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Act 2 has evidently dropped. I’ll give it a listen tomorrow.
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Jan 31, 2023 06:10
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Kingo Ligma posted:Bullet with butterfly wings will be in stranger things season 6 and you will rue that post my friend Don't be silly, it'll be Zero and it'll start with the character looking into a mirror.
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Jan 31, 2023 06:41
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in 1998 when adore came out i was watching the ava adore music video on tv and my little cousin who was 11 said "they're an old band now". most prophetic poo poo ever
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Jan 31, 2023 16:14
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Djarum posted:Act 2 has evidently dropped. I’ll give it a listen tomorrow. I'm on the last track now, and so far the only memorable track for me has been "The Culling." I like the synth work in that one. I will probably give it a few more listens but there's nothing that's a huge departure from the first installment.
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Jan 31, 2023 19:43
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Just as with Act 1, eh. It's pretty sad that Beguiled is already underwhelming to me, but it's still the best track on the album simply because it's allowing Iha and Chamberlin to do something. Billy's lyrics are either completely nonsensical poetic babbling (which can still sound cool if it had any hook at all) or repetitive and deep as a puddle, and his singing lacks any emotional texture whatsoever anymore, and a lot of the music follows along with it. Most tracks sound mostly the same and I was losing track of what track I was on because of it. I'd be more forgiving of the slow, lumbering synth droning if there were any dynamics to the songs, but the tunes feel so static and sometimes I can hardly tell where the chorus is in a song, if there is one. So rare is it for anything to have a hook that catches my ear and makes me want to hear it again. Jimmy feels like he may as well be a drum machine for many of the songs, pretty much carrying the same beat through their entirety. There are times when I wonder if the synthy stuff is being done by the guitars via pedals and filters and stuff, but I can't really tell. Still not really impressed either way. Pretty forgettable. I would say Billy really needs to step it up but I neither think he wants to, or even could if he did want to. This is the music he wants to be making and the direction the band has been going, and good on him for doing what he wants rather than what fans want, but "we have Depeche Mode at home" with dry old-timey poetry just ain't doing it for me, personally. I just look back to how Adore was such a left turn from what Gish/Siamese Dream/Mellon Collie was doing, but still managed to be fantastic, memorable, and beautiful. Meanwhile everything Billy's put out since the Teargarden era has been an even more left turn from everything prior to it-- to where I cannot tell if the music is emotionally bland or just so mired in a swamp of syntax and metaphors that the meaning behind the words are all but lost. The wall of sound crumbled, and the vampire of the world drained all the life from the music. Muzak with lyrics from the 18th century, with a couple diamonds in the rough. EDIT: I realize I said comes across as harsh and it kind of is, but it's kind of hard to contain my disappointment at this point. I was kind of hoping part 2 would have a bit more oomph to it after part 1 feeling underwhelming to me, but it really does seem to be what The Smashing Pumpkins have become as opposed to who they once were. Framboise fucked around with this message at 14:11 on Feb 1, 2023 |
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Feb 1, 2023 09:29
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I did read all of your post, and wholeheartedly agree with it, but really, this sums it up... Smashing Pumpkins thread - "We have 'Depeche Mode' at home"
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Feb 1, 2023 11:26
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What I want to know is why Billy sings like he's got a whole glass of water in his mouth, 40% of the time. Entire syllables disappear at random. What is happening with that
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Feb 1, 2023 14:03
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AGFA is releasing a bluray of the 2012 documentary GLOW: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, and one of the bonus features on the disc is a commentary track by Billy Corgan. It's up for preorder now, I think it ships in about a month.
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Feb 1, 2023 21:47
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The songs on Atum are as interesting as lukewarm oatmeal and as catchy as a ringing telephone. I already don't even remember listening to it.
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Feb 2, 2023 21:45
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Jumping in here to ONCE AGAIN say that Empires would be actually an okay song without the backing vocals. I’ve been saying this about every single new song I’ve heard from them. Is it just me??? Completely changes the vibe for me.
