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Anathema - Sunlight


Anathema released an album by the name of Weather Systems a few years ago. It was something completely different than Alternative 4, and the like. I'm not entirely certain why they made the change in sound that they did, but man, with how many tear jerking songs they have on this album, I definitely don't mind the direction they went in. I've talked about this album being a grower for me, and overtime i've really come to enjoy it for what it is, and I have quite a few favorite tracks on it. But, i'm not talking about the whole album today, just this one song. Sunlight has that uniqueness where lyrically the song isn't sad, but the way it's performed / instrumentally it is sad.

"The shining almost took me but I made it through that night
And in the morning life it graced me and I ran for miles"

However, there is definitely some positives to negatives throughout the song, but I don't take it as being a song about something sad. That's just what I interpret. I do remember the first time I heard this song, I did have to listen to it again a few more times, because not only is it a heart breaker, it's also catchy as hell. It made it's way to one of the more listened to songs from this album, even upon it's release. I also like how as the song progresses, it starts to get more upbeat and you start to hear the drums come in, and the vocals get more powerful, all leading to a fantastically choreographed climax that I can only describe as amazing. It truly is a great song when you really break it down, but at the same time, it's also a great song just to passively listen to, which is what the album sort of became to me. It's not a bad album, it's an album i'd put on to have going on in the background, something along the likes of a Sigur Ros album, or City and Colour, etc etc.

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Also, I just surpassed 300 posts in this journal. That's a small milestone but I'm happy nonetheless.

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Random song because why not?



I've talked about A Place Where The Sun Is Silent before but I don't think i've really touched on songs by themselves. I've given this album listens multiple times since it's release, and I have always genuinely enjoyed it in it's entirety, but I actually never gave this song a fair chance, especially since this album is pretty scattered with some great songs, and not so great songs, but that's just a personal opinion. This song in particular did fall in the category of not being one of the greater songs, but it made it's way out of that into the category of one of the greatest songs on the album. The lyrics are fantastic, the intro is great, and it's just so god damned catchy. Through the years as I have probably mentioned before, Alesana seem to be getting better and better in the craft. They have a genuine chemistry with one another, and in this song, you can really feel that the band is working together to bring out something great. The chorus is also fantastic:

"Do you think it's wrong of me to long for you despite how you taste?
I'm not the one to give up on you now.
I'll never leave the ground without having to let go, yeah!
Every time I try I'm further from the sky.
I wish that I could let go, I'm lost in your beautiful trance."

This song really does not get the credit it deserves, and I think the main reason for that is due to it being so close to the end of the album, and people (like myself) have a tendency to grow tired of the album at that point. Not in a bad way, you're just waiting for the album to finish so you can form your opinion on it. Again, it's just a personal thing. Not only that though, this song comes before two other very fantastic songs in this album, and they fall to the same faith of being so close to the end, that they just don't get their fair shot. I've been giving these tracks more listens as I listen to the album though to sort of make up for it, plus they're just so good.

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So a while back, I stumbled upon something that may have changed my life forever. It was a video titled "Epic Sax Guy". But oh no, it didn't stop there. I actually went as far to look and see where I can find the origin of Epic Sax Guy, and I had found out that it was part of a Eurovision competition sort of thing:



If you skip right to 0:45 you can see the Epic Sax Guy in action. Honestly, a mixture of the dance moves and catchy tune really make this one of the more amazing things on the internet. This video is obviously not the original original, it just takes the sax guy and extends that one part multiple times, but after a while, you get the rest of the song, but you get the intro to the song that this came from.

And of course, I have to put something special in here. So here you go:

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With post-rock month coming very shortly, actually it's but a few days away, I feel like it'd be good to give sort of a preview of what kind of magic you'll be seeing in this little space I call journal home. Going to start off right away with an album that has blown me away even though the band themselves have been one that I seem to forget about from time to time. They are the one, the only...



Moonlit Sailor! I've had my fair share of history of listening to this band from time to time, ever since I learned of the existence of their album titled A Footprint of Feelings which was their EP at the time, but don't let that spoil the fun, the album is fantastic in it's own right and really opens a new journey for you to venture into. I speak from experience since I have found myself going back to A Footprint of Feelings when i'm need of some Moonlit Sailor magic, and I still feel the same way I did when I heard it the first time. This song especially is more than reason enough to give this album a 5 star rating each time I hear it...



It's so perfect. And combined with the album art, it's just....perfect in it's own simple way. I think the band have really managed to somehow mix both their creativity into their album art and their music to sort of make a combination of relaxations while at the same time being totally blown away by what is being heard. What would I consider this band to be genre wise? I'd make up my own subgenre of post-rock and i'd call it relaxation post-rock, or something like lay-in-bed-rock. Seriously. If you're looking for a band that manages to mix together the sounds of relaxation, you've come to the right place.

