erinptah: There is only one ship on Doctor Who. (doctor who)

Peak irony, no notes: guess where the “You Wouldn’t Steal A Car” ad music came from. “But then, in 2007, he bought a Harry Potter DVD and to his surprise, there was his music in the anti-piracy ad at the beginning. His composition had been taken and used without his permission. In fact, it had been illegally used on dozens of movie DVDs, both in Holland and overseas. You probably have one at home right now.”

Wattpad is on a fanfic-deleting spree, apparently targeting (but not exclusive to) NSFW and/or queer-centric fics. Seems to be a profit-driven move after they got bought by Naver (the same site that owns Webtoon) a while ago. Reddit is passing around advice about how to move to AO3.

Facebook deletes, suppresses, and flags posts about climate change: “Since August 2018, Facebook has limited the visibility of my page,” she writes, “labelling it as ‘political’ because I talk about climate change and clean energy. This change drastically reduced my post views from hundreds to just tens, and the page’s growth has been stagnant ever since.”

The previous article got a heck of a publicity boost when Facebook started auto-blocking everything from the local news site that posted it: “Until approximately 4pm ET Thursday afternoon, whenever people attempted to share any link at all to the Reflector, they were unable. In screenshots shared with The Handbasket, the warnings varied from saying the content was reported by others as being “abusive,” to labeling the link as spam, as well as a simple upload error.”

That said, rahaeli (Denise from DW) breaks down how this is genuine collateral damage from spam-filtering: “People keep claiming that if this were a false detection we’d hear about it happening all the time, but they genuinely do happen all the time.” And “The number of people who do not understand the sheer volume of garbage on the internet is either absolutely depressing as fuck or proof that we all do our jobs a lot better than people think we do.”

Dreamwidth story (featuring a guest appearance by an anon community, possibly FFA?): “For no particular reason, a story about weird detection systems: we don’t use a lot of automated detection or filtering, but we do some…

Meanwhile, in software: “As the fallout of the Xz backdoor continues to rock the open source software community, people working on open source software are realizing (and reiterating) that a culture in which people often feel entitled to constant updates and additional features from volunteer coders presents a pretty large attack surface.”

There are a lot of comments described as “bullying” that…do not strike me as bullying. No personal insults, no dramatic hyperbole, definitely no threats. Just frank, fact-based project criticisms that could easily have been made in good faith. And then the critics would volunteer constructive help! It’s easy and obvious to say “don’t be horrible to volunteer coders,” but the world needs to take the next step and be supportive to volunteer coders…and how can you provide support that’s helpful and stress-reducing, after “support” was used as a major attack vector?

It’s a mess. I don’t know.

erinptah: (pyramid)



The internet is doing its “no search engine can find lyrics for this song you love and want to share” thing again, so here I go.

 

The imagery of this one gets less vivid and evocative every year, the farther we get from the era of “the only way to develop a photograph is in an eerie sealed room full of chemicals and red light.” Which is a shame, because the imagery makes it an amazing song about being sealed in with frozen memories of your past, trying to break through to the present.

If you think (or know!) that I’ve misheard any of the words, drop a comment, let me know.


Jess Klein – Darkroom

Come on now baby, won’t you touch me, touch me, touch me
Before I go insane?
I think the weight of your own blood might kill you, if it don’t hit my veins

Come on now baby, won’t you love me, love me, love me
If you got any need?
I think the weight of your own blood might kill me, if I don’t see you bleed

Oh, I live in a darkroom
Pictures all floating
Thoughts of my own doom
So before they get going

Oh, when you’re seeing it in red and black and white
With only chemicals to give my head a light
I know your hand is on the knob outside

Come on, release me!
Come on, let me out
Into the heat and fight
I wanna see the gritty streets of London
Before the dawn hits light

Come on now baby, won’t you love me, love me, love me
Even if you’ve gotta break in
And let your love smear the pretty poses, into a mess of sin

Oh, I live in a darkroom
Pictures all floating
Thoughts of my own doom
So before they get going

Somewhere beyond the door I can’t see
Is just a simple frame of you holding me
Come on now, babe, before the colors all bleed

Come on, release me!
Come on, let me out
Even if the bitter fumes bite
I wanna see the gritty streets of London
Before the dawn hits light

So come on, release me
Come on, let me out
Even if the bitter fumes bite
I wanna see the gritty streets of London
Before the dawn hits light

I wanna see the gritty streets of London
Before the dawn hits light

erinptah: nebula (space)

Stray thought of the night: if a canon has an epic, climactic battle that you can imagine making a particularly good fanvid to Within Temptation – Our Solemn Hour, I’ve probably been into it.

