thecheatisnotdead: Songs I've Been Obsessed With Lately.

thecheatisnotdead 11.16.07	Katatonia – Unfurl One of the most atmospheric songs I've ever heard (not to mention one of Katatonia's finest); I had one hell of a time finding a full version, but it was worth it. Porcupine Tree - .3 I recently revisited "In Absentia" and discovered that I had somehow overlooked this mostly-instrumental exercise in slow-building yet accessible prog (it's still best when listened to with "The Creator Has a Mastertape" and "Heartattack in a Layby," though). Still Remains – Avalanche I'll be the first to admit that Still Remains' new album was underwhelming, but it was by no means as terrible as some seem to maintain. “Avalanche,” for me, is the best song on "The Serpent," and sums up Still Remains as well as anything they've done before. Mogwai – 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong This song is admittedly a bit repetitive, but thus is the essence of post-rock; the end of this song is incredible, with its distant overlapping vocal melodies, and the journey there is phenomenal. Brandtson – Escapist A poppier song than I am accustomed to, it's still damn catchy and actually has pretty clever, well-written lyrics with a great deal of depth, especially when you know their back-story (boy meets girl, boy and girl make suicide pact, girl reconsiders while boy feels betrayed and follows through with said agreement, girl kills herself out of grief and guilt). Dethklok – The Lost Vikings If it weren’t for the lyrics (which are great in their own right, and superior to those of many “real” songs out there), this could pass for an actual metal song (well, to be fair, so could much of “The Dethalbum”). Still, this Amon Amarth-esque tune is one of the best songs ever penned by a cartoon heavy metal band. Long live Brendan Small. Between the Buried and Me – Selkies: The Endless Obsession Call me a sucker for unconventional time signatures and changes, but this song has been a perennial favorite of mine. I recently started listening to "Alaska" more in-depth, and found this to be even greater than I had remembered it, especially the mellower part where, up until now, I hadn’t realized there was a background singer. Murder by Death – Shiola One of the saddest songs ever penned, Murder by Death's ode to guilt, loss, and the willpower it takes to overcome grief remains one of my favorite pieces written by the band. Plus, it sounds even more like Johnny Cash than their songs usually do, which is always welcome.
thecheatisnotdead 11.16.07	Thrice – The Whaler Another sorrowful song that compares the life of the whaler to the life of the musician (what with its constant touring), you can feel the raw, tender emotion pulsating in this song. Clint Mansell – Together We Will Live Forever Splitting up the soundtrack to "The Fountain" is heresy in my book, but if I had to pick one highlight, this would be it. Its simple piano melody, when contrasted with the string and pseudo-post-rock arrangements of the rest of the album (courtesy of the Kronos Quartet and Mogwai, respectively), this album closer is one of the most haunting and beautiful songs I've ever heard. In the context of the movie, it's even more powerful. Open Hand – Newspeak For some reason, Open Hand has flown under the radar since its inception, despite being one of the most consistently listenable bands out there. On “Newspeak,” their knack for indefinable genre-bending meets and merges with a lyrical bent based on George Orwell’s “1984.” Good stuff. Coheed and Cambria – The End Complete Series I know it's sort of cheating to include this whole series, but oh well (for what it’s worth, highlights include the string-driven “The Road and the Damned,” the false sense of security-inducing outro of “The End Complete,” and the entire, progressive, almost jazzy “On the Brink”). "No World for Tomorrow" is a strong outing for Coheed, and nowhere is this better exemplified than here, in its epic, tragic conclusion. Bring on that prequel! Rosetta – Itinerant / Ross 128 Despite the somewhat gimmicky nature of “The Galilean Satellites,” there really is more depth to be had when both songs are the played together (even though the accessible and relentless melody turned brutal wails of torment of the former and the ambience-soaked spaciness of the latter work as standalone compositions quite well). Blackfield – This Killer And here we return to strange time signatures. Who knew that a song written in seven could be so catchy? Of course, what else should I have expected from Stephen Wilson? Lyrics are topnotch, as usual. Rusted Root – Ecstasy The bass line for this song is just sick. Sick, I say! Flight of the Conchords – The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room Honorable Mention: This slow jam from New Zealand's fourth most popular folk / parody duo is possibly the most romantic thing ever committed to tape. In all seriousness, though, this song is hilarious, and actually has a memorable melody as well. Depending on the street, of course.
BallsToTheWall 11.16.07	Unfurl and The Whaler are great.
jrowa001 11.16.07	not too shabby, 3 is boring. their previous album had better songs
bringonthebreakdown 11.16.07	BLACKFIELD! I thought I was the only one on sputnik that liked them. haha. Thrice, BTBAM and Blackfield songs on here are amazing. Especially selkies. that's a beautiful song.
thecheatisnotdead 11.16.07	Oh yeah...Blackfield is insanely underrated. At least now we know their fan count is up to two, though.
bringonthebreakdown 11.17.07	Yep, and i must have missed the porcupine tree song on the first look. amen on them too, though that's not my favorite. it's actually hard to choose a favorite of their stuff.
foreverendeared 11.17.07	nice touch adding flight of the conchords. that show is hilarious
Doppelganger 11.17.07	THE WHALER IS SO GOOD.
the_patient 11.17.07	16 ftw! go flight of the conchords