#d.o.d.

[clockpunk-crow-swarm]

Fuck D.O.D. Scraps

Since i'm so far only rank 3, I started farming the first Coen, and turns out that right now, the D.O.D. Blue metal it drops is absolutely fucking useless, which is annoying as they're great as tanks, and the room after only has a blueprint the first time, except it's for that useless fucking firework pistol. At least it gives decent XP.

[pink-tulip-emoji]

Today I took a Day Trip

[manysmallhands]

Favourite Songs of 2024: 19 - 11

If you've read one of these already you know the drill, if you haven't then it's really not that complicated. Previous entries can be found here, here, here and here. Read on as we approach the ALL IMPORTANT TOP 10...

19. Doechii - Wait

While busily dusting herself down from the wreckage of Katy Perry’s ill fated 143, Doechii found time to make some fantastic music on her own this year. Wait is the kind of slinky neosoul jam that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on Doja Cat’s Scarlet album, combining smooth RnB vocals with tight rapping in a plaintive tale about holding things together. I’m a sucker for this kind of classic era hip hop throwback and Wait is as good as any yr likely to hear.

18. Lizzy McAlpine - I Guess

While she wasn’t able to build commercially on last year’s surprise hit Ceilings, Lizzy made huge artistic jumps in 2024, mastering the kind of wistful retro sound that informs I Guess and helps to make it such a great song. While she's largely remade herself as a 70s folkie, there’s something quite widescreen to the sound here in places that feels more of a piece with a modern production. But her pleading, soft toned voice remains her best attribute, telling a story of desperate dating where the payoff feels more resigned than triumphant.

17. Eminem - Houdini

There are things that absolutely make me wince about this song - Eminem’s current era may be high concept and character driven but it still has a strong “does this offend you yeah?” element to it that made me switch his album off inside 3 minutes. But ropey as some of its schtick undoubtably is, Houdini really is an absolute banger, full of gross out and extremely bad taste jokes of course but also living up to his claims of being a ‘lyrical technician’, as he recaptures the goofy cartoonish energy of his early material while exerting the kind of performance control that allows him to ramp up the comedy, drama or tension at the drop of a single word. 

16. Taylor Swift - The Tortured Poets Department

Taylor’s all conquering *counts on fingers* 11th album was fine but a little too predictable by my reckoning and ran out of steam a bit in the 2nd half (as many of her records are prone to do). But when it did catch fire there were still some terrific songs and the title track was amongst the best of them. It channeled her newly verbose lyricism into a warm, diaristic romance with one of her finest melodies, a song which sparkled and burned with a nostalgic twinkle, as well as the sense of a life being lived that felt a lot more enviable than on some of her other songs this year.

15. Sonny Fodera Ft Jazzy, DOD - Somedays

Chart dance bangers have changed very little in the last 30 years: take a pounding beat, flashes of house piano, some generically uplifting lyrics and you may well have a hit. And yet it’s still possible to make these elements go extremely hard and Sonny Fodera - building on last year’s similarly terrific Asking - is the latest producer to really nail the formula. Jazzy’s vocal has the right mix of pathos, hope and yearning, the tension builds and dissipates in all the right places, but the thing that makes me love this unconditionally are the absolutely pummelling drops that run into the chorus, which blow me away every time this comes up on the radio and have given me life on so many occasions this year.

14. Charli XCX ft Billie Eilish - Guess remix

Possibly the crowning moment of the year in pop was hearing this daft, sleazy club banger crash into the charts at #1, the peak of a glorious ascent which had been rising steadily since the spring. Reminiscent of the kind of forbidden sing-song that you might hear in a school playground, Charli and Bilie’s back and forth adds an extra dimension to the already colossal OG version, spiking it with enough “what if?!” energy to set the internet alight for weeks on end.