  • Utena? ✔️
  • Evangelion? ✔️
  • Hellsing? ✔️
  • Madoka Magica? ✔️
  • His Dark Materials? ✔️
  • First 2 seasons of Welcome to Night Vale? ✔️
  • WandaVision? ✔️
  • Moon Knight? ✔️

It doesn’t work in reverse — I’m not less into the Oz books, or the Colbert Report, or Red Dwarf, because they don’t suggest cool Our Solemn Hour vids — but the basic rule holds.

And, hey, a few of them even have an existing fanvid that stacks up to the one in my head. Have some recs.






erinptah: (pyramid)

All right, Google swears to me that the lyrics to this song aren’t transcribed anywhere on the entire internet, so I’m writing them up myself.

(Yes, it’s for Moon Knight reasons. Shhh.)


Orleans – In My Dream

Once again my dream’s begun
The one where you admire what I become
Like a star in the distance you see me
I’m the one you wish upon

But the real world is far from a dream
You don’t see me, or so it seems
It’s just my fantasy

And it’s only in my dream world
That you wish upon my starlight
But the fantasy will come to life in my dream tonight

I see you nearly every day
Never knowing what to say
And there’s always this distance between us
But in my dream it’s not that way

You’re the Earth and I’m the sun
Each attracts the other one
And though there’s millions of miles between us
That won’t keep you from me for long

Irresistibly drawn to me
Overpowered by gravity
You eventually fall for me

But it’s only in my dream world (only in my dream)
And it can’t survive the daylight (only in my dream)
Still the fantasy will come to life in my dream tonight

Just imagine if this were reality

But it’s only in my dream world (only in my dream)
That you wish upon my starlight (only in my dream)
And it can’t survive the daylight (only in my dream)
And so I keep it on the inside (keep it in my dream)
And the fantasy will come to life in my dream tonight


erinptah: (Default)
...so it turns out I hit the end of my alphabetical "underappreciated music artists I should rec" list. Which means I get to close the tab I've had open for (*checks*) more than a year now. Yowza.

Just in time to avoid migrating it to the new computer, too!

But there's this separate folder of Soft Songs by Soft Female Vocalists that I skipped over, so I'm circling back and doing one last post.



10,000 Maniacs: The softest of alt-rock, with Natalie Merchant as the lead singer. Their peak years happened back when I was a toddler, but their songs give me college feelings anyway. (10,000 Maniacs playlist.)











Enya: Irish singer-songwriter; occasionally gets close enough to "mainstream pop" to have a mainstream hit, but most of her stuff is dreamier, stranger, slow and wistful. Inspiration from mythology, astronomy, and natural scenes around the globe; lyrics in English and Gaelic, and, at least once, in Quenya. (Enya playlist.)












Loreena McKennitt: Canadian composer-harpist-accordionist-pianist-soprano. Lots of influence from Celtic and Middle Eastern myth/legend. First choice if you need a soundtrack for being kidnapped by faeries. (Loreena McKennitt playlist.)







erinptah: (Default)
We The Kings: American alt-pop, full of earnest feelings, with just the lightest shiny glaze of fantastical imagery. (We The Kings playlist.)









Wendy Matthews: Clear, soulful, '80s pop. The playlist gets pretty samey part of the way down, but there's good stuff at the top. (Wendy Matthews playlist.)









Within Temptation: Gorgeous, epic, symphonic goth rock. (Plus some of those growly male vocals they love in goth-metal. Those tracks, I skip.) The soundtrack for your tormented hero's fall into anguish, or your fantasy team-up's desperate last-stand battle. (Within Temptation playlist.)

This first track is another of my Top Favorite Songs, Period:




erinptah: (Default)
The Veronicas: Australian electropop-punk. Lots of powerful, fiercely energized songs about intense yearning in all its phases -- for a bad relationship to get better, a bad breakup to be forgiven, a good relationship not to blow up, a hot stranger to, ah, answer their thirst. The singers are identical twin sisters (neither one named Veronica). (The Veronicas playlist.)









Vienna Teng: Soft indie chamber pop. Her performance range goes from "a-capella singing group" to "clasically-trained pianist." Unmatched at wistfulness. (Vienna Teng playlist.)







That last one is boundlessly joyful -- don't miss it.




