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!
Don't forget to up the quality on the embed for better sound quality.
The Battle of Land and Sea is an acoustic folk duo consisting of Sarah O'Shura and Joshua Canny. This is "You Are A Sailor" from their eponymous release from 2008.
Personally, I do find water to exhibit a calming effect (not unlike this song's tone and lyrical content). Being the dedicated city slicker than I am, I rarely frequent significant bodies of water. Whenever I do, however, I'm reminded that the world is bigger and so big enough so that my first-world problems may not be as pressing as I may initially perceive them to be.
Golden Gardens is a Seattle duo that creates soothing dream pop with beautiful harmonies (vocals at times reminiscent of Cranes) as well as drums and bass that readily keep a steady rhythm. This is the fourth track, "Transparent Things", from their LP released back in November this year, How Brave The Hunted Wolves.
I'm still considering buying their album on their Bandcamp but the cautious part of me thinks maybe it'd be better if I wanted til I'm employed again. Luckily, the album's fully streamable so maybe that'll be sufficient for now.
I don't know if it's just me being biased because they were the songs that started getting me into post-rock in a big way, but I take particularly well to all the material on This Will Destroy You's 2006 EP Young Mountain. Even listening to it now two years later, the seemingly simple arrangement of these pieces help get me into a place that I wish I could stay for longer than the mere duration of the songs. But, alas, it seems our collective fates are to reside here, in this shared, well-defined reality, until some external agent finally calls out to us and we drown.
Anyway, this is "Happiness: We're All In It Together Now" from This Will Destroy You's Young Mountain EP released in 2006.
I probably haven't been as zealous as I usually am in my voracious consumption of novel music in the past few weeks, undoubtedly in no small part due to the exhaustion of being (slightly) overworked. Not that that's particularly necessary. Since however long ago that I had begun making a conscious effort to find new music regularly, I've amassed a modest and comfortable collection that I can go to (and now with the netbook, that collection has become more accessible than ever ...better than that 8gig iPod, ugh).
The song is "Half-Light" by London-based Trembling Blue Stars from their 2011 album Fast Trains and Telephone Wires (there's another post with another song from this album somewhere in this blog's depths). I think it conveys very well that sense of lethargy that has begun clogging my mental machinery lately.
**EDIT** Just wanted to point out the oddity of this video by a UK band being put up by Spanish music label Elefant Records... that is all.
"Daughter" is definitely one of Pearl Jam's more recognizable songs and it has been a regular on my playlists almost since I began using playlists at all. Recently I learned of Pearl Jam's 2011 live album, which was a recording from a Toronto show, entitled 9.11.2011 Toronto, Canada,and gave it a listen promptly afterwards.
Apparently in live shows, for at least the past decade, Pearl Jam plays "It's Okay", originally by former punk band Dead Moon, following "Daughter". Having never been exposed to Pearl Jam live before, I had never heard this. The effect was immediately apparent: a story of domestic violence implied by "Daughter" juxtaposed with a message of explicit love and acceptance in "It's Okay". Combine that with the crowd interaction and the actual chord transition makes the whole ordeal a very uplifting one (the crowd definitely knows what's up when those initial chords are strung).
Anyway, here's fan-recording of the 2011 show with what I presume is the album recording dubbed on top. The video begins with the tail-end of "Daughter", which is rather ominous, actually.
Queen Elephantine is a psychedelic rock band currently situated in New York (originally forming in Hong Kong). Heard this song from the "Prostitutes of God" documentary from Vice. The documentary explored the custom of devadasi, wherein girls are dedicated to deity Yellamma, whom will then serve as temple prostitutes upon reaching puberty. This documentary happens to feature various pieces by Queen Elephantine, whose gritty guitar paralleled the nature of the general affair.
This documentary, akin to other Vice stuff I've seen, doesn't provide a particularly high-level overview of the issue but rather focuses on the particular lives and impressions of a few select areas they end up visiting. I wouldn't say that I'm now particularly well educated on this issue but I'm, at the very least, cognizant of its existence. I think an apt description would be "messy as hell".
This song is "Kabir" from Queen Elephantine's 2007 release Surya.
I didn't know that the Red Hot Chili Peppers had begun back in the 80s. Somehow, I just figured "Under The Bridge" was their first single since it was the oldest thing of theirs that was ever played on the Edge. Anyway, as briefly mentioned in the previous post, I've been revisiting bands of my youth lately and RHCP is one of them.
One of the more memorable songs that I hadn't heard before is "Universally Speaking" from their By The Way album from 2002. The music video features actor Dave Sheridan, who continues his role from the "By The Way" music video where he had played obsessed taxi driver/captor of Anthony Kiedis. I felt a little nostalgia while watching this, that there was actual some continuity to "By The Way" that I had watched a lot back in the day. The book at the end "Lexicon Devil" is also the book that Anthony Kiedis waves at the beginning of the "By The Way" video, which he had presumably left in the taxi after escaping from it.
Lately, I've been revisiting various bands I listened to in those seemingly carefree days of my youth (I was lucky enough to have a relatively carefree set of teenage years), both past albums as well as whatever those artists are doing nowadays, whether with the original bands or solo.
I didn't listen to Pearl Jam that much in the 90's. I was first familiarized with their more popular singles from the Edge and then after I had purchased their hit-compilation album Rearviewmirror (Greatest Hits 1991-2003). Now, over 20 years after their beginnings from Seattle, Pearl Jam is still active today, having released a couple of live albums (interestingly, one was released from their Toronto show last year on my birthday) since their last studio album, Backspacer, in 2009. On top of all this, vocalist, Eddie Vedder, has managed to begin releasing some solo work as well.
