Beyonce Act II Country Music And The Hypocrisy Of Black Music Standards

March 30, 2024
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INTRO

If you are not aware of it Beyonce has new album out a country album to follow along Renaissance her club and Afro Beats infused album that ran along side her tour also called Renaissance. Wow she’s doing good a successful tour and album with this one following on Act II a Country album which as I will explain is going to break barriers and change the hypocrisy of what people would call black music or associate with black music. I’m actually listening to the album right now for the first time so I will give my review of the album at the end it has 24 tracks on so it’s quite a long one but some of them are short songs. So far the first track is very Shania Twain and the second track is very traditional reminds me a 60s songs I’ve heard it before by a different artist. I must admit I love the fact she’s done it in different act something I would like to do say three different genres but call them chapters or something but linked somehow altogether. Now I think about it the horse on the first album goes well with this album Act II which has a very patriotic western theme  and also has a horse on the album cover. I think it was in all a clever thing to do and makes music interesting again and also dare I say inspiring yeah inspiring. The internet was buzzing with this album with various of funny memes and statements all for the album and some said they put down the Renaissance album and play the crap out of her new album which came out last night 12.00 AM 29/03/2024,  whilst some asked for Act III to come out so they can rotate all three albums. Hang on don’t be a bitch come take it to the floor now HEY lol! I’m on Texas Hold Em I like this one reminiscent of country the melody is catchy. So far I’m getting country music from throughout the decades this one Bodyguard very flowers in her hair style it feels 90s or something you would hear at a festival or light gig it’s very radio friendly too, so far no skips.  Well I was expecting Dolly Parton to be on the album but not as a intro lol that hozzy what a skank we would say. Now I would like to watch Dolly and Beyonce on stage singing Jolene that’s the next track after the Dolly intro. Oh I love it the bleedy sheets on dirty floor or whatever she said very country and upbeat for the next track Daughter, I really like the lyrics for this one called Daughter and the melody. Oooh no sause for Spaghetti the next track a bit of Hip Hop, oh okay like the other album a change up to country music near the end keep it country lol, still no skips Alligator just finished. Well I just finished listening to the album and yeah no skips and a good country album with one or two southern Hip Hop I’m guessing. But I enjoyed the album something I would actually play again if I was in the mood. Will she get her Grammy for this or are they going to say there wasn’t enough traditional pieces in we were find out but check it out if you haven’t already it’s worth a play I would say and not something I would usually go for.  

