#64 Weeknd: Dawn FM

~ Lex Leeson ~ 1 Comment

The Weeknd, man, he was once the most intriguing and mysterious underground artist making revolutionary electronic music since Burial (please remember how I’m pronouncing that). In the slightly more than a decade since first causing underground noise as the anonymous electronic artist creating dank and dingy exposés of the grimy perversions of the apparent high rollers, he has eventually become… the biggest male pop star on the planet?? It’s definitely a valid argument to state that’s the case. And now, rather than singing explicitly and unflinchingly about the secret angst and anxiety of those who are supposed to have it all, he… No. He still pretty much does that. Maybe his biggest ever hit was about taking so much coke that your face goes numb, remember? I mean, we have to say ‘fair fucks’ to him, don’t we?

Here, let’s make it official:

WAIT, ARE YOU STILL A PIGEON??

#65 ANGEL_TECH: INITIATION :3

~ Lex Leeson ~ 5 Comments

Remember how much I stanned the vertical bar in BIG|BRAVE‘s name at #71? Bro, I was super simping for that punctuation symbol, wasn’t I? It was totally… bussin’… and… PAWG…? Look at all these hip new words I’m using! As far as you know, I’m, like, 22 years old or something. Yeah, I’m a hip young gunslinger. Yes I am. Stop gaslighting me.

Hold on, slow down *grabs pen and paper* Laugh… out… loud… Go on.

Eeeeeeeeeeew, ‘PAWG’ stands for ‘Phat Ass White Girl’?? I honestly never knew that, it’s so gross! I will state at this point that I personally will not be referring to either Melanie James/melodus nor Elora Driver/metagirl as ‘PAWGs’, though they are of course free to refer to themselves as such and may well fit the description.

‘PHAT’ STANDS FOR ‘PRETTY HOT AND TEMPTING’??

#66 Psychic Graveyard: Veins Feel Strange

~ Lex Leeson ~ 1 Comment

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!

Seth Manchester again. Jesus Christ, mate, the places you drag me to. You’re exposing me to dangerous mental disorders here. Is this abuse? Am I being abused? I feel like I’m being abused here.

I am cashing out
I have an expensive mouth
My teeth are stolen
I give watering cans to my children

I Am Blacking Out

No, forget everything I just said, this is fucking awesome. Abuse me more! Choke me Daddy!!

THIS IS GOING PLACES…

#68 Beyoncé: Renaissance

~ Lex Leeson ~ 13 Comments

Beyoncé has made an estimated $114 million in digital single sales, along with $29.5 million from albums.

Beyoncé and Jay-Zed’s 2018 ‘On the Run II’ tour took in $250 million, to go with the $95 million they’d already grossed with the original 2014 ‘On the Run’ tour. Her 2016 ‘Formation’ tour made $256 million.

U.S.A! U.S.A!

Joel Berg, CEO of Hunger Free America, has calculated the cost of ending hunger in the US at $25 billion.

By 2013, she had already sold $400 million of her signature perfume.

I COULD GO ON. SO I WILL

#69 (dude) Govier: Little Falls

~ Lex Leeson ~ 1 Comment

Heeeeeeeeey, when did people start saying “Nice” after they say “69”? This isn’t a ‘bit’, I know that recent posts may have lead you to believe that I am a master wordsmith full of devilish literary tricks to evoke all sorts of thoughtful commentaries, but this is an actual serious question. There is only one response to a sudden appearance of the number 69, and that is to shout “SIXTY NINE DUDE!” and then air guitar. It’… it’s… it’s… it’s just how it’s done!

Have we as a society already forgotten ‘Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure’?? What a damning indictment of the social media frazzled attention spans of modern culture, how we’re so quick to move on from a shared touchstone that was only released…

WHEN?? FIND OUT SOON

#70 Anaïs Mitchell: Anaïs Mitchell

~ Lex Leeson ~ 2 Comments

Anaïs Mitchell was born in Vermont in 1981 to a novellist father and secretary mother. She was raised as a Quaker and attended Middlebury College. She first began writing music in 1998, aged 17, and after receiving numerous awards recognising her talents she eventually self-released her first album, ‘The Songs They Sang… When Rome Fell‘, in 2002. She would release other records to generally positive reception but muted commercial success, but at the same time she began the draft of a ‘folk-opera’ that would become her big breakthrough.

The musical ‘Hadestown‘ was first performed in 2006, and was a massive commercial and critical success. It grew and grew in both notoriety and popularity over the next decade, finally debuting on Broadway in 2019. At the 73rd Tony awards in 2019, ‘Hadestown’ was nominated for fourteen awards and won eight of them. Anaïs Mitchell released the studio album based on the musical in 2010, to universal acclaim. It was no clear that…

No, sorry, I can’t do this shit anymore…

THIS IS SOOOOOOOOOOOO BORING

#71 BIG|BRAVE: Vital

~ Lex Leeson ~ 9 Comments

See that punctuation mark between the ‘big’ and the ‘brave’ in this Montreal band’s name? That actually has many names, depending on what context it’s used. In computing it’s called a ‘pipe‘; in Sanskrit it’s known as a ‘danda’; and in logic it’s known as a ‘Sheffer stroke‘. The ‘Sheffer stroke’ is named after early 20th century logician Henry M. Sheffer who, in cruel irony, actually died of a stroke. Maybe. Probably not. I don’t actually know how he died. Also, I’m not sure that counts as irony, but that’s a debate for a different time. In general, that long, dripping ‘L’ is simply referred to as a ‘vertical bar‘.

Anyway, just thought I’d explain the definitions here so I could say the following sentence: See that vertical bar in BIG|BRAVE‘s name? That’s pretty cool, innit? Don’t know if I’ve seen a band use that before.

GLAD TO GET THAT OUT THE WAY