Podcast: Songs From Someone's Past

Hi! This time my podcast will be a little different. Instead of a theme, it will follow a single genre: lo-fi folk with dark or psychedelic influences. I have found myself enjoying mixtapes of this kind more because of their consistence. Also, I wanted to make a good autumn soundtrack for my own listening. This will also mean more variety in musical styles in future podcasts!

You will hear folk music from different sides of the world, from 60's to 00's. Some are alot better known than others. Sea Ritual by Blood Axis & In Gowan Ring is a live recording from 1999. The link is in the bottom of this post!

Tracklist:

1. Pearls Before Swine - Images of April
2. Satya Sai Maitreya Kali - Ice and Snow
3. Blood Axis & In Gowan Ring - Sea Ritual
4. Modryn - Elizabeth Love
5. Twelve Thousand Days - Dream of You
6. Damien Youth - The Seed
7. East-Ra - Winter Days
8. Peter Scion - See The Sun
9. The Buried Civilizations - As Cold As The Clay
10. Changes - Fire Of Life
11. COB - Child of the Season

Listen and download the podcast here! (Direct .mp3-link, 46,3mb)

Podcast: Down-To-Earth And All Good

 Hi, I'm suffering from flu right now so let's try something smaller this time.

There's this thought or feeling you get when you're in some everyday situation with some certain music playing in the background or in your earphones. Not a huge awakening or anything, but just a small "hey, it's kinda cool to exist/be alive". And that's what makes it better. This podcast will attempt to be the total opposite of the previous one: No huge crescendos or anything, just jamming out and calm/chill/cool compositions. The link is in the bottom of this post!


1. Talk Talk - The Rainbow

Gotta thank my friend Fitz for introducing this one to me. The album "Spirit of Eden" has been the soundtrack to many of those Sunday mornings when you're just a bit hung-over but not too much to feel actually bad. Brain activity might be at its lowest, but otherwise you're feeling quite good. These later albums by Talk Talk have often been praised as an early form of post-rock. Well yeah, the dynamics are there. Talk Talk at last.fm.


2. Fripp & Eno - Evening Star

Brian Eno and Robert Fripp did some cool stuff back in the 70's. I'm not much into King Crimson, but I can't deny I wouldn't admire Fripp's guitar playing that, like someone said in a last.fm shoutbox, has a cello-like quality on this track. With Brian Eno's familiar textures, this has become one of my favorite ambient tracks. Fripp & Eno at last.fm.


3. Sand - On The Corner

What the heck is this? 70's krautrock from Germany. Guess that explains it all. This is the catchiest and most up-tempo moment on the otherwise gloomy and minimalistic "Ultrasonic Seraphim". This is the funniest thing one can listen to on a rainy day while waiting for a bus to arrive, relating to the lyrics. Sand at last.fm.


4. Damien Youth - Final Orison to His People

Damien Youth is definitely my favorite one from those more underground loner folk/lo-fi-artists. He released these songs on a cassette in 94'. Better guitar playing than usually with "outsider" artists but still retaining the emotion in his songs. And I find all his lyrics interesting, all the bleaker and occult stuff. Listened to "Festival of Death" a lot in last summer. Damien Youth at last.fm.


5. Millenia Nova - Don't Mess With Texas

This song surprised me with its quality when I first heard it on a Soma.fm-radio. I hoped to hear more of the female vocalist on the album "Narcotic Wide Screen Vista", but found out that the album was the band's experiment at getting better-known vocalists to perform on it, so all the vocalists were quests. The album itself didn't please me as much, even the song with Iggy Pop on vocals was a bit boring in my opinion. Millenia Nova at last.fm.


6. Low - La La La Song

"Trust" is a great album with all its dynamics and moody compositions. I find this song very devastating for being placed after the dramatic "Little Argument With Myself" on the album. You should check it out. Low at last.fm.


7. The Penguin Cafe Orchestra - The Sound Of Someone You Love Who's Going Away And It Doesn't Matter

And then there's this. I'm not even going to say anything at this point. No need to. The Penguin Cafe Orchestra at last.fm.