THE ORIGINS OF COUNTRY MUSIC

The Banjo a well known southern instrument was in fact a instrument made from Western Africans who crossed the Transatlantic in the slave trade and the instrument was made out of gourds, called the Akonting. For Four hundred years the enslaved made their own music including hymns, spirituals, and field song, all with roots in African music. It is said that playing the Banjo in the 1840s was exclusively a Black instrument and was unheard of for a white person to play the banjo. The instrument has had a controversial rise to music fame as in the  In the 1850s, minstrel shows became grossly popular and depicted enslaved Africans as slow, lazy and as cannibals, also it was depicted with Banjos which in affect popularised the Banjo within the white communities inventing the genre Hillbilly music around in the 1920s. Hillbilly music later changed to Country music, first artist drew inspiration from from slave spirituals, field songs, hymns, and the blues, which itself has black origins. Despite America in the 1920s and 1930s being  segregated Hillbilly and black artists would collaborate on songs which became popular and nearly 50 black artists would appear on successful songs with white artists because the music was seen as a black genre but changed hands with white people back and fourth. It was in fact after World War I after 1918 when Hillbilly music got changed to Country music after a big push from the record companies who wanted to start selling Country music but couldn’t due to the race of those artists. The black artists who were signed to a record company in the 1920s was underpaid and didn’t get any recognition. There music was sold on to white artists who were the stand ins and made Country music a white genre with the help of the record companies whose audience favoured middle white America looking people. DeFord Bailey was the one of the first Black musicians to gain recognition and was the first to play the Grand Ole Opry—a big deal for country musicians. His harmonica playing style greatly influenced the country musicians that followed him. Succeeding Bailey was  Charley Pride. As mentioned before, Pride was the first black artist to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and is often referred to as “country music’s first Black superstar.” He served as an inspiration for countless Black musicians. In their tow, Ray Charles was responsible for blending country with R&B and pop music in a way that would forever change the genre. His music also helped fuel the civil rights movement. Bailey, Pride, and Charles are three of the most recognizable Black names in country music, but there are many lesser known names that have also been critical in forming the genre. Gus Cannon was a Black musician who helped popularize jug bands (a precursor to country) in the 1920s and ended up teaching Johnny Cash, a world renowned white country singer. In addition, the guitar fingerpicking style that is largely used in country music today was developed by Black guitarist Leslie Riddle. Still to this day black artists still struggle to get the recognition and acknowledgement they deserve for their work in 2019 rapper Lil Nas’s Rap and Country song Old Town Road was removed from the Country Billboards Charts when Rolling Stone told Billboard, “it does not embrace enough elements of today’s country music to chart in its current version. Also some Country fans accused Lil Nas of cultural appropriation for wearing a cowboy hat but you can’t even wear a pouch without being called Skippy the wannabe kangaroo in my opinion. Beyonce also got in some heat when she released, “Daddy’s Lessons,” in 2016, she faced heavy backlash from the industry despite the fact that the hit single includes all the elements of traditional country music. Even when Beyonce performed “Daddy’s Lessons” at the 2016 Country Music Awards with The Chicks, country fans were enraged and some heckled her one woman said “get that black bitch off the stage.” She additionally submitted the record for a Grammy but was denied. Linda Martell was the first black woman to break into the Country industry and gain success with her 1970s album Colour Me Country it’s hard for black woman to break into the industry and even though there has been a rise in black female country singers in more recent years they are still faced with the same issues.

