Journals150
Newest
My Favourite Music of 2014 (part two)
4 min read
If you missed Part One, click here.
And now, onwards!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FKA twigs – Two Weeks
…Look, this song is sexy as heck, alright? Let me just leave it at that.
How to Dress Well – Words I Don’t Remember
Tom Krell is one of the most cinematic musicians recording today, and this is easily his most heartbreaking track to date.
Beck – Blue Moon
I love Beck, but I wasn’t too won over with this 2014’s Morning Phase, mostly because it felt like he was re-treading material he’d already covered more interestingly on Sea Change (they even have the same cover art). But, somewhat aptly, “Blue Moon” rose to the top, one of the most personal songs he’s written in a while.
Still not a fan of section from 1:38-1:46 though.
Sun Kil Moon – Carissa
By rights, all of Sun Kil Moon’s Benji should be this list. It’s easily my most-played album of the year, and an incredible piece of work. Nearly every track involves the death of one of Mark Kozelek’s family or friends, and the ones that don’t still delve deep into some pretty traumatic personal experiences from his life.
And yet, it isn’t depressing! Most albums like this would make the listener feel as if they were prying into something they shouldn’t, but the constant presence of Mark’s vocals make it feel more like he’s inviting us in.
What follows is a fascinating and brutally honest look at death, and all the weird shit that precedes it that we call “life”. I find the record is best treated like a radio play or podcast. Don’t put it on in the background, focus on the words, and you’ll find it incredibly rewarding. “Carissa” is where it all begins, so give this a spin and see if Benji might be your cup of tea.
Ben Howard – Small Things
Dat atmosphere.
Grimes – Go (feat. Blood Diamonds)
I don’t think this club banger is what anyone was expecting from a follow-up to Visions, but this is most definitely a Grimes song through and through, just louder!
Naturally, its volume is relative to the setting on your own speakers, but if you plan on playing a track like this quietly, I don’t know what to tell you.
Run the Jewels – Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck) (feat. Zack de la Rocha)
SNARKY BASTARD: “How exactly does one ‘count to fuck’?”
ME: *plays Run the Jewels 2*
SNARKY BASTARD: “Fuck!”
ME: There you go.
Special mention to Zack de la Rocha, sounding leaner and meaner than ever!
Flying Lotus – Never Catch Me (feat. Kendrick Lamar)
I’ve been a fan of Flying Lotus since first encountering his radio station in GTAV (featuring OutKast, Aphex Twin and a listener angrily complaining that his music “sounds like a dumpster fallin’ down five flights of stairs”!), and he continued to create some fantastic collaborations in 2014.
This is the other great Kendrick track of the year. He’s fast and furious here, in direct contrast to “i”. This song also features one hell of a bass solo by fellow FlyLoFM contributor Thundercat.
D'Angelo & The Vanguard – Sugah Daddy
D’Angelo finally released his third album this year. It was worth the 14 year wait.
Todd Terje – Johnny and Mary (feat. Bryan Ferry)
And to close…a smooth, swirly, synthy cut from Mr Todd Terje, featuring the distinctive vocals of Roxy Music’s Bryan Ferry. This is a cover of a Robert Palmer tune that takes an agitated new wave song about mimes (or something, I’m basing that solely on what I’m seeing in the video on YouTube right now), and turns into a sad domestic tableau. Happy New Year?
And now, onwards!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FKA twigs – Two Weeks
…Look, this song is sexy as heck, alright? Let me just leave it at that.
How to Dress Well – Words I Don’t Remember
Tom Krell is one of the most cinematic musicians recording today, and this is easily his most heartbreaking track to date.
Beck – Blue Moon
I love Beck, but I wasn’t too won over with this 2014’s Morning Phase, mostly because it felt like he was re-treading material he’d already covered more interestingly on Sea Change (they even have the same cover art). But, somewhat aptly, “Blue Moon” rose to the top, one of the most personal songs he’s written in a while.
Still not a fan of section from 1:38-1:46 though.
Sun Kil Moon – Carissa
By rights, all of Sun Kil Moon’s Benji should be this list. It’s easily my most-played album of the year, and an incredible piece of work. Nearly every track involves the death of one of Mark Kozelek’s family or friends, and the ones that don’t still delve deep into some pretty traumatic personal experiences from his life.
