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Small-Scale Question Sunday for February 26, 2023

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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What music do y'all listen to? I've recently gotten back into Florence + the Machine. Gotta say, it's much better going back as an adult. It's hard to find positive, upbeat music with good lyrics.

As a recovering metalhead, I have made an active effort to find upbeat songs to counter a playlist I've literally titled "oppressive despair" (ask me about that one LOL).

Check out:

  • Young the Giant - Proggy Arctic Monkeys but less sexy-all-the-time. Their popular stuff is great.

  • Sammy Rae & Friends - Just plain fun. Their top spotify picks are great.

  • Silk Sonic - Just plain funky fun but Bruno Mars. Start with Leave the door open & Skate.

  • Vulfpeck - funky fun turned up to 100. Lyrics can be a little nonsensical. 1612 & Wait for the moment are good starters.

  • King Gizzard - Psychedelic derpy fun. They're prolific. Start off with 'The River', 'Catching Smoke', 'Fishing for Fishies' and ofc, the infamous: 'Rattlesnake'.

I want to ask you about oppressive despair. There’ve been times when Call of the Wretched Sea was just what I needed.

'Viljartha - Den Helige Anden' is the poster boy of the sound I am trying to capture. Atmospheric, Deep sub-bass, and never gives you that bright climax you keep expecting. Usually they induce this thick tension by having very few accent beats (think high E strums, Snare hits, Crash), but the count on the drums to keep tempo is really fast. So it has this incredible speed to it, while being made quite long for the accent hit that resolves the tension.

Death Grips's On GP & No Love are great examples of this sound too.

I like blackgaze too, but that's too melodic. It tries to be beautiful in grief, and that's not the point. On the other hand, extreme metal just comes across as noise without tension. So this playlist tries to avoid those 2 styles of music.