THE REVOLUATION OF BLACK COUNTRY MUSIC

I really do think it’s revelational as music should be as not only is she opening doors for other Country black artists but she is also reclaiming the lost history and the origins of Country music. There’s a stigma of what people expect of you being black or biracial which is all the urban genres like Hip Hop and Trap here in the UK UK Garage and UK Funky and House which I do actually make but I also like my synthesizers. I’m obsessed with them actually so I make Vapourwave, a bit of Progressive Rock, Synthwave and general synthy vibes which some people would class as white genres but I always said it doesn’t have a colour, I think no genre is White, Black, Asian or other apart from the tribal and traditional stuff from around the world. The boundaries of what people find is black or white is a recurring thing that happens and something I face a little bit in my own life and I think Beyonce’s album Act II is going to break boundaries and the hypocrisy between the races whilst defining the genre in the new form which incorporates other genres such as Hip Hop and other urban genres if it is acknowledge that is. As I said before it would open doors for other black artists who may of come before her and been doing this despite all the backlash and hate that they might get due to it being a white dominated genre. It’s kind of shallow to think that a person doesn’t like anything but Hip Hop and urban genres that’s like saying all Mexican’s drink Tequila and especially when they have strong roots in the genre and was pushed out due to race or race and or being a black woman. I think there is some sort of hypocrisy of what the races identify as being white or black and that is heavily linked in music and the fact the white race are being pushed more then the black race which makes it seem like the white race invented all these genres when really it was passionate black musicians that paved the way for the genre to grow into a mainstream staple diet. There is no denying that things such as colourism and sex has major parts in making it in the music industry and I’m guessing they start where they finish the big wigs I mean who push for what they call desirable and fashion too. Black people are undermined and underpaid and arts are quickly taken away from them and used, as in a video I watched on YouTube as toys just something to play around with and to suit the mainstream audience they are trying to extract money from. I’m sorry to say but most even all of the old white but black singing artists are replacements for the undesirable or what they call undesirable which is black, big nose, big ears and non straight hair again also a thing in fashion and Hollywood. And as we know the south of America and America as a whole can be pretty racists and some do not welcome African and West Indies American descendants into their life or anyone who is not white American. I saw this one example on Facebook this girl took a black boy or young man to the Prom and the mother was f’ing and blinding saying she’s cutting her allowance and even her life insurance she really stomped on her. I was like dang she really doesn’t like black people and she’s going to need that in case she got shot that’s a joke but I think that is the nasty way society is xenophobic and scared of the unknown so they cast it out. I feel there needs to be a lot done when it comes to changing the perception of what music is and the roots of each genre not to mock anyone who came before and paved the way. There is still like ugh you like rock you’re white or any other white based genre. Only once have I experienced slight undertones of racism it was on Tumblr when I used to make a lot of Progressive Rock tracks or call them that even some of them weren’t but anyway he wrote “sorry you ain’t got the long silky hair” and other comments that I thankfully forgot. He was referencing that most of the Progressive Rock bands had long silky straight hair and I was never too be marketed as Progressive Rock as I have a afro, that was it one message read “stick to what you know” as to say this is not the allocated genre for me. It’s funny cos some people actually expect you to stick with the allocated genres like Hip Hop and make a bigger deal if you are of colour even though they are just getting on with it and not trying to be ground-breaking or life changing you actually like that genre and been listening for all your life and was brought up with it. It’s not a well known fact and I don’t really put it as one of genres I like but I like Country. I like Johnny Cash, Dolly Patron, Hank Williams and Pasty Cline or though Pasty Cline’s music reminds me of sitting by the bar drinking myself to oblivion cos my girlfriend cheated on me that’s the feeling I get from her music. But I like country more so when Grand Theft Auto San Andres came out it was one of my favourite but secret favourite stations. Okay it’s not my favourite genre but I enjoy it and actually reminds me of being in a bar or Karaoke night when Johnny Cash the second or Dolly Parton the second takes the stage. Not only that Country is seen as naff or Hillbilly it’s not cool for a young person to listen to Country in the eyes of the young but Beyonce will change that and make it more fashionable. Not only that she’s doing the music industry a big favour by making a Country album as there has been a resurged of Country music in the last couple of years so it works in their favour and music is more inspiring as I said I feel inspired by her two latest albums even though I would never make Country I haven’t got the tools for one or knowledge for two. I like the fact that other black artist incorporate country with other genres like Hip Hop and people who work for Billboards need to start welcoming country infused with other genres for the sake of Country they can always push out the traditional artists too. Hip Hop got turned into Trap which is a Southern America genre but the UK has it’s own spin too, so why not welcome the new styles of Country and allow black artist to shine and make changes instead of being part of the problem. It’s all down to the outside world perception and what they would call black or urban or white if there wasn’t such undertones of racism there would be more balance within the genres and more freedom to express the genres you like without the fear of being laughed at or being laughed at and also make the music you exactly like instead of spitting unmeaningful lyrics or being a stereotype you know you’re not all to fit into your culture. Though this isn’t one sided and comes from all the races and sides which is all tribalism based stuff and a interesting topic to talk about. The basis of real tribalism is working together as a team and putting any race issues aside the old your English I’m English that is one angle. But the Western tribalism is all clicky and you all must look the same to fit into the gang or tribe which translate into music so horribly well. That’s why it’s so important for people like Beyonce to smash a few doors down someone well known and has done the rounds and also respected. Just how many boy bands come after Take That or N’Sync how many Janet and Michael Jackson’s were there. They made music or was in a group that inspired so many people and Beyonce is one of those people and has inspired so many artists out now but granted she has her haters too but who doesn’t. I only said that as I think it would inspire black artist to do a country album or put elements in their songs who wasn’t even diehard country music fans to begin with. Not to mention as I said before it will aid other artists who make Country and put them on the map too and to also tell them to keep following their dreams even though the odds may be against them but now it works more in their favour. Popular music you hear say on the radio, on YouTube Music, Spotify etc etc it’s all been demographically done and should appeal to the massive not just a group of people or though it is marketed at them but it’s marketed for everyone at the same time. That’s why there is no colour when it comes to music genres and the way we consume it or even sex or though artists like the City Girls are pushed for the girls with all those hypersexual lyrics and money money money lines but it can appeal to anyone I liked Twerkalator I would of listened to that more if it was pushed but guess they have gone now. 