And yet, it isn’t depressing! Most albums like this would make the listener feel as if they were prying into something they shouldn’t, but the constant presence of Mark’s vocals make it feel more like he’s inviting us in.
What follows is a fascinating and brutally honest look at death, and all the weird shit that precedes it that we call “life”. I find the record is best treated like a radio play or podcast. Don’t put it on in the background, focus on the words, and you’ll find it incredibly rewarding. “Carissa” is where it all begins, so give this a spin and see if Benji might be your cup of tea.
Ben Howard – Small Things
Dat atmosphere.
Grimes – Go (feat. Blood Diamonds)
I don’t think this club banger is what anyone was expecting from a follow-up to Visions, but this is most definitely a Grimes song through and through, just louder!
Naturally, its volume is relative to the setting on your own speakers, but if you plan on playing a track like this quietly, I don’t know what to tell you.
Run the Jewels – Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck) (feat. Zack de la Rocha)
SNARKY BASTARD: “How exactly does one ‘count to fuck’?”
ME: *plays Run the Jewels 2*
SNARKY BASTARD: “Fuck!”
ME: There you go.
Special mention to Zack de la Rocha, sounding leaner and meaner than ever!
Flying Lotus – Never Catch Me (feat. Kendrick Lamar)
I’ve been a fan of Flying Lotus since first encountering his radio station in GTAV (featuring OutKast, Aphex Twin and a listener angrily complaining that his music “sounds like a dumpster fallin’ down five flights of stairs”!), and he continued to create some fantastic collaborations in 2014.
This is the other great Kendrick track of the year. He’s fast and furious here, in direct contrast to “i”. This song also features one hell of a bass solo by fellow FlyLoFM contributor Thundercat.
D'Angelo & The Vanguard – Sugah Daddy
D’Angelo finally released his third album this year. It was worth the 14 year wait.
Todd Terje – Johnny and Mary (feat. Bryan Ferry)
And to close…a smooth, swirly, synthy cut from Mr Todd Terje, featuring the distinctive vocals of Roxy Music’s Bryan Ferry. This is a cover of a Robert Palmer tune that takes an agitated new wave song about mimes (or something, I’m basing that solely on what I’m seeing in the video on YouTube right now), and turns into a sad domestic tableau. Happy New Year?
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
My Favourite Music of 2014 (part one)
5 min read
The new year is now upon us, and it's around this time every year that I (along with the rest of the internet) look back at the music I've been enjoying throughout the year.
So here's ten tracks, to be followed by ten more tomorrow. They aren't in any particular order, but I've arranged them in a sequence that should sound pretty boss when listened to as a playlist.
Feel free to list your own top tens/fives/whatevers in the comments!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Men – Pearly Gates
Not much to add to this one except FUCK YEAH!
Cloud Nothings – I’m Not Part of Me
My favourite bands are the ones that I find reliably relatable. No matter what the rest of album sounds like, I know there’s always going to be one or two tracks on a Japandroids or Real Estate album that digs at my soul and was somehow written in less than ten minutes. Cloud Nothings are probably the most reliable band in that respect. They already gave me my favourite song of 2012, and they kicked off 2014 for me with another great song with a similar theme. “I’m Not Part of Me” is lighter than their usual fare, but no less urgent.
The War on Drugs – Red Eyes
Lost in the Dream is, admittedly, an album I only checked because of how well it was being reviewed. Before hearing it for the first time, I was intrigued by the numerous references to “dad rock”, a phrase that’s often used in a negative capacity to describe any band that sounds even remotely like a rock act from the late Sixties or early Seventies. I’ve seen that label stuck on bands as diverse as The Black Keys, The Hold Steady and even Royal Blood, and I’ve never agreed with it.
With War on Drugs though, I kind of get it. “Red Eyes” is the kind of song that, if they were a band new on the scene today, Dire Straits would totally make. And that’s awesome!
Spoon – Do You
A welcome return from Britt Daniel, a songwriter who has always had a way with earworms.
