The Silence Between: Music Recommendations

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Fri Feb 12, 2021 11:34 am

At first that seems like it would be a difficult matchup because you have two decent singers doing a different style of pop songs, both of which get a bit repetitive across the whole album. But I would enjoy listening to Jessie Ware's album on various occasions, perhaps when I don't want something too interruptive but do want nice music with a positive vibe. Whatever vibe it is Jhene Aiko is delivering, it is definitely not my vibe. I do not vibe with that s***. It's not like I expect great cleverness out of lyrics either, but hers are so dumb it's almost insufferable to listen to. Jessie Ware is sort of like a sleepier, less Nile-Rodgers influenced version of Dua Lipa, so it's very enjoyable even if it's not the top shelf pop album. I can't put a finger on why but I also just get a good feeling from her music.

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Fri Feb 12, 2021 2:25 pm

I agree with your verdict, Ware moves on, but mainly because Aiko didn't put up a fight. I had Ware defeat Dylan in the first round, and I'm still not 100% sure that was the best decision, especially because I didn't give Dylan a "read along with lyrics" I gave the others, and have since and he's a Nobel laureate for a reason.

After five listens I did learn enjoy Jhene more, there's a few songs I genuinely like, and like her voice, and I even got ok with some of the sex songs (but only so ok). The guests spots didn't add too much, though no one did anything terrible. It's a fine album But I will add this one to my playlist, as I'm a sucker for its mood and its actual coos.

Next:
Everyday Life by Coldplay
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... 5Ied3K8h08
vs.
Set My Heart On Fire Immediately by Perfume Genius
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... prWiIrSjos

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Sat Feb 13, 2021 5:44 am

It wasn't a blow out, but Perfume Genius moves on and is a good addition to the new top 8.

I get why Coldplay was nominated, even apart from what I assume was craven lobbying and lazy nominating. It's good! Look, I was a big fan of Coldplay, or at least a fan enough to get their first four albums. Four! "Rush of Blood" is still a mini masterpiece and the reason half of all men around seem to sing like Martin. Then I fell off quickly, had no interest in their later albums, and had no interest here, other than my game dictated I give them a chance.

I remember my sister-in-law, a big U2 fan, being angry 15 years ago that people were calling Coldplay the new U2, and I was like "calm down, they're not the new U2, they're a totally different, good band" -- but now I hear it. This is a U2 album. And it's a good one. Not high-tier U2, but when trying to narrow down to my favorite track I ended up with 5 tracks I'm having a tough time choosing from. Five great songs, not bad! I liked Orphans' story and it's U2ness, I liked Cry Cry Cry for a being a fun interpolation of the Janis Joplin classic, Arabesque and its whole mood, Eko which is pretty, and Everyday Life is a great Bittersweet Symphony-like final song, though much more optimistic. But I'll give the win for now to "Orphans"...

Next:
Hollywood's Bleeding by Post Malone
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... zGOJhtveo vs.
Fetch the Boltcutters by Fiona Apple
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... DdZC3Faxuo

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Sat Feb 13, 2021 6:20 am

I'll try to be nice, first. Post Malone knows how to write a good tune, like melody, he's good at it. He can craft a song. I don't think all these featured guests are on here just because Post sells really well. Emphasis on all. Ozzy's cameo works really well. But it feels nearly every song is about him being mad at his friends and former friends and former lovers, and mad at people trying to get close to him because of fame. But his answer feels like, "dude stay away from me because I'm famous, I'm famous!" I dunno. I don't have too many hangers on so it's hard to feel for someone just wanting to be rich and famous alone. Ya know, beer bongs but also bentleys. Rich and famous and alone and with a dozen famous people featured in your songs. More relatable when it's just "I want to do what i want when I want..."

Meanwhile my pre-tourney fav Fetch the Boltcutters is only improving its stature with each listen.

Next:
Women in Music Pt III by Haim
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... azGOJhtveo
vs.
A Hero’s Death by Fontaines DC
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... BZXbyrJMdw

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Sat Feb 13, 2021 5:00 pm

Similar feelings - Post Malone has some nice melodies and catchy songs but the lyrics and singing are just insufferable to me.

