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SBManiac
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Posts posted by SBManiac
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Well, here goes nothing:
Artists highlighted are Outkast (2000 & 2003), Daddy Yankee (2004 & 2008), and M.I.A. (2005 & 2007). Enjoy!
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So…this one’s going to be a bit weird, since I don’t really have much knowledge on video game OSTs. Instead, I’m offering two chiptune covers of songs by the legendary Ryuichi Sakamoto and New Order, with the entirety of Patricia Taxxon’s chiptune-styled Pelican Nexus EP sandwiched in between. All this combined should still be around a half hour, so enjoy, everyone!
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A bit late, but here we go lel:
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12 minutes ago, WhoBibbles said:
Great s2 review. AT in season 2 imo is still a pretty wacky and hilarious show but you notice the shift to a more serious and more epic road down the way. You get to see side characters becoming more sympathetic and interesting than their earliest appearances and the show is slowly coming to terms with the world it's built and you start to see some of it being unfold in s2 (Susan Strong being one of the first steps) and I'm not gonna delve into it too much but even in there, it has only started to scratch the surface. It has really fun adventures with some good character work in between. I'm surprised you were more in favor of Mortal Recoil cuz I remember Mortal Folly being more liked by fans in general but both parts are banger to me anyways. The Lich is such a menacing villain with amazing speeches and quotes (bless Ron Perlman for his delightful performance). I'm really curious about what your thoughts on s3 will be cuz I consider s3 as a transitional season, it's the season when Adventure Time starts to become a really philosophical and dark show with larger than life themes but it doesn't lose the sense of fun and wackiness.
I'd like to thank you for your responses (and jjs for his in our Discord DMs)--they have been incredibly insightful and helped me put some things into context!
While I'm definitely invested enough to want to watch AT till its very end, I'm wondering if I should detour into another, shorter series before diving into Season 3...definitely something to ponder lmao
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WE'RE BACK!
Sorry for taking so damn long to watch another season--a lot has been going on with my personal life lately, but I've finally been able to catch up!
Anyone interested in my episode (and later on, season) rankings can look at my master doc here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/101bjY0onyYALsnhzV0eIUrzFDHmrq70g8SrH_mi_Li4/edit?usp=sharing
This time, we'll be discussing the second season of Adventure Time, which originally aired from October 11, 2010 to May 9, 2011. Buckle up, people, this is gonna be a long one!
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Thoughts on Season 2, part 1 ("It Came from the Nightosphere" to "The Other Tarts"), written on 2023/12/14:
So, what I’ve noticed from this first “chunk” of episodes is that Adventure Time is, slowly but surely, growing up with its audience. I believe this is the case through the addition of two major themes in the season so far: the characters being in mortal peril (for example, Finn literally almost gets the life sucked out of him in both “It Came from the Nightosphere” and “Blood Under the Skin”), and some characters dealing with parental trauma (see Marceline’s “Daddy, why’d you eat my fries” song from “Nightosphere” and Jake’s troubled recollections of his father in “Crystals Have Power”). While the show is still very much in “goofy episodic adventure” mode, I do appreciate the writers taking more risks with how big the stakes are in this season. I also appreciate how the writers refuse to stick to a formula or setting for every episode, with a notable example being “Loyalty to the King,” which shows just what would happen if the Ice King actually had the princesses fall in love with him. (Spoilers: he still turns them away due to his revolting personality once the princesses find out who he is, and they beat him up at the end of the episode. Girl power lmao!)
If there’s any critique I have so far, it’s that the show might be a bit too overt with its sexual innuendo, even if said innuendo is coming from the antagonists of the story, like in “Power Animal” and “Crystals Have Power.” (The idea that someone wrote a bunch of adult gnomes forcing Finn, who is a child, to do “sexy pole dancing” to power up some sort of earth-moving machine in the former episode still strikes me as very questionable, but I’ll digress since I don’t think the framing of the episode condones such behavior.)
Either way, a great start to the season, and hopefully more great episodes to come!
Thoughts on Season 2, part 2 ("To Cut a Woman's Hair" to "Susan Strong"), written on 2023/12/26:
Very, very sorry for the delay here! It’s been a quite hectic holiday season for yours truly - if you know, you know.
When it comes to this second “chunk” of Season 2, things seem to be “business as usual” concerning the stories and character development, at least in the first few episodes that aired in 2011 (around “To Cut a Woman’s Hair” to “The Silent King”); in other words, the focus is still on goofy adventures, wacky comedy, and relative lightheartedness. While Princess Bubblegum starts appearing more often towards the end of this chunk in supporting roles—especially in “The Real You,” which we’ll get to—Ice King’s role seems to become more limited as an antagonist, only appearing in “The Chamber of Frozen Blades.”
To be honest, I don’t have much beef with Ice King as a character; he’s more or less an incel with ice superpowers, and is rightfully framed by the writers as a socially stunted jerk. However, the Ice King is actually given some relatability and sympathy in “The Chamber of Frozen Blades” (he shares an interest in ninjas with Finn and Jake and even Finn himself states that invading the Ice King’s privacy by reading his diary would be wrong), and I do appreciate the nuance applied to his character here.
That being said, I want to focus on three episodes in particular: “Her Parents,” “The Real You,” and “Susan Strong,” as they seem to be the beginning of a couple of long-reaching story arcs.
“Her Parents,” while ostensibly a slice-of-life story about Jake pretending to be a rainicorn to impress his girlfriend’s parents, has the bombshell revelation at the end that the reason rainicorns eat “soy people” is because humans like Finn are not too common in the Land of Ooo…and this is written as a joke that can be easily ignored if you’re not paying attention to the dialogue, which is honestly a fresh take on foreshadowing such an important plot detail. This bit of worldbuilding will lead to “Susan Strong,” which directly deals with Finn’s search for other humans like him, and is arguably one of the best episodes of the show so far. In my opinion, this episode makes Finn showing Susan everything about the Land of Ooo in an honest attempt to connect with a kindred spirit pretty poignant, while still keeping a light-hearted and humorous tone in the writing.