Kendrick Lamar – i
I came out as bisexual on September 23rd of this year. It was a last minute decision, spurred by my late knowledge that it happened to be Bi Pride Day. I posted the announcement on Facebook just before midnight, and immediately felt better about myself. I then saw that Kendrick Lamar (whose last album had soundtracked countless late-night train rides home from work for me) had released a new single with the refrain “I love myself”.
I felt a bliss I hadn’t felt in a long time.
Miguel – Simplethings
This is destined to be one of the all-time great slow-burn love songs. Such an amazing guitar tone too.
Perfume Genius – Queen
“Queen” is a song from an LGBT viewpoint, about taking all the emotions people might feel about you (fear, disgust, admiration, lust) and turning them into something empowering.
As someone already fairly comfortable with who they are, this song is still a powerful anthem. For those less fortunate than me, this song could be a god damn lifesaver.
Sia – Chandelier
Speaking of anthems…I’m a sucker for big choruses. With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that “Chandelier” is hands-down my favourite song of the year, and my most-played.
Future Islands – Seasons (Waiting On You)
Like most people, I was introduced to this band by way of frontman Samuel T. Herring’s astounding performance on Letterman, but the song’s stuck with me. A lovely synthpop ditty.
Merchandise – Green Lady
Hey, if you want your song to immediately grab my attention, using the drum sound from “Sign O’ the Times” is a good way to do it.
Man, when I first heard this band, they were a lo-fi post-punk outfit giving away their second LP for free online. Their artistic progression in just two years is insane.
Part Two is here
So here's ten tracks, to be followed by ten more tomorrow. They aren't in any particular order, but I've arranged them in a sequence that should sound pretty boss when listened to as a playlist.
Feel free to list your own top tens/fives/whatevers in the comments!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Men – Pearly Gates
Not much to add to this one except FUCK YEAH!
Cloud Nothings – I’m Not Part of Me
My favourite bands are the ones that I find reliably relatable. No matter what the rest of album sounds like, I know there’s always going to be one or two tracks on a Japandroids or Real Estate album that digs at my soul and was somehow written in less than ten minutes. Cloud Nothings are probably the most reliable band in that respect. They already gave me my favourite song of 2012, and they kicked off 2014 for me with another great song with a similar theme. “I’m Not Part of Me” is lighter than their usual fare, but no less urgent.
The War on Drugs – Red Eyes
Lost in the Dream is, admittedly, an album I only checked because of how well it was being reviewed. Before hearing it for the first time, I was intrigued by the numerous references to “dad rock”, a phrase that’s often used in a negative capacity to describe any band that sounds even remotely like a rock act from the late Sixties or early Seventies. I’ve seen that label stuck on bands as diverse as The Black Keys, The Hold Steady and even Royal Blood, and I’ve never agreed with it.
With War on Drugs though, I kind of get it. “Red Eyes” is the kind of song that, if they were a band new on the scene today, Dire Straits would totally make. And that’s awesome!
Spoon – Do You
A welcome return from Britt Daniel, a songwriter who has always had a way with earworms.
Kendrick Lamar – i
I came out as bisexual on September 23rd of this year. It was a last minute decision, spurred by my late knowledge that it happened to be Bi Pride Day. I posted the announcement on Facebook just before midnight, and immediately felt better about myself. I then saw that Kendrick Lamar (whose last album had soundtracked countless late-night train rides home from work for me) had released a new single with the refrain “I love myself”.
I felt a bliss I hadn’t felt in a long time.
Miguel – Simplethings
This is destined to be one of the all-time great slow-burn love songs. Such an amazing guitar tone too.
Perfume Genius – Queen
“Queen” is a song from an LGBT viewpoint, about taking all the emotions people might feel about you (fear, disgust, admiration, lust) and turning them into something empowering.
As someone already fairly comfortable with who they are, this song is still a powerful anthem. For those less fortunate than me, this song could be a god damn lifesaver.
Sia – Chandelier
Speaking of anthems…I’m a sucker for big choruses. With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that “Chandelier” is hands-down my favourite song of the year, and my most-played.
Future Islands – Seasons (Waiting On You)
Like most people, I was introduced to this band by way of frontman Samuel T. Herring’s astounding performance on Letterman, but the song’s stuck with me. A lovely synthpop ditty.