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Sat Feb 13, 2021 7:01 pm

Fontaines DC (for Dublin not Washington) is a very tight very cool band. I tend to eat this stuff up, very much the music I ate up in college. Their sound reminds me a lot of Interpol, and were probably inspired by them or whoever Interpol was inspired by -- The Fall or Television or Joy Division or whoever. Up tempo but not upbeat, poetic but repetitive, tight but still. Reading the lyrics, after learning they were poets, was rather disappointing. The words didn't really add much to what I already knew of the mood. And that mood is rather bleak, but again the energy is catchy and the album is very listenable. Just listenable enough to get to a round of 16 songs but no further.

In this song I like how he says "mind." Moyned!

Next match:
The Black Pumas
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... nSlssZSRo vs.
RTJ 4
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... 68DYGDbFs

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 12:02 pm

You are not kidding about it being repetitive and Joy division influenced!

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 7:44 pm

I like soul a lot and throwback soul a lot. These two are really good at it. But I get nothing beyond the performance here. I thought it'd capture me at some point but hasn't after five listens. Maybe everything around it is poisoning my mood on it. The fact that the album was thirty minutes and Grammys didn't nominate it last year (though they did for Best New Artist). So then this year they create a deluxe version which is half live versions of the album a few covers and a few new tracks. Now it's 88 minutes total, which would be an interest to superfans but tiring when I'm just trying to get through this project. Also this is obviously a passion of someone on their nominating committee as the album has otherwise been merely OK in critical and commercial standing. Is Grammys the place to champion the unchampioned? Why when there are certainly hundreds of other artists deserving the same? Anyways, it's good. I hope them the best. I'm glad I listened half of the 400 minutes I did.

Next:
Djessie Vol 3 by Jacob Collier
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... P_T9-oSvL4
Punisher by Phoebe Bridgers
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=ncSf8 ... ture=share

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 8:26 pm

At least this album, which has the Black Pumas distinction of being neither critically or commercially successful, is fun! Fun vocals, fun structures, and a really really fun bass. Collier is inspired by Stevie Wonder (and you hear it everywhere on here) and mentored by Quincy Jones (his "Back on the Block", which won an album Grammy, is the direct ancestor to this project). Phoebe Bridgers had the better album on each listen, but it was much closer this round.

Next:
Folklore
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... lLXSfWROXU
vs
SAULT
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... 7OmhnzWC1w

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Mon Feb 15, 2021 12:43 pm

SAULT is unlucky to come up against Folklore, as I think it could have beaten some of the albums that have moved on. I enjoy it. Comparing with the Black Pumas, this is throwback stuff that still feels modern and vital. Or at the very least dirtier. Rawer. Many of these songs feel like ones you'd play at BLM marches, and maybe they were intended so, the album was released on Juneteenth and the cover is a fist in the air. "Guns down, don't shoot, racist policemen" is one refrain. There's more hits than misses but a few misses nonetheless. Though many more, like this:

End of Round 2! In my original intention the 8 remaining would be considered the replacement 8 for the Grammys, but I got a losers bracket added which complicates it...

Next match:
Some losers bracket matches, then...
Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia vs. Jessie Ware's "What's Your Pleasure"

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 10:30 am

Four albums remain in the loser's bracket, from Moses Sumney, Bob Dylan, Waxahatche and SAULT.

Here's the ranking of the 13 songs that are out of the competition...

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:
13. Evermore by Taylor Swift*
14. Heaven to a Tortured Mind by Yves Tumor
15. SAWAYAMA by Rina Sawayama
16. Roisin Machine by Roisin Murphy
SOLID ALBUMS
17. The Slow Rush by Tame Impala
18. How I’m Feelin Now by Charlie XCX
19. Djesse Vol. 3 by Jessie Collier
20. A Hero’s Death by Fontaines DC
VERY GOOD
21. Shore by Fleet Foxes
22. Everday Life by Coldplay
23. Black Pumas (Deluxe)
NOT MY FAVS BUT THEY SHOULD BE PROUD OF THEIR WORK
24. Chilombo by Jhene Aiko
25. Hollywood’s Bleeding by Post Malone