As for “The Real You,” I enjoy how the episode puts the dynamic between Finn and Princess Bubblegum into sharp focus, with Finn’s insecurities over “not being smart enough” to win Bubblegum’s love almost destroying the Candy Kingdom by way of an intelligence-boosted Finn blowing a fourth-dimensional bubble! Also, between you and me, I already get the feeling that Bubblegum just isn’t into Finn like that, though I’ll wait for confirmation of that from the show itself before sharing any more thoughts on it.
The point is, this show is still really fucking weird, but now it’s getting weird in a way that seems honest, personal, and profound, even. Can’t wait to see more!
Thoughts on Season 2, part 3 ("Mystery Train" to "Heat Signature"), written on 2024/01/03:
This chunk of episodes continues the trend of silly, if somewhat darker, episodic adventures as well as some development on Finn’s awkward attempts at romance, as seen in “Go with Me,” and Finn blundering through trying to get Bubblegum to watch a movie with him in that episode is honestly freaking adorable. Kid knows he has feelings for her, but is too damn clueless to know what to do with them or even how to express them, which also comes up in “Mortal Folly”/”Mortal Recoil” (case in point: “the power of luh-luh-liking someone a lot!!!”).
WARNING: Spoilers ahead for “Mortal Folly”/“Mortal Recoil” – there will probably be more of these spoiler warnings as we move forward with this series, so be on the lookout.
Speaking of those last two episodes, I definitely was not expecting the show to have a “serious” story until later on in Season 3, even if the tone of the show had already shifted by this point from “silly, wacky adventures” to “silly, wacky adventures that could actually kill the main characters.” In any case, this dramatic two-parter was definitely welcome.
I will try to give the briefest of plot summaries: While Finn and Jake are meditating with Princess Bubblegum in the Candy Kingdom, an ancient malevolent force known as The Lich intrudes on Bubblegum’s thoughts, and by way of a brainwashed snail (because of course, this is Adventure Time we’re talking about here), The Lich is released into the Land of Ooo to once again decimate all forms of life. Also, Ice King shows up to nicely ask Finn if he can take Princess Bubblegum as his bride. Can Finn and Jake rise to the occasion and defeat The Lich?
While the first part is perhaps a bit awkwardly paced, the “Mortal” two-parter was not a bad attempt at writing a dramatic story at all. There’s still plenty of humor due to Ice King’s and later Jake’s misreading of the situation regarding Princess Bubblegum, and there’s actual real dramatic tension involving whether Bubblegum, a ruler of a kingdom that is literally populated by anthropomorphic sweets and pastries, could even survive being dropped into The Lich’s well of lost souls. This bizarre but enticing mix of the macabre and the absurd may be the beginning of what made Adventure Time great as a whole, and it’s already a fitting payoff to the darker themes explored earlier in the season on its own.
As for how this two-parter was concluded…while I wasn’t necessarily surprised to see The Lich not really be defeated (he seems to have “final boss” energy already from his brief depiction here), I had completely forgotten that, in the attempt to once again save her life and not having enough bubblegum left to do so, Princess Bubblegum has been aged down to 13 years old–an apparent perfect match for Finn, who is also 13 by this point. This seems like it would create an even more interesting dynamic between the two–maybe Bubblegum might actually have feelings for Finn this time around? Maybe Finn might learn how to appropriately express his own feelings for her? All I know is that I am way more intrigued by this plot twist than Regular Show’s seasons-long “will they, won’t they” bullcrap when it comes to its own portrayal of romance (we’ll get to RS eventually, don’t you worry). But hey, I guess we’ll find out what happens in Season 3!
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Top 5 (in ascending order): “The Real You,” “Video Makers,” “Susan Strong,” “It Came from the Nightosphere,” “Mortal Recoil”
Bottom 5: I don’t feel one is really necessary for this season, it was pretty solid all around.
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Season 2 final score: 9.5/10 (A)
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So, this one was a bit hard for me to compile since there were plenty of songs I have nostalgic memories of that didn't make the cut. I will say that this playlist is roughly in chronological order from my childhood in the early aughts, to around the time I was wrapping up community college in the first half of 2020. More details in the spoilers!
Spoiler1. "Amigos por Siempre" ("Friends Forever") - Martin Ricca and Belinda: So this one's gonna require a bit of context. When I was a wee lass in the early 2000s, my mom, who's from Mexico, got me to watch a bunch of children's telenovelas ("soap operas" or "TV dramas" is the closest phrase I can think of for it in English) to get me to learn Spanish. One of those telenovelas was called Amigos X Siempre (something like Friends 4Ever in English, since "por" is how the multiplication sign is pronounced as a word in Spanish--math puns lol) about a group of kids who form a rock band named "Amigos X Siempre" in the "rigid, repressive" Instituto Vidal elementary school--according to Wikipedia, at least, since it's been years since I've seen the show myself. The song itself is sung by the two stars of the show, then-child actors and singers Martin Ricca and Belinda, with a message of believing in your friends when times get tough, set to a catchy pop-rock tune. Here are the lyrics translated in English in case anyone's interested:
If you're feeling sad and everything's going wrong/You should always start to think/That you have a friend who you can trust/You and me, always together--they can't stop us!