Merchandise – Green Lady
Hey, if you want your song to immediately grab my attention, using the drum sound from “Sign O’ the Times” is a good way to do it.
Man, when I first heard this band, they were a lo-fi post-punk outfit giving away their second LP for free online. Their artistic progression in just two years is insane.
Part Two is here
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
My Favourite Music of 2013 (COMPLETE!)
2 min read
UPDATE: All have posts have now gone up, and can be browsed via this link. I've included YouTube and Spotify links just in case you find them useful. Thanks in advance to any of you that read any of the short posts. BIG thanks to those that read the big ones.
Hopefully you'll come across something new to enjoy!
And now, I guess I'd better get on with drawing something, right? Right.
Original post:
This series has been an annual tradition on my blog (plugplugplug), but for some reason I've never mentioned it here on DA. Weird.Anyway, every December I write a series of blog posts detailing my favourite music of the year, and this year is no different.
My first post has just gone up (dontlookdown.tumblr.com/post/6… ), and I'll be making a new one each day leading up to the 31st. So, if you're in the mood for reading more stuff by me, or want to discover some great songs that might have passed you by, do check it out!
And if you don't fancy checking the site every day, I'll update this journal once the whole shebang's up and done, so you can click through the complete list at your leisure!
Cheers!
Nick
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Stupid fingers!
2 min read
I'm right in the middle of pencilling my next strip. I have been since Tuesday, to be honest. As always, it appears my ambitiousness is significantly greater than my actual drawing ability.
I was prepared to deal with this in my return to comics, but actually dealing with it is another matter. It's still not easy for me to accept that that particular hand/head/whatever isn't going to come out as I picture it in my mind, no matter how many times I attempt it. Not if I want to get this comic finished anytime soon, at least.
So I'm pushing through, slowly. I'm throwing stuff on the billboard and seeing what sticks. (hint hint)
This letting-go feels like a new part of this process. I can't remember ever saying to myself "screw it, this is the best I can do" in the earlier days. Maybe I'm still working my way back into the groove of things. And maybe this will always be an issue.
Either way, it's as I expected: I'm struggling, but at least I'm working.
I'm a tad embarrassed that the comic itself isn't anything particular major in my canon, but I think the major comics can wait until something major happens in my life. Right now, things are pretty good. Dull as heck, but good!
Nick
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
The other difference
3 min read
Alright, time for a slightly more upbeat Journal!
As I said in the last post, I'm here as way to keep my mind focused on what I enjoy while I think about just what I want to do with my life, etc. But there's more to it than that.
Having already established that I enjoy making comics, I want to get better at it. I haven't got any grand plans of becoming a millionaire by selling merchandise or living off my ad revenue.
I just want to be able to get the things I can picture in my mind down on paper because, I tell ya, the last two comics I drew took me most of the day.
And, let's be honest, they aren't very good.
BUT
(and it's a big BUT, because this would normally be (and has been) the point where I give up)
I can accept that they aren't very good. Right now, I'm just thrilled that I finished something. Two whole things!
I've proved that I can still actually make a comic which, no lie, was quite a big worry for me going into this.
But I did it/them, and have already picked out a couple of things I can improve on the next few.
(Getting ahold of an art program would be a start)
I feel that this awareness will be my biggest boon on my journey. It's like Neil Gaiman is constantly telling people:
"You have to finish things — that's what you learn from, you learn by finishing things."
And if that isn't inspiring enough for you, check this out.
It feels like I've gotten over the hurdle of worrying if a thing I'm drawing will turn out good. If I finish it, it's worthwhile, and if I'm planning to improve my skill in this field, everything adds up in the end. I just need to get into the swing of drawing more things, even if it's just me doing the ironing or something.
Or, hey! Maybe I could draw something that doesn't have me in it. That'd make for a nice change!
For years, I've surrounded myself with the work of people who have mastered their own drawing style (John Allison, Meredith Gran, Tyson Hesse) and thought: "Man, I wish I could draw that well."
It's time to do something about that. It's going to be scary and tough and totally daunting.
And I wouldn't have it any other way.
Yours, googling drawing exercises,
Nick
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In