WALK THE MOON: Ohio new-wave dance-rock. Energetic, offbeat, if neon lights were turned into music this is what they'd sound like. (Walk The Moon playlist.)





erinptah: (Default)
Donnie Munro/Runrig: soothing Celtic folk rock. (Solo act & band with a lead singer, respectively.) Think if Dan Fogelberg was more Gaelic. (Donnie Munro playlist.)








Styx: Prog rock that ranges from working-class anthems to weird sci-fi/fantasy scenarios. Apparently they broke up for a decade or so, then came back together? Everything here is from their '70s and '80s work. (Styx playlist.)










Tori Amos: Chamber pop with classically-trained piano, and lots of haunting mezzo-soprano lyrics. Apparently she was expelled from the Peabody Institute at 11 for "musical insubordination", which is a delightful origin story. (Tori Amos playlist.)




erinptah: (lighthouse)
In the home stretch! Only got about five more of these in the bank.




The Birthday Massacre - New-wave goth rock. Lighter and airier than Evanescence, darker and eerier than Blackmore's Night, best when they're doing creepy-cute lovely melodies. (Birthday Massacre playlist.)









The Corrs - Pop rock with Celtic-fusion elements. Covers the whole emotional spectrum, but in particular, they have a talent for making love songs that go "you are so great and I love you and I'm happy and there's no catch" in a way that feels earnest and joyful, not thin or superficial. (The Corrs playlist.)









Jedward: Teen pop that's wildly mainstream-popular in Ireland and the UK -- they've been Eurovision finalists, twice -- but somehow hasn't jumped the Atlantic. Came out of The X Factor, same as One Direction, although they're identical twins instead of a 5-part boy-band. (Jedward playlist didn't exist so I made one.)




erinptah: (Default)
Steve Perry: Lead singer of Journey as a breakout soloist, whose work still has the vibe of soft '70s prog rock well into the '90s. (Not a bad thing. I like soft '70s prog rock.) (Steve Perry playlist.)






Superchick: Girl-power rock, fingers perfectly on the pulse of the emotional turmoil of being a teenage girl. Unfortunately a Christian band, so some tracks are cringey and others have disquieting purity-culture stuff, but when they're on, they're on. Motivational in the face of everything from restrictive gender roles to toxic boyfriends to eating disorders to the general awfulness of high-school drama. (Superchick playlist.)

This first song is genuinely one of my absolute favorites -- I don't mean from this group, I mean, from music.



...and someone needs to use those last two in Catradora fanvids. She-Ra vidders, please, get on this.




Tenth Avenue North: Acoustic rock meets power pop. More overtly Christian, so, uh, maybe don't watch the videos. The nonspecific lyrics still make amazing hurt/comfort anthems -- and/or odes to your favorite god-tier character. (Tenth Avenue North playlist.)

This first one, for instance? 100% a Madokami theme song.

erinptah: (Default)
Been a while since I've done a roundup of musical recommendations. But, listen, music makes us braver, so it seemed like a fair time to jump back in.

Roxette: Swedish '80s power pop/rock. Heartfelt female vocals, from sugary pop to resounding '80s power ballads. (Roxette playlist.)









Sarah Brightman: Classical soprano. I feel like most of her recordings are from multilingual opera or musicals (she was married to Andrew Lloyd Webber for a while), but I'm mostly here for her crossover into operatic pop. Her live shows are about the spectacle -- lush costumes, weird sets, elaborate light effects -- as much as the songs. (Sarah Brightman playlist.)










Savage Garden: Australian '90s soft rock. They went from "bonkers heights of mainstream popularity" to "nobody even brings them up anymore," which, I get it, they're not exactly groundbreaking or innovative, just warm and sweet in a comfortingly consistent way. But they did use their platform to release a pro-queer-polyamory song, and let me remind you this was in the '90s, so give them a little credit. (Savage Garden playlist.)




erinptah: (Default)
Relient K: intentionally-misspelled alt-rock/pop-punk. Started off doing more novelty songs with lots of pop-culture references, slowly trended more serious over the years. Another of those Christian bands who write great nonspecific hurt/comfort anthems -- and the overtly-religious songs include a fun Christmas album and some Narnia filk. It also means their silly songs include a VeggieTales movie theme. (Relient K playlist.)

Silly:









Serious:










Rob Thomas: lead singer of Matchbox 20 taking breaks to work as a solo artist, doing pop-rock with heartfelt emotions and a mainstream-friendly patina of grunge. (Rob Thomas playlist.)