My Seven Mental Health Songs

May 10, 2022
I @M SYNTHI@ / LATEST
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MY MENTAL HEALTH JOURNEY

This week is Mental Health Awareness Week here in the UK so I thought I’d do something around mental health and something with music. But before I do that I’d like to talk a little bit about my journey with mental health and where I feel I am today. My experience with hearing voices came from an early age after an unfortunate event in my life I won’t get into but all of a sudden I was hearing voices and I was alone and in my own world for decades before I got help in 2016. But all before that I lived with hearing voices and having paranoid thoughts due to smoking the wrong weed called K2  and other synthetic drugs I didn’t know were synthetic but that was the worse stages of the episodes and thoughts that are invading and can get quite rough. But tIt caused me to act weird which as an embarrassed teen around that time I used to cringe at my outbursts but not now I kind of look pasts that and know I don’t do that and was just the young me trying to survive in the ever-changing world. The silly thing was I never told anyone that I was hearing voices and that was because I felt safe and it was always fun to wake up to do something I was also adventurous and I still am in a way but I was always on the go and loved each day with my dog and the few people I let into my life as I was paranoid but all for the good reasons and at the end of the day kept me safe and off the hard drugs which I’ve never touched and I mean non Class A party drugs like heroin or crack. It was also some other events in my life that made the voices intense to more I’m going die vibes which were fueled by outside thoughts and people it was bad but I always fought the devils and tried to do my best till it got too much and I kind of gave up for the meantime and focused on getting my mental and health together and get over all the things that had happened in the past. In 2016 I was admitted to a hospital ward for psychosis and I’ve been taking medication ever since which helps with the irrational thoughts and the episodes which I am grateful for. I’ve built my confidence up and my memory is getting stronger as I kind of lost my memory or at least I forgot about all the good things and concentrated on the bad which suffocated me and lead me down a dark and lonely path which was hell and somewhere I won’t be going back to as I wouldn’t let it get that bad again oh no. It makes you do outrageous things and the paranoid thoughts are intense and not something I enjoyed especially when smoking weed and taking some drugs which I did bring on myself but I was self-medicating and trying to cope in my own way while making great moves in life but as I said that came as a toll which was the stresses and lifestyle choices equaled to a more unstable me but it wasn’t the work. Somehow the paranoid thoughts got worse and I could no longer feel like I could work or even get out of bed there were days when I wouldn’t even go anywhere and was too paranoid to go to anyone I thought I was being watched and thought everyone was talking about me or wanted to do some sort of harm but to be fair this started at an early age but it came back and got worse each time with stuff I was adding up that didn’t even come up to the right total and now I think about it it was common math problems but being young and unknowing it was hard to judge it right and of course, my mind wasn’t in the right place though I was pretending it didn’t exist in the most difficult situations I choose when to listen to the voices as sometimes the information must have been my sub conscious talking to me like old memories but it came in the form of people in my head talking to me and it was good and bad stuff but mainly a mix of dark and light slash funny stuff.