*I disqualified "Evermore" as having it compete in the losers' bracket felt like it was going against the spirit of the tourney. It was added as the 25th competitor because I thought it'd be fun to have the two Swift albums fight each other. It would not have picked it otherwise. But I also think it's better than half of the albums on this list.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 11:13 am

I did not realize until I was watching this show that Taehyung sings one of the major theme songs, but his voice is unmistakable! Turns out there is a whole video - actually multiple videos, including a Taehyung video and this video with scenes from the show. This is not at all my normal style of preferred music but I really like Taehyung's voice so will listen to most anything he sings. Also turns out he ACTS in a movie called Haerang about palace guardians in the Silla dynasty, which also happens to feature the main actor from Itaewon Class AND the older Jangga Company guy from Itaewon Class (the old villain, as opposed to his son the younger villain). This led to the disturbing discovery this same older guy, whom I happened to find particularly attractive despite his clearly being a decade or two older than me - and by older I mean he plays an ELDERLY man close to retirement age! - is 47 years old. W. T. F. ?

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 7:16 pm

How old was Wilford Bromley when he was in Cocoon? Nice song...

I'm new to Jessie Ware but feel at home with her nostalgic dance jams via production by James Ford, who I've been a fan of since Simian. There's not one mediocre song here, which I can't say the same for Dua Lipa, but Dua moves on because she reaches higher heights than what's here. Like a collection of four star songs versus a bunch of four and five star songs and one dud. But I'm all for a mother of three slightly younger than me making twelve solid dance hits that the world loves.

Next: Fiona Apple vs. Perfume Genius

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 9:04 pm

Since it's made it this far, another fun video, and accurate portrayal of what I do at a Rock n Bowl. Maybe the most flamboyant I am apart from a wedding reception or karaoke.

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 7:24 am

In appreciation of Jason, a beautiful chamber pop song, fun bass and harpsichord throughout, a humorous yet very touching song about a one-night-stand (apparently with a straight man working out a lot of issues), that ends with a stunning lol admission:

I
Stole
Twen
Ty
From
His
Blue
Jeans
I'm
Pret
Ty
Sure
That
He
Saw
Me

Props too for having Breeders on CD.

Next: Hiam vs. RTJ

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 8:26 am

Heyyy Iowa giving rise to more worthy products above! Although I find it very amusing, unfortunately I'm not a big fan of the singing. And I don't know anybody who would keep their boots on unless requested - that's just bad form!

Totally agree with Jessie Ware being awesome, and a nice new discovery that has emerged from your process for me, but sometimes there's a monster album you have to acknowledge!

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 3:32 pm

This takes me back to college. Listening to sad sack music, emo but not just lyrically but musically. It's exciting to see her do well, rock out on SNL, and anger the boomers, but it's still a bit like hearing a modern take on Elliot Smith and Bright Eyes. I mean, done really really well, but still. Maybe at this point, all I can hope for is artists who imitate well quality artists of yore. Imitate might be a tough one, as she is an individual, lyrically creative and so on. Look, it's an issue more than a few artists on here have. Waxahatche's album sounds like a great Lucinda Williams album, Dua Lipa at time sounds very Gaga. Haim sounds like... crap forgot to review Haim!

Haim sounds a lot like pop rock from the 70s and 80s. Sometimes it feels very weird, to go, oh that's taken from Mississippi Queen, oh that's in the style of Joni Mitchell... oh that's like that one Fleetwood Mac song... Pastiche! It's a pastiche album, but they are all quality songs, I don't mind. I realized, oh I'm okay when Hip Hop takes from classic songs, this is no different, and a bit more impressive in that they are playing their own instruments. Impressive album, glad for their success, etc.

