an end. I’ve flown to Florida, California, Arizona, and New Jersey and every single time Dear Maria comes on something just takes over the crowd. It’s one of the few times I have seriously felt like family around a bunch of complete strangers. Even when I lost my earring, got dropped straight on my back and passed around the same water bottle across like 50 people. (pre-COVID huh?) I think my favorite Dear Maria memory had to be the last All Time Low concert I went to in December 2020. I was crowdsurfing at the same time another girl got thrown up, and to make sure we didn’t crash into each other we instinctively reached for each other and held hands until we were both over the barricade. I don’t think any moment in live music has felt more precious to me than that. (Also the fact that everyone pointed out that it sounds like an anime intro just makes it even more fitting.)

Magic Shop by BTS (Love Yourself: Answer)

When I say that BTS inject love into their music, I mean this song in particular. After Map of the Soul: Persona came out in 2019, I spent the following weeks listening to their entire discography all the way back to 2013. As soon as Magic Shop came on, I burst into tears before I even got a chance to read the translation (I cried more after I read the translation too.) BTS have perfected the concept of a comfort song and Magic Shop is the perfect example of it. It feels as if for 4 minutes and 36 seconds, you are safe. Honestly though, I could probably throw every single BTS song into this list. They have brought me peace, reassurance, friendships and genuine happiness during a time that I least expected, but needed it the most.

#mary ragheb

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lifeonashelf · 5 years

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CHURCH, THE

I feel kind of bad for The Church. Here you have this outfit who perfected a strain of moody indie rock with lush psychedelic flourishes, except they did so a few zeitgeists too early and peaked about twenty years before the sound they were instrumental in shaping started being deemed stylish by hipster tastemakers (actually, they did it about twenty years before hipsters were even a thing, back when cassettes were fashionable the first time). If their most enduring record—1988’s Starfish—was released today, Pitchfork writers would be tripping over themselves while racing for their laptops to vigorously espouse its merits (then after everyone else caught on to how good The Church is, these same writers would inevitably turn against them and start including them in articles with titles like: “20 Crappy Bands That Hipsters Love”). The group would likely be enjoying the same level of chic esteem as squads like Interpol and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club—bands that are regarded as cool both because they actually are cool, and because people who regard themselves as cool also regard those bands as cool. It naturally follows, then, that The Church would be the third or fourth-billed name in the Saturday line-up for next year’s Coachella, after which assorted dudes with excessively-manicured facial hair would pause between gusts of mango-papaya vape to expound on how “ah-may-zing” their set was (though they would go on to insist the true highlight of the festival was Sia’s performance, which they would—also—designate as “ah-may-zing”).

The Church also arrived a bit too early to benefit from the 1990’s alternative explosion, an epoch during which they would have surely gotten along famously, probably sold at least as many records as the Gin Blossoms, and ostensibly been written in as a favorite band of the character played by Claire Danes on My So-Called Life (Angela Chase never specifically mentioned The Church on that show, but I still sincerely think she probably did like them and I’m reasonably certain “Reptile” was her go-to cut; I doubt Jordan Catalano enjoyed their stuff very much, though—Angela would have been all, like, “hey, let’s listen to this Church CD,” and he would have fluttered his eyelashes and been all, like, “nah”).

Unfortunately, even in their own era, the band’s timing was inopportune. An effective LP like Starfish had all the potential in the world to set up The Church as a benchmark of the thriving college radio circuit, which reasonably could have segued them to continued success in the decidedly guitar-friendly age to come. However, they had to settle for relegation to the middle-ground because they happened to release that record in 1988, a year during which numerous sonic purveyors who would ultimately define the impending alt-rock movement in The Church’s stead released seminal works that were so trailblazing they inevitably made Starfish’s more discreetly-admirable fare sound underwhelming by comparison. While the album boasts four stellar tunes and six solid others, I don’t think anyone could successfully argue that Starfish is anywhere near as exhilarating as Jane’s Addiction’s Nothing Shocking, Sonic Youth’s Daydream Nation, My Bloody Valentine’s Isn’t Anything, The Pixies’ Surfer Rosa, Soundgarden’s Ultramega OK, or Dinosaur Jr.’s Bug—to name just a few of the 1988-alumni discs which effectively set the tone for much of the decade following their release. Even if The Church wrote ten songs as fabulously hypnotic as “Destination”, they couldn’t have possibly competed against a roster of that caliber.

As things stand today, the group’s legacy rests in the realm of far more humble peers such as Soup Dragons and Aztec Camera—which is to say The Church is fondly remembered by dudes in their late-40’s who still wear Happy Mondays t-shirts and scour vinyl bins looking for elusive Charlatans UK singles, yet they rarely earn more than a passing mention in broader critical symposiums about the fertile ambit of 1980’s indie rock. Most people under the age of thirty-five only know The Church even existed because their song “Under the Milky Way” appeared in the most slavishly overrated cinematic offering released so far this century, Donnie Darko (granted, Donnie Darko is far from terrible—in fact, it very well may be one of the best movies ever made about a disturbed teenager who hangs out with a demonic ghost-bunny and travels back in time to masturbate in front of Drew Barrymore—but for all its meandering allegories and figurative virtuosity, the film is nowhere near as mind-bending as its Cult Classic status suggests). And here’s the kicker there: even with their best song prominently featured on a popular soundtrack during an era when popular soundtracks were still a thing—a circumstance which would seem ideal to trigger a contemporary reappraisal of The Church’s prowess—the band was outshined yet again. And this time it wasn’t a cadre of future legends who shoved them into the backseat, it was a now-forgotten singer-songwriter named Gary Jules, whose admittedly first-rate cover of “Mad World” usurped “Milky Way” as Donnie Darko: The Album’s breakout anthem and sparked a contemporary reappraisal of Tears For Fears instead. Even though Tears For Fears was objectively a better band than The Church, it still kind of sucks that Gary Jules dropped a fucking jet engine on the latter’s shining moment.

