New, backdated article on the blog that you may appreciate (especially Dream Hampton’s letter).

I’ve been revisiting Blonde recently and I’m curious whether anyone else feels differently about the album now than they did when it first came out. I was 25 when it came out and I was absolutely obsessed with it. Listened to it constantly, loved pretty much every song. Then for some inexplicable reason it fell out of my regular rotation and I barely listened to it for years. It’s only now almost a decade later that I’ve come back to it and remembered just how incredible it is. And I think because I had such a long gap between listens, the album almost feels like a time capsule now. It takes me right back to a very particular period of my life and I look back at it so differently now.

I feel like what’s struck me most this time around is just how profoundly heartbreaking the entire album feels to me now. I think I related to a lot of these songs more than I even realized back then, but I didn’t quite have the perspective to understand why. To me, the album captures this really strange dichotomy of youth, particularly your 20s. There’s all this bravado, freedom, sex, excitement, the feeling that you have your whole life ahead of you. But underneath all of that is a painful longing for intimacy and connection that nobody seems to know how to fulfill. In my 20s, I remember being surrounded by people, having relationships, falling in and out of love, experiencing all these things that felt so exciting and significant at the time. But listening to Blonde now makes me realize how lonely so much of it actually was. Not necessarily in a way I was even conscious of back then.

It’s like we were all constantly orbiting each other and wanting to be close but never quite knowing how to get there. We wanted intimacy but didn’t know how to ask for it, how to express ourselves or even how to give it to each other. Just constantly passing each other by. We were still technically adults with all this freedom but still emotionally figuring out how to be one. Like simultaneously free and trapped. You can do whatever you want, pursue whoever you want, experience all these things but you don’t necessarily have the emotional maturity or courage to understand what you actually need from other people, much less communicate it or get it from them. I don’t know if that’s a particularly millennial experience or just a universal part of being young but I feel like Blonde captures it so perfectly.

So now listening to it ten years later, almost every song sounds devastatingly lonely to me. Even the ones that feel playful or confident on the surface. There’s a constant undercurrent of longing and of people trying to reach each other and never quite managing to. I remember loving the album so much when I was 25 but I don’t think I understood just how sad it was. Or maybe I did understand it emotionally, but I couldn’t quite articulate it yet.

Anyway, I’m curious how everyone else’s experience of the album has changed over the last decade. Like which songs hit differently now? Have you found yourself picking up on themes or emotions that went over your head when you were younger. Or does it still feel the same to you as it did back then.

Im wondering if anyone knows about this cover of Seigfried that was performed by a girl in a dimly lit room? Im pretty sure she was playing the song on a stratocaster plugged-in.

the shot would've been pretty close up, as in, chest up and she sang in a very soft voice.

can't find this video anymore on youtube, if anyone knows the performer or where i can find the video please let me know

😭😭😭😭
_dylandelirium on instagram

would appreciate any feedback :) it was our first time trying this

A friend of mine recently reminded me of an old game called Maple Story & said it just relaunched . As a fan of fan, one of the first things I did was try to figure out if I can make my character a “Frank build”. Here are some of the fits I came up with.

Hi everyone! Just picked the CD in UlaanBaatar. I’m pretty sure it’s the real deal but if it is not official, please correct me

It has such a beautiful instrumental as an amazing start already. Idc that it’s short I need his voice on it!

With the cast out, the production, the payton video (which idk if im being schizo but it seemed like franks experimentation with film, dedicated to payton), and the new music that comes with that.

His brother was at the end of Blonde. Alot of fans forget how earth shattering grief is. If being done with this horrific music industry thats getting worse is what helps his mental health, we should prioritise that more than our selfish needs. We have 3 masterpieces, a brilliant ep, amazing singles and features, and alot of unreleased. We're good.

No glaze, but we know his creative genius, the music speaks for itself. His interest in film was essential to the Blonde and Endless rollout (boys don't cry zine, endless livestream). Trust in his next direction, or don't, but also go outside

Well I listen to Ivy alot, and I never really understood this line.

A few possible meanings i’ve seen:

- Its an inside joke between him and the person he is writing to, hence the “Don’t you remember?”

Hi odysseus pls help

these are my others but Im interested in what you guys all like to listen too as well because i want to get a widened music taste too

Put together a custom album full of edits from blond, Nostalgia Ultra and a few singles and other songs as well as some live performances mixed in.

How do you guys like the album art??

I think it’s a good song but I wouldn’t consider it his BEST song. Also I promise this isn’t ragebait 😂

I saw a video today about the sound design of Vegyn, one of Frank Ocean’s producers. It led me to some of his music and I can’t believe what I have been missing out on. Does anyone here listen to Vegyn, can anyone make any recommendations?

What’s up guys, as the title says, I was wondering if I got fleeced on a Blonde vinyl.

I found a copy on Mercari listed for $100, sent an offer for $80, and it got accepted. Since it usually resales for around $150+, I was pretty sketched out about it. From what I can tell, nothing stands out to me as a red flag, but I'm also pretty new to collecting records.

Thanks

Algo que me encanta de la forma que tiene Frank de componer es que utiliza en las letras imágenes muy concretas, universales y cotidianas pero luego eso lo enlaza con un trasfondo que tiene un montón de interpretaciones. Por poner un ejemplo, Bad religion. A través de algo muy sencillo como es coger un taxi y hablar con el taxista llegas a la idea de la religión, del sentir que eres incapaz de ser amado... Es como el pensamiento arborescente. Y eso me parece muy poderoso.💓

After the BW title was defended by Yan today, I did some matchmaking.

Yan should fight Song based off the merit of Song last two performances.

Merab should fight Bautista as a bounce back fight and with Mario earning the opportunity to fight a former dominant champion.

Finally, Payton Talbott should fight O’Malley in a big main event fight night, maybe an Arizona card.

O’Malley’s style would be similar to a Chris Brown bodyguard and I think with a full training camp led by Frank, Talbott would put the paws on that man.

Ai said it, so I guess this is Blonde now

Official Blonde CD Track Listing (2016)

Here is the standard track order and lengths for the official CD release of Blonde:

I have only got a low quality recording of pyrite and im sure i remember a better quality one existing, does anyone have a link to a download for pyrite, because its been taken down completely on youtube and spotify 🙏🙏