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Since I found myself thinking about more tunes from TV shows that I've seen and movies that I love, I decided to make this section a regular thing. I thought at first it'd be a one time thing, but once I started thinking about it, there's a lot that can be included in this little section. So, without further ado, the next part in this little series of music from tv and film: (and yes, I am trying to start putting most if not all my videos into spoilers as I am seeing that the page tends to load pretty slow when I come to my journal, and I think spoiling videos will help that. I won't do every video, but if I have more than 3 or 4, they'll be spoiled.)



And just as a bonus, i'll throw in another Star Wars track that I really like:

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(image courtesy of a pg.lost live show)

Come one, come all, to the wonderful world of post-rock. I'm pretty sure by now that most people are aware that I have a pretty big soft spot for post-rock. By that I mean it's one of my top 3 favorite genres. The entire month of March will be me just posting about some of my favorite bands, songs, and the weird one off thing here and there. Anyway, let's get right into it shall we?

So to start things off, I want to talk about an album that has left an everlasting good impression on me in terms of what I want to hear out of a post-rock album. No, it's nothing by pg.lost, don't worry, i'm going to try to keep those types of posts on the minimum this month, but it'll be difficult. No, the album I want to talk about is...


I Hear Sirens - Beyond The Sea, Beneath The Sky

It's actually been a pretty long time since the first time I actually listened to this album in full. But it's one of those albums where there first time I ever listened to it, I had to have a copy of it. It's so good in it's own way. It's mellow, the instrumentals are not too overpowering but yet they do enough to keep the interest flowing, and the general atmosphere of the album just fits all together. In terms of how I feel when I listen to it? I sort of get a feeling of being lost in a field with 4 different paths to take, and not really knowing where to go or where you'll end up. I would see this album being the soundtrack to a game or movie where there is one person looking for a way out, or someway to leave the place he's stranded at, yet never actually being able to reach that goal. Basically, it has a dark atmosphere to it, in the best way possible.

In terms of how the songs are laid out, I think it's done perfectly. One after the other you feel like you're getting somewhere, but you can't help feel like you're stuck. It can play with your head a little bit if you're ill prepared, at least that's how it was for me. Song titles as well are pretty damn fitting. Songs like "O Failing Vessel, Brave the Violent Sea" and "Drowning City Skyline" and many others, there's just a sense of darkness that flows even before knowing what the song actually sounds like.



Honestly, it's one of the best post-rock albums I have in my collection, but it's not the only "best post-rock album" I have in my collection, if that makes sense. I highly recommend it though if you're itching for some darkness fueled post-rock.

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#20: The Evpatoria Report - Prognoz


Coming from the album Golevka, The Evpatoria Report released songs like Cosmic Call and Prognoz along with many others. I have always found Prognoz to be one of the more defining moments on the album and for the band as a whole. I'll be honest, Golevka is the only album I am really familiar with from this band, but in my defense, they only have 3 albums, Maar beging the most recent one in 2008. I do wish they'd release more albums because songs like this are definitely one of the better ones you can find from them right now, but again, that's from the opinion of just hearing one album so far. I have always found their music to be a little bit more on the atmospheric post-rock side, while still keeping things technical and interesting. They do what most bands do where the songs will have a slow build up, but it's always worth it in the end. Admittedly, their songs tend to be more on the longer side, as this one comes in at 14 minutes already, but i'd be lying if I said it wasn't worth a listen.

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Post-Rock Edition

Disclaimer: This section is solely for the purpose of talking about the music. I am or never have been involved with anything religious nor do I believe that Heaven and Hell exist, however just keep in mind that i'm not talking about religion here. Thanks.

You ever hear a song and you have a thought come up and you think, "man, this song would definitely be the song that would play when I walk through the gates of Heaven." Well, I do. I think about that quite often honestly. I always think about those shows that have showed people going up to Heaven in a beam of light, taking them away from their corpse on Earth, and then it just hits me that the song i'm listening to at that moment would fit that moment perfectly.



I could easily just post the entire album of Valtari for this one, but I find that those two songs that I posted really capture the moment of taking you away and bringing you to a better and stronger place. I think Varðeldur does it better than Dauðalogn but I have always found that Varðeldur emits a feeling of sadness, and with that playing in the background, you wouldn't want to let go, yet the beam of light is bringing you up anyway. You're happy to go, but at the same time, feeling the sadness helps you remember the good times.

Bulldog

I'm usually a bit skeptical about post-rock in general, but this really caught my eye...or, rather, ear...

Really good, dark atmosphere to it, as you say. Reminds me a little bit of Akira Yamaoka's work on the Silent Hill soundtracks - I'll always tell anyone I can that the soundtrack to Silent Hill 2 is one of the best video game soundtracks ever.