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 3:51 pm

And another extra, a semi-live version of Man From the Magazine, the awesome Joni pastiche, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Thu Feb 18, 2021 12:38 am

Hm, never really listened to any of these too extensively - the race-walking/running/driving video is amusing, as is the flying over the world video, but I can't say as I'd be seeking the music out for music's sake. On the other hand, I'm deep into the Mozart again over here and it pushes out a lot of other options, except of course BTS, ever fresh and new! I wish I had the technical ability to swiftly drop BTS Zero o'clock on top of Beyonce's Irreplaceable because in some weird way they seem like the same song! When I'm humming around the house (what else are we doing this year?) sometimes it just switches naturally back and forth between them, as if my brain wants to stick some English lyrics i know in there that will work from time to time, so it picks Beyonce and mashes the two songs together? This will become a non-issue once I learn Korean, which seems like a reasonable next step given the grip that all things Korean have on me; I'm probably spending an hour a day somehow immersed in listening to Korean language whether via BTS soundtrack for activities or, on less busy days, an hour's episode of the latest Netflix-delivered k-drama. It's enough that I've started learning some basic phrases and sentences, so might as well duolingo that thing for real and rent me a Jeju island home for a month.

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Thu Feb 18, 2021 8:05 am

One thing I found surprising about this year's acclaimed albums is a lack of rap and hip hop albums, especially by women of color. Megan Thee Stallion had a great year, singles-wise, but usually there's a few great albums on these lists. I assume it's just an anomaly, and women did great overall this in the genres of singer-songwriter and dance, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I think if I do this for future (or previous years) I think the first round should be the 8 most acclaimed albums fighting the 8 biggest albums of the year, the winner then faces one of the 8 album nominees. Folklore was the biggest album of the year so it'd be skipped.

Then I'd add

Fine Line by Harry Styles
Map of the Soul 7 by BTS
After Hours by The Weeknd
What You See Is What You Get by Luke Combs
Chromatica by Lady Gaga
Legends Never Die by Juice WRLD
Maniac by Halsey
The 2nd album by NCT127

Though maybe I'd regret that choice.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Thu Feb 18, 2021 5:33 pm

Map of the Soul 7 is seriously a work of genius - it's not just me, it's tens of millions of people telling it! Their fan club - meaning those people who officially joined a fan club - is almost 50 million people now. They have over 30 million Twitter followers, they're mentioned on social media over a million times a day, their hashtags are the top hashtags used each year over the past several years, their official accounts are among the world's top 100 most influential across any mode of human activity. Their influence is just enormous, like nothing else the world has seen before in pop music. In my opinion one reason it happens is the music is actually of extremely good quality! But you know about my BTS obsession so...

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Thu Feb 18, 2021 11:36 pm

Today is the happy day of Hope - the millions celebrating J-Hope's birthday! Some say this song is about his struggle with being gay, and others say it's about his struggle with the fame, but all I know is he's so talented and one of those people who radiates joy!

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Sat Feb 20, 2021 5:06 am

This is the most recent BTS song that I listen to on repeat

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Sat Feb 20, 2021 4:35 pm

Good, good, good, but we can have our beloved J-Hope and Jin together in this song J-hope wrote for us! The man is a gift!

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Mon Feb 22, 2021 2:40 pm

#4....

Essential, timely, angry, progressive, and just frickin fun to listen to. RTJ4 is an album is full of danceable rage, a formula they've run with for four albums now, and there's no reason to stop now. If anything the world has moved closer to them, then they to the world. Maybe in the future it'll all sound, I dunno, so 2010s, but right now it sounds now, even if the sounds are all a bit throwback too. Man, time is a circle... nevermind, edit that out. I've shared a Ju$t once or twice so here's another jumparounder.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Mon Feb 22, 2021 2:48 pm

This is why I read your music recommendations, yep!!

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Tue Feb 23, 2021 9:00 pm

Cheers emoji

The robots of Daft Punk retired this week. A bit bummed but they left a great legacy.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Wed Feb 24, 2021 10:56 am

Thanks to whichever DJ decided to play this latest Dua Lipa smash on my morning drive!

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Wed Feb 24, 2021 1:25 pm

Finally this turns into the Nile Rodgers appreciation thread.

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Wed Feb 24, 2021 1:43 pm

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Wed Feb 24, 2021 1:47 pm

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Wed Feb 24, 2021 1:54 pm

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Wed Feb 24, 2021 9:18 pm

Well I like the first two but not so much the second two... That's okay though!
Thank goodness for clean versions because you know I've got to be listening to this now, and the clean version is barely listenable in contact with other persons. I don't know where I was - well that's wrong, I know! I was listening to one of my other 17 channels, wasting time trying to understand today's gop, listening to Steve Miller, you know, radio things. What's up? Why is it up and where is it stuck and how did it get stuck there? We don't really need to know. I'm too old to know about things like that now. We have philosophical differences. Like she's really interested in money, and apparently also in pain (? Is this some kind of new euphemism?), and other things I'm really not interested in. Nor am I particularly interested in having anything stuck anywhere too long. It sounds like a bad and inconvenient idea. Nevertheless, she just keeps offering these whimsical little tunes!

