Levamentum menti, Latin for "comfort for the mind", that's what music is for me. This blog will be an ongoing record of interesting music that I come across. Check it out, maybe something will suit your tastes!
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Among the many efforts aimed at raising awareness and financial support for the devastating tsunami that hit Japan back in 2011 as well as the ensuing nuclear woes that followed promptly at Fukushima, there was Hope For Japan, a 4-disc compilation album featuring music primarily of the post-rock and ambient varieties.
The apparent success of this effort led to a second compilation album released a few months later entitled More Hope For Japan, which was similar to its predecessor both in style and disc-length. Both these compilations are still available at their respective sites (here for Hope For Japan and here for More Hope For Japan) and I'd like to believe that funds are still going to relief efforts, though I haven't read anything to confirm this.
Here's one song from the second compilation that I've been listening quite a bit recently: "This Things I Believe (Can We Accept That?)" by Damn Robot! (label's Bandcamp here). The duo itself consists of brothers Rob and Tom Honey, who have been separately involved in other projects such as Oceanus and Good Weather For An Airstrike. This song can also be found on Damn Robot!'s 2012 album Jasurp.
Oftentimes, during my states of semi-lucid consciousness (like on a commute after a long day), I feel as though I am on the verge of awakening from a very long dream. And that, if I were to follow through with the action, I would return to reality and all those memories of people and places long-obscured would come rushing back and that indecipherable haze that so frequently seems to hang over me would be banished, never to intrude into my perceptions again.
And yet, I know that that recurring feeling is but a vapid illusion conjured by my mind as I tread between the conscious and semi-conscious states. Ugh, maybe my extended stay here in limbo is starting to get to me...
But, anyway, just a rant I guess. The Copernican Revolt is a Texan band/duo (Bandcamp link). So far they've only released 3 songs, hopefully they continue.
Preamble: The Antlers are a rock group currently based in Brooklyn, New York. Zzz, more info at their Last.fm here.
Body: When I look at song tags, I periodically chance upon genres ending with "core" (e.g. metalcore, nerdcore, beatcore, etc.). It never made sense to me and since none of the music that I listened to ever ended with "core", I just never bothered to look into it. But since the Last.fm entry for The Antlers listed "slowcore" as one of its first tags (after the wholly descriptive tags of "indie" and "indie rock"), I guess I had to finally look it up.
So it seems that the inclusion of "core" at the end of those genres doesn't signify any commonality between them nor does it necessarily describe anything about the genre itself. The only genre for which the inclusion of "core" in its name made any sense was "metalcore", apparently a combination of "extreme metal and hardcore punk" (wiki). Ok, that's fine. But for other genres, like "nerdcore" (nerdy hip-hop) and "beatcore" (doesn't even look like there's even a vague consensus on this one), "core" just seems to ... be there. Maybe there's more to the story but let's revisit that some other time.
Regarding "slowcore", the genre itself became popular in the 90's and developed out of opposition to the grunge genre that so-characterized that decade, well, for me anyway. Slowcore is marked by instrumental minimalism, a slower tempo, and generally somber lyrics. As grunge phased out of the limelight after the mid-90s, so, apparently, did slowcore. But it's not like the musical community as a whole all decided to completely abandon the characteristics of that genre for the rest of existence. Invariably, some music will incorporate aspects reminiscent of that style and I guess it'd still be a useful general descriptor in that sense.
Anyway, all that aside, just heard this song from /r/postrock that's helping me get back into my preferred mellow state and wanted to share it here.
Ok, I'll admit it, I'm really stressing out about the next two weeks, tight does not even begin to describe the schedule that I go through in my head (over and over again). The frustration had really been getting to me the past few days. But here I am, at the library, and even though prior to arriving I was still pretty disenthused (to put it mildly) about the entire prospect of studying for hours and hours on end, I've finally settled into a more placid and pleasant state of mind.
A very important juncture was settling down and just browsing through a few albums I haven't heard in a while. When it comes to stress, some of my friends work out while some others just eat. For me, my preferred therapy is music; I really don't have any other way of channeling negative emotions or allowing them to quietly dissolve away. And so, as I sit here, finally at peace with what I have to do, I guess I should share a couple of songs I've been listening to recently.
The first link may be familiar to those who have seen the "Taken" with Liam Neeson's famous "a very particular set of skills, skills that I have acquired over a very long career" quote. The song itself is featured at the beginning of the credit roll.
The alternative rock band Ghinzu from Belgium. Both these songs can ("Dragster Wave" and "Seaside Friends") be found on their 2004 album Blow. The album itself is a very nice mix of piano and rock instrumentals and Ghinzu do not hesitate at all about deviating from the standard verse and chorus structure, which definitely helps to minimize repetition in the whole affair.
Well, I don't just listen to post-rock, I'm still oft to frequent the dream pop and shoegaze genres, though I guess post-rock has been the predominant genre lately. I heard this song a while back but couldn't think of a way to incorporate this song with a post that would have any semblance of substance. But, whatever yo... let's just throw that pretense to the wind...
Julia Holter is an American artist (classically-trained keytarist, apparently) hailing from Echo Park, Los Angeles. This is "Marienbad" from her 2012 album Ekstasis.
Post-rock is just great, I don't understand how only one other person I know listens to this stuff. It is quite the misfortune as I would want nothing more than to share all this wealth of music with other appreciators, but alas, that life is not for me...
Well anyway, typical melodrama aside, just heard this really great EP, We Love Silence, But Silence Is Awkward by The Ills released in 2009 (EP available for free here). The band itself is from Slovakia and, apparently, strives for a sound that goes beyond the stereotypical post-rock combine elements from other genres such as shoegaze (lucky me), math-rock, sludge, etc.
So, the shoegaze influence is undeniable as the characteristic fuzzy airy electric is present in most of the songs on this EP and it's definitely something I undeniably do appreciate. For whatever reason, there's just something about the noise that I find just a cut above clean guitars. Maybe it's a result from listening to all that grunge growing up? Who knows.
