Today's Track Twofer: Die Like This and Stay Alive

 Die Like This by Mourners

Listen with care -- incredible encapsulation of the struggle to survive when you're on the financial edge. It can feel good to listen to a great song by someone who understands; it can be brutal to have a reminder. 2008, man. I knew so many people who fled into grad school in a desperate hope that the other side would open up to something better.

"Lost my insurance when I lost my wife, now I can't kill the crazy that's behind my eyes."

"I don't want to, I don't want to die like this."

Catchy pop rock. Vocals mostly capture that exhausted, quietly desperate feeling with the occasional line that grabs me by the throat with need or grief.

I see so many people living this song every day and it kills me that all I can do to help is call a bunch of politicians, yell about the cruelty of our current system, and ineffectively boycott the worst offenders. Even with handing cash to the people who are most desperate and ask, it feels like less than spitting on a wildfire. But at least someone got a meal, something to stay warm, or something to numb the pain.

"My friend got a friend who knows a guy; ten or a twenty I can sleep tonight. Oh-oh, what a way to go, what a way to go."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqwilf92ONA

Stay Alive by Andy Black

Today's Track (also): Stay Alive by Andy Black

Rock anthem with the sing-along kind of chorus that we need these days.

"""Stay alive for the good times,
Stay alive through the bad.
Stay alive for the hopes and the fears and the dreams --
The best that we ever had."""

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZdbiU7PhJE

Def doing a deeper dive on Andy Black another day; I love the rough, tincture-of-Tom-Waits timbre of his voice.

And stay alive, my friends. If nothing else, live on for spite, 'til we see the hateful assholes out of power. Live on for hope and spite and love.

Today’s Read: If You Can't Take the Heat: Tales of Food, Feminism, and Fury by Geraldine DeRuiter

 I’d run across her biting review of Bros (horrendous plaster mouth mold foam course and all) by sheer chance, and then this was recommended to me. It’s hilarious, believe me – I kept accosting my partner with random quotes* – and it also has serious and well-considered musings on feminism and the ways that peoples’ lives are shaped by gendered expectations, usually to the worse.

Some parts of it are absolutely maddening. Of course they are! It’s a book that is in part about being a woman on the internet! I enjoyed the parts of her life she shared. I laughed, wheezed, and cackled. It did make me think.

I liked it! Not sure if I’m likely to reread it, but I’m leaning toward no. Really great as an audiobook because Geraldine is the reader, and wow but that makes some of the prose a lot clearer; there’s a lot of snark and sarcasm, which can be really ambiguous in audio format, but no, she’s coming through loud and clear.

* “He adores me so completely that at least three of my in-laws have accused me of sexual witchcraft.”

“I’ve accepted the feminist notion that women can do anything, but the idea that we don’t have to do certain things is taking a bit longer to sink in.”

“Whoever said that time heals all wounds probably died of sepsis. It does not. But in the case of a broken heart, it does soften the edges of the pain a little bit.”

“Go to bed early and say the Pledge of Allegiance and don’t ever smoke pot or you won’t amount to anything. Well, look who is extremely high and laughing now, Mrs. Schmidt.”

Today's Track: Messy by Lola Young

Laid-back pop rock, a catchy bop about a seriously toxic soon-to-be ex. She uses her voice like an instrument - a breathy sweetness, an emotional rasp, or just a straight belt, as the song requires. I also enjoy the way she leans into her accent and back as another way of tweaking her sound. Fun. Satisfying. Kind of an earworm.

The lyrics are really great. I’m having a hell of a time picking a favorite bit, though I tend to settle on “And then I’m too perfect, ‘til I show you that I’m not. A thousand people I could be for you and you hate the fucking lot.”

Though, “you tell me get a job then you ask where the hell I’ve been,” oof. Watched friends wade through that mess. Made it out my own shallow-ish swamp. We can excuse so much, put up with so much, and then there’s the thing that makes it snap, that sudden realization that the repeated failure isn’t because we’re incompetent – it’s because the test is set up to be impossible. She captures it beautifully.

It’s a definite theme that I love artists that have a distinct sound but are regularly able to surprise me. She pulls from rock, R&B, pop, and spoken word/rap, and at the same time, her voice stands out with its soft. . . rasp? Huskiness? Not sure what the best word is, but her voice is delicious.

Today's Track: Feathergun in the Garden of the Sun by Rishloo

 Prog metal with a decided orchestral edge; beautiful instrumentals and vocals with a driving undercurrent. Layered melodies take the lead here. I could listen to this on repeat (and have). Honestly, the entirety of Feathergun is marvelous.