You're the person who can help me/It's our fate that will support us/So that, me and you, Amigos X Siempre/Find our happy ending
Chorus: You're someone who can be trusted/Let's go together, let's go now/Looking for happiness/Come a little closer/Amigos X Siempre until the end/Fighting for our freedom
You and me always together, never looking back/That's how we can get our freedom/Take my hand, you have to believe/You should always start to think
That you and me, us two, Amigos X Siempre/Will fight for our own place
Backing vocals in bridge: You must fight against the world
You and me until the end/You and me, friends forever
2. "I Don't Wanna Be in Love (Dance Floor Anthem)" - Good Charlotte: I first heard this song in middle school through the freaking iCarly soundtrack of all things, and I remember it vividly for being my first memory of, well, angst expressed in the music I listened to. I have a strong memory of writing the lyrics to this song in a small spiral notebook, and trying to separate the lines by song structure (verse, chorus, that sort of thing) because I was ever so mildly obsessed with it lol
3. "Viva La Vida" - Coldplay: Me and this song go way back, from me hearing it on the radio every other day on my way to middle school, to really getting into Coldplay's music because of this song specifically (I still think Viva and the accompanying Prospekt's March EP were their creative peak as a band, fight me), to performing this song live on a couple of occasions: once at a high school talent show to rapturous applause (even if some fellow students made fun of my song choice for being too out of date or whatever when it was only three years after the song came out, but I digress lol), and once at a My Little Pony convention with a cadre of brony musicians at an open mic stage there in 2013. I might have that recording floating around in the cloud still, tbh.
4. "Young Folks" - Peter Bjorn and John: Finding this song through a YouTube comment claiming Foster The People's "Pumped Up Kicks" ripped it off, this song was another part of my soundtrack for my brony fan convention experience in Baltimore in 2013 (I distinctly remember listening to it while on the escalators in the Baltimore Convention Center, in awe of being around so many like-minded individuals), and I also made a cover version for me and my first crush to sing along to around 2015/2016 since she also sang as a hobby (the less said about my crush, the better; suffice it to say it didn't well). Check out the original video for the song, too, since its washed-out comic book aesthetic is also pretty nostalgic, imo.
5. "Erase" - They Might Be Giants: TMBG are just a nostalgic band for me in general, having listened to them for more than half of my lifetime now (16 years and counting!), but this one's special to me since it was the lead single for their album, Glean, which came out in 2015, the year I graduated high school. I remember being elated that the band had decided to bring back their Dial-A-Song service for the year (TL;DR: Dial-A-Song was a phone number the band put up where you could listen to demo versions of their songs through a phone call, years before everyone had music on their phones), as well as me trying to learn the main guitar riff of the song on piano during theater rehearsals at my high school that year, lol
6. "Hey Boy" - The Blow: This song I found through a Steven Universe fan animation (link here: https://youtu.be/uQjmKVUQEwA?si=O0aXkhD45W1NekGc), and it just reminds me of the one time I got into a TV show and watched it and its fandom grow and develop at the same time everyone else did, lel. (For those in the know, Steven Universe and its sequel miniseries, Future, will get its own (Re)Watch eventually.) It's also nostalgic because I remember being drawn to sing this song, obviously written from a female perspective, years before I knew I was trans.
7. "Deceptacon" - Le Tigre: Speaking of possible gender awakening songs, I fell in love this song during my last year or so of community college (around 2018-2020) because of its gritty dance-punk sound with Kathleen Hanna's menacing, or menacingly snotty, riot grrrl vocals, and desperately wanted to emulate it in my own music at the time. (To some degree, I still do, but that's besides the point, lmao)
8. "Fuwa Fuwa Time" from K-ON!: And now we have come full circle from a song from a TV show about schoolchildren forming a rock band to a song from another TV show about schoolchildren, this time teenagers, forming a rock band, this one being the 2009 anime K-ON! As weird as it is to say, this show, while cute and entertaining on its own merits, also gave me massive gender envy as it was one of the first anime I watched after coming out to myself, and I'll admit I was mourning a lost girlhood at the time and using K-ON! to cope. The fun, pop rock sound of this track, isn't too divorced from the Amigos X Siempre song that kicked this whole thing off, which adds to the nostalgia factor for me. Finally, thanks to K-ON!, I was able to dress in affirming clothing for the first time by cosplaying as Afterschool Tea Time's very own bassist, Mio Akiyama, at an anime convention in early 2020, right before COVID hit. (I also entered a lip-syncing competition during the convention, trying to lipsync to the song "Don't Say Lazy" from the same anime, and sucking pretty hard at it, lmao)
So yeah, I'ma indulge in some nostalgia now! Mixtape themes are great as always, Hawk!
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Sup peeps, it's SBManiac here with a new project for the SBC forums: "SBManiac's (Re)Watch," where I revisit TV shows I stopped watching a long time ago and never took the time to finish, though I'm also open to using this format to revisit older shows that I have finished watching or even review shows that are totally new to me as well.
Starting off the proceedings is the now-legendary and quite influential animated television series from Cartoon Network, Adventure Time, a show that I somehow lost track of after its third season in 2012, when the show was still a mostly episodic surreal fantasy comedy, if my memory is correct. So, having an interest as to why this show was and continues to be beloved by so many animation fans, I decided to take it upon myself to revisit the show from the very beginning, making my way through each of the show's 282 11-minute segments (and one 11-minute non-canon special that takes place in Minecraft, apparently) season by season. I understand that Cartoon Network deviated from the production order of the show's seventh and eighth seasons, breaking it up into three separate seasons (what are now known as the show's seventh, eighth and ninth seasons, respectively); however, I will be going by airing order when it comes to reviewing and ranking each season as a whole. Also, yes, I will be watching the Distant Lands and Fionna and Cake miniseries once I am done with the original series as a whole. Watch this topic for updates on those.