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Wed Feb 24, 2021 9:50 pm

Okay I had to help my children understand how to dance with one shoulder and prevent the tragic "frozen butt" situation that afflicts so many sad souls, and I couldn't be playing that other wee jangle so I went back to the Nils Rodgers playbook for a song about my dear ol' Dad. He's not on the dance floor much in recent years but back in the day, of course, had moves beyond moves - the champion of any wedding dance or graduation party, he was!

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Thu Feb 25, 2021 10:00 am

What unites the last three albums should be obvious, women at peak powers, one in her 20s, one in her 30s, one in her 40s, and most importantly, they all begin with the letter F.

The differences are "Future Nostalgia" is music for the body, "Fetch the Bolt Cutters" is music for the soul, and "folklore" is somewhere in the middle, a pop star bearing her soul. But that's reductive, as "Future" is full of great lyrics and "Fetch" is a percussive symphony. And "folklore" doesn't sound like the current landscape of popular music -- and yet it was the biggest album of 2020 and features a #1 hit. You can credit her obsessive fans, but The Beatles had obsessive fans too. Yes, she's the closest we have to a modern day Beatles. And I hope each fan got as much out of "folklore" as I did.

#3. folklore

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Thu Feb 25, 2021 3:03 pm

Good one, yep yep yep, Taylor Swift really stepping up her whole game as she gets older. I hope she's not at her peak powers yet but I do like your theme, ha ha! Most of these lyrics are blah to me but then she'll be like, if I'm dead to you, why are you at the wake? lol! She has potential.

Here's another one in keeping with your theme from Tinashe - F-Fa-Fah-Faquarius! I have many dreams more or less like the following so it checks out as legit, except in mine the creatures are all furry, short, and chonky, or else fully down under the sea. It's like she fell asleep with a little compact of Physician's Formula mineral glow powder crushed under her pillow, and this was the result:

Also dance hits with Iggy - I am not giving up on Iggy. She is just out there doing it all for herself and that's fine with me:

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Fri Feb 26, 2021 9:45 am

Listened to each of these ten times. Track vs. Track review:

"Future Nostalgia"
The theme song to her album, with self-references and I'm not-quite-sure what it's all about, not as great as what follows, but still is hella-fun.
"I Want You to Love Me"
Beautiful, poetic, emotional, with a bit of a Pet Sounds feel. Also reminds me a bit of "I'm Trying to Break Your Heart", the opening to Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. It's up there.

Advantage: Fiona

"Don't Start Now"
The next two I've heard maybe 25 times each. While "Break My Heart" was my favorite Dua Lipa, at about listen 15 it switched, and now I think this is an all time classic.
"Shameika"
Probabaly any other song from any of the 23 other albums would have lost to this. I've commented a month ago about how much I like this song, so I won't go further, than to say it's still great after 25+ listens.

Advantage: Dua

"Cool"
Really like this song. The start of a bunch of songs on this album that feel like they could be hit singles if they ever actuallly release it as a single.
"Fetch the Bolt Cutters"
Theme song! I really like this too. Nothing quite like it, but doesn't reach the heights of the other songs on the album.

Advantage: Dua

"Physical"
Solid, although not my favorite of the singles released. I'm glad others like it, and like the nod to the 80s electronic dance and workout music. I'm surprised writers of "Let's Get Physical" didn't get cowriting credit here, but maybe that's for a future lawsuit.
"Under the Table"
One of my fav songs of the year. A feminist anthem that should be chanted at marches.

Advantage: Fiona

"Levitating"
Dang, chock full of hits. If Taylor is our Beatles, Dua is our Madonna. This is song is just so much fun. Sing-along fun and perfectly produced. Dammit.
"Relay"
Speaking of chanting at marches, this feels like it was assembled as a chant. I like every part of this, but it doesn't quite unite into a perfect song.