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Feb 3, 2023 20:10
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gonna drop a hot take in this here thread mellon collie is really loving good. started listening to it again during my commute and it kicks so much rear end and is a great palate cleanser after listening to ATUM
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Feb 3, 2023 22:29
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You know the new album is blah when it makes you nostalgic for Zeitgeist. Those tracks might not feel like 'classic' pumpkins, but at least they have personality all on their own.
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Feb 3, 2023 22:37
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Every single summary of this album I have come across, including those praising it, reads like a review on a recipe website where the person clearly didn't follow the recipe at all and instead substituted their own techniques or ingredients. "pretty decent but I don't like how ..." "this is ok but it would be better if ..." "there are some good songs here if you ignore ..."
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Feb 3, 2023 23:13
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CherryCola posted:Jumping in here to ONCE AGAIN say that Empires would be actually an okay song without the backing vocals. I’ve been saying this about every single new song I’ve heard from them. Is it just me??? Completely changes the vibe for me. I really don't understand this cringe rawk mom backing vocals thing these dudes get into when all their bandmates leave. Jim Ward did the same thing on the new Sparta album and it's awful
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Feb 3, 2023 23:52
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polyester concept posted:Every single summary of this album I have come across, including those praising it, reads like a review on a recipe website where the person clearly didn't follow the recipe at all and instead substituted their own techniques or ingredients. I think a lot of people are just too scared to call something bad when it is, as if the creator of the content is going to read their comment specifically and call them out for it. ATUM just ain't it. If you like it, cool, but the Pumpkins of today are not the same band they were 25 years ago, no matter how bad Billy wants to think they are. I was really holding out hope for later parts of the album to be better, so I was cautiously optimistic, but being cautious was the correct decision imo.
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Feb 4, 2023 00:57
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Framboise posted:as if the creator of the content is going to read their comment specifically and call them out for it. Prince literally did this and it was the funkiest thing he had put out in like a decade.
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Feb 4, 2023 05:50
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Baron von Eevl posted:Prince literally did this and it was the funkiest thing he had put out in like a decade. Never mind. Feel my ire and lay down the funk, Billy.
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Feb 4, 2023 06:17
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So apparently a first run machina vinyl goes for like $500+??? My high school boyfriend got me one in like 2002…and I guess it is actually a first run. I had no idea anyone would pay that kind of money for that thing. Not really inclined to sell it, but cool to know!
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Feb 4, 2023 06:30
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Framboise posted:I think a lot of people are just too scared to call something bad when it is, as if the creator of the content is going to read their comment specifically and call them out for it. I've noticed that Pitchfork rarely gives out bad reviews. So many websites just give everything middling scores that reviews become useless. You know what? Be harsher guys! Rip bad albums to shreds! Don't waste my time with this 5 out of 10 nonsense when you know it's really a 3. Or go the Christgau approach and only write reviews for good music.
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Feb 4, 2023 15:22
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Cemetry Gator posted:I've noticed that Pitchfork rarely gives out bad reviews. So many websites just give everything middling scores that reviews become useless. Pitchfork fell apart many, many years ago. I don't even bother checking them anymore. There really isn't any good music sites anymore in general and little good music journalism. Even trying to get music news and info on new releases is very hard. I really miss the hey day of Rolling Stone, Spin, CMJ and zines. I feel like I knew more about current music in 1997 via print than I do in 2023 with instant access to everything all at once. Same thing is kind of happening with video games as well but that is an entirely different can of worms.
