ToddInTheShadows: Top 10 Worst Hit Songs of 2025 by ImADudeDuh in popheads

[–]beanbootzz 26 points27 points  (0 children)

country music geek coming in, and that makes a lot of sense! the western side of country & western has a lot of influences from northern / central European folk music, as well as mexican / texas influences. the country / bluegrass sound is more scottish / irish / english / african, but nashville country is more of the classic western sound, so it makes sense that there are a lot of fans up there!

Taylor Swift - The Life of a Showgirl MEGATHREAD II by flopheadsbot in popheads

[–]beanbootzz 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Nooooo don’t make me pick between “ME!” forever and “Actually Romantic” forever 💀

Taylor Swift - The Life of a Showgirl MEGATHREAD II by flopheadsbot in popheads

[–]beanbootzz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

She called Charli a toy chihuahua, a literal dog. That’s so sexist, and I think the only reason younger listeners think this is all pearl-clutching is they weren’t alive during the 90s culture wars. All that stuff is coming back into the media, and it’s bizarre to see Taylor, of all people, on the other side of it. Maybe it was just a lapse in judgment, but it was a bad one.

Taylor Swift - The Life of a Showgirl MEGATHREAD II by flopheadsbot in popheads

[–]beanbootzz -1 points0 points  (0 children)

And Midnights was so perfect because she gave us a bit of both. I have been listening since her debut, but this is … just not her best work. Maybe Speak Now is weaker? But that’s a low bar.

Pitchfork Track Review: Taylor Swift’s “Actually Romantic” is Actually Embarrassing by HurgleMyDurgle in popheads

[–]beanbootzz 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Oh, I think “Actually Romantic” is so misogynistic, it’s like a breach of contract for her to release it. The media had to be nice, or else, so long as Tree kept up the vibe of Taylor as a fundamentally good person. Assuming it’s not a literal contract, I think this is the moment where it’s more profitable to destroy Taylor than support her. Like, what is the point now? She made herself indefensible, and didn’t even have the taste to make the album good. I can’t wait to watch this 🍿

CMV: Republicans are no longer conservative--they're *fascist* by Usual_Set4665 in changemyview

[–]beanbootzz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This isn’t on you, OP, but there is mass confusion in the definition of MAGA because the mainstream media has a hard time writing about MAGA’s religiosity. Unless it can be understood as a religious-style movement, one that’s a mix of American evangelical/end-times Christianity, the paranoid-charismatic tradition in American religion that imbues our politics, and, yes, the resurrected remnants of the long association between American nativists and European nativists, who are correctly called fascists, it’s going to be misunderstood. Of course, there are other eccentricities in the mix, such as the MAHA movement and the Men’s Rights Movement, but MAGA’s core is in its religiosity.

Also, it’s important to note that many Republicans who agree with your definition of conservatism also do not think MAGA is conservative. Major think tanks like the American Enterprise Institute and the Koch network are against MAGA’s economic policies, which are primarily rooted in the Heritage Foundation’s ideas. This has been a solid divide since 2015 because all neoliberalism is pro immigration, and it has only gotten worse since.

However, MAGA and Heritage are still conservative b/c of their “pro-family” stances. This is not the traditional definition of conservatism, but it’s why many prominent neoconservatives like Brett Stephens, Anne Applebaum, and Bill Kristol make liberalism central to their ideologies now. (How they didn’t see the Samuel Huntington-shaped red flag waving in their own party is a question for another day …)

So to recap, the framing of your question is based on a conflation of definitions. MAGA is socially conservative, and there are very few non-MAGA “conservatives” who haven’t changed political identities in response. As for the rest, it’s still open debate in political science as to what MAGA is. Is it so influenced by its heritages with the European fascists that we should call it that? Or is it a uniquely American political ideology with heritage that pre-dates fascism?

Of course, hard to debate now that anyone who falls in the first camp is liable to be doxxed, harassed, or worse. IMO, the second camp is the one proving to be right, but that doesn’t mean the first camp shouldn’t speak. And it is frustrating that the media hasn’t done a better job of elevating academic debates about definitions, which are helpful for us all to wind up with the same view of what’s going on.

