Those of you who follow me on Twitter may have noticed the #WayInMusic tag, listing what I’ve been listening to on my mp3 player during the commute. Sometimes it’s a few songs on random shuffle, sometimes it’s half an album, and occasionally it’s a handful of selected tracks.
Twitter’s 140 characters don’t give me space to say much about the songs, but here’s Friday’s playlist.
- Pineapple Thief – And So Say All Of You. I love the album “Tightly Unwound”. It’s a perfect example of the more streamlined modern progressive rock, hugely melodic with tremendous instrumental depth despite the lack of any conventional solos. All of it is good, but this song in particular is a standout.
- Phideaux – Orangutang. I don’t really know much about this band. I picked up the album “313″ from a stall at the Cambridge Rock Festival on the strength of this song, which I’d heard on last.fm. I’d describe it as “Prog Lite” – a real 70s vibe, but made up of short and relatively simple but strongly melodic songs.
- Heather Findlay – Seven. While this isn’t the most instant song from the former Mostly Autumn singer’s five-track EP, after repeated listens this slow-burning number has become my favourite song from the record.
- Lamb – Gorecki. This is the only song of theirs I actually know, so I have no idea if it’s typical of their music. An obscure Kevin Baconesque connection is that a cousin of mine is their lead singer’s child’s piano teacher.
- Thea Gilmore – The List. Discovered this artist via mFlow, from where I downloaded her album “Harpo’s Ghost”. Some real depth and bite to this song.
And, as an added bonus, these three on the way home!
- Therion – 2012. This band are completely bonkers, in the best possible way. “Choral Metal” is the best description I can come up with, but that really doesn’t do justice to the wide range of other influences. There’s a particularly jaw-dropping choir-backed guitar solo on this song.
- Uriah Heep – Been Away Too Long. Most of the other songs have been relatively recent, but this one is an oldie from the 70s, from the John Lawton’s tenure in the band as lead singer. They were taking a rather Americanised soft-rock approach at this stage in their career – this song reminds me a bit of Kansas.
- Opeth – Harlequin Forest. I love Opeth. What gets me about them is the way they combine passages of delicate beauty with brutal heaviness, often in the same song. I remember them playing this live on the Progressive Nation tour – a stunningly beautiful performance. The twin-guitar harmony section towards the middle of the song always gives me goosebumps.