I have cut off a lot of people I knew in the past like old friends as I wasn’t comfortable being around them and always thought negative thoughts about how they see me and so forth which soon came with evidence now we have grown apart and it’s been a long time so it’s the time apart that did it but no one makes the effort even me as I have seen they didn’t so it was kind of like well I don’t need this and left it for them to get in touch with me if they wanted but some people I left as I do not like to be the donkey of the group and made small because of my beliefs or where I was going or even been which is not here or there but I’ve been to a lot of good places which causes a lot of hate and I have my own band of haters but we all do so apparently it’s normal. Getting rid of toxic people and being with the people that make you happy not like a piece of poop but that is something I had to do to heal myself which was a long and drawn-out process also admitting and wanting the help that comes from you and only when I was ready which was after I was admitted and I realized I couldn’t even go back to the being the local nutter and try to revert back to when I was cooler and calmer which was certain times like being on holiday where it was easy to forget the problems I had but when I didn’t go on holiday which was must years I would go for walks or go out of the city for the day but I don’t really go anywhere nowadays. I’ve been thinking recently and I’m now looking for a change I don’t want fame and never wanted fame but I do want to be comfortable like most people where I don’t have to worry about certain things. But more importantly, I’m alone and looking for something to do instead of being in my room thinking and over making music which I now want to do a bit less which means not every day but I do worry people will forget me quick so that is why I post nearly every day. I mean I do like being alone I’m used to being alone and doing something as I like to be occupied and can’t be sitting down doing anything as I might have oversaid by now but that’s the other reason. I do vow to do something about it though and have made a few arrangements that will hopefully make my life better or worse but I’m a big believer in the new start it does take some work though but when I’m on something I’m on it. The truth is I stagnated for too long and now I’m trying to break out of that shell and try and do something new and hopefully meet more friends or meet old ones but I’m way over that paranoid feeling I’m more I have to grab the bull by the horns times and do it cos I can’t keep up with the isolation routine it’s numbing but I do speak to people though. The stigma of having a mental illness is something that I have also experienced throughout my mental health experience and even though we have come a long way it still is unheard of. I feel people are undermined or looked down on if they have a mental health problem and I also feel no matter how much you hear it can happen and you bet I did it even though I was “ill” like go to university which some people are doubting me because of my illness which is why I can’t forgive these people or want to know them for any more time I mean the haters, okay but my friends and family well I’ve seen enough.

MUSIC AND MY MENTAL HEALTH

From an early age, I used music not only to express myself but also to understand my pains and problems and mental health was one thing I used a lot which started with Queen I’m Going Simply Mad but went to stuff that wasn’t really about mental health but the love fall out and other tracks which I felt helped me to understand and overcome some of my problems. This is why I believe in music healing and believe songs can unlock your heartache and cure it. Of course, the dark side to it which there was a dark side on some tracks made me think more negative let’s just say but I tend to stay away from the negative songs and concentrate on the more club and of course, the ladies in the 90s rap game which I found helped me with some of the problems like haters. I played the keyboard and write silly songs and poems about my feelings growing up and that also helped me with my problems but that was inspired by the 90s heartbreak songs the point where I felt low due to my voices in the early 90s. It wasn’t really I’m going to sit down and listen to these songs and feel I was in the room and heard it and thought how I could use more of this in my life. When I listen to music I like to remember things and think music is good for bringing back your memory and the right song like that obscure song you were obsessed about or that one-hit-wonder you used to hit the town with which puts me in a sort of delusional state as it was so long ago and a one-off moment in time you say that was the best I’ll never forget but decades down the line you can hardly remember what day it is or some times how old you are I’m now 37. There is always that one song that stays with you but there are lots of songs that can strike memories the more decades you go back you can kind of see the past but it’s a quick flash to the past sometimes I’m standing in the room and that is due to heavy isolation way before they were doing it lol. I mean I use music for everything and listen to it a lot in my downtime when I’m not making music which I also listen to but I’ve recently started getting back into music from other people like from yesteryear and beyond and it’s surprising what I remember. I have a few playlists on my hub if you want to listen to them, it’s in the Testing Site section and it’s called Jukebox. Thankfully liking music helped me grow tastes that were different but it always helped me express how I was feeling which was always a good outlet to let it all go and as I said make me remember the younger me which was a chaotic time for me. My favorite genres for helping with mental health has to be House, R’n’B, and Hip Hop, and those are the three that helped me but in earlier years dance music from the 80s to 2005 and the old house helped me to understand people. That’s the thing I also think it’s good for younger people and kids to understand the world but people I mean I can play a track and feel like they were talking about someone I knew as it was so universal in the laungeue of hate or whatever it was. I mean I feel some people look down at their nose too much House is too gay, or some R’n’B is just for the ladies it’s just music, and as long as it does something like keep you going it’s a good thing as long as you like it that’s all that matters.  