His first solo endeavour was for the soundtrack for the 2007 film Into The Wild, from which the single "Hard Sun" can be found. Following that, Vedder released Ukulele Songs in 2011, which appropriately features the ukulele. All in all, a very pleasant listen (the ukulele complements his voice very well). This is "Without You" (live version here)
I have a bit of a soft spot when it comes to Canadian bands/artists, not sure if it's because of the music itself or some sort of suppressed national pride leaking out. One of the more prominent ones is Matt Good. Of course, having grown up during the time of Matthew Good Band, I'd say I'm a bigger fan of his pre-solo work.
Anyway, probably a year ago, I got his Live At Massey Hall album, which he released back in 2008. This is "The Devil's In Your Details", definitely one of my favourite songs on that album.
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.
I'm not sure why I keep hearing strings in the post-rock I've been listening to recently, maybe it's confirmation bias... Anyway this is "Young and Old" by the Virginian band Gregor Samsa from their 2006 album 55:12. The build-up is slow but determined and just beautiful.
Also, as far as trivia goes, Gregor Samsa is the protagonist in Franz Kafka's short story The Metamorphosis. To summarize this purportedly seminal work in a most flippant and unappreciative way, salesman Gregor Samsa wakes up and finds that he has become some monstrous vermin. His family gets freaked out and avoids him. Finally, Gregor gets the bad feels and dies. The end.
It seems I'm listening to a lot more post-rock nowadays, I hadn't been looking too much into that genre since maybe mid-July. I wonder what prompted the change/resparked the interest. I tend to cycle between genres and it may be affected with long-term mood, maybe. Not to be emo or whatever.
Anyway, here's a very excellent post-rock song by Grails, hailing from Portland, Oregon. This "Future Primitive" from their 2011 album Deep Politics. The song features an interesting combination of electric guitars and strings and has a real dystopian feel to it (maybe the new RoboCop movie should consider adding this to their soundtrack, ha).
Oh, did you hear the latest news about Fiona Apple? Apparently she was arrested in Texas after she was caught at a drug checkpoint carrying hash. This checkpoint has also caught other notable musicians such as Willie Nelson and Snoop Dogg (well, Lion now, I guess).
The only song I really liked by her was "Fast As You Can" from her When The Pawn... album back in 1999... which was 13 years ago... a little mind-boggling, though I suppose it'll only become all the more boggling from here on out. But, anyway, after looking up some more info on Apple, it seems she released an album earlier this year: The Idler Wheel... (this is the alternate name, the full title of the album is way longer). And, so, why not check it out, right?
The album is a good listen and generally features Fiona's vocals and the piano as well as a mix of percussion instruments and a cello (or a double-bass, I can't tell). This is "Werewolf".
So, after what was probably a period of at least three years, I opened my violin case (well I opened both my cases as I had forgotten which one housed the significantly better violin) and tried my hand at that instrument that had once featured so prominently in my life. It turns out that I could still play most of the stuff I had left off with moderately in tune, though not in time.
I left the violin a while back because... well... I guess it lost its appeal. I was never a huge fan of monophony and it seemed with violin, that's all I could produce. Also, in the vast majority of music I listened to back then and even now, the violin didn't/doesn't feature much. And so, my repertoire then consisted only of monophonic pieces from literally hundreds of years ago.
But anyway, I'm making this post because I had just heard a really great post-rock tune that featured the violin. This definitely wouldn't be the first time that I've heard the violin featured in this genre, two immediate examples that come to mind would be "Starálfur" by Sigur Rós and "Alas! Alas! The Breath Of Life!" by Ascent Of Everest. So, for the topic of this particular post, the band is Giranice, hailing from Spain. The song is "Sub Rosa" from their recent release Enea (album available for free on their bandcamp).
**edit** I changed the song from "Banako Zen" to "Sub Rosa"
I wonder if how I would go about translating all that classical violin training into something like this... wouldn't that be something?
Sigur Rós was my first exposure to the realm of post-rock. Two specific memories come to mind but I don't really remember which one came first.
The first of these happened when I was watching The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (one of my favourite movies, by the way). The song Starálfur came on during the film's climax and I have to say that both the music and the scene itself made it such a touching scene. I honestly would've cried if only I hadn't been such a macho man back then (I still am now but I also was back then). As an aside, given the pacing of the scene, I guess Starálfur's tempo was a little faster than optimal but one does not simply find suitable substitutes for Starálfur.
The second instance happened when I was channel surfing and happened to find something intriguing on MuchMusic: Untitled #1 (aka Vaka). The music was so fresh, so different from all that other stuff I had usually heard on MuchMusic (not to sound like a total hipster jackass, of course). The video was also a bit heart-wrenching (by all means examine for yourself via the link above). I think I tried to remember the name so I could look into their music more later but to no avail. It wasn't until very recently that I found out that video I saw all those years ago was by Sigur Rós at all. There was a sense of completion when I found out, at the very least it was a loose end that actually became resolved.
Well, anyway, both those events were at least a good eight years ago. Since that time, Sigur Rós has gone into and returned from an, at the time, "indefinite" hiatus. To quote their site when it happened, some members needed some time to "make some babies". As to their future, that doesn't seem as clear. I swear last month I read a magazine article saying that Valtari (released back in May this year) would probably be their last album. Today, I read that they have a European tour planned for 2013 and a potential new album. Well, regardless, they seem to be together right now and for at least next year so... why don't we just let good things be good things and leave it at that.
There's no real thing I wanted to share. I just went and watched that video for Vaka earlier today and wanted to put that part of my life down somewhere. But, here is "Varúð" from their latest album Valtari. There's another video on your YouTube page featuring Shia "The Beef" but not only was the video a little graphic but the song itself wasn't particularly my cup of tea.