My process for this project will be to break up each season of a show into three "chunks" based on that season's episode count, and write my thoughts about each "chunk" after I have finished watching it, with a short summary of my thoughts on the season as a whole at the end of each post. For example, I have already finished watching Adventure Time's first season, and have broken up its 26 episodes into three chunks of nine, nine, and eight episodes, respectively. Each episode of a show will be graded on a scale of 0-10, and so will each season.
Full disclosure: I am not a very efficient binge watcher, somewhat by choice, but mostly because, from my experience, every time I've tried to binge a whole season of a show in a relatively short time, even a show as brief as the original FLCL, I often tend to forget most of what happens in those shows, including both story elements and character traits, since my literally-autistic brain can't handle processing so much information at once. Even something as light as Adventure Time's first season took me about ten days to finish. So, I ask that everyone please be patient with me as I update each (Re)Watch, as these could end up being months-long journeys.
With all that out of the way, let's begin with my thoughts on the first season of Adventure Time, which originally aired from April 5 to September 27, 2010.
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Thoughts on Season 1, part 1 ("Slumber Party Panic" to "My Two Favorite People"), written on 2023/11/22:
So far, it seems like Adventure Time is a kooky, surreal fantasy comedy with more focus on characters and episodic stories than an overarching narrative, at least for now. That being said, after watching the first nine episodes, it’s doing a damn good job of keeping me entertained; while its sense of humor doesn’t always line up with my own, the kaleidoscopic worldbuilding through its different colorful settings (Candy Kingdom, the Ice King’s frozen lair, Finn and Jake’s "tree fort," etc.) and creatures of all sorts (rainicorns, candy people, frozen businessmen) definitely keeps things interesting. I also like the creative approaches to storytelling even at this early stage, such as how “Slumber Party Panic” throws us into the Land of Ooo (as well as Finn and Princess Bubblegum’s contrasting personalities) by way of the characters’ dialogue and actions (Finn is a young thrill-seeking boy, Bubblegum is a mad scientist brainiac who also happens to be royalty), without getting too bogged down in exposition. Another example is the sound-less scene of Lady Rainicorn rescuing Finn from underwater lake knights in the episode “My Two Favorite People,” resembling the lack of sound you’d hear below those depths. While the show at this point is still obviously for kids (episode “The Jiggler” has a standard “don’t take in wild animals for pets” moral, even if the “animal” itself is a jiggling, juice-spewing creature that can’t exist in our world), I’m having a fun time with it and am looking forward to watching more of this first season.
Thoughts on Season 1, part 2 ("Memories of Boom Boom Mountain" to "Dungeon"), written on 2023/11/28:
Not a whole lot to add here, besides that these next nine episodes are where Adventure Time’s brand of surreal comedy really starts to hit its stride, especially in episodes like “What is Life,” with its gallows humor concerning one’s purpose and mortality, years before Rick and Morty would do so (this episode also has Andy Milonakis as the pie-throwing robot, surprisingly enough). I appreciate that even this early on, the writers continue to expand the Land of Ooo and give different challenges for Finn and Jake to face, even if the stakes are still pretty low. The team could have easily gone with a formulaic structure of “Finn and Jake rescue Princess Bubblegum/fight the Ice King” every episode (“When Wedding Bells Thaw” does come close to that, though, and it’s my least favorite episode of this part of the season as a result), and it shows the team’s care in telling engaging stories that they didn’t really stick to a formula at all. In short, this part of the season is nothing mind blowing, but still very fun.
Thoughts on Season 1, part 3 ("The Duke" to "Gut Grinder"), written on 2023/12/03:
Nothing much to report here, either, other than noting that “Henchman” seems like the beginning of the show’s growing continuity (it has the second appearance of not only Marceline, who is admittedly a vibe, but also the Duke of Nuts, first seen in “The Duke”). While probably my least favorite part of the season due to no real standouts, the key exception here would be “Rainy Day Daydream,” with its clever (in-universe) blending of reality and fantasy leading to a tightly-paced and entertaining episode. I genuinely wish “Gut Grinder” wasn’t so underwhelming a season ending as it is; even as a light, episodic adventure, there are other episodes even in this part of the season that had more interesting and punchy storylines and dialogue, such as the previously mentioned "Henchman," as well as "Donny," and "His Hero."
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Summary:
Overall, this season wasn’t a bad start to the series at all, and I definitely could see AT building a cult following from here due to its loose, wacky artstyle and surreal comedy, which at times even had me in stitches. I do wonder if the show’s change from episodic comedy to layered fantasy narrative will start taking place in Season 2, or if such a change was more gradual throughout the early seasons of the show.
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Top 5 episodes: “Rainy Day Daydream,” “Henchman,” “What Is Life?”, “Evicted!”, “My Two Favorite People”
Bottom 5 episodes: “The Duke,” “Freak City,” “When Wedding Bells Thaw,” “Gut Grinder,” “The Jiggler”
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Season 1 final score: 9/10 (A-).
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If you've made it this far, I'd like to thank you for reading this beginning of what is hopefully a long and interesting journey of chronicling, reviewing, and hopefully enjoying our favorite TV shows. Hope to see youse back here soon for my rankings and thoughts on Adventure Time, season 2!