Gorgeous melodies in conversation with each other. Their songs are dramatic on a grand scale, and the music itself tells a story without words, flowing beautifully from section to section even when it’s a huge tonal shift. I genuinely can’t figure out how they do it.

They’re local (yay!) but currently well on the life side of work-life balance (good for them and boo for my ability to see them in concert).

Today's Track: Shut Your Mouth by Pain

Metal and electronica with an almost frenetic synth line and a wonderfully crunchy chorus – my first descriptor was “lush instrumentation” but it’s a little too hard for that. It’s way too fun to sing/shout along to “shut your mouth!” Catchy as hell.

I got a little obsessed with this track the first time I heard it, and after watching the music video, I developed a total fangirl crush on Peter Tägtgren. You need to see the music video.

Peter Tägtgren is Pain, vocals, all the instruments, production, writing, everything. His stuff sounds lush to me. It’s not a wall of sound, but rather a richness. Pain’s catalog explores a good chunk of metal; many songs are also electronica and some include choral/orchestral elements. You like djent? He’s got djent. Pure choral singing or metal scream? Yes. 

Today's Track: Covenant by Soen

Prog metal anthem with tight vocal harmonies, great performances, and a driving beat. The lyrics reflect on how we find a way to live in this broken world and hold onto ourselves in the face of others’ opinions and our own fears. The syncopation and unexpected melodic lines of the verses just draw me in.

I encountered them by walking past a show flyer and thinking, “well, that art makes it look like they’re right up my alley.” I was right, so I bought tickets for my first live show since developing long COVID. That show was a first step in reclaiming myself, my health, and my determination to make things better, even when it seems impossible. Chronic illness can wear you down to a tiny nub.

All the band members have been part of successful metal groups prior to this, and they have the chops to show for it. And unlike some supergroups, they have a coherent sound with united goals; they blend into a single sound which unites their catalog. And I love the social consciousness of their lyrics. I’m a sucker for music that speaks to me.

 

The album that started it for me, with awesome artwork:

 

Today's Track: Feed the Machine by Poor Man's Poison

 Progressive bluegrass with tight vocals, great instrumental performances, and a variety of melodic styles (both vocal and instrumental) in the song. The lyrics are about the current struggle of the non-elite (v. traditional bluegrass) - clever, catchy, and compelling.

Bluegrass to the core with a heavy helping of folk in some songs, they also pull in a number of other influences (including flamenco guitar!). The lyrics are classic bluegrass, working class struggles and some American myths, though it’s about the 99% rather than coal miners.

The lyrics may address heavy topics, but the music itself is danceable and toe-tapping. I really love the call-and-response sections, as well as those with dense harmonies.

Today's Track but for yesterday: How Do Ghosts Work by Toehider

 Classic rock anthem with prog metal instrumentals and heartbreaking, slightly silly lyrics. Not what I would have expected to speak so deeply to my experience with anxiety and perfectionism.
https://toehider.bandcamp.com/track/how-do-ghosts-work

I'm loving the diversity of their sound. Speed metal/rock track with wild guitar pedals and voice used as purely musical instruments? Pop-y ballad? Bluegrass with hard rock instrumentals? 80s electronica pop? Rock/electronica cover of Chandelier by Sia? Why not? It really speaks to their creativity and fearlessness.

As they say in their bio, Toehider is a collaboration between visual artist and musician. The cover artwork for Good (2017) is, frankly, inspired; I love the air quotes around the title, since this is the one with How Do Ghosts Work.

Today's Track

Like so many other people, I’m polyjamorous. I want to share the cool things I love/find, but I’m also curious in exploring the throughlines and the holes in my experience (e.g. my favorite songs are currently by overwhelmingly white dude artists, with very very little rap and R&B). Not all the holes are going to give me new favorites – my favorite rappers are Andre 3000, Snoop, early Atmosphere, and Dre; mumble rap just isn’t my style until/unless I find something with smart, challenging lyrics and an innovate musical line. But still, it’s worth a shot. Fantastic new music is being published every day.

Also, I’m listening to the Hot 100, Billboard lists, and Trending songs because I want to know what the kids these days are listening to. Turns out, the kids still have good taste.

Some of these posts are new things I've found, and some of them are long-time favorites. Either way, I'm using it as excuse to dive deeper in the rest of an artist's catalog; so far, it's usually finding me another few songs I like.