robertsona: weeklong musicwriting soulcycle class for JUSTICE

robertsona 08.24.23	AUGUST 24 PROMPT: Write 100 words about the scariest piece of music. You have until noon August 25. Total funds for the week will be all submissions$.50 plus 7 daily winners$1 plus one overall winning player*$10. Format: "Artist - Song Title [100 beautiful words]"
robertsona 08.24.23	Oh also I’d like to see you sincerely do your best.
Kompys2000 08.24.23	Oh gosh I kinda don't do scary but will try my best Great competition idea hope ppl do it
robertsona 08.24.23	we’re all just having a blast
JohnnyoftheWell 08.24.23	word blast! do hyphenated compounds count as one word for this
JohnnyoftheWell 08.24.23	assuming a "yes" to the above, then Aphex Twin - Gwarek2 Genuinely "scary" music is an odd concept - the powerlessness of fear doesn't really jive with listener consent and situational dislocation. Consumerism is too empowering for this prompt! That said, "Gwarek2"'s dark ambient collage is definitely DISCONCERTING, 'full' (gaseously so) of things that could be scary: disembodied screams, torturous clickerings and ratchetings, ASMR shithole timbre-prangs, oh-my-god-what-is-hatching-from-that-eggs, metal poles grazing the dead skin of Cthulhian concrete beasts in slow motion, plus one or two actual chords. Courtesy of one fateful headphone nap that saw an inopportunely shuffled "Gwarek2" half-rouse me into a state of paralytic liminal terror, this does manifest fear.
robertsona 08.24.23	I’m legit just goin by wordcounter dot com and will probably allow a margin of error if I like you. Thank you for the very first submission Johnny! $.50 on the board
Havey 08.24.23	some counters will count a hyphen as a word if it's used like a dash surrounded by spaces this might be why johnny thinks he wrote 100 words when he really only wrote 99 lol
granitenotebook 08.24.23	Pharmakon - Body Betrays Itself One night as a college freshman, my friends and I were collectively trying to creep each other out. Sitting in the dark after successfully spooking some of our members, someone asked if anyone knew any scary music. A friend played some Pink Floyd track - I internally scoffed and offered this one up. It immediately killed the vibe. My own barely-post-pubescent inability to read social cues aside, that happened because this song is legitimately unsettling, a screaming, blood-curdling mess, something I never listen to on my own. I tried in vain to convince them that was true.
granitenotebook 08.24.23	really putting my complete lack of exposure to anything even vaguely spooky on blast here but hey its for the kids
robertsona 08.24.23	$1 up on the boards. Don’t worry we got some posivibes prompts on the way too
PitchforkArms 08.24.23	I know this is supposed to be an exercise in writing, but I can't help but take it as a week long exercise is finding the song I think best fits the prompt for me
Azazzel 08.24.23	Cool-pink October skies blanket a thin sedge meadow cornered by bramble, leaves rustle and twigs crinkle. You put your phone back in your pocket. You have 3% battery and sunlight. You're pretty sure the elm spotted heather ahead cuts west back to the trail. A streak of silver catches your eye, straining to your right it squints up and down, now closer. Wailing from the treeline a shadow emerges suddenly - it takes you a split second process. Half the distance between has disappeared - severed by glinting white death. The coroner report the following day reads, Cause of Death: Khanate
robertsona 08.24.23	Ah yeah hell yeah love these. Hope the submissions thus far being a positive reinforcing energy and those who are on the fence just pull up from 3 with full abandon $1.50
bellovddd 08.25.23	Blue October – The End Whilst the scariest thing as children is what’s hiding in the dark, as adults we learn the real horror lies within our minds. What happens when one reaches a point of no return and everything he once had has been torn down around him? Do you succumb to your own weakness and end it all or do you take back what is yours and make sure no one can take it from you again? The End is what happens when one man reaches breaking point and forces himself to take back control of his life, the only way he knows.
bellovddd 08.25.23	im not sure if i am late or even did this right but happy to help kids out!