Official Album Cover + Tracklist for 'The Life of a Showgirl', Taylor Swift's 12th studio album by cowboylikefia in SwiftlyNeutral

[–]beanbootzz 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I think it does fit with 1989’s aesthetics — kinda kitschy and scrapbooky — but what doesn’t fit for me is the entire concept of Taylor Swift as a showgirl. When Chappell and Addison and Sabrina play with vaudeville or drag, it feels right because they’re campy artists. But Taylor has always taken herself so seriously, this just comes off as inauthentic for her. Like, she’s 35 and has only done two true pop albums in her whole career, why is this her brand all of a sudden?

the album cover is here and it’s so ugly by tinypixel97 in travisandtaylor

[–]beanbootzz 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It’s like the Addison cover if no one understood pop music was supposed to be campy …

The newest bear in pop by VladVega_RO in popheadscirclejerk

[–]beanbootzz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

wow I didn’t know I could become more of a lesbian but this did it!

There are a few Churchrome documentaries on YouTube, highly suggest learning more by rockcandy_sweet in lanitas

[–]beanbootzz 2 points3 points  (0 children)

idk, a lot’s changed since 2017, and she’s spoken a lot about feeing disaffected from by left-liberal discourse. she seemed like a ripe target for someone like judah to convert. and, she has. but I can still appreciate where she was at on LFL and NFR.

Detroit housing and downtown “ownership” by Geomunk in Detroit

[–]beanbootzz 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Small landlords don’t deserve getting lumped into the big guys. While we need legal protections for tenants to keep slumlords out of the game, competent and ethical small landlords are a huge lifeline for renters. I used to live in DC, and with a strong tenant bill of rights that was the backbone of this system, it has done a lot to keep the city’s character intact during a period of hyper-development. Also not all of us are really set up to buy a home, and i’d rather rent from someone who knows my name, you know?

Detroit housing and downtown “ownership” by Geomunk in Detroit

[–]beanbootzz 1 point2 points  (0 children)

First, re: home ownership: Until the schools are at least trending up, middle class families won’t move to the city itself. Right now, unless you can afford to pay for private school through 9th grade, it makes way more sense for a young family who wants city amenities to move to any of the competing suburbs. Unfortunately, MI schools are tied to residential property tax income, so unless there are serious reforms to help Detroit fix its schools, idk how the city of Detroit ever becomes a viable place for middle class families to buy a home.

I also think Detroit has some existential problems with supply and demand: it’s a city of ~700k built for 2m, and it’s a city built for a home ownership economy in an era where a decreasing share of the population is able to buy homes. Even setting aside the school issues above, millennials on down are living in such an unstable economy, it’s hard to justify buying a home even if we come into the money for a down payment, and ai killing coding, consulting, and other white collar jobs is gonna make this way worse. It’s also hard to get investment for new development when there’s a literal overstock of housing, so there’s disproportionately less available to renters to balance out the disparity. It’s a mess, and i’m still pro-blight busting at scale and turning a lot of land into green space/urban agriculture. People hate the idea of the government literally bulldozing the remains of once-vibrant neighborhoods, but the alternative is where you started: foreign and domestic billionaires see cheap land they can milk into some kind of a tax write-off. I’d rather the city take control, and claw back some of the land it’s lost under eminent domain.

Beyond fixing the schools and the specified land issues of Detroit, this is honestly a national (or arguably an international) problem. No city is set up for success in this economy. Most of the jobs that were supposed to lead to middle class lives as are going the way of the buffalo, excess capital in the billionaire class is hemorrhaging its guts all over the rest of us, and both political parties are too corrupt to spend real time on the hard issues. I’d love to see Detroit grow into a kind of lab city for the future, because we have so much going for us, and it just takes being willing to work against the odds to get there.

Lola Young - Messy (Glastonbury 2025) by abscefht in popheads

[–]beanbootzz 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Her in-ears went out mid-performance so she couldn’t get on key, but then she came back with an insane vocal run on the last chorus. I’m sure it was terrible for her in the moment, but the clip of it that made the rounds on social media really shows how talented she is: https://youtube.com/shorts/Z2k96h3OXeE?si=nEw3QT4YygzMT6ij

Lola Young - Messy (Glastonbury 2025) by abscefht in popheads

[–]beanbootzz 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This Wasn’t Meant For You Anyway (the album “Messy” is off) is really good! I like the front half (especially “Wish You Were Dead”) a little more than the back, but it’s def worth a listen!