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Here are my nominations for the member categories:
- Funniest Member: Cha, Prez, DG, Dman
- Kindest Member: SOF, Ex, Cha, Prez
- Spongiest Member: Meko, Steel, Salmon, Yummy
- Best Gamer: Hawk (
I think we're still friends on PSN lmao), Ex, JJS, JCM- Show Stopper: WhoBob, DByrde, JJS, Nugs
- Geekiest Band Geek: Prez, Kev, Katniss, Steel
- Most Artistic Member: Cha, Patty, Salmon, Nugs
- Sportiest member: Trophy, JCM, DG, Illiniguy
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Unfortunately, I don't hang out on the forums enough to get into the spin-offs and lits, so I'll only be nominating for the visual arts categories when it comes to creative works:
- Best Artwork: "Wile E. Coyote" by Salmon, "Squid Noir" by Cha, "What Can You Do???" by Steel Sponge, "Inktober (Minion Gone To Heaven)" by Nugs, "Woody and Buzz as Plants" by Kev
- Best Pictionary Drawing: "Polybius" by DG, "Mysterious Mr. Enter" by BobCarotte, "Out of the Picture" by Steel Sponge, "Who Am I (Bitch)?" by WhoBob, "Wearing A Salmon Suit" by DG
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And finally, the Hall of Fame Member nominations:
- Honorary Member: Meko, Prez
- Honorary Staff: Hawk
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I'm very grateful for being nominated for anything this year (genuinely wasn't expecting to be), and I wish all the other nominees luck!
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Here's my account lel: Let the good times roll!
Also followed everyone on this thread, and SOF, too, of course.
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Necroing this thread to point out that even though I have Firefox (been using it for years), and willingly allowlisted YouTube on UBlock to run videos with ads, I still get this fucking "Adblockers aren't allowed" message just because UBlock is installed on my browser in the first place. I literally had to disable UBlock just so I could use the fucking site again. To put it bluntly, this is bullshit.
Screenshots below to prove I'm not making this up:
Spoiler
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Here's mine lol
(a quick note about "I'll Sink Manhattan" - while it was released on the Miscellaneous T comp in 1991, it's originally a b-side from the "They'll Need A Crane" EP from 1989. Maybe a bit pedantic on my end, but figured peeps should know
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I'm super glad I caught this on my days off, because I probably put more effort into this entry than I should have XP
Which character I'm dressing up as is obvious from the title, but there will be track notes this time! (Check the spoilers above the playlist for more!)
Spoiler1. "Yes, I'm A Witch" - Yoko Ono feat. The Brothers Brothers: To be honest, while I'm turned off as much as anyone by Ono's more "avant garde" pieces, to pin her down as just some pretentious, musically inept banshee would be doing Ms. Ono a disservice, as this opening track clearly shows. With its pumping, crunchy guitars and proclamations of "I'm not gonna die for you, you might as well face the truth: I'll be sticking around for quite a while," half-sung and half-spoken in an icy tone, Ono shows that she truly is a force to be reckoned with, even going into her 70s. A feminist anthem for the ages, and definitely the Kill Bill moment of the playlist.
2. "Hex Girl" - Moon Sisters feat. The Nostalgia Girls: This cover of the song from the 1999 Scooby-Doo direct-to-video movie Witch's Ghost is kind of an obvious choice, having grown up with the film as an elder Gen Z. Despite me having issues with how processed some of the vocals are on this version, it's still a solid goth-rock track, fun for boils and ghouls of any age!
3. "Black Magic Woman" - Santana: Obvious choice is obvious, though I'm completely in awe of how much Carlos Santana shreds in this one. Definitely need to listen to more of his stuff!
4. "Hex Girlfriend" - Neon Indian: This one comes from an album near and dear to my heart since high school, Neon Indian's Era Extrana from 2011. That being said, despite the lyrical references to hexes, sects, and rituals, it's actually about Alan Palomo's girlfriend cheating on him. Then again, given the lyrics towards the end ("My flesh won't follow me forever, but your touch is few and far between"), perhaps his unfaithful ex does have a few spells up her sleeve.
5. "The Valley of The Pagans" - Gorillaz feat. Beck: Another more tangentially related song, I'm also kind of surprised I haven't put Gorillaz on one of these mixtapes before, as they were one of my favorite bands for a while; despite my issues with 2017's Humanz, I felt Song Machine was a great comeback for them. Either way, while the song uses paganism as a metaphor for the luxuriously shallow life of celebrities (and remember, witches do have a history with paganism!), perhaps Beck's "plastic Cleopatra on a throne of ice" is yet another member of the coven in disguise as a wealthy Hollywood socialite, and what budding witch can't relate to 2-D's monster hook: "It feels so good to have a perfect soul, it feels so good to be in total control!"
6. "Shockadelica" - Prince: Recorded during the sessions for an album Prince made as a pitch-shifted feminine persona known as Camille in the mid-1980s, this track ended up being one of his many b-sides for his 1987 masterpiece Sign 'o' the Times, and one of my personal favorites of his. While it hits the same notes as "Black Magic Woman" lyrically, this one definitely goes in a more synth-funk direction, as Prince was wont to do at this time, to fun, witchy results!
7. "Bruja" - Arca: Definitely the filthiest song on this playlist, non-binary trans woman producer/artist Arca knocks it out of the park with this fiery track about having the confidence and power to own the dance floor, and I quote, "shit on the pavement" as a bruja, or "witch," in Arca's native Spanish. This is literally the first song I've heard from her (besides her production on a 2013 album from a certain billionaire rapper who I'd want to send to the Conformatorium, but I digress), and I am more than pleased with the results! Definitely an artist I need to look into!
8. "Iowa" - John Linnell: "Iowa...is a witch! SHE'S A WIII-EEE-IIITCH!" In other words, John Linnell's songwriting is amazing, one of a kind, and you should go listen to his 1999 State Songs album right fucking now!
9. "The Warmth of Magic" - Azumi Inoue: A track recorded for the image song album for Hayao Miyazaki's 1989 classic anime film, Kiki's Delivery Service, meaning that it wasn't used for the film itself, but is rather written from the perspective of one of the characters in the film, most likely Kiki herself (I'm not fluent in Japanese, despite my half-assed attempt at translating the lyrics below [see the spoiler], so your guess here would be as good as mine), composed by frequent Ghibli collaborator Joe Hisaishi, with lyrics by Keiko Asou. From what I can tell, it's a sweet, sentimental track about treasuring the memories you've made with others, and how everyone has the magic within them to "open up their dreams." You know, classic Ghibli. Either way, it's a fitting tribute to the story that got me interested in witches and magical girls in the first place, long before I knew I was a girl, as well as a good place to wrap up this playlist!