Reggae from the 70s really helped me overcome problems I mean if you really want a genre that ticks all the boxes for mental health struggles reggae is the answer I mean it’s all about feelings and how they feel about situations and statements which I do miss having statements in fashion and in also music only cos everyone had their own identity or there were groups who dress a certain way but also have their own lifestyle. But reggae always made me happy and reminds me of a lot of good times it’s also good for chilling at home on a sunny day of course. I remember the words like kicking them to the curb which is something I still do to this day but I remember it like I was taking the advice of the drunk stranger if you excuse the phrase who would get drunk and tell you your truths as your ride home from the youth club it was sort of like that or though I thought that was a drastic thing to do at the time I got stronger. Sometimes I found myself kicking myself for not going with my gut when I listened to that one song so I did find it useful I will be like I’m going to be the next Fast Lane victim washed up on the streets and so forth or dealing with the haters which I have had a few. Listening to positive music helps with your mental health and can do great things for you I mean the one song I can think of well two actually is I Will Survive or Survoir which are two songs that seem to talk about a woman’s pains it could be anybody but granted I Will Survive is the more woman’s anthem but they are two songs anybody could listen to that will make you see the positive side if you ain’t feeling sorry for yourself and that is somewhere I have been but will never go that low again cos at the end of the day happiness does come from within and that means keeping yourself happy at all costs but not your kids though just throw that in there. I don’t really listen to sad songs when I’m down no more I just sit there it’s best not to feed it positive or negative emotion as it does lead to funny consequences and all that whatever talk just looks silly especially when you are not in the right state of mind I mean silence is something I begin to like and when I’m bored I have nothing else to do but to sit in silence but I think its good to have a bit of silence I mean I used to go the woods with my dog and just chill there and listen to the birds and watch the sky it’s really nice to get out and enjoy nature and have that alone time-space you probably won’t found in a city but that could be listening to music too. What I also like about music and mental health is it brings people together and it’s easier to talk about your problems there have been times in the past where I’ve seen a comment a low person on a sad song but it was either a desperate cry for attention or just someone lost but I was taken back by the sensible responses to the post and be like it’s still a caring world or it was now it’s getting sinister and remotely childish but less said about that but that’s the other thing social media is draining our souls and trust me I love all the platforms even though I’m never or never will be on them as I would probably struggle to found an audience and also I’m really not looking for celebrity status lol which I’m not saying I would have but I’m happy working in the back it somewhere I’ve always been in the back doing something either something that seemed pointless or something creative. I will leave a playlist that has a mental health theme to it and there is a couple about being lonely which goes with this year’s mental health theme which started yesterday 09/05/2022 and runs for a week here in the UK but there is a World Mental Health Day on the 10th October so if I can I do another blog post as it’s something close to my heart. hopefully, there’s a theme you know I love my themes and always doing something theme-based or I used to do.            

Why I Love 80’s Music

February 27, 2022
I @M SYNTHI@
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Some say the 80s music wasn’t that good and was naff which I beg to differ and think there were loads of songs out that were good and tracks I still like to this day. I was born in the 80s and even though I was too young to remember or understand the context of tracks I still enjoyed them and the more I got older the more I understood and realized how good music was. I make music in my spare time and I feel if it wasn’t for the 80s and 90s my music taste would have been different and is where I get my obsession with synthesizers which is 70s too and House which was the 80s phenomenon that exploded and is still here and are the most popular and influential genre that and Drum & Bass. What I also liked about the 80s music was the fact there was so much good stuff and seemed the world was making music there was so much obscure stuff not just from your favorite artists but people you would have never heard of or heard of again yes there was a lot of one-hit wonders and some of them was naff but the beats though. That reminds me people say or said that some of it was too naff and the content was a bit cheesy but the beats were classic and seemed like Electro-Funk but I love my Rare Groove the hits that came from that genre alone which know seems like 80s Pop but whatever it was still good no matter how cheesy it seemed to people. Even though I listened to the mainstream on the radio and tapes and later CD there was a lot of underground artists that I used to listen to from the Electro-Funk and New Groove genres going from pillar to post I heard a lot of music some I would never hear again until I come across it someday like some of them thanks for sharing them. How innocent it was there was no swearing or sex overdrive content which is happening now and all over the place but there would have been a Mary Whitehouse figure who would have brought down the hammer and made actions against this new crisis swiping our neighbourhood. Compared to 90s music where it had a dramatic revamp with gangster rap and R’n’B which I’m surprised some of the lyrics got through as they were racy back then it was all love and candles and wetness but yes compared to the 90s 80s music seemed innocent and all fun and energetic which is why I love 80s music as a whole it was lively not all of it though there was a lot of ballads too which I also like. I have to say it was quite stylish which was fitting for the era and there was a lot of fashion moments from the 80s that people still wear today and it comes back around but it wasn’t the best era for fashion I mean bright colors and baggy stuff and big hair it was all about the hair, hair was a big thing back then.  