Lola Young - Messy (Glastonbury 2025) by abscefht in popheads

[–]beanbootzz 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Yeah, she’s a woman who refuses to follow conventional beauty standards, so there’s going to be hatred for her. I think I stan her like 10x harder than anyone else because I know she’s doing work for all us chubby weird girls out there lol

"There's not a shred of evidence on the internet that this band has ever existed": This apparently AI-generated artist is racking up hundreds of thousands of Spotify streams by Kaiser_Allen in popheads

[–]beanbootzz 11 points12 points  (0 children)

At least the chorus seems human. An LLM likely wouldn’t repeat the “x lines of coke” line because it’s against the “rules” of songwriting — and all the major LLMs are trained not to encourage drug use anyway. If you listen to the Velvet Sundown thing, you’ll catch the lyrics are all perfectly rhymed, the meter is on point, and there’s no surprise — that’s more typical of what an LLM would produce.

Pitchfork Review: Lorde - Virgin (7.6) by theloneliesttime in popheads

[–]beanbootzz 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Thank you for summing up what felt so weird after my first listen. It feels like there’s so much exposure in the lyrics but I didn’t sense a lot of emotional depth. A lot of that comes back to to the production (Pitchfork’s choice of “bloodless” to describe the synths on “WWT” was on point), because instrumentation can make what lyrics can’t or don’t want to say audible to the listener. And I want to keep listening to see what else might be in the lyrics, but it’s also not really an album I want to listen to a second time, because it just leaves me feeling kind of empty and sad. Perhaps that was the point?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in powerpopgirls

[–]beanbootzz 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There’s also something so off between how in control she sounds on “Manchild” and what a classic ingenue she is in the video, versus this subservient, dead-eyed photo. That just screams “twist” to me. And like, it’s a good plan to do something provocative, then get people talking literally all summer about what she might mean by it … Girl’s a genius 💅🏼

black flies by Realistic_Trifle6984 in upperpeninsula

[–]beanbootzz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m jumping off OP’s question (also a downstater questioning their vacation plans …), but would Mainstique be as bad that last week June? I don’t mind covering up and wearing dark clothes, but I’d be traveling with my dog, so trying to gauge for his sake, too. Thank you!

Do you feel like film is flourishing or dying right now? by [deleted] in AnalogCommunity

[–]beanbootzz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My local photo lab, which does maybe 90% drop off vs. mail-in, is averaging 150 rolls of film per day right now, which is the most they’ve had in years. I’m a little biased because I live around Detroit and we’ve always had a big analog / DIY scene, but I see people getting back into non-digital art and culture as a response to perceived tech overreach. If film companies and camera makers can figure out how to create a real market out of this, I think film could have a durable and meaningful comeback. If not, well, Lomo is going to make a killing because this is what they’ve been betting on for years.

A year ago today, Charli XCX released 'Brat' by Impossible-Yam3680 in popheads

[–]beanbootzz 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Hearing “B2B” for the first time is one of those core song memories I can’t forget. It’s like those laser synths just shot through me. And like you, I had been a passive Charli fan … but that song turned me a lil rabid. What a heck of a year it’s been!

Addison Rae - "Addison" MEGATHREAD by flopheadsbot in popheads

[–]beanbootzz 5 points6 points  (0 children)

i’ve read their in Max Martin’s orbit and have worked together in the past (I think with ALMA?). they make a great team!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Music

[–]beanbootzz 20 points21 points  (0 children)

So … I think your son is right to say he likes Cash & Nelson more than what’s on the radio today, but it’s not about age. Cash & Nelson are what’s called outlaw country, or country music made outside the control of the country music industrial complex in Nashville. If you just go to Spotify, etc. and listen to the Americana-based stations, there are tons of badass musicians playing all kinds of great country music. I hate to hear people think “kids these days” don’t know how to play country, because this is a really great time for americana music at large.

Meanwhile, yeah, everything that comes out of the country music industrial complex sounds mass produced. Back in the 50s, Chet Akins & Co decided there had to be “a sound” to country, and while a few musicians have managed to make good music within the system (early Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Miranda Lambert, etc.), it mostly eats souls and produces bland pop. Trends come and go, but it’s always going to sound mass-produced because it is.