I hope The Church at least takes solace in knowing they are responsible for one of the most killer tunes ever recorded. “Under the Milky Way” remains an utterly magnificent creation, a five-minute slice of brilliance which is nigh impossible to dislike. Though only a modest hit when it was released—the single didn’t crack the Top-20 anywhere, not even in the collective’s home country of Australia—“Milky Way” nevertheless demonstrates the sort of definitive song-craft most bands could only dream they were capable of summoning. Its hooks are melodic and mesmerizing enough to immediately satisfy the ears of the most jaded pop purists, yet the multifarious arrangement is layered with supple intricacies which invite, and richly reward, a more duteous immersion (to put it in more articulate terms: the song sounds really simple, but there’s actually a whole lot of shit going on there). The brilliantly ambiguous lyrical stanzas are ripe for personal interpretation, unfurling the sort of stream-of-consciousness reverie that any listener searching for revelations can self-apply as they see fit (“Something shimmering and white leads you here, despite your destination / Under the milky way tonight”… ah-may-zing). As for me, I’ve listened to the track well over a hundred times in my life, and I still have no idea what it’s about—although I assume it’s either about fucking or dying, since just about every song ever written is inevitably about one of those two things. “Milky Way” is so entrancing, not even the presence of a densely-processed solo which sounds like braying bagpipes can shatter its dark spell (an old joke comes to mind here: Why do Scotsmen always walk while they’re playing their bagpipes? They’re trying to get away from the noise…). The sole other tune I can think of that accomplishes a similar feat is Korn’s “Shoots and Ladders”, which would still be extraordinary even with ten sets of bagpipes pealing through it, since it holds the distinction of being the only song in the history of recorded sound which inspires moshing alpha-males to savagely pummel each other while growling the words, “Knick knack paddywack, give the dog a bone, this old man came rolling home” (these lyrics naturally lead me to assume “Shoots and Ladders” is about both fucking and dying, concurrently).

I need to back up for a second here, because the more I listen to The Church, I’m starting to think their interment in the crowded mausoleum of ‘80s one-hit-wonders is probably more fitting than not (this concession sort of negates my original thesis for this piece, but fuck it). I do dig several of the tunes on Starfish a whole lot (I have yet to mention “North, South, East And West”, which supplies five more of the finest moments on the record), yet none of them are remotely as transcendent as “Under the Milky Way”. And my appreciation for the band’s dexterity, while potent in single-serving dosages, has not inspired me to seek out the rest of their surprisingly voluminous discography. Until I started writing this, I wasn’t even aware they are still active, nor that they have issued a full dozen records since Starfish (I just now checked out a couple clips from their most recent offering—2017’s Man Woman Life Death Infinity—and they were about what I expected: competent, but not remarkable). I am much fonder of The Church than I am of Soup Dragons or Aztec Camera, I would definitely select one of their shirts over a Happy Mondays tee if it came down to it, and I would be far more excited to stumble across the 12” for “Destination” in a record store bin than a whole stack of Charlatans UK singles. Nonetheless, I can’t think of any persuasive criteria under which I could possibly contend that Starfish is as essential a record as Daydream Nation (although, it is a way better record than Sonic Youth’s 2000 release NYC Ghosts & Flowers).

Ultimately, I guess all I can really say about The Church with conviction is that they made at least one really great album that I own and enjoy. Which is good enough for me, even if that rote conclusion makes all of the needlessly flowery paragraphs leading up to this one rather pointless. But I already wrote all that other shit, so I’m not going to go back and excise it now; there were a few decent jokes in there, and at my age, I can’t really afford to delete pages that I squandered several nights working on. It was a dumb premise, though—who the fuck am I to insinuate that the dudes who wrote a timeless classic like “Under the Milky Way” somehow didn’t realize their full potential? Especially when they’re still touring on the strength of that creation 30 years later, and all I’ve really managed to do in the last 30 years is get myself savagely pummeled by alpha-males at a few Korn shows while Jonathan Davis scatted nursery rhymes at me from the stage.

I suppose if I ever write about The Church in the future, I’ll give my notions a bit more thought before I type myself into a corner. For now, I think I’m just going to close this piece and allow it to simmer in its averageness. If I start tweaking these entries just because they aren’t any good, I’ll never finish a single one. And then who’s going to author middling essays about the hundreds of bands in my collection I haven’t gotten around to yet?

Like a bagpipe-wheezing Scotsman, I’ve got to keep moving. It’s time for this old man to come rolling home.

June 28, 2018

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