robertsona 08.25.23	$2. The response period for the prompt as written in the first comment (all subsequent prompts will follow that format) ends noon EST tomorrow August 25
robertsona 08.25.23	12 hours til august 24 prompt closed (see first comment) Next one opens noon Four submissions thus far for Prompt 1
DadKungFu 08.25.23	Might be my favorite idea anyone's done on sputnik this is great
BitterJalapenoJr 08.25.23	Fuck it - had a bash. Autechre – spTh Within the murky quagmire of butchered squelch we know as Autechre, the material ranges from beautifully serene to downright terrifying. An example of the latter is the feverish “spTh”. Packed with abrupt pulses of dissonant glitch, it exists as the auditory equivalent to walking through an abandoned nuclear plant, overgrown with radioactive, carnivorous vegetation while simultaneously being hunted by your most heinous regrets, each in a lucid, near-physical format. Frail, ticking rhythms provide mounting tension, ensuring you are aware that your fragile and futile existence is in increasing jeopardy with each further step. It’s the sound of the end times.
pizzamachine 08.25.23	Darko (US) - Oni Like a nightmare on drugs, Darko brings the pain of alien rape to the ears of humans. It is barely an enjoyable experience as the wiggles of the psychosis inducing tentacles pair with their relentlessly foreign screams. The sound permeates to the degree of turning insane children from men. The wiggles continue to persist. There is no escape, only succumbing to the sheer terror of being plucked by an unknown species into their thirsty, slippery hands. As the tickling never seems to end, we begin to consider if this is our destiny. You wonder if you are secretly enjoying this…
robertsona 08.25.23	AUGUST 24 PROMPT CLOSED. AUGUST 25 PROMPT, 24 HOURS: Write 100 words about the song you’d play as a SoulCycle instructor. (You can write about that latter element, but it’s more a prompt to get you to think of the song, and then write what you want about it.) Prompt 1 winner revealed soon
DadKungFu 08.25.23	The word SoulCycle carries with it a bitter irony, as the word "soul" is to be found nowhere in that absolute void of a concept. It’s detached, an image recalling fond childhood memories when the idea of the soul felt coherent. The postulating that the soul not only exists, but that it can be accessed through simulated bicycling reveals an utter depravity. Suicide Deluxe by dreamcrusher is a sensory crush of that void, a throbbing, blaring, demonic emptiness underneath layers of glitter, screaming its gleeful lie: YES THERE IS A SOUL, AND IF YOU PEDAL FAST ENOUGH, YOU CAN TOUCH IT.
robertsona 08.25.23	Will hand out the $1 daily prize when home. 7 total responses = $3.50 on the response front purely. Will be giving feedback of some sort to the daily winner (6 Prompt 1 submissions) and anyone who asks/ed
granitenotebook 08.25.23	Jessie J - Domino (Myon and Shane Extended Remix) "Domino" on its own is already a pulsating rush of a song, but this mix takes it to another level. Capitalizing on that rare cross-section between perfect pop and perfect EDM, it manages to do nothing but ascend for the first half, falling back into basic fast-paced house for the second verse just in time to prevent heat exhaustion, then rides right back into upward momentum. It's the perfect track to give you that extra boost you'll need if you want to keep moving your legs for just seven more minutes.
JohnnyoftheWell 08.25.23	Up on the bike, consume one mouthful of Lucozade, take one deep breath, prepare body, say prayer I GO HARD, I GO FAST, AND I NEVER LOOK BACK, I GO SPEEDIN' ON THE HIGHWAY, BURN RUBBER NO CRASH, TURN YOUR VOLUMEUPINTHE PARTY PUT YOUR HANDS UP AND DANCE, take one breath, adjust posture, and BUMP, BUMP IN THE RAVE, GO FOREVER AND EVER AND wipe brow, shift buttocks, manifest your target, prepare for BOUNCE, NEVER SLEEP, keep it together now, PUSH IT ALL ON REPEAT time to find the real you, the you capable of, uh it's - - it's Charli, baby.