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Feb 4, 2023 16:47
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Cemetry Gator posted:I've noticed that Pitchfork rarely gives out bad reviews. So many websites just give everything middling scores that reviews become useless. I agree with this, though part of me wonders how many people's opinions would be entirely swayed by someone else's words. If I genuinely liked ATUM, I'd say it. I'd certainly be going against the grain of this thread at least, but that wouldn't change my mind. I know for a fact that I've been swayed by a review before, though. I feel stupid for it. Sort of related, I remember not liking Adore when I first heard it because it wasn't like MCIS (or what I consider the pseudo-sequel, TAFH), and it took a few listens. But I genuinely like it now. Still not a fan of Dusty and Pistol Pete, or Shame (it's still such a slog for me). Hell, I didn't even really enjoy Machina the first few times I heard it, and I keep thinking back to why. It's like I was an entirely different person back then or something. Now (aside from maybe Try Try Try), I love the whole drat thing. And I even remember what 'got' me about the album. Machina came out when I was in grade 12. I listened to it on and off and I *thought* I had heard it all. I put it down, never really bothering with it. Skip ahead a year or two, I've moved out on my own for the first time. I'm with my then-gf, but I feel lonely. I'm on Limewire or Shareza or whatever, and I download a Pumpkins tribute video. It played "This Time" over a bunch of really bittersweet and nostalgic footage of the band. And I remember the last shot was Billy I think during the final Metro show, kissing his hands and raising them to the audience "as the curtain falls, we bid you all goodnight" and that loving struck me to my core. I got teary as I tried to figure out what song that was. Had I even heard it before? Whatever, I needed it now. Then I find out that it was on Machina. What? But I heard that album... Was I really passively listening to it all? So, every single day, on my walk to my dead end retail job, living away from home for the first time ever in a city that didn't really have a place for me, I'd put Machina into my discman (  ) and just live that entire album.loving hell, what a masterpiece. I couldn't believe how much I had dismissed it at first. Then I remembered how I had come around on Adore (To Shiela is still an S-tier SP song to me), and realized this was apparently my thing. I didn't even like the Pixies when I first heard them, and they went on to be one of my all-time favourite bands. So, I try try try with every new pumpkins release, maybe it'll take. Maybe it's Just Me(tm) and I'm missing the point or something. But I came around on Zeitgeist, and almost immediately loved Oceania. ATUM, Cyr, Monuments to an Elegy.... Am I missing another album (aside from Teargarden)? I remember having an encyclopedic knowledge of all of the Pumpkins albums and songs, but after Oceania, it's gotten so hard to care. I try and give them all an earnest few listens, but I can likely already tell that this isn't going to stick with me. Or if it is, I'll have it have it playing constantly during some sort of formative period of my life (at 39, does one even have any more of those?) so it at least gets some nostalgic side-piece it can use to make itself endearing to me. Edit: forgot to mention that an album that's been my #1 for over 20 years now, Tripping Daisy's "Jesus Hits like the Atom Bomb", I wasn't very impressed by the first couple times I heard it. Yes, Tripping Daisy, the "I Got a Girl" band, who later largely became The Polyphonic Spree. I love the Spree, but nothing has topped JHLTAB for me yet. If you want a strong dose of psychedelic alternative rock, check it out. When I say that not liking something I eventually love is my thing, I mean it. My brain is broken. Rupert Buttermilk fucked around with this message at 17:23 on Feb 4, 2023 |
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Feb 4, 2023 17:12
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Rupert Buttermilk posted:I agree with this, though part of me wonders how many people's opinions would be entirely swayed by someone else's words. I dunno, Anthony Fantano seems to be able to sway his fans' opinions pretty well with his reviews unless he has one they really see as a hot take. :p quote:ATUM, Cyr, Monuments to an Elegy.... Am I missing another album (aside from Teargarden)? I remember having an encyclopedic knowledge of all of the Pumpkins albums and songs, but after Oceania, it's gotten so hard to care. I try and give them all an earnest few listens, but I can likely already tell that this isn't going to stick with me. Or if it is, I'll have it have it playing constantly during some sort of formative period of my life (at 39, does one even have any more of those?) so it at least gets some nostalgic side-piece it can use to make itself endearing to me. You forgot Shiny and Oh So Whatever, Vol 1: No Class, No Feature, No Fun.  I don't think there's ever a point in one's life that isn't formative, tbh. The phrase is officially used for the childhood years where your brain is a sponge and every experience you have carves the path for the way you react to things for the rest of your life, but I don't think life ever stops being "formative". I'm going to be 33 in a few days and I'm not really anything like the person I was 10 years ago, because my life has changed pretty significantly since then and it's changed my perspective and maturity level on a lot of things. I am sure that in 10 years when I am 43, I will have had many experiences that will have changed who I am by that point, too.
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Feb 4, 2023 18:42
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wtf Dusty and Pistol Pete is great.
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Feb 4, 2023 20:58
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Yeah that's one of the best songs on the album
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Feb 4, 2023 21:01
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I never cared much for that one, myself.