The thing that really impressed me and is what I love is Electro Funk and Electro Boogaloo that is my obsession and is something I really love but never can find the right tracks. When I was younger I used to listen to them and think I will make something like this one day and I do every now and then at least the backdrop to the songs but I love Electro from the 80s and I’m still not sure what to call it as it has rap in but it’s listed under something else stuff like off Wildstyle off GTA Vice City that is my favorite genre from the 80s and I can listen to that all day. The main artist I listened to when I was younger was the four main artists from the 80s Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Prince and Queen but all the artists from the early 80s and 70s and 60s were the main four I listened to a lot. There are tracks that I got bored of though and that’s thanks to radio play and overplaying it myself I won’t name any names but there are a few I no longer play and retired for now. In my spare time, I liked to hunt for obscure tracks I had forgotten and go through lists of tracks to find the best ones which take a lot of time but it’s worth it I feel. I remember Sundays being Top 40 on the radio and Friday was Top Of The Pops which were two shows I used to tune into and did for two decades before it got boring and I had other options but Friday and Sunday were the music days for me. Other than New Groove, Electro, and Rap I love 80s House and there is so much of it that was released from 1985 onwards and I noticed but never released that the tracks from the 80s were rereleased from 2011 and were some of the most famous House tracks. The rave scene that populated the mid-80s which is still a living thing till this day but more over ground was a once in a lifetime thing and though it is long gone it is remembered by some as the most memorable thing to come out of the 80s with the music scene that went alongside it and if it wasn’t for the Chicago House scene there wouldn’t be much of a House scene at the very least as there was a lot of genres that was made during or after House that populated rave scenes but House was the first scene to break into this world.

Nuclear Dreams

February 21, 2022
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About two years ago I was having some weird dreams about being in a nuclear attack and I had about six dreams altogether which I think are anxiety dreams which I’m unsure what they are really about. I made two EPs now which one wasn’t that good in sound quality, so I redid it and this blog post is about those dreams I was having. I’ve had a few dreams now where I was in some sort of war zone and being attacked which I think is from all the terror attacks and all the other stresses of the world that have gotten to me. It mainly happens when I don’t smoke and haven’t got any which is interesting as the times I don’t smoke is the times I would get the same sort of dreams but in different places and like all dreams they move so quickly and rapidly from one place to the next and can get very dark and strange. I was trying to find out what it means and I got no answer it could be repressed anger or it could be dissatisfaction it is just to be known but they were cool and the best bit is waking up and knowing it was just a dream and I can go back to sleep or get up but yeah they were scary being in them and would dread the day hopefully that will never happen again. I’m rewriting this from memory and my old tracklists of the old EP I did so it may be jumpy like my dream. 

The first bit I remember was being in a hut which was like in the country and somewhere foreign. The door was open and we were talking I was about to leave the hut when suddenly I saw a mushroom cloud in the background with a massive bang which scared all of us. After the explosion we saw people leave their huts and make their way to where the explosion happened around a mile away, we were not so far behind. We made our way to what seemed like a field and there were lots of people standing around panicking and wondering what was going to happen next when suddenly there was another explosion but this time around a statue which there was a bright flash which nearly blinded us and then it was all burnt and marble looking which people rushed to put out the fire and panic some more. Whilst this was going on they were moving the cattle to a safer place which I suggested and was over the hill and kind of like the Elephant Graveyard in Lion King in all sense in distant and visual wise. They didn’t want to go but they knew it was best and started moving the cattle and dogs to the safer ground whilst we talked about what was happening and what we were going to do and it was suggested the only place safe was where they were taking the animals to the Elephant Graveyard like place which was around 100 miles but you could just see it in the distant where the sun was setting.  