JohnnyoftheWell 08.25.23	(probably do not need to point out that i have never soulcycled)
robertsona 08.26.23	Johnny wins the $1 award for Prompt #1 August 24 I highlighted the end of the first sentence of his prompt and commented, "I agree and like your probing of the prompt, as with my friend Will Noah saying that asking for "100 words on a favorite still from one of your favorite movies" (Double Exposure Columbia University 2014 I've been doing this shit for years) was like asking for a good picture of your favorite snowglobe or something. Wait maybe it was a taxidermy stuffed animal of your favorite pet. I also think most artists just don't put insanely loud scary shit on their albums, but the point about consent (including volume control, which I guess is not always possible, though it usually is with faves) is well taken." And then I highlighted the end of his piece and commented: "At first I wondered why you didn't just start with saying that Gwarek2 is full of disconcerting things, but this last sentence (where the existence AND rarity of the non-agreed upon fearmusic experience are QED'd equally) makes it feel kind of smart." 6 Prompt 1 submissions = $3 + $1 Johnny award = $4 3 Prompt 2 submissions = $1.50 total donation: $5.50
robertsona 08.26.23	I'mma listen to the songs now. Yeah that's right. I'll probably do it before/during next time but I am listening to them.
robertsona 08.26.23	Ok pizza if I’m feeling you you made me laugh. Or I’m confused or listened to the wrong song. Or anything. But I’m bumping you up to amazing job either way. Smoke weed yall the autechre song was scary and great
robertsona 08.26.23	Johnny’s aphex song really reminded me of karlheinz stockhausen The pharmakon song feels manageable to me but it’s a hilarious image—I liked your matter-of-fact reportage, and it is loud. I wonder how they would have liked the Autechre song… Comments on others coming soon
robertsona 08.26.23	I can send anyone notes on their pieces Azazzel what’s the khanate song called That blue october song was crazy
robertsona 08.26.23	Prompt 2 is closed. Results soon—3 entries. AUGUST 26 PROMPT: write 100 words about a song that 1) reminds you of the idea of a beautiful person 2) reminds you of a specific beautiful person 3) was shown to you by a beautiful person REFERRAL BONUS: for today only, if you refer someone to this list who has not already written a piece and they say you referred them you both get a $.50 bonus, regardless of whether the referrer today writes a piece. If Johnny refers and mort and Johnny write a piece you get $2. If just mort writes one, $1.50 for the referred piece. Enjoy! Ends at 2PM august 27 tomorrow Listening to prompt 2 songs and submissions now
robertsona 08.26.23	The winner for Prompt 2 is indeed Johnny. Johnny has his flaws but I thought he wrote the best one by a little bit both days. The song definitely slams most but the Jessie J remix is kinda weirdly good too and you gotta respect brooklyn OG the CRUSHER. Here are some generalized tips: --you should have in SOME part of your mind some fake audience member who hasn't heard the song. I feel like somehow no matter what me alex will be more interested if it's always clear why you're doing the tree metaphor, what in the song makes you think tree. definitely the biggest tip, and fully rooted in my initiatives as a high school english teacher. prove it. show me evidence. you have 100 words. muahaha --if you're saying something is "soul-destroying" that's how you do that phrase not "soul destroying". certain such combinations are so uncommon that you feel like you're making up a frankenstein word but I think it's better to use the hyphen --very much a corollary to #1 but if you're doing imagery make sure it's revealing something about the music. think about how far you're diving into a simile, at what point the niceties of the simile are taking over its explanatory power --make sure your sentences are grammatically consistent, that phrases which start with a pattern of an "-ing" verb don't switch in a structurally key place to infinitives, be careful with what they call dangling modifiers, etc. everything's gotta "match" --HOT TIP: look at the 100 words you wrote and ruthlessly decide that you started /really/ talking about the music and using your words effectively at some point after the first word instead of doing thematic handwaving and ruthlessly cut every word before that point. --if you use "that"/"this" as a demonstrative pronoun with a referent in a previous sentence/part of a sentence you should always add a word so that it's "that/this DECISION/ELEMENT/CHORD/VOICE CRACK" instead --be careful with semicolons and commas --I liked the little "twist"/"surprise" in granite's Pharmakon piece, where what I thought would be a story of social success or at least cool subversion was just kinda weird and sad. that element of a twist... -alex
DadKungFu 08.26.23	Boss im just spitting out impressions conjured by props if youre popping on your english teacher glasses i'll indent my paras and plop my thesis statement at the end of my intro
robertsona 08.26.23	Nah that’s fair but I’m too confused to distribute particular tips to the people who wanted it my life is crazy but I gotta commit here my compromise
robertsona 08.26.23	This is soulcycle.