SpoilerTranslation for "The Warmth of Magic":
As the lights go out one by one / By the window, I think of you
While the moon rests on my chin / Tears overflow / I gently wipe them with my little finger
You're never alone! / I'm always watching over you / Our memories are / The warmth of magic
While reflecting on / Your happy loneliness / Search for big dreams
If everyone keeps making / The same mistakes / I'll grow up and leave, you know?
Oh, shooting star / I feel like good things / Are sure to happen tomorrow
Because you can do it / I'm watching you from here / The memories you believe in / Are the warmth of magic
My hands are pulled by kindness / Anyone / Can open up their dreams!
By the way, if you've made it this far through all my yammering about music I love, just know that I love and appreciate yous. Happy listening!
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Once again, time is of the essence (in other words, work is in less than an hour), so no lengthy track notes for you!
What I will say is that I tried to go for songs that felt adventurous both in tone and running length and to have some sort of narrative arc running through the playlist as a whole, inspired by WhoBob's entry in the very first Community Mixtape, tbh. Also, long songs are just fucking great in general lel. Well, here you go:
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Super late with this one as well lel - I have to be at work in the next hour, so I'll forgo the lengthy track notes and just post a list of the artists covered in the spoiler and the playlist itself afterwards. Enjoy!
SpoilerOriginal artists:
1. Radiohead (2000)
2. Bobby Freeman (1958), though the definitive version has to be the one done by The Beach Boys in 1965
3. The Rolling Stones (1965)
4. Chumbawamba (1997)
5. Suicide (1979)
6. Boards of Canada (1998)
7. Daniel Johnston (1984, apparently, though his own 1990 remake of the song is better known)
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1 hour ago, Yummylesecond said:
HELL FUCKING YEAH for putting Glass Beach on your playlist! Phenomenal band!
Anyway, here's
Wonderwallmy own Block Party playlist consisting of Pere Ubu, Thomas Dolby, and De La Soul! Taking full advantage of Prez's suggestion to have collabs as part of the blocks for two of the artists involved, so hope y'all enjoy!-
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For once, I'm actually late to one of these things lel
This one went through a lot of changes before posting the final version, but I was ultimately inspired by the first line of the opening song, Martha and the Vandellas' "Dancing in the Streets"--"CALLING OUT AROUND THE WORLD"--to give this playlist more of an international vibe, which explains the inclusions of Brazilian bossa nova artist Joao Gilberto, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Selena, and 80s Spaniard rock band Radio Futura.
Track descriptions will be in spoilers once again, playlist is below the cut:
Spoiler1. "Dancing In The Street" -- While I am admittedly more familiar with David Bowie and Mick Jagger's cheese-tastic cover version of this song from 1985, the original has a 60s Motown swagger that is hard to replicate and announces the beginning of summer with a lively, upbeat groove. Also, please forgive me for using "swagger" and "Jagger" in the same sentence like it's the early 2010s LMAO.
2. "Bad Habit" -- Finally, the TikTokers get it right with this one, even if I first heard this song on the archaic music format of FM radio, ironically enough lel. Controversies surrounding how much of the song was really popular enough to get to #1 on Billboard aside, Steve Lacy is in top form as a songwriter, producer, and arranger here, creating a chill summer jam for the ages.
3. "The Girl From Ipanema (Single Version)" -- One of the OG chill summer jams in modern pop music, with bossa nova influence coming from Brazil thanks to Joao Gilberto's lively yet easy-going guitar playing and Antonio Carlos Jobim's composing, with the musical arrangement just as breezy and graceful as the Girl described in the lyrics. Also, while Astrud Gilberto does a great job as the main singer, her husband Joao's humming at the beginning is Kid Cudi levels of iconic, just saying.
4. "Kimi ni, mune kyun. (Uwaki na vacances)" -- POST-1980 YMO IS UNDERRATED AS HELL AND NEEDS TO BE GIVEN ITS PROPER DUE HERE IN THE WEST. Top-shelf production and songwriting, with playful lyrics written in the band members' native Japanese by famed J-pop lyricist Takashi Matsumoto, about a fellow countryman falling in love with an Italian woman while on vacation by the sea. Good stuff, even if not as "out there" as their early material. Takahashi-san and Sakamoto-san, you will be missed.
5. "Rip It Up" -- Just an incredibly solid summer jam by Scottish post-punk group Orange Juice that went to #8 on the UK Singles Chart in 1983, yet did not replicate that success Stateside for reasons that can never be justified. Infectious and fun to dance and croon along to. Fun fact: this was the first charting single to use the Roland TB-303 synthesizer!
6. "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" -- Iconic 90s cumbia from an iconic Tejana singer. Nuff said.
7. "Escuela de Calor" -- A lively and captivating mix of New Wave with funk rhythms a la Talking Heads, but filtered through Radio Futura's frontman, Santiago Auseron's Castilian accent and lyrics about the sparks that fly between two people on a summer night out on the town. It's all about learning in the school of heat, BAYBEEEE
8. "Ocean Man" -- This is a SpongeBob forum and none of y'all chose this, so imma just pick the obvious closer here lel
. A fitting end to this colorful summer mixtape! ("The Mollusk" is just a great summer album in general, btw.)
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Based on popular vote on Discord, I am claiming the iMac G3 lmao
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Spoiler
1. “Rainy Day” - Coldplay
Recorded during the sessions for Viva la Vida (arguably Coldplay’s best album), this upbeat pop number represents spring for me due to its lyrical focus on, well, rainy days, represented well by the watery flange on Chris Martin’s vocals on the song’s verses and bridge. The playful keyboard melodies, funky guitar riffs, and warm strings evoke an invigorating walk on a brisk spring day, rainy or otherwise.
