Board Thread:Off-Topic/@comment-29512888-20190531182731

Hello everyone! Sorry for being super late, but I've had so many tests between April and May, I just had no time at all. Then again, this episode isn't particularly great, so you haven't missed much.

Introduction
You wanna know how many songs I liked in April?

Three.

Yeah. Just three songs - and what's really concerning is that they aren't even that good! I guess I needed one more listen (or a further read of the lyrics) to fully appreciate the other songs I initially skipped, but I usually don't listen to songs more than once - in most cases, I give them one try, then I read the lyrics and arrange a draft of the monthly list, and then I re-listen to the candidates to create the final result. Maybe I will catch up on some stuff I had previously missed but, for now, we'll have to settle for this. The K-Pop list is much bigger, though, so you can console yourself with that one as soon as it comes!

Also, to make up for the lack of new content, I decided to expand the Recommendations section from 5 slots to 10 (plus a bonus song), but only for this month. Without further ado, here we go!

3. SZA, The Weeknd, Travis Scott - Power is Power
April was mostly ruled by the Game Of Thrones soundtrack in terms of music but, although there were definitely efforts to grab the public attention, I'm not really a part of those people. Seriously, I don't remember one second of the few singles I've heard (not even the one with Florence + The Machine, which is quite heartbreaking). If I had to pick one choice, however, it would definitely be Power is Power, which beats the other ones thanks to its dark beat that is clearly reminiscent of Pray For Me, one of the best hit songs of last year. I'd like to point out it's still not perfect - the beat is not as memorable as its predecessor's and Travis' verse seems unfocused - but, with such few stuff on offer this month, I had to take what I could get.

2. Ofenbach - Rock It
On the other hand, I'm pretty sure no one gave a single f about Rock It when it came out (not even Italian pop radio stations, which used to blast Be Mine in the summer of 2016), but I definitely did and now I'm glad I can show my discovery to the world because it's really cool. If there's one thing that bugs me, it's the term "dirty teen" in the lyrics, which makes me think of hormonal teenagers who watch too much porn and don't look after their hygiene, but that banging guitar riff nearly overshadows it and raises it over the line.

1. Au/Ra - Assassin
And now we wrap things up with something more serious from this underrated female artist called Au/Ra, who notches the top spot with her best song to date. In a nutshell, Assassin talks to a person who is paranoiac and constantly afraid that other people might say bad things about them behind their back, and it ensures them that everything is fine. After all, the only person who is backstabbing them is... them - they have a negative perception of themselves, and thus they project it onto other people, believing they think the same. The aesthetic elements of the song help a lot to enhance the meaning, especially the bouncy bass, the subtle vocal effects and the restrained performance. Most of all, I chose Assassin for the #1 spot because I can relate to it - I'm often afraid that people might have prejudices about me and put a façade when they're in front of me so that they can be the exact opposite when I go away. I learned (and am still learning) to calm down over the years, but, sometimes, the feeling still haunts me and prevents me from fully trusting the people around me. Au/Ra, I have no idea how you managed to read my mind, but I thank you anyway, because this song is exactly what I needed.

Recommendations
I'm curious to see what bad things Spectrum Pulse will have to say about Cage The Elephant's Social Cues (I've seen it in the planned Trailing Edge episode, which is usually not a good sign). In the meanwhile, this song is pretty good and I recommend it. This kind of sounds like I Love It, except it's much better. Come on, did you really need me to tell you Random Access Memories is a masterpiece? Speaking of "This kind of sounds like...", there are visible Empire of the Sun influences here, except that it's intentional because member Luke Steele is featured. Oh, and it's also much better than anything made by Empire of the Sun themselves. I admit J-Pop isn't really my thing, but that doesn't mean I'll never give Japanese music a chance. Here's another example to prove it. I'm surprised this wasn't a hit - and it should have been, given how much the pop charts sucked in 2016. Another underrated bop that doesn't get enough credit. And what's really scary is that this is actually one of the most famous songs of theirs. Rest in peace, Nipsey! Janelle is a f**king queen, and that's the tea! Kendrick Lamar is a king as well. Imagine a collaboration between these two, it would be FIRE. We officially end the episode with this bonus song to celebrate the re-release of one of the most iconic albums of the 2010's on Spotify! Thank you, Bey! 