Listen and download the podcast here! (Direct .mp3-link, 48,2mb)

Podcast: The Alice In Wonderland Syndrome

Hi everyone, in this blog I will provide music podcasts that everytime follow a certain theme. I have decided not to stick with any specific genre, because I've always had an equal passion in multiple genres. You can visit my last.fm page, for knowledge of what to expect now and in future.
I will keep only one podcast up at a time. The link is in the bottom of this post!

The first podcast will be about music that makes us feel small in a big world. A tiny boat in the middle of a great ocean. Or any way you want to put it. Sometimes it's in the huge orchestral arrangements, sometimes in the lyrics and sometimes in the thick calm atmosphere. Awesome feeling when one can achieve it. I hope I will succeed this time.


1. A Silver Mt. Zion - Sow Some Lonesome Corner So Many Flowers Bloom

An orchestral post-rock band that has gathered an amateur choir to sing on their record should make one feel like "a tiny boat in the middle of a massive sea", as described by a tag given to their song on last.fm. And they do. This particular song also makes me feel strong union with this world, that I'm a part of all the life around us. A Silver Mt. Zion at last.fm.


2. Chalice For Your Loss - Vita Brevis

This song manages to succeed in things many post-rock bands fail in. To me, this pretty much comprises a perfect post-rock song, in its structure and composition. And the lyrics, telling that you are just a mortal human and will be buried among other mortals is guaranteed to make you feel small, at least when set to music like this. Chalice For Your Loss at last.fm.


3. Die Weisse Rose - Unser Leben Geht Dahin Wie Ein Geschwätz

This has grown into one of my favorite martial industrial tracks ever. Some of my friends have said that this sounds generic and uninteresting, but at least I haven't stumbled upon many martial industrial songs so ethereal and life-affirming. So if you have something in mind, please let me know! Die Weisse Rose at last.fm.


4. Neutral - Next To The Stars

Many neofolk songs would fit in this mix, but this song is one of such with stronger AIW-effect. I can sense the vision these russians have had when creating this song. And it works. Pure genius. Neutral at last.fm.


5. Dead Can Dance - Fortune Presents Gifts Not According to the Book

Almost any DCD-song with Brendan Perry singing would go in here, but I chose this one, because of the excellent and unusual composition. One of the songs that make you stop and think about this life you're experiencing. Dead Can Dance at last.fm.


6. Lux Interna - Blossoms

:god is not dead for the birds: is one of those neofolk albums with more varied and more colorful compositions, which makes it one of my favorites of the genre. Thoughtful lyrics, that I'm sure anyone can relate to. I chose Blossoms, because of the verse: "We envy the flight of the birds, for whom god is not dead / and we envy the plight of the stars, for being too far, to think of divinity at all". Lux Interna at last.fm.


7. Ordo Equilibrio - Man Always Forgets

This song is repetitive, yes. But it is amazing how such a simple structure and few elements can create something this powerful. And the lyrics are awesome. Cold facts about human life provided in simple but beautiful metaphors. Life is so intriguing. Ordo Equilibrio at last.fm.


8. Porcupine Tree - Stop Swimming

Funnily, this simple PT-song might be my favorite of theirs. And here we are, as tiny boats in the middle of a massive ocean, almost literally. Wonderful string arrangements here. Porcupine Tree at last.fm.


9. Urfaust - Outro (of the album "Geist Ist Teufel")

And last, we'll have an ambient track by the black metal band Urfaust. I have to admit, originally I heard this song from the fake version of Paysage d'Hiver's "Einsamkeit"-album, which had the song "Inneres Licht" replaced by an unknown version of this. I think "inner light" would have described the feeling of this song quite well actually. This is something that an isolated person living somewhere far in the wintry wilderness, far from everything, would have created. Like some kind of isolated bliss. The happiness of a lone wolf. Urfaust at last.fm.


Listen and download the podcast here! (Direct .mp3-link, 82mb)

Enjoy! UPDATE: From now on all the podcast links will stay up.