2. “This Life” - Vampire Weekend
This Vampire Weekend song admittedly reminds me of both spring and summer due to me playing it on repeat when I was vacationing in the Dominican Republic, a country well-known for its tropical climate, with my family back in May 2019. While the song is mostly about the complexities of romance, there is mention of nature and weather in the lyrics (rain, sand/shores, trees/forest), as well as an exclamation referencing a religious figure associated with rebirth and renewal, much like the season of spring (“Oh, Christ!”). Even if that sounds like a stretch, the chipper guitars, rubbery bass line, and sweet backing vocals from Danielle Haim make me want to frolic in a field of sunflowers!
3. “Deadbeat Summer” - Neon Indian
And now for something more laid-back and chill for our first true summer pick! For some reason, I get serious Regular Show/Steven Universe vibes from this Neon Indian track: just hanging out with your homies, wasting the humid days away playing Mario Kart together with the A/C blasting on the one hand; and riding your bike or rollerblading on the boardwalk to get some fried desserts (funnel cake, anyone?) and a milkshake on the other. The woozy sample of Todd Rundgren’s “Izzat Love?” making the backbone of the song, the cheerful whistling of the lead synths in the chorus, and Alan Palomo’s “slacker-fuzz” guitar playing throughout make for an impeccable summer vibe. Sorry Prez, but “Heat Waves” has got nothing on this!
4. “Surf Wax America” - Weezer
This Beach Boys-inspired rocker has always been a highlight for me on the band’s much-beloved Blue Album. The song’s topic, going out to the beach and catching some tasty waves, definitely matches what I think of summer, even if I’ve never actually gone surfing in the 20-odd years I’ve lived in a beach town. It’s just a really fun track with a monster hook, and sometimes that’s all you need.
5. “Grand Theft Autumn / Where Is Your Boy” - Fall Out Boy
Picking songs for the fall, or autumn, season was certainly difficult as I’m not super sure what exactly makes for an “autumnal” vibe for a song, but I hope this and my next pick will suffice.
Excluding the titular pun of the phrase “grand theft auto” from police jargon, the autumnal vibe I get from this pop-punk classic (the song is 20 years old this year, I think the word “classic” should fit it by now) is some scrawny Hot Topic kid feeling super jealous of his high school’s star quarterback for going with the cheerleader he asked out to the freshman homecoming dance (who obviously rejected him) and is angrily scribbling down his frustrations in his journal in the most petty and angst-ridden way possible. (To be fair, I recently spent around $200 on Hot Topic merch, so I’m also taking shots at myself here.) Then again, what more could you expect, or want, from a band who on the first song off this album sang “Stop burning bridges and drive off of them?” It’s goofy and adolescent, which is exactly how I like my pop-punk.
6. “No One Knows My Plan” - They Might Be Giants
Y’all knew my boys in TMBG were gonna make it on one of these playlists sooner or later, and I’m happy to announce that this bop from their 1994 album John Henry is up to the task! Sure, there is the explicit mention of “burning autumn leaves” in the lyrics, but there’s also the scholarly reference to the Allegory of the Cave by Plato, “the Greek guy,” as well as the narrator of the song most likely being a serial killer or some other kind of deranged criminal. In other words, this song reminds me of fall because I’ve been going to school long enough to associate anything academic with that time of year in the case of the reference to Plato, while the subject of the song wouldn’t too be out of place as the villain in a low-budget horror movie/“true crime” drama that would be shown on TV around Halloween. The blistering guitar solo by Robert Quine in the bridge also brings to mind jumping in bunches of freshly fallen leaves, only to light them all on fire when you’re done.
7. “Sketch for Winter” - The Durutti Column
This brief, reverb-drenched instrumental by guitarist Vini Reilly, aka the mastermind behind post-punk outfit The Durutti Column, brings to mind bare trees, frozen lakes, and early winter sunsets. Very contemplative, making you reflect on the passing of time in just about two and a half minutes. Simple, yet quite effective. Also makes for great studying music.
8. “Stephanie Says” - The Velvet Underground
An outtake from the Velvets’ second album White Light/White Heat, this melancholic gem reflects the frigid bitterness of winter through its subject, the lonely and isolated Stephanie. With twinkling keyboards, weeping strings, and gentle guitar picking, the band creates a poignant portrait of someone who feels used and unappreciated by those around her—even if it’s “all in her mind”—perhaps to the point of being suicidal (“She’s not afraid to die…”). The song reminds me of a snow-covered Central Park during a blizzard, people shuffling about lonely and lost (much like a similar song by the Velvets, “Sunday Morning”), with more than a touch of seasonal depression. “It’s so cold in Alaska,” indeed.
So here's my entry for this mixtape! The descriptions I have for each track are getting kind of long now, so they're in the spoiler tag above if anyone is interested in reading them.
TL;DR: I decided to go for a "four seasons" angle instead of focusing exclusively on weather. Tracks 1 and 2 are spring; 3 and 4 are summer; 5 and 6 are fall/autumn; and 7 and 8 are winter. Link to my playlist is below:
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Okay! Really glad to be doing another one of these, so let's get these liner notes started already!
1. Danganronpa Super Mix (Super Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair): The theme song to the games in the Danganronpa franchise, remixed for the second game. 'Nuff said.
2. Escape from the City (Sonic Adventure 2): A delicious slice of childhood nostalgia. While I haven't really kept up with the Sonic games, nor am I very knowledgeable about Sonic lore, playing SA2 during my preteen days made for some good memories.