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Feb 4, 2023 21:35
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syntaxfunction posted:Devin Townsend is the superior pale white, tall as gently caress Nosferatu musician. Interesting. I feel that 'Monuments to an Elegy' has been their best post breakup album. Also....as long as Corgan continues along with this synth rock thing that he's been pursuing....the albums will be immediately forgettable for me. Eventually he'll move on to something else....hopefully something better. Edit number 2. I decided against buying tickets to see them in concert this time around. If I lived in Canada.....and been around for one of the dates where Our Lady Peace was filling in for Jane's Addiction.....I absolutely would have bought tickets. RestingB1tchFace fucked around with this message at 22:08 on Feb 4, 2023 |
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Feb 4, 2023 21:58
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Ok, so I talk a lot of poo poo about recent Pumpkins (we all do, tbf), but I found Aeronaut far and away not only one of the best songs he's written in recent memory, but it stands up against great, classic SP. It doesn't necessarily 'fit' with older stuff, but emotionally, it's as impactful, to me, as something from MCIS and/or Adore. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36_4dx_0Qdk
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Feb 5, 2023 15:24
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Rupert Buttermilk posted:Ok, so I talk a lot of poo poo about recent Pumpkins (we all do, tbf), but I found Aeronaut far and away not only one of the best songs he's written in recent memory, but it stands up against great, classic SP. It doesn't necessarily 'fit' with older stuff, but emotionally, it's as impactful, to me, as something from MCIS and/or Adore. I never really checked out Corgan's solo stuff.....but really you could almost consider Smashing Pumpkins his solo stuff too considering how much control he has over the writing, composing, and direction of the music. Never heard this song....but it's very good. I'll have to check out the rest. Side note.....small annoyance......but Corgan sings about "lovers" too much in his songs.
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Feb 5, 2023 16:28
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Rupert Buttermilk posted:Ok, so I talk a lot of poo poo about recent Pumpkins (we all do, tbf), but I found Aeronaut far and away not only one of the best songs he's written in recent memory, but it stands up against great, classic SP. It doesn't necessarily 'fit' with older stuff, but emotionally, it's as impactful, to me, as something from MCIS and/or Adore. This is a great track (I think he kept repeating a bit too much at the end though) and I not only think it stands up against great, classic SP like you said, but that it would also fit with the older stuff as well. The first reference that came to mind was Disarm but as the song progressed I could easily see it happily sitting somewhere in MCIS and not sounding out of place, aside from his voice sounding older. The string arrangements and general mood of the song feels like it would slot right in there, at least to me. Framboise posted:Never mind. Feel my ire and lay down the funk, Billy. He already has. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHasKHTaHsw
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Feb 5, 2023 22:02
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SUNKOS posted:This is a great track (I think he kept repeating a bit too much at the end though) and I not only think it stands up against great, classic SP like you said, but that it would also fit with the older stuff as well. The first reference that came to mind was Disarm but as the song progressed I could easily see it happily sitting somewhere in MCIS and not sounding out of place, aside from his voice sounding older. The string arrangements and general mood of the song feels like it would slot right in there, at least to me. If the strings were played via mellotron, absolutely. For anyone unaware, the mellotron is kind of like the world's first (major) sampler. Every key played through roughly 8 seconds of a pre-recorded note. The samples used are the same across pretty much all models of mellotron, so you get used to that sound. A quick Pumpkins reference to mellotron strings would be Spaceboy and the string accompaniment of the song Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. A non-pumpkins example would be the flutes played in the Beatles' Strawberry Fields Forever. Rupert Buttermilk fucked around with this message at 22:07 on Feb 5, 2023 |
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Feb 5, 2023 22:04
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Checking out ATUM, and... This is the funniest record I've heard in a while. It's not intentionally funny, which is what makes it so bad. First off, the lyrics come across like a junior in high school's first attempt at writing serious poetry. All the talk of nature and flowers and sunshine. Followed by such weird imagery that it's not clear what Billy is trying to say. The whole thing feels forced. Then we got the music, which sounds like a 50-year-old getting his first synthesizer circa 1983. I can't understand what would compel a man to release Butterfly Suite, but by god, he did. It doesn't help that Corgan seems to be adopting a strangely bad British accent. It's like when you see a movie about Shakespearean times and you see poets reciting bad poetry. But now with synths. Beguiled comes close to working because it manages to avoid the traps of most of the other songs. It's clearly written closer to the old style, and with a little more work, it could have been a classic. The question I have is why is this a triple album? It feels like most of this stuff is a half baked demo that got released into the wild. My biggest sensation was that Corgan was just loving around in the studio. It is obviously an attempt to recapture Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, but there, the songs all had their own feel and everything felt baked to completion. Here, it's just more spacey synths backed up Donovan's discarded lyrics. If I were writing a Pitchfork review, I would give it a 3.