The next bit gets weird cruel and eerie as for some reason the dream moves on to a stadium I’m unsure if someone said to go there or if it just went there but I was there not with the same people and we were in a stadium which was like a baseball stadium it’s out of a game which I can’t think of the name it’s a shooting game and you have to sneak up to the alarms and disable them but you are in a stadium and it looked a lot like that all dingy and dark looking. We were quite a way up in the seating area of the stadium and I could see Vladimir Putin talking on the mic and there was a dog next to him. He was standing next to what looked like a dock with water all around him and he was standing at the foot of the water but in a dry area. There was some dispute about what Putin said and all of a sudden he pressed a button and another explosion happened in the background and was another mushroom cloud which was around 100 miles and could be seen in the far distance. There was another argument this time what to do with the injured dog that was next to Putin as there was no room for any injured animals or even people so to everyone’s surprise Putin drowned the dog in the water and everyone including myself rushed off in all sorts of directions to stop us from seeing the final blow. 

The next bit changed quickly after that and was outside the council building which is a Civic Centre and no one was around no one was on the street walking or driving on the roads it was deserted. There was a building that used to be the old council building for nonworkers seen in the distance of the picture which was open. The door was usually automatic but this time it was wide open so I go and see if anyone else is around and to my surprise, there wasn’t and was just an empty reception and an empty waiting area which was always busy and full of people so it was weird to see the place like that and felt like a bank just before it closes empty and still which is different if you go there midday or in the morning or even afternoon. I took a look around to see if anyone was around but before I could look in the offices there was someone behind me I didn’t know who it was and didn’t hang around to see who it was or what they were about to do and was back on the street before I knew it. 

The last part of the dream was with my gran and my friend from school who we just bumped into each other or maybe we were just with each other as dreams are rapid. There was news of another nuclear attack and we had to get out the way by going to the Highlands in Scotland which was the safest place to be. There were other people there and so was my dog Patch people didn’t want her coming on the bus to the Highlands so I and my friend got on the next bus which was a couple of minutes after the first bus so it was not that long to wait. When we got there we were led to a cottage to rest but we didn’t have time as there was another explosion but no mushroom cloud and we all rushed to the evacuation hut which was in the garden and that’s when the story ended. There was probably lots more to the dreams and were on all different days but I had to write it down somehow.  As I said I’ve made two EPs about the nuclear dreams I had and one can be found on all major platforms and the other on Bandcamp.  

Nuclear Mix

The Way – Mangotsfield Station

February 20, 2022
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Walking Midnight

I went for a walk around my area late at night to Mangotsfield Station I was bored and wanted something to do so I decided to take a walk and see what I was inspired by seems silly but it’s actually a good one to do. There is a lot of different places to go around my area and it’s not that far from each other I have to take buses though and I hate to do that I like walking but don’t actually like to walk that far well I can but hate when my feet get sore and I’m hopping home with painful feet but it’s alright I suppose lol I actually love it.  I went to the cycle track which was a railway station and a dramway for the coal mine at one point which is also not that far from the train station but it was too dark to take pictures so I didn’t venture that far. The place could be haunted though I don’t believe in ghosts but in one of the pictures there was some strange mist in the centre of the shot I didn’t photoshop it and came out like that but lucky I don’t believe in ghosts as I would of been out there in a flash. Oh thanks to the person who asked me if I needed a bit of assistance  with the flash though it wasn’t necessary you get a shout for being so nice  and my creative needs puts me in all sorts of predicaments, lol but it’s always safe mostly. Just for people who don’t know what a dramway is it’s a old horse and cart with  tracks sort of like a analogue tram that carted coal and other things to the heart of the city of Bristol but mainly coal. They say the horses from the underground coal mines never saw the light of day and spent their time underground which makes me feel sorry for them but I hope they had a comfy life but I really doubt that. If you are into trains and you don’t live local but local enough or if you are in the area come to Mangotsfield in Bristol and see the station in the day time as you will be able to see it in all it’s light and all the tunnels that once ran trains. It’s really old and was built in 1869 and ran until the 1960s when it closed for good and became abandoned but is now part of the cycle track.

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