Anghraine

Speaking of Todd in the Shadows, the bff and I were watching a different video in which he (Todd) casually mentions his respect for the music knowledge of Mic the Snare. I'd seen his videos come up for me in the algorithm and always ignored them as some corporate thing, but with Todd's recommendation, I figured I'd try some of the "Deep Discog Dives" I'd seen popping up.

They're quite good! The comedic elements in these aren't as sharp as in Todd's, but this guy seems considerably younger and the comedy is definitely a sideshow to the research and analysis of the music, so even when jokes don't quite land (and often they do), it's not a big deal.

Anyway! The concept of these turns out to be overviews of the entire discography of an artist or group—it's at once breezy and quite specific in his analysis of individual songs, so I've enjoyed the videos I've seen thus far. Naturally, I watched the Queen one, which I really enjoyed as a Queen fan. And it was cool to see someone give the Innuendo album the respect I feel it deserves! People often focus on the 70s albums and talk like the 80s (and 90s!) albums are mediocre sell-out letdowns, but Mic the Snare recommended Innuendo along with the big 70s albums everyone knows. And he didn't even mention "The Show Must Go On" when talking about how great it is. A rather weird omission, but it was cool to see someone talk about the rest of the album.

I was curious if there'd been some larger re-evaluation of Innuendo and read an article in Rolling Stone about it, which was a bit surreal given how persistently shitty Rolling Stone was about Queen in Freddie's lifetime. There was a bit about Freddie's stated determination to work until he dropped, which of course feels different in light of him doing exactly that while dying of AIDS, but idk, there's a weird tenor to the article IMO. I kept thinking "no thanks to you."

As I typed this, I was actually thinking about how much I love the later Queen material and was curious how many of my personal favorite songs are from the 80s or 90s. Naturally, I do have a Queen playlist of my personal ranking of Queen or Queen-adjacent songs—not as some claim to objective quality, just personal enjoyment and affection. I figured I'd listen to it again and see if my top faves actually do skew in any particular direction, so here's my personal Top 20!

1. Under Pressure | Queen and David Bowie (1981)
2. The Show Must Go On | Queen (1991)
3. Who Wants To Live Forever | Queen (1986)
4. Ensueño | Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé (1987)
5. Bohemian Rhapsody | Queen (1975)
6. Barcelona | Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé (1987)
7. Crazy Little Thing Called Love | Queen (1979)
8. Radio Ga Ga | Queen (1984)
9. Don't Stop Me Now | Queen (1979)
10. Princes of the Universe | Queen (1986)
11. Seven Seas of Rhye | Queen (1973)
12. '39 | Queen (1976)
13. I'm Going Slightly Mad | Queen (1991)
14. These Are The Days of Our Lives | Queen (1991)
15. Love of My Life | Queen (1975)
16. Somebody To Love | Queen (1976)
17. We Will Rock You & We Are The Champions | Queen (1977; I know they're separate songs technically but shhhhh)
18. Another One Bites the Dust | Queen (1980)
19. I Want to Break Free | Queen (1984)
20. The Millionaire Waltz | Queen (1976)

I reblogged an end of the year Spotify meme based in a site/app called "Judge My Spotify."

Tagged: #kjsj;afdk the epic score / two steps from hell/ queen fmk was extremely unexpected #lolololol

I was tagged by incognitajones in a meme! Thanks :)

Favorite color: red or deep blue. It’s really hard to choose.

Last song you listened to: I thiiink it was the instrumental version of “Descendant of the Sun” by Two Steps From Hell. Most of my playlists are some mix of TSFH/Audiomachine/Epic Score and that track is particularly suitable to my current project. :)

Favorite musicians: Queen!

Last film you watched: The Rise of Skywalker, I think. Sure was a movie!

Last TV show you watched: in its entirety, The Mandalorian, which I loved. The last TV thing I watched was “The Venom of the Red Lotus” from Legend of Korra, which I also love (Korra and the airbenders taking down the most aggravating of her villains! and there’s actual focus on its impact and consequences!)

Favorite original character: My favorite of my original characters in fanfic is probably … well, I have a bunch of technically-not-OCs whose personalities I completely made up, but for pure OCs, it might be Azruphel of Númenor, a King’s Men partisan whose loyalties are gradually chipped away until she becomes a stealth agent of the Faithful. I’m also fond of F-2VA/Tuvié and LX-3/Ellex from my f!Luke fics, who are two of Vader’s overhauled personal droids that get assigned to supervise Lucy. For original fiction, it has to be a bossy, self-absorbed, and short-tempered (and also just short :P) fire mage who nevertheless has a wide streak of kindness and good intentions.

Spicy, savory, or sweet: Spicy! I do like a lot of sweet things, though.

Sparkling water, tea, or coffee: I hate both sparkling water and coffee, and drink a lot of tea (…if it has enough milk and sugar in it).

Pets: I have a grumpy and high-strung grey cat.

I reblogged an ... idiosyncratic fanmix I had originally made in August of 2013:

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My 2020 addition:

Bohemian Rhapsody had its flaws, but damn if the handwringing isn't delicious.

Unrelatedly, the prof I’m shadowing is using clips of The Hollow Crown for his Shakespeare class and ahhhhh I’d forgotten how much I loved that version.

[crossposted from Tumblr]

As a massive Queen fan who also despises the GOP, today has certainly been… something.

So, Donald Trump used “We Are the Champions” in June to celebrate his primary victories, to the horror of Brian May, who said on his website:


And thennnnn it was used at the RNC last night to introduce Melania Trump, and the official Queen twitter responded immediately:


and Sony Music has now issued an official statement:


and current frontman Adam Lambert pointed out the “wtf???” of the GOP, who have actively pursued anti-LGBT policies for decades, using a song written and sung by a man who described himself as “gay as a daffodil.”

Technically, the RNC probably paid BMI for the rights and are legally in the clear. But flouting the express wishes of the group whose music you’re using is certainly a douche move. And particularly when, in the process of pushing a racist, homophobic, hypernativist agenda, you’re exploiting the fame of the the song’s writer and lead singer—a man who was, among many other things, a queer, foreign immigrant of colour who might very well be alive today if not for the virulently homophobic indifference to AIDS victims in which the GOP participated.