JohnnyoftheWell 08.27.23	When I was sixteen, I had a short but crippling infatuation with my high school drama teacher: unsolicited, unreciprocated, unacknowledged, and therefore about as healthy as such things get. In this position, an unhappy chappy has little option but to mooch and burn his misplaced affections on the bonfire of his own uselessness, and oh baby did this innocuous little piano interlude fan those flames with its somewhat hackneyed motifs, reek of listless pathos, and treacherous sense of solace. We're not supposed to crush on teachers or binge interludes on repeat - you tell me which is the more pathetic transgression. dredg - Walk in the Park wanna see some ATTENDANCE !!
Kompys2000 08.27.23	Here's what's beautiful: archetypes! "Second Child" is SUCH an archetype- a real brisk jangly urgent HOTHEADED AND STARRY-EYED song. Intimations of religious angst, of (estranged or otherwise exasperated) families who just don't know what to do with their little rebel- got a face yet? The face I got is solidly top 10 most beautiful I've managed to directly interact with. We bonded over this song a bit one night at the shithouse fast food job we shared, and I listened to it afterwards, marvelling at how knowable its appeal was, how easy, now, to imagine her listening, hearing a self. The Oh Hellos - Second Child, Restless Child
DadKungFu 08.27.23	Will do my best to have one more today, just might not be able to til the next prompt
Manatea 08.27.23	Referred to me by DadKungFu and also by JOTW. I hope I get this right. This is gonna sound stupid and semtimental but it’s what I thought of. Taylor Swift - Wildest Dreams Long ago, I was devoid of any real ability to court women. I still am, but by some strange turn of events, I managed to find my wife. Eight years later, I can’t possibly think of anyone I would rather spend my life with. When I hear this song, it’s a reminder of not only my love for her, but also how fleetingly short it is in the grand scale of time. We both have so much life left, but you can bet that the day she goes, I’ll be staring at the sunset seeing her in my wildest dreams.
someone 08.27.23	can i just send you money and not have to follow this? i couldn't even arse myself to finish the reviews i did want to write with no stipulations...
JohnnyoftheWell 08.27.23	this is a WORKSHOP someone improve your attitude justdoit
someone 08.27.23	yeesh alright, ill wait till sona's prompt for the 27th
robertsona 08.27.23	let’s fucking go
anarchistfish 08.27.23	im down
robertsona 08.27.23	PROMPT 3 (beautiful person) IS CLOSED AUGUST 27 PROMPT is to write 100 words about a song you think is innovative but genuinely underrated in a music-historical sense: your personal entry to the “canon”—this underrated song is IMPORTANT, goddamnit! No referral bonus for today. Prompt 3 results coming This new prompt ends 4PM august 27
BitterJalapenoJr 08.27.23	The Beatles – I Feel Fine Do you fuckers like feedback? Yeah, you fucking do, don’t you? You like it a lot. The “Fab Four” may be universally renowned for their influence on popular music as we all know it today, but did you know this song was the first charting single to feature the deliberate utilisation of guitar feedback and one of the earliest examples put on wax? Maybe you did know but if you didn’t know, you fucking know now. All you feedback-loving fucks owe it to John Lennon for absent-mindedly leaving his guitar leaning against his amplifier on the 18th of October 1964.
Manatea 08.28.23	Led Zeppelin - Kashmir When you think of Led Zeppelin, you probably think of “Stairway” or “Black Dog.” One of their finest achievements, though, is “Kashmir.” Progressive without being overbearing, dark without being depressing, and majestic but not gaudy, this song is everything that defined progressive rock in the 1970s. The complexity is subtly layered, and it’s the type of recording that could be enjoyed by critic and layman alike. The silky polyrhythms effortlessly blend with the orchestral arrangements, with a Middle Eastern flair that defied norms of the time and stands strong today.
granitenotebook 08.28.23	"How We Gonna Make The Black Nation Rise?" - Brother D with Collective Effort Hip-hop's revolutionary history is often brushed under the rug. Even ignoring the genre's origins, this track is recorded proof of explicit politics one year post-"Rapper's Delight." With verses by a variety of men and women ("Collective Effort") on the meaning of being pro-Black, the horrors of American imperialism, the consequences of stagnation, and two memorable hooks/calls to action - "Agitate, educate, and organize!" and "We won't take no more!" - it resonates even today. To top it off, these are exciting and charismatic vocalists, layered over an immortal Cheryl Lynn sample, giving weight to a message that echoes through the ages.