Advantage: Dua

"Pretty Please"
Not top quality but still very good.
"Rack of His"
Also very good. Kinda a throwback to Fiona's work with Jon Brion.

Advantage: Tie

"Hallucinate"
Feels more like a Gaga song than a Lipa song. Still very good, but if I heard it on the radio I'd have a hard time figuring out who made this.
"Newspaper"
Great. A percussive symphony and some of my favorite lyrics here.

Advantage: Fiona

"Love Again"
Not-quite single-worthy but I like it fine! Good and catchy and my goodness how well they blend everything in the mix.
"Ladies"
Sung like at a campaign stop, rallying people to her side.

Advantage: Tie

"Break My Heart"
My favorite song of the year that I first heard on the radio. I immediately was drawn to it, I assume part of it being the INXS interpolation. Gets in my head a lot, mostly a good thing.
"Heavy Balloon"
I SPREAD LIKE STRAWBERRIES! Never has that been said in such a powerful way. I love this song, but bummer it has to go up against a classic.

Advantage: Dua

"Good in Bed"
Nope. The dud. Ok, it's fine, it's good. Not a fan of the chorus musically and the lyrics elsewhere.
"Cosmonauts"
Great. Near perfect. No contest. I mean starting a love song with "Your face ignites a fuse to my patience," dang.

Advantage: Fiona

"Boys Will Be Boys"
Very good. I mean great feminist message, I approve 100%, but musically lesser than the other hits here. Glad it's on here, a good ending, and cleanser from the last song.
"For Her"
These songs are twins. Another advocative feminist message, this one laying to waste bad men, including a Supreme Court justice. Pure anger here.

Advantage: Fiona

At this point, "Future Nostalgia" is officially over, but the one I listened to had two bonus tracks, so we continue….

"Levitating (feat. DaBaby)"
A fine update with classically harmless raps added, including "Catch up, go put some cheese on it." It's good silly fun.
"Drumset"
It all sounds very Fiona, but has the musical mood of Motown. I feel I'm a broken record here… it's great.

Advantage: Fiona

"Fever (with Angèle)"
A good moody song, and I'm all for more foreign language lyrics in pop songs.
"On I Go"
Another percussive + chant song. Like it but not as much as everything else on the album.

Advantage: Tie

#2. Future Nostalgia

#1. Fetch the Bolt Cutters

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Fri Feb 26, 2021 10:13 am

Ranking, bold are the Grammy nominees:

Fetch the Bolt Cutters
Future Nostalgia
Folklore
RTJ4
Saint Cloud
Set My Heart on Fire Immediately
Untitled (Black Is)
Women in Music Pt III
Punisher
what's your pleasure
Rough and Rowdy Ways
grae
Evermore
Heaven to a Tortured Mind
SAWAYAMA
Roisin Machine
The Slow Rush
How I’m Feelin Now
Djesse Vol. 3
A Hero’s Death
Shore
Everday Life
Black Pumas (Deluxe)
Chilombo
Hollywood’s Bleeding

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Sat Feb 27, 2021 5:43 pm

It has been a fun journey and now I would like to listen to Fiona Apple more, but first we have our daily BTS to take care of. Daily BesTS, BeaTS, BoTS, boats, boots, beets, butts, brats, bats, bets, bits, bytes, buts, boots, bents, barts berts beloits and bafflements, today courtesy of George Clooney Jr. - Why Junior? It feels like he should be George Clooney Jr. Hm. Anyway, today he reads us a little bit of BTS lyric, and it's really not that funny - I was watching it thinking that this was really not funny at all. And then he says one word that's pronounced incorrectly, which you'll know when you hear it, and for some reason unknown to me I just lost it and what didn't kill me before in live-action Lady and the tramp completely killed what was left of me here. Anyway, y'all may think these lyrics are silly but there's actually a nice little joke, because the supposedly nonsense words (king-kong, sing-song, ding-dong, ping-pong, ch-ching) correspond to the five double consonant sounds in Korean. So, I think in this first totally English song for American radio after they have been dominating the globe for years, our lyricists are having a little fun with us English speakers, who judge the sounds of their language even though their language is the most logical and scientific language you can get next to numbers. The point is that this is not really funny but it struck me as funny and there I was, trapped, and we have to be 100% silent in the house today for other people's work and so I had to be laughing in that completely silent gut clutching manner.

