Max's Music Mondays with Tiberious b and tg.blk
abcdefg, this is the subtitle, please read me? Is that something?
Welcome to Max’s Music Mondays - a ~music discovery newsletter~ where I get too excited about songs I love. I hope you love them too. If you do, follow along on spotify and please respectfully smash that subscribe button. Let me know if you do, I’ll send you my favorite plane snacks or send you a thank you playlist or something.
I’m always thinking about ways to describe Max’s Music Mondays. Mostly of ways to describe what “kind of music” I’m looking for. I’m never really sure what to say to that, or how I really want to present my answer. But this weekend felt like the right metaphor. I got to see Caroline Kingsbury live (don’t forget this sick live performance she blessed the MMM community with earlier this year) and while the performance itself absolutely rocked (her song Fall In Love just destroyed), and the crowd was so warm, it was the venue that made it that much more special.
The show filled the patio at my favorite cafe/bike shop. It’s one of my favorite places for any occasion at any time of day really - friends visiting LA, a great place to work, meeting up with anyone - but rock concert wasn’t on the list before today. It kind of shook me that this place I’ve spent so much time at over the past couple years could surprise me, could come to life in such a new way. And, I think, that’s what I’m looking for in these songs? To return to music (a space I spend so much time in), to familiar genres, structures, sounds, whatever, and be genuinely surprised. Songs that feel like somewhere comfortable but somewhere new at the same time. Does that make sense? This week’s songs check those boxes for me, very different music but both have been all I can think about and I think maybe just maybe you might like them too.
This Week’s Songs
Follow along here ^ for this week’s and every week’s songs, each song is perfect and that is a objective fact and in no way my biased opinion i promise.
Stains - Tiberius b
What a devious little first sound!! One single sound, a welcome to the track that tells you all you need to know. It’s unique, it’s brash, it’s uncomfortable, it’s got my attention. That crunchy, busted kick setting off a steady drum pattern. It all fits so well against a synth floating out like the smoke of a blown-out candle and a guitar grimy guitar, just out of tune in the perfect ways. Tiberius b’s vocals are made for this moment. Rattling off what they aren’t, I’ll tell you what they are: good at singing, good at writing sick lyrics like “how much of me do you think you can excavate”. Their tone strikes this gorgeous balance just like the rest of the production. So gentle and beautiful, but not shying away from the rough edges of a human performance. Just shy of a minute, the lid comes flying off and the drums reverb out to the moon and back. This new space offers room for the thickest synth imaginable to roll chords right on through as Tiberius b lays down some beautiful harmonies. That main line, “I love the way pain tastes” is exactly how this sounds. Tasting your own blood with a smirk type energy (note: this is something I’ve only seen on tv/movies but it felt right). The second verse is so fucking sick I can’t even believe it. The way the melody bends down, scooping through that ‘damn mind’ like a slide whistle, getting a cheer from the crowd when they return up. The triplets run off before singing ‘eating shit’ in a truly remarkable way. It kicks off another jaw-dropping moment to round it out. We back off into a touching bridge, you can hear how real this is for Tiberius b and I in awe. The chorus is back, hitting bigger, darker, heavier than before. That previous stunning moment proving just how fragile all this could be just makes the intensity and immensity that much more powerful and obvious. Beyond the chorus, we start to feel the anger release, the control losing grasp the band bending and busting at the seams. A moment of silence but we aren’t done yet. Drums WHIPPING on, a complete and utter release. Acceptance and clarity pouring out. We don’t get the resolution we want but we do get an incredible song that I can’t stop listening too. So excited to share this one :) EP COMING THIS WEEK, GET READY.
Follow Tiberius b on IG / Spotify
Love Being Used - tg.blk
There’s something to be said about the evolution of song lengths. A broader statement to the ‘art is made to fit the canvas’ line of thinking, that the format informs the art. That the concept of the album was built around the capacity of a vinyl record and that with Spotify’s (and everyone else’s) payment structure based on number of streams, artists are pushing the limits on short songs. I’m not uncovering anything groundbreaking here, there’s plenty of good thought on this already. Instead, I’m just pointing it out so I can celebrate it. Because I don’t think it’s a stretch to say it helps create a world in which songs like this one exist. Where songs like this are fascinating and beautiful pieces of music. Even in the mixtape golden age, we weren’t getting 90-second gems. They’d be labeled interludes and tossed deep in the mixtape not showcased as an artist’s second single. And if an artist saw this as a second single, it’d get blown out to meet a more “traditional” structure (and length), where the idea of traditional is worth investigating. But in expanding this song to a few minutes+, we could lose just how interesting and powerful it is. And yes I am going nuts on this one because there’s only 90 seconds and I’m worried my normal write-up might come up short but also because I do find it fascinating and opens the door for so much creativity and ingenuity in every genre. Ok let’s get to the actual music now. That sample is so smooth, pouring out with that light vinyl feel. We barely get one loop before tg.blk dives in, clearly no time to waste. Their voice is so nice, this tone that’s full of both nonchalance and yet also some raw emotion. A seemingly impossible balance but it works here. Paired up with the lyrics, there’s such a vulnerability and just an acceptance of like, ‘yep, this is who i am’. With an undercurrent of sadness and resignation just beneath the surface. “I’ma get you ready, you can love someone else” just brutal but not asking for our pity. Seeing their faults and accepting them, moving forward. That line hits after the drums come in to play, a strong presence but not overwhelming, not too harsh. Again, a mastery of balance on full display. The flow in the verse is addicting, but somehow gets even catchier as we fall into the chorus - a simple melody that really cuts through. Verse two feels gentle up until the drums return, and a second layer of vocals that suggests we’ve absolutely been here before. And just like that it’s over. So quick so perfect so devastating and so touching. tg.blk has left me wanting more so I simply have no choice but to keep replaying over and over and over.
Follow tg.blk on IG / Spotify
Happy summer I hope your’s is off to a perfect start and that these songs can be a part of that joy!!! Ok bye stay cool!!!
Business time: Please follow the playlist and please please pass it along to anyone you know who might be in need of new music!! The more people here, the more people hearing these amazing songs. We got a bunch of new faces this week, I hope you enjoyed it half as much as I enjoyed seeing you all here, this shit really does make my day!!!
Until Friday,
Max