3. Hard Times - The Jetzons (Sonic the Hedgehog 3): Now, you're probably saying: "Maniac! This is an 80s synth-rock tune! Are you sure you weren't thinking of Hawk's last mixtape instead???" Let me explain by first asking a question: does anyone remember the rumors that the King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson, did the music for one of the OG Sonic the Hedgehog games? Well if you do, those rumors actually turned out to be true in a sense, because Jackson's touring keyboardist in the early 90s, Brad Buxer, did contribute some of the music for Sonic the Hedgehog 3. The thing is, Buxer was also in a New Wave band called The Jetzons a decade prior, which is when this "Hard Times" song was recorded, with the song eventually becoming the music for Sonic 3's Ice Cap Zone level. If you still don't believe me, here's a YouTube video comparing the two songs:
4. Change of Coast - Neon Indian (Grand Theft Auto V): While the last Grand Theft Auto I ever played was Vice City, at an age when I really shouldn't have been playing GTA to begin with, this song--along with the rest of Neon Indian's music--just knocks my socks off!
5. Still Alive - GLaDOS and Jonathan Coulton (Portal): Admittedly, I haven't really played Portal and actually remember first hearing this song on a They Might Be Giants fan podcast as part of a "recommended if you like TMBG" section of the show. Even if I don't really understand the context of the lyrics, it's still a catchy song with plenty of black humor to go around.
6. Your Reality (Doki Doki Literature Club!): If you've never played this visual novel game, then I can't really explain why this song is such a tearjerker to me, it just is lel
7. Moon Over The Castle (Gran Turismo series): Fucking amazing theme song composed and originally performed by Masahiro Andoh of long-running Japanese jazz-fusion band T-Square.
8. I Squeezed Out the Baby, Yet I Have No Idea Who the Father Is - Masuna (Danganronpa fan song): Okay, so let me explain the context of this admittedly pretty saucy track. In Danganronpa 2, Ibuki Mioda is Hope's Peak Academy's Ultimate Musician. In one of the chapters of the game, the Hope's Peak students discover a music venue on one of the tropical islands they're stuck in (I kinda have to be vague on plot details because spoilers lel), so of course, Ibuki does a concert. After performing a cacophonous metal song (which does appear in the game itself, it just isn't on Spotify), she announces her next tune, "I Squeezed Out the Baby, Yet I Have No Idea Who the Father Is," yet before she can play this ridiculously-titled song, more plot stuff happens. So, this track is one fan's idea of what this song would actually sound like had Ibuki performed it. While I applaud the commitment to a throwaway gag, I will say that this song is not for the faint of heart when it comes to the lyrics - the explicit tag is there for a reason lel
9. Atlantis - Lobby and Level 1 - Caught in Paradise (Glover): While I couldn't find the original soundtrack for this admittedly obscure Nintendo 64 title on Spotify, playing Glover on the N64 with my mom is one of my earliest gaming memories, and while I prefer the aquatic synths in the original recording, these guys do a great rock-fusion version and it seemed like a good way to end my contribution to this mixtape.
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Also, as sort of a bonus track, I'd like to recommend De La Soul's contribution to the Parappa the Rapper 2 soundtrack, "Say 'I Gotta Believe!'" featuring amazing vocals from Japanese RnB artist Double! I couldn't find the song itself on Spotify (and wouldn't have had to space to include it regardless), but the song (and its music video!) are available on YouTube if you want to look them up.
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35 minutes ago, ExKizuna said:
What's the last good movie you watched? Last not-so-good movie?
Jeez, this is hard because I rarely, if ever, watch movies.
I guess the last good movie I watched was Lethal Weapon 2, which my dad's been putting on every single day lol, so I'm starting to get tired of it. Great, and funny, buddy-cop action movie from the late 80s starring (unfortunately) Mel Gibson and Danny Glover.
Speaking of the 80s, the last time I disliked a movie I saw was Ready Player One. Now, the movie itself isn't that bad--the story and characters were not my thing, personally, but the VFX were pretty damn good, and I enjoyed the Shining sequence a bit--but what I never understood is why the people in this world chose to immerse themselves in this virtual 80s pop culture treasure hunt instead of, idk, actually breaking out of the Oasis and *doing something* about the apocalyptic world they live in in the "real world." I understand that there is a rebel group who does that in the story and the main story arc is the characters doing just what I described, but it all seems so hollow with the worship of 80s pop culture throughout the whole thing. The fact that the future in Ready Player One--specifically the Oasis parts of it--is one people actually want is super depressing to me.
Sorry for the ramble, lol.
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6 minutes ago, Jjs Goodman said:
Thoughts on the Open Window Maniac?
The Open Window Maniac was certainly ahead of his time when it comes to interrupting perfectly good meals at restaurants by way of breaking and entering. A true inspiration to all maniacs everywhere.
1 minute ago, ExKizuna said:How r u!!
Eh, doing okay lol. Feeling a bit more tired than normal, though that's probably because my body's adjusting to the estradiol I'm taking.
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Yeah, I'm bored. Should probably be doing homework for college rn, but nah.
Will do my best to maintain this thread, but y'all gotta. ask. QUESTIONS!
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While there are three funk classics here (y'all can guess which ones), I decided to go a bit left-field with my other two picks, which is why Mancunian post-punk band A Certain Ratio and Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar are on here, to show the influence of funk on genres where you might not expect it. Also, the fact that no one had chosen a James Brown song yet is just criminal.
Anyway, here's my picks:
The SBC Community Mixtape #17
in K-BLUB
Posted
I decided to compile this one off of actual live recordings of each artist, though sadly,
none were recorded at CGBG's. (HAH! I did manage to get one from Teenage Jesus and the Jerks lmao). You still get ZERO points for guessing why I chose "Life During Wartime" specifically