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Sat Feb 27, 2021 7:46 pm

with my COVID-laden compliments:

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Sat Feb 27, 2021 8:46 pm

I'm so uninterested in Coldplay that I never really gave that song the time of day before, but give me Jin's soaring tenor and J-Hope's baritone together and WOW. Tears did in fact stream down my face! How did they know? I like BTS so much that I literally tried to buy stock in their company. It's a complex procedure - I have not given up on the idea although I can't do it through my normal brokerage. If an old lady can be sitting here sobbing, for no good reason, over their rendition of an old Coldplay tune, what can't they do? Surely I should profit from this, yes? Is this not the lesson of capitalism we have been trained for our whole lives? If you love something figure out how to buy stock in it.

Amanda, I hope that your cryptic remarks don't mean that you have covid! Now why does the phone make mando into Amanda, particularly since it got it this time around? The AI still has a way to go. Yeah I'm talking to you phone. You know what's up. Anyway I hope you don't have covid. I would have expected myself to be hypochondriac-ing at all times during this pandemic, but instead the only thing I do is worry that other people have it. None of y'all better get it! When Kyle had it that was not too nerve-racking because we could assume that he was going to be updating us and then if we didn't hear from him that meant he was dying, but we kept hearing from him so it turned out to be just fine. First that whole deathless-thread thing is a game and an amusing joke and it's all fun and laughs but then you get old and then there's a pandemic and suddenly it becomes the proof of life thread. I should get some kind of texting thread going on my phone and just have all the people I know drop a text in there daily so I can check on them. Have you ever heard anything more OCD than that? Hahaha I'm becoming a true champion.

By the way there's a whole controversy where some German radio host was angry that BTS was covering Coldplay, so he said crappy and fairly racist things about them, and then the whole wrath of ARMY came down upon him and the radio station. I can't say as I'm that deeply involved, but I do find it amusing that anywhere a random racist wants to say anti BTS anti-Asian stuff, literally millions of people pop up with the wrath of the Fates and make that man question his life choices.

Oh my gosh, now I have to go listen to our wonderful Jin. I don't mean to diminish the other guys on this song because they are all terrific but Jin is like a... That's THE voice, you know? In the same way you could pick out Itzhak Perlman from among all the other violinists because of the golden violet sparkles, same thing is happening here. It's like the heavens parting and this ray of golden sun comes down and that's his voice. It astonishes me he was not training to be a singer all along, but came to it later as an adult. And by that I mean he's barely an adult, this poor little child - however, objectively speaking I can see that he is the most beautiful of the men. By "men" I mean the men of the human race since its inception. I can't really feel it because he is a small tot in his 20s and I don't really feel those feelings for anyone under 40, but at least I can see it objectively, and of course we can hear it:

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Sun Feb 28, 2021 5:19 pm

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Sun Feb 28, 2021 6:35 pm

Now I don't want to squelch anyone's delights or dreams but this is why we only listen to BTS! And by the way BTS on their YouTube has a series called BE-hind (full), where each member interviews another member in turn, because the album is called BE and ostensibly this is some kind of BE-hind the scenes interview. Lol, behind.

Anyway, I have been looking for this song for SUCH a long time and I was so frustrated that I couldn't find it, because I heard a kind of remixed remake of portions thereof and I just had to listen to the original again. Well, this is so pleasant - I have this album somewhere in a box but I couldn't remember that this song was on that album! So good:

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Sun Feb 28, 2021 9:05 pm

We are a multi band family. I like Pentagon best, followed by NCT, NCT 127, and BTS. My middle kid likes BTS obsessively and is a member of ARMY and has been to their concerts and buys albums from Korea which btw are so muvh better than what we call albums. Each one comes with a book, photos, etc. And yes, we have the bluetooth light wands.
My Youngest is all about NCT, Super Junior, and SuperM .ditto on the merch.