DadKungFu 08.28.23	"Intuition" - Lennie Tristano We all know which album most of us think of when we pinpoint a birth of free jazz, but a languishing, uncelebrated little speck of brilliance finds itself nudging the peripheries of the history of “free improvisation”. Lennie Tristano’s little 1949 experiment barely made it out of the studio: Capitol Records nearly binned it, and erased other recordings made with the same improvisatory theme. Intuition was sketched out with some indications of sequence of players, timing and an ending; the rest was a spontaneously conjured exercise in counterpoint that plays as shockingly smooth for an exercise in spontaneity and freedom.
robertsona 08.28.23	Beautiful. I’ll have to do a lot while home, but know that above all every entry counts even if I’m a lil slow with it This prompt closes 4PM EST
robertsona 08.28.23	Catching up tonight AUGUST 28 PROMPT (#5): pick a favorite writer of yours. Have THEM write about your most listened-to song this year. 100 words. Yeah, identify the writer Prompt closes Aug 29 5PM
robertsona 08.29.23	The winner of prompt 3 is Kompys. Maybe the desire to use interesting words does battle a bit with the goal of establishing the archetype to which this song supposedly cleaves in the first part, and maybe I'm not sure why the families' being estranged and exasperated is parenthesed. But that's about it; the ending is beautiful. Leaderboard: Johnny: $3.50 granitenotebook: $2.50 DadKungFu: $1.50 Kompys: $1.50 Manatea: $1.50 BitterJalapenoJr: $1 Azazzel: $.50 pizzamachine: $.50 bellovddd: $.50 Updating in a second after I read Prompt 4 submissions. Edit: updated
robertsona 08.29.23	giving the Prompt 4 nod to granitenotebook for the seamless threading-together of history, genre analysis, and small-scale musical details
Kompys2000 08.29.23	Granites thingy made me want to listen to the song the most of any of these so far
robertsona 08.29.23	It’s a great song, found it on RYM years ago. Although it’s “just ‘Got to Be Real’” to an unusual extent lol. Banger tho
BitterJalapenoJr 08.29.23	Modest Mouse - 3rd Planet As I listen, I'm conflicted by my present-day love for the self-indulgent loathing "3rd Planet" provides and the burning hatred simultaneously revoked by memories of its later impersonators. Forever tattooed to my brain are innumerable visions of meaningless nights in fusty, sleazy student unions, watching my collective peers mentally ejaculate over each of its innumerable copycats for which I disdainfully refused to find enjoyment. Why now, only in retrospect, do I find inexplicable beauty in a relic which created mass appeal beyond its own intent? A fraud, incapable of anything but a disingenuous rebuttal of popularity. I loved to hate.
JohnnyoftheWell 08.29.23	sorry, so the current round is cosplay writing over our most played 2023 track?
BitterJalapenoJr 08.29.23	That's what I took from it although I just used a song that would have been quite high up to provide variety as I didn't want to bore everyone with Autechre again.
robertsona 08.29.23	My idea was yeah you pick Robert Christgau or Anne Carson or James Joyce or Aristotle and see what they think. But just “top song of 2023, 100 words” makes sense Would love to know what writer you are emulating if the former
DadKungFu 08.29.23	q: we closing at 4 today or noon?
BitterJalapenoJr 08.29.23	Funnily enough, it was a poor attempt at emulating Joyce's freeflowing and descriptive language but with my own thoughts on the song.
DadKungFu 08.29.23	Hello Earth, in the style of Plato Socrates: So you assert then, Fantanes, that Running Up That Hill is the greatest song from Hounds of Love? Fantanes: I do, Socrates. Socrates: Undoubtedly you are right! But how is it, Fantanes, that Hello Earth has a Georgian choir and Running Up That Hill does not? Fantanes: I do not know, Socrates. Socrates: Nor I. But isn’t it known that a Georgian choir greatly elevates every piece of music? Fantanes: Yes, Socrates. Socrates: And is it not also true that Kate Bush is best when she’s haunting and wistful? Fantanes: Yes… Socrates: Therefore, Hello Earth is truly the greatest song from Hounds of Love. Fantanes: I fucking guess
robertsona 08.29.23	this prompt closes 5PM est today
someone 08.29.23	Protomartyr - Rain Garden in the style of Samuel Delany Must’ve been this June or so, can’t really recall, time's blurry these days. The naked twink on the bed shudders, ‘turn that damn noise off.’ ‘Piss off, boy,’ I say, ‘tis damn music, alright.’ ‘It ain’t no music,’ he says, ‘turn it off.’ ‘How you suddenly get all assertive,’ I ask. ‘Hey, why the noisy pastor now sings about love, that don’t make sense,’ goes the twink. ‘It make sense, if you’d listened.’ ‘He sounds like a cult leader whose cult didn’t work out.’ ‘I’mma fuck you sideways and not in a fun way this time.’ The twink shudders again.