13. Tate McRae - 2 Hands

While my Tate fandom has now reached mildly embarrassing levels, late entrant 2 Hands confirmed to me why she's still worth it all. It’s another iteration of her charming ‘tough but cute’ act, with a chorus just as strong as that of 2023 megahit Greedy, but this time as part of a more substantial song that works better as a start to finish listen. The breaks have a loose rattle that drift twds hip hop territory but there’s a space age zip too that feels new for her, adding extra energy to the already punchy production. And yet possibly the most intriguing aspect of all this is the “not one, not three” line in the extended chorus, posing important questions about exactly how many hands Tate’s exes have had?!

12. Beyoncé - Ya Ya

Beyoncé’s project to rediscover country music’s hidden past took a detour with this ramble thru a bunch of fun 60s RnB tropes. Ya Ya ties together Good Vibrations, Genie In a Bottle and These Boots Are Made for Walking as a way of reuniting some lost heritage, in a banging hard times anthem which, crucially, is a catchy song that you’d actually want to listen to (not always a given on Cowboy Carter). One of the most kinetic, powerful and often downright silly records released all year: if only all of her album had channelled this kind of energy.

11. Camila Cabello Ft Lil Nas X - He Knows

2024 was a tough year for Camila and Nas: both iconic hitmakers of the late 10s who made long awaited comebacks, both of which fell flat on their asses. Camila did at least get her album out tho, the flawed but fascinating “C, XOXO”, and this was my favourite song from it: a glitchy, minimalist pop banger where the momentum of two terrific vocal performances pull everything along in their train, the better to show that there was always more to them than star power alone.

[mysongdaily]

‘Wherever you go, I’m one step behind you.’

[gasponce]

Sonny Fodera, D.O.D & Poppy Baskcomb - Think About Us [Official video]

[gandalfthegreyt]

One more good one I forgot to post from Breakaway Carolina, D.O.D’s So Much In Love 🫶

Absolutely gorgeous song.

[virginpornstar]

Song of the Day: "Somedays" by Sonny Fodera,Jazzy,& D.O.D.

[soundjunglefan]

ARMIN VAN BUUREN & D.O.D. feat. Laura Welsh - By Now

Trance-Ikone Armin van Buuren und UK-House-Schwergewicht D.O.D, haben gerade ihre erste gemeinsame Single „By Now“ (feat. Laura Welsh) veröffentlicht. Entstanden aus ihrer gegenseitigen Bewunderung und dem Wunsch, den Sound des jeweils anderen zu ergründen, verschmelzen bei dieser Zusammenarbeit, die die Stärken und die globale Bedeutung beider Genres unterstreicht, zwei Welten der elektronischen Musik zu einem einzigartigen Track.▶ Stream & Download: https://avbdodlw.lnk.to/ByNowYADurch die Kombination von Armin van Buurens unverwechselbaren Trance-Melodien, D.O.Ds charakteristischen House-Drums und Laura Welshs sanften, emotionsgeladenen Vocals bringt „By Now“ alles mit, was ein U.K.-House-Track mit modernem Trance-Twist braucht und ist die perfekte Fortsetzung einer Reihe von beeindruckenden Karrierehöhepunkten für beide Künstler in diesem Jahr: D.O.Ds UK-Top-20-Hit „So Much In Love“ aus Sommer 2023 wurde kürzlich mit Gold ausgezeichnet, und seine bevorstehende Tour bringt ihn u.a. zum Parklife in Manchester und 528 in Ibiza. Gleichzeitig ist auch Armin van Buuren auf einem Hoch mit „Breathe In“, seinem neunten Studioalbum, und der aktuellen Single „What Took You So Long“ (mit Gryffin), mit der er zu seinen musikalischen Wurzeln zurückkehrte.▶ SOCIAL LINKShttps://www.instagram.com/arminvanbuuren/https://www.facebook.com/arminvanbuurenhttps://www.tiktok.com/@arminvanbuurenhttps://twitter.com/arminvanbuurenKontor Records