So this video is by GOT7 which has been discontinued by the record label/corporation, BUT the fans asked for an encore so the wrote a goodbye song and made the video just for them. so here is is:

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Mon Mar 01, 2021 10:47 am

That is nice of them, although it has a certain "ghost haunting you" vibe, like they are going to keep singing after the grave and I don't know that I want a zombie chorus checking in regularly. But then again, I'm not a fan and maybe their fans do want this!

Now that things have taken this morbid turn, let me report that at least two of the members of this band (The Pandoras) are now dead, and I knew about the first (Paula) but did not know about the second (Kim) until just yesterday although it happened in 2019. Or I knew and forgot due to pandemic dementia, which I insist is a thing and also hope goes away someday soon! Anyway, very tragic in both cases - people may know Kim better from the Muffs but this is where I first got acquainted with them and I love this band so much, particularly as they veer more towards punk and hair-metal. I was not a big fan of their 60s psychedelic Troggs-style songs, which were at one point a significant portion - I don't know their chronology but at least some of their stuff was more punk/metalish and that's the stuff I like. They were very inspiring to me at many points; I really love these women - they always seem so free and independent and unworried, in a way other people pretend to be or wish to be, but they're just out there doing it. Just doing their thing and if you like it, great, and if not, they're going to keep doing their thing. This particular song is very straight-up radio rock but that is ok, it's nice.

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Mon Mar 01, 2021 12:06 pm

I've started the Best Record of 1954 tourney on twitter.

I'm also going to start a new project here, listening to the songs of ~2019 (though many of these were recorded a year or two earlier). The top 8 were the Grammy nominees for that year, then the remaining 24 are a mix of what's on the Acclaimed Music list and the Billboard end-of-the-year list aka what was listened to most or sold best. Yes, they will fight each other.

Billie Eilish - Bad Guy
Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus - Old Town Road
Post Malone & Swae Lee - Sunflower
Ariana Grande - 7 Rings
Khalid - Talk
Lizzo - Truth Hurts
Bon Iver - Hey, Ma
H.E.R. - Hard Place
Sharon Van Etten - Seventeen
FKA twigs - Cellophane
Big Thief - Not
Clairo - Bags
Charli XCX feat. Christine and the Queens - Gone
Tyler, the Creator - Earfquake
Vampire Weekend - Harmony Hall
Halsey - Without Me
Marshmello and Bastille - Happier
Travis Scott - Sicko Mode
Jonas Brothers - Sucker
Lana Del Rey - The Greatest
Rosalía and J Balvin feat. El Guincho - Con altura
Aldous Harding - The Barrel
Angel Olsen - Lark
Weyes Blood - Movies
Panic! at the Disco - High Hopes
Sam Smith and Normani - Dancing with a Stranger
Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello - Señorita
Benny Blanco, Halsey and Khalid - Eastside
Meek Mill featuring Drake - Going Bad
Caroline Polachek - So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings
Solange - Stay Flo
BTS feat. Halsey - Boy with Luv

I added the last one to appease the yee posters.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Mon Mar 01, 2021 3:46 pm

Muahahahahaaaaa appeasement! YES WE MUST HAVE BOY WITH LUV! However, this is another of my favorite 2019 songs from radio, apparently underrated by the world despite being some sort of post-dated precursor to Coil's Are You Shivering? - but for about a year I could turn on the radio and instantly summon it forth. This is why Pandora classifies me as a lover of "extended vamping"; this is the song like, do NOT change the station, passenger! Let us go forth and chill:

Akiva · Post by **Akiva** » Wed Mar 03, 2021 8:07 am

It turns out that I still can't listen to this song without breaking down.

Fight for air, fight for my own air
Forget all the things I couldn't do alone
Fight for a heart, fight for a strong heart
Fight to never know the sickness you know
And know it's my home
I gave it a home

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Wed Mar 03, 2021 10:31 am

Ooof, so sad. Musically it grows on you and is well suited to the lyrics, but those sad lyrics!

Since I am fighting the anxiety right now, I will attempt the 540 on this:

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Fri Mar 05, 2021 6:28 am

WOW. This hooked me from the minute Paak gives his smile. Dunno if this song will take over the world (though wouldn't be surprised if it does) but love love love the joy exuded here. And the fade out!