robertsona 08.29.23	Lmaooooo lovely
Manatea 08.29.23	Mine is coming. My essays suck but I’m doing it for the charity son
fogza 08.29.23	Feeble Little Horse - Steamroller In the style of Bukowski creep quietly down the hall with the ringing tone of her shame, and, well, disappointment in my ears how many times can I let this person down I know they are still in there Grimacing at that cheap symbol of piety, making baking metaphors Choking on feedback and fuzz To drown out my goddamn unfeeling malaise I guess everyone feels ugly We just pretend it is only on the outside But we suspect Even our core is broken From trying and not winning Perhaps I’ll go to the track today Catch the dogs in flight For the illusion of victory
Manatea 08.29.23	Johnny Booth - Collapse in the Key of Fireworks in the style of Harper Lee As I hid, I watched my father come home and wearily sit in the living room. He reached for his phone and I knew loud music was coming. As it started, he called me over and asked, “You know what makes this song great, Mike?” I came out and shook my head no. “It transitions between heavy, jazzy and then groovy in a way that is not only excellent but also natural. It puts together all of the elements that make Johnny Booth great and captures them in one song. Now go to bed.” Disappointed, I snuck back to bed.
DadKungFu 08.29.23	lmao these are all great
bellovddd 08.29.23	Whispers Of Your Death - Counterparts By Stephen King Brendan knew what he had to do. It was only a matter of time before Death would take the life from the ones he loved, and he was powerless to stop it. Or so he thought. Searching through the recesses of his mind he remembered a tale his Grand Father told him about the ‘Elders’. Those with no tongue but could speak a thousand words. He begun to place the runes in a circle around him, as he placed the final rune down he paused and realized all along that Death was already there, at the end of his fingertips.
robertsona 08.29.23	August 28 prompt is closed. August 29 when I get home after parent visits to my high school 🫡
JohnnyoftheWell 08.29.23	SONA NO 5 MORE MINUTES I BEG YOU I was literally brainstorming this in the shower rn
brainmelter 08.29.23	damn just saw this, I would have went full Nabokov on that last prompt commenting so I can remember to contribute later
JohnnyoftheWell 08.29.23	i have a COLD and had to go shopping, gonna play the illness card and beg forgiveness and submit and hope for sona's good grace and need for charity dollar smh i am awful Beach - Lucky Suicidal (voice of Mark Prindle) BoAT are a busy band. Busy?! Who let them do this? They play almost every rockindiepop guitar band thing, so noisy, so rocky, so Shibuya Kei - Shibuya GAY - and you never know what they'll do, but you start telling yourself you know what they WON'T (drugs. no drugs in Japan. think about how much cracked hell that country's music has done without drugs. terrifying). You weren't ready for this!! Lucky Suicidal goes from jangle to screaming and do-do-dos and suddenly it's Cap'n Jazz playing Beach Boys, the only song I ever loved, it's heartbreak and somehow very very enjoyable. Good!
Kompys2000 08.29.23	Glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks about sput in the shower lmao Maybe later I'll post the 'Slavoj Zizek on "tear off your own head"' bit I came up with in the shower yesterday before I realized Sona asked specifically for most listened to song this year
robertsona 08.29.23	August 28 prompt extended to 10PM. Get your blurbs in
JohnnyoftheWell 08.29.23	lfg!!!!! thank you based sona
robertsona 08.30.23	Closed
robertsona 08.30.23	AUGUST 29 PROMPT (PROMPT #6) even tho it ain’t August 29 is to write 100 words about a song that came out the year you were born Closes 8AM tomorrow August 31
granitenotebook 08.30.23	"Never Do That Again" - Ivy My favorite songs grow and develop as they play. I find this attribute most often in anthemic chart hits or ascendant electronica, not dreamy, smooth indie pop, but I wish I knew of more doing it like this. It would have been a great track either way, with its echoing synth backbone, sweet guitar melody, and a soft voice singing far sadder lyrics than her tone would betray. But the dash of restraint shown by letting it build up over time gives it so much more life, allowing for each of these understated elements to shine just a little more.