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Feb 6, 2023 17:12
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My brother and I were looking at The World is a Vampire tour tickets because 1: Pumpkins and 2: woah I can't believe they're coming to Australia with the wrestling and everything but General Admission is 200 bucks! Sorry Billy, not happening.
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Feb 6, 2023 23:38
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Yeah after James rejoined I had some interest in catching them next time they came through town, they had been playing some mid-size theaters and venues of that ilk, it had been a decent time. Since he rejoined they've only played stadium/arena/large ampitheater type venues and ticket prices have been too rich for my blood. Also they've been putting on a much worse show, with everything glued down to a very specific tempo to sync to the A/V display and playing everything to sound as close to the record as possible which is just the most miserable kind of concert.
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Feb 7, 2023 00:55
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Speaking of live vs album, while I think the album version is perfect, this recording of An Ode to No One (which I think is from their final music video compilation DVD) is  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA0sNVueB78 Also, the version of Today they played on VH1 Story tellers is just so good (at 4 minutes in, exactly) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPdG1b3eh-Q
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Feb 7, 2023 01:01
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Rupert Buttermilk posted:Speaking of live vs album, while I think the album version is perfect, this recording of An Ode to No One (which I think is from their final music video compilation DVD) is This, this poo poo here. THIS is why ATUM is kind of an insult to what the band was in the past. Just loving look at Jimmy. He's going all fist of the north loving star on those drums and is doing so while making it look loving effortless. Then you hear a post-Teargarden song and it feels like he's just kept on a leash. Just bein' a slow, steady drum machine. Let the man thrash those drums, Billy.
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Feb 7, 2023 04:33
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I always loved the wink from Jimmy, the returning smile from Billy, and then Jimmy does some sort of "Aw shucks" laugh to himself.... All the while playing the song. More thoughts on that video: 1. The four of them, with auf der Maur, might be my favourite lineup/iteration of the band. I just love her. Plus,  , specifically Montreal, represent.2. The beauty of earlier Pumpkins, and to me, the true essence of the band, is how they can be graceful and beautiful, and also launch into a wall of chaotic, harsh sound like "gently caress You". They had the perfect mixture of 'screaming grace'. It's like they were always two bands, or a band of two minds. I know many bands do quiet and loud songs, but it always felt Iike the Pumpkins/Billy pulled that off the best. We all know examples, our favourite soft songs, our favourite loud ones, I don't need to run through them. I'm sure you all know what I mean. Rupert Buttermilk fucked around with this message at 04:55 on Feb 7, 2023 |
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Feb 7, 2023 04:48
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I like to point out how extremely loving over Billy's poo poo James is in that video. edit oh no 
Baron von Eevl fucked around with this message at 05:23 on Feb 7, 2023 |
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Feb 7, 2023 05:15
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lol if we're posting favorite live videos, this one gets my vote https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4N-DK6v9Oc
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Feb 7, 2023 05:42
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Maybe Billy's just tired? 
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Feb 7, 2023 05:59
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I took some heavier CBD dosage and threw Billy's butterfly fantasy into my spotify queue while subjecting myself to Sunday rush grocery shopping at H-E-B. I found myself tuning into the synthy parts quite a bit while looking for red curry paste (It's in the international foods section). After getting home and putting the groceries away I had a beer on the patio while finishing the album. Is it wrong to wonder what remixes of some of these tracks would be like if someone went just full weird with it? Could ANYTHING on this record be improved with more aggression in any shape or form?
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Feb 7, 2023 15:48
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