Latest Music Favorites (Summer/Autumn 2016)

My last music favorites post was in March, and it's time for an update. I've been to quite distant music places since then and I can't wait to sum up this year's favorites. December seems so close!

Here are some things I've been into lately. Goodbye post punk, hello every rock genre ever.


1. Boilermaker

Boilermaker / Midnight Manager

So we all know obscure post punk bands, right? But what about other genres? One evening I was browsing unknown (original) emo and/or first-wave post hardcore bands, to get to know the genres better, and I was happy to come across Boilermaker. There is something very nostalgic and bittersweet in emo music for me, despite not listening to it when I was a teenager (unlike many people I know). The whole self-titled album is very interesting, the instrumentals are very good, and I find the basswork in the song above just great and quite progressive!



2. Stoned Jesus

Stoned Jesus / Seven Thunders Roar (full album)

Progressive, you said? I got you covered - this one is a great mix of stoner and progressive rock, and you'll probably be as much surprised as I was to know that this band is from Ukraine (plus points on the lack of accent in the vocals!). I found this album so inspiring: there are hard rock parts, there are folky parts, there are prog rock parts and even grungy parts, and of course the familiar stoner atmosphere. I found myself listening to the album from start to finish a few times and it's versatility has made me very happy. Just the kind of mix I have been waiting for.


3. Tool

Tool / Bottom

Speaking of hard, progressive and grungy - I have at last reached the point of loving Tool's music! I can't believe it's happened, I could never digest their music, aside from 2-3 songs (we all know Sober) and have been a huge A Perfect Circle fan. But Tool have always seemed too technical and less emotional for me. This changed thanks to buying Unleashed: The Story Of Tool when I was in London. You've got to admit, even if you don't like the band much, Tool are pretty damn mysterious and would make anyone who's seen Keenan's stage presence (or lack thereof) curious. The book is great and quite inspiring, and so I felt like the over-complicated albums were chewed down for me into expressions like "the dexterity of the drums" and "the razor-sharp bass line" and I could finally gather my comprehensive abilities and give Tool another try. 

And boy, I wasn't disappointed.

So I've decided to take it step by step and start from Undertow, their first album (see song above). I was happy to discover the obvious grunge elements, contemporary to that time, though we all know Tool are much more than that. Hello progressive rock my old friend - it's so nice to get inspired again.

4. Justin Johnson

Justin Johnson playing a shovel guitar

And now for something completely different - the video above is getting quite viral lately and suddenly I found myself discovering all this old school blues music I have always been ignoring! And it only took a beautiful long-haired guy to do it.

This video shows a haunting dark lap steel guitar, the slider work is amazing! I know of the technic because Boris uses a slider when playing guitar sometimes, and it's so cool to see it done old school. I kept listening to the various things Justin Johnson does and maybe I got interested because I play a guitar myself now, so learning the blues might be a very good idea. Just check out the shovel guitar in the video above!

Don't want to give away the stuff I'm storing for the "2016 music recap" post, so I'll finish here. I am so happy to dive into more progressive stuff recently, It has been such a long time.

What have you been listening to lately?

Maria