Kompys2000 08.30.23	The Flaming Lips- What is the Light Science really has replaced religion. I don't know how quantum physics works! I still believe in it, though. I have faith. I think Wayne Coyne is in the same boat. "What is the Light?" revolves around a need for meaning; if God is dead, maybe gravity can save our souls just as well. Maybe the forces that draw atoms towards other atoms can teach us about what draws us towards the things we are drawn to. Love is just chemicals- if a force as powerful as chemistry wants us to feel love, isn't that deserving of awe, of reverence, worship?
robertsona 08.31.23	Ayyyyy turn up
robertsona 08.31.23	I’ll rate the last two days some time tomorrow
bellovddd 08.31.23	this is gunna age me like a motherfucker but. NWA - Fuck Tha Police Whilst I have never been affiliated with the gang life, I do find myself walking around my local supermarket, headphones on, blasting this song whilst picking the most ripe mango or other seasonally fruit. Dr Dre’s production on this track makes me dance, or walk in a manner that people in the supermarket give me the side eye. Ice, Ren and Eazy E make me really hate the police. Whilst walking those aisles I feel the hatred grow inside. Which is weird, because I don’t hate the police. I’ve only been caught once with weed and they let it slide.
robertsona 08.31.23	I like that a lot tbh
Manatea 08.31.23	MC Hammer - U Can’t Touch This I was born in 1990. You know what else happened in 1990? MC Hammer made two things famous: pants resembling parachutes and the phrase, “Can’t touch this.” While I don’t know Hammer for much else, you would be hard pressed to find someone born between 1975 and 2005 that can’t immediately rattle off the synth and bass lines from that song. It’s not like it was even that good of a song, it just somehow became a cult classic of non-sequitur fun. Do I like it? Not in the slightest. Is it possible to touch MC Hammer though? Not a chance. Hope I made it in time
robertsona 08.31.23	Yea yea CLOSED for now though. 48 hours for AUGUST 30 (REALLY 31) PROMPT (#7): Write at least 100 but no more than 250 words about a song you heard about from Sputnikmusic. I encourage you to say something about the community/user who showed it to you. closes 11AM September 2 Be best I'll get around to all this shit is crazy rn
robertsona 09.01.23	Wow winner of the antepenultimate as-your-fav-writer prompt was tough and dadkungfu and someone did a great job but I think I'll probably give it to Manatea. something uncanny about that one. cut me deep after the antepenultimate round the leaderboard is: Johnny: $4 Manatea: $3 granitenotebook: $2.50 DadKungFu: $2 Kompys: $1.50 BitterJalapenoJr: $1.50 bellovddd: $1 Azazzel: $.50 pizzamachine: $.50 someone: $.50 Fogza: $.50 now I'm gonna rate the round that just happened and everyone should submit for this last one
robertsona 09.01.23	referral bonus is in effect: refer someone who hasn't written before and you both get $.50 extra
robertsona 09.01.23	Wow those four were great as well. Kompys gets the slight edge over bellovddd. I love how these have turned out the past few rounds Leaderboard: Johnny: $4 Manatea: $3.50 Kompys: $3 granitenotebook: $3 DadKungFu: $2 BitterJalapenoJr: $1.50 bellovddd: $1.50 Azazzel: $.50 pizzamachine: $.50 someone: $.50 Fogza: $.50
robertsona 09.01.23	kompys' writeup was philosophical but grounded. it was on point as fuck honestly a great piece of writing AUGUST 30 (REALLY 31) PROMPT (#7): Write at least 100 but no more than 250 words about a song you heard about from Sputnikmusic. I encourage you to say something about the community/user who showed it to you. closes 11AM September 2
robertsona 09.01.23	kompys won both of their rounds, though johnny and manatea have more money. I highly encourage all three to submit before 11AM September 2. total amount: $20.50
DadKungFu 09.01.23	I referred someone, not sure if him joining was due to me though. anyway: my entry I’d come into sputnik with a couple of intentions that would survive the ensuing decade. One was to bring some exposure to unloved styles, Country, Industrial, Classical among others, the dregs and bastards and buried gems. An early list of mine defending Country music had gotten a feature and some exposure and MisterTornado kindly dropped the name Daniel Romano and his latest album. So I listened to Middle Child, the opener from the album and was hit by its wholehearted devotion to emulating the sounds of the 60s and 70s, the languid fiddle, the weeping steel guitar, the laid-back shuffle of the drumbeats as Daniel made his absolutely best Gram Parsons impression into the lament of an unloved middle child mourning his mother’s death. And if the song was a bit too much of a “ctrl c + ctrl v” of the sounds of the past, and if Romano didn’t nearly touch Parsons in the charisma department, I was still touched that someone would reach out of the blue to share a song with me. Like many users, MisterTornado’s disappeared into the ether, leaving that slight melancholy that wonders what happened, why that brief presence on this site fizzled out, but I’ve also got a sense of gratitude for that early connection that is so much of what makes this site great: people sharing music, digging up their discoveries and hoping that someone else might find the same value in them, might get to share that feeling of discovery.
