20 Minutes / 40 Years (Day 100)

Every blog entry I've written since Day 3 has been the title of a song I was listening to around that time. I thought it might be a fun idea to look back at the titles of these previous entries and write a really short blurb about each song and how I feel about it! Revisiting 100~ songs in one entry seems like it might be a tad overkill, however, so I'll only tackle a few at a time.

• Day 3: Yes - "Heart of the Sunrise"

When I first started this blogging exercise, I was revisiting a lot of 1970s progressive rock. Several years ago it was just about the only thing I would listen to--and I even delved into a lot of really obscure artists. Eventually I felt like I grew out of it and started listening to more and more minimalist and instrumental music--but to be honest, I still love the grandiosity of prog rock, and Yes is no exception. This particular track is a great cut from Fragile clocking in at over eleven minutes!

• Day 4: My Bloody Valentine - "Sometimes"

Even though MBV isn't instrumental, I feel like they were an important influence on my developing music taste. Their usage of dynamics and the importance of the sound of every instrument in the mix really appealed to me--and it's something I look for in music to this day. I'm really into layered, textured music that sort of washes over you.

• Day 5: Murs - "Done Deal"

Murs is an underground rapper that I don't hear a lot about. I hear people talking about Sage Francis, Aesop Rock, and Atmosphere, but I had to dig to find Murs. I found out about him from a project called Felt--on which Murs collaborated with Slug from Atmosphere. Those albums were really straightforward but solid pieces of work, but I personally prefer Murs' solo work, at least on this album. I couldn't tell you exactly what makes Murs stand out, but there's something about his tone and cadence that really appeals to me.

• Day 6: Yes - "Close to the Edge"

Probably my favorite overall Yes track--and this one clocks in at around twenty-three minutes. You could argue that these classic prog tracks are self-indulgent, but they're just so fun to listen to. Yes tracks never seem to drag, either--there's always a palpable sense of momentum.

• Day 7: Yes - "Wonderous Stories"

I was definitely listening to a lot of Yes at the time. This is one of their more radio-friendly tracks, but it's still very solid. The misspelling in the title was evidently a mistake by the lead singer, Jon Anderson.

• Day 8: Jethro Tull - "Thick as a Brick"

Now this is this the quintessential prog track. At 40+ minutes, it spans the length of an entire album chronicling a poem written by a young man. It was apparently composed as a parody of the self indulgence of the prog rock genre, but it ended up becoming quite popular in its own right. The genre has some absolutely great music to listen to if you don't take it too seriously.

• Day 9: Omega Massif - "Aura"

This was a new album for me at the time--and honestly, I haven't listened to it much sense. It's very slow, atmospheric metal which is generally right up my alley. I found it enjoyable but it didn't stand out much compared to similar acts.

• Day 10: Yes - "Yours Is No Disgrace"

Another classic Yes track you might have heard on the radio before. Like Rush, Yes had plenty of very listenable radio tracks--but also a lot of more challenging, intricate pieces.

• Day 11: Rush - "Vital Signs"

Moving Pictures is a classic great album from start to finish. Although you'll hear "Tom Sawyer" and "Limelight" more than anything else, it would be criminal to overlook the album's closing track--not to mention "YYZ." 

• Day 12: Jethro Tull - "Journeyman"

Although Jethro Tull is mostly recognized for the album Aqualung (and especially its title track), their catalog is packed full of great releases. Songs from the Wood and Heavy Horses were too flamboyant folk albums that didn't get a lot of attention but I like a lot. Ian Anderson's voice had already started to degrade by the time these albums released in the late 1970s, but the music and compositions were as good as ever.

• Day 13: Magma - "Ima Suri Dondai"

Magma is definitely one of the more oddball progressive rock groups. In fact, they spawned their own subgenre called Zeuhl--which utilizes a fictional language devised by Magma mastermind Christian Vander. The musical style is heavily rooted in hypnotic repetition and strange choral vocal stylings. You'd have to listen to it to get a good idea because words absolutely do not do it justice.

• Day 14: Boards of Canada - "White Cyclosa"

Boards of Canada is probably my favorite electronic group--but admittedly I don't know a lot about the scene. Their musical style could best be described as ambient, but every one of their albums sounds distinctly different from one another. If I had to cite a unifying theme in their work it would be their tendency toward abstract rhythmic soundscapes. This particular track is from their most recent release Tomorrow's Harvest, which to be honest I still haven't listened to a lot. I need to get on that.

• Day 15: Mastodon - "The Last Baron"

I don't listen to Mastodon a lot these days, but I still greatly enjoy their dirty, grungy take on metal, even if I didn't like their most recent release. Remission, Leviathan, Blood Mountain, and Crack the Skye (which this particular track comes from) all have unique approaches that I really enjoy. I recall reading in some old interviews that each album tackled a different classical element and I always kind of liked that. From simple and unpretentious aggression to Southern-infllected stoner metal to grandiose conceptual anthems--Mastodon penned a lot of great tracks. And then they released a really mediocre modern metal album--but we won't talk about that.