Roger Whittaker: baritone pop-folk ballads and somber anti-war songs. Released from the '60s through the '90s, but somehow they always give me the vibe of "amazingly high-fi recordings of '40s hits." (Roger Whittaker playlist.)





erinptah: (Default)
Owl City: synth-pop electronica by one guy working out of his basement. Lyrics can get wonderfully surreal, dreamy, and/or existentially hopeful. (Owl City playlist. Has a few religious songs.)






(This last one is a great Kaname Godoka theme song.)





Plumb: moody pop-rock by a Christian singer whose songs were a little too Evanescence for the traditional religious market. Lots of lovely, angsty goth-poetry renditions of realistic mental-health issues -- mania, self-harm, abuse recovery. Also, heartfelt love songs. She's the musical equivalent of an h/c romance fic. (Plumb playlist. Fair amount of Christian songs, plus a bunch that work great as intense human/human love songs but were maybe not intended that way.)









Poets of the Fall: Finnish symphonic alt-rock. Not all their stuff gets me, but man, when it does...these are honestly some of my favorite songs. I don't mean from these musicians, I mean from music. (Poets of the Fall playlist.)







If you only listen to one video in this post, make it that last one. The way the music gets subtle and quiet for a bit and then bursts out of the gate soaring is just -- *chef's kiss*
erinptah: Rainbow stained glass (rainbow)
Doing this separately from the regular music-rec posts because, whoo boy, tracking the guy down at all was a Journey.

Peter Donnelly does soft rock/folk pop -- think Dan Fogelberg, but gay romances instead of straight ones. Some of the lyrics get to be more direct and nuanced than any "highly LGBTQ-relatable feelings, but wrapped in a layer of metaphor" songs. Others are sweet and heartfelt without any gender-specificity. Some are just funny or weird. Most of them are really pretty.

...and almost none of them are findable online anymore.

It took a bunch of searching just to find non-dead links about the right Peter Donnelly. This is the one who did A Sure Thing (AllMusic, Amazon, the producer's website) and Express Café (AllMusic Amazon).

Can't stream any of his songs on Amazon or Spotify. Can't get the lyrics...pretty much anywhere. If you have one of the CDs, Windows Media won't be able to identify it. The only audio left on YouTube is "a couple of well-buried shaky-cam videos of live performances" and "this one fanvid I made."

I did finally think to check the Internet Archive -- they have a version of his website from 2013! Which is the only place I found any info about his last album, Road With No End (consider its threadbare Amazon listing). Plus a tiny treasure trove of sample .wma files.

Facebook has a pretty recent live performance (non-embeddable), and reports the duo of Donnelly and Richardson having future gigs as well as past ones. So apparently he's still around. Hasn't changed his name, or died, or anything drastic like that.

He's just...staying way off the internet.

(Feel free to compose your own "and who can blame him" jokes here.)

So at this point you may be thinking "hang on, Erin, you are not exactly a known aficionado of obscure and/or indie music. How do you even know about this guy?"

Well, in the late 2000's he was one of various LGBT+ performers and speakers that my college's Alliance hired to do their thing on-campus.

(About that club name: it started as the Gay/Straight Alliance, then the community acronym started expanding, and somebody with excellent foresight realized we'd be changing the name every few years if we tried to keep up. So we sidestepped that problem by dropping the descriptor at all.)

(Still unimpressed about the time I was trying to get formal authorization for some club thing, the admin person assumed we were the Environmental Alliance, and when I clarified that actually we were the gay one, they went "wait, that's a school-accredited club?" Like it was a surprise.)

Express Cafe cover, signed

So Peter Donnelly set up at the local coffeehouse, and did some songs, and I thought they were great.

I bought both the CDs he was selling! I got them signed! I am so glad I still have that physical evidence, now that it's all dropped off the face of the web!

This whole thing has really driven home that in-person stuff is important. Local community groups are important. Outreach to the people in your area is important. You never know what you're going to be saving for each other.

...I can only find Express Café in my CD rack right now. Went ahead and scanned the whole lyric booklet. If anyone comes across this post looking for Peter Donnelly lyrics and/or Express Café lyrics...here they are, straight from the source:

Express Cafe lyrics, part 1

Express Cafe lyrics, part 2

I did type up the Dangerous Games lyrics -- not long after I bought the album, wow. For the rest of the songs, you'll have to do your own transcriptions.

If I ever find my copy of A Sure Thing, I'll scan the materials from that too.

...and since there's no longer any way to get this audio directly from the artist, or through a sales channel that supports him, I'm just gonna leave these here.

Express Café (full album, plus the cover/back/booklet art, 80.4 MB)
A Sure Thing (partial album, 3/4 of the songs, 46 MB)

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