someone 09.01.23	I was, indeed, persuaded to join by a certain fatherly Kung Fu performer.
robertsona 09.01.23	I think I only did referral bonus for Prompt 7 and like 3. In theory wasnt flipped on any other night Keep ‘em comin tho. If you invite a user WHO HASNT WRITTEN YET and they say you invited them, $.50 bonus for both
robertsona 09.01.23	this is the final prompt!!! get that money
Manatea 09.01.23	The Callous Daoboys - Star Baby I know it’s probably incredibly cliché of me to name this song for this prompt but there is something to be said about the staying power of this piece. When I read MarsKid’s review of this album I didn’t know what I was going to think of the album and while I could write pages about it, I’ll stick to talking about “Star Baby” This song doesn’t make any sense, it doesn’t even try to make sense. It defies normal songwriting conventions and embraces them all at the same time. After I listened to it I started obsessively showing it to all my friends, one of whom found themselves repeating the lyrics to himself randomly at work. I mean shit, I made my sixty-five year old dad listen to this song and he loved it. The whimsical nonsense that ties the song together is unlike anything else I’ve heard in recent memory, and every time it shows up while I’m listening to a playlist I can’t help but finish it. Without Mars and Sputnik though, I would never have known this band existed, and it’s a reminder to me of why I love this site so much. Long live the Daoboys. Long live Sput. I’m such a loser lol
robertsona 09.02.23	100 comments. last shot
someone 09.02.23	CMAT - Nashville I don’t always indulge in fluff, but I’m giving this to myself as a gift. I cannot recall the specific user making rounds recommending this. Such charity usually finds many a herald. Anat may have been the culprit for me. Proclamations of life-changing beauty aside, at its core there sat a simple plea of understanding: listen in, and you shall find. Advocacy flies like spears here, each with their own delicate entanglement, each pursuing the attention of someone else, hoping for their listen. If I ever make the plans of moving to Nashville, true or otherwise, you’re place I’d tell.
robertsona 09.02.23	Closed
someone 09.02.23	this was fun for the few days that i got to participate mane, wish more tourneys were like this hereabouts
Manatea 09.02.23	This was surprisingly a blast. Thanks to Johnny and DadKF for forcing me to participate
robertsona 09.03.23	Johnny: $4 Manatea: $4 DadKungFu: $3.50 Kompys: $3 granitenotebook: $3 BitterJalapenoJr: $1.50 bellovddd: $1.50 Azazzel: $.50 pizzamachine: $.50 someone: $1 Fogza: $.50 Final leaderboard. Tie for first so two $10 bonuses: Johnny: $4 + $10 Manatea: $4 + $10 DadKungFu: $3.50 Kompys: $3 granitenotebook: $3 BitterJalapenoJr: $1.50 bellovddd: $1.50 someone: $1 Azazzel: $.50 pizzamachine: $.50 Fogza: $.50 Total 9/15/23 donation to Brownsville Community Justice Center: $43 WINNERS: JOHNNY and MANATEA
DadKungFu 09.03.23	Fun event, great cause, thanks for hosting sona
Manatea 09.03.23	Yayyyy you’re a legend sona
bellovddd 09.03.23	i missed a few but it was good fun!
granitenotebook 09.04.23	!!! nice
robertsona 10.13.23	https://ibb.co/TYqbnJn