Some reggae:
4 Likes
This seems timely, from one of the all-time greats.
4 Likes
After going back to the Stray Cats, I went down a bit of an 80s rabbit hole… and I’m pulling some of you with me.
Telefone - Sheena Easton
Another of hers that has a really great energy about it…
Strut - Sheena Easton
1 Like
3 Likes
Very excited about some more of the recent buzz around Chappell. This is probably one of my favourite songs she’s done:
This part of the lyrics just kind of also gives me Joesme vibes in the main Butterfly Court AU.
Sleep with the devil, go dance with him
It’s your life, you do what you want to
Baby, why you so locked up in lies?
Don’t you know you could have the truth?You say I’m boring, so you ignore me
You hear the phone ring, so you ignore me
Look at your mama, now she’s crying
'Cause she thinks her baby’s dying
Don’t put up a fight, she just wants to hold you tightAnd look at your daddy, he hates lying
Tried to help you, but he’s sick of trying
Look at your life, he just wants to make it right
3 Likes
I really love her performance of the song in this one, and it’s kind of giving me brainworms about a Joesme AU where he ends up either leaving the Devereaux mafia/never being signed on in the first place, and instead gets dragged into the political games of Lyra, his childhood friend: and Esme’s rolling with the Etonis in a position of power and eventual takeover of Lyra’s world and it’s like, wretched and painful and she’s girlbossing it up.
It would give me Nikolai vibes, in an Evil!AU adjacent AU where he actually gets outright mad at Andrey for his selfishness (Andrey’s mortal flaw) rather than playing 4D chess in manipulating the guy, but Nikolai is, for all his faults, still terribly devoted and in love with Andrey. (Plus Andrey would not react well to attempts to make him jealous, and is equally heads over heels for Nikolai- he’s always willing to blow up his life, marriage, and social standing to be with Nikolai from the get go. A silly little romantic at heart, if entirely too reckless for his own good…)
3 Likes
That Tom’s Diner cover was so good! I was not expecting a voice like that! Holy guacamole!
In the spirit of fantastic covers, I offer…
Total Eclipse Of The Heart (Live) - Hurra Torpedo
Bonnie Tyler’s voice was like no other though… Total Eclipse of the Heart - Bonnie Tyler
3 Likes
This is the kindest possible way to phrase an absolute and devastatingly accurate drag&roast of Esme’s actions in that universe that lead her and Joel falling in love. 
That performance of Harenchi on First Take is one of my absolute fave Chanmina performances of all time!! OG Esme playlist song also, your girlboss diagnosis is spot-on. Already envisioning cinematic stills from both those brainworm scenarios…
I’ve been putting on this year’s Coachella livestreams and successfully got a friend into some Peggy Gou and The Last Dinner Party through it, but I’ve found myself reaching for more lofi and melancholic tracks as well.
This cover of Smooth Criminal feels like some sort of layered Rubik’s cube; it took a few listens to grow on me, but every time I hit play, I feel like the sound peels itself apart to flash a glimpse of some interesting harmony or passed-along rhythmic motif that I didn’t catch before.
A new favourite. I love the way the vocals lean into the guitar’s unsteady strumming like swaying over the edge of a precipice and the way the intensity of their combo threatens to burst into discord but never quite boils over. I’d describe the chorus as the same kind of ache as pressing your thumb into a bruise despite knowing what’ll happen, or the echo that comes after clenching your jaw too hard.
3 Likes
Committing to the dreaded double post because this cover of ABBA’s Knowing Me, Knowing You has captivated me to extremes.
3 Likes
You are totally right about that Smooth Criminal cover. Layers of depth. I was such a huge fan of the original and Alien Ant Farm’s is probably in my top 10 covers of all time, but The Crane Wives made it their own and still did it justice. Great find! 3rd time listening to it now. 
You might have heard Emma Ruth Rundle before, but this live version of Darkhorse still blows my mind…
Darkhorse - Emma Ruth Rundle
2 Likes
What are you listening to?
Our song.
I have it right now on my phone, and I’m really excited. I just noticed some thunder in the background of one bit, and it sounds really cool!
If any of you want to listen, DM me and provided I know you on this forum at all, I’ll send it to you (my band’s kinda protective so I need to be sorta selective… hey, that rhymes!)
4 Likes
Been listening to this one while writing replies to Jinx. Very nice moodsetter for Joesme stuff.
2 Likes
To me, it’s one of the failings of life that that DNA cover of Tom’s Diner acapella became big. That basically became the song, and that was the end of anyone hearing what Vega composed (or even of Vega ever playing it) which is heard in the instrumental version also on Solitude Standing. It was (is) a really great chromatic sophisticated piece with yearning and mobility. A bassline that’s moving around.
Compared to that, the DNA nursery rhyme version always sounds dumb to me. It even has what I’d consider wrong notes against the DNA bassline. And wrong notes don’t exist. End rant!
-Wade
3 Likes
This one keeps getting stuck in my head.
2 Likes
Pearl Jam have a new album, Dark Matter!
Sadly, I don’t like it very much. It’s directed too at common audiences, which is good, but loses much of the greatness of their first albums, especially their first. I really like Pearl Jam though, so it’s initiative to get me listening to songs like Porch and Jeremy.
2 Likes
This great cover will restore your faith in Pearl Jam.
Sonic Reducer (Cover) - Pearl Jam
2 Likes
This one goes out to someone who really disappointed me recently.
2 Likes
Wow. Although Eddie Vedder can’t quite belt it out like Stiv Bators can.
2 Likes
Pearl Jam is great imo. I was (positively) surprised to hear that after decades they are still active.
2 Likes
…just here dancing like a stickman without bones…
2 Likes