Starting where I left off...
At this point, I was slowly gaining experience in teaching myself a new system of finding music, but it wasn't until the last week of August, 2013, that things really started to ramp up.
I made a plan earlier in the year to take a road trip to Arizona, a destination I had always wanted to visit. I’m not much of a traveler, so I had never taken an extended trip like this before, save a few outings when I was younger. Road trips are fun, sure, it's just that I would rather be doing other things. In trying to put this trip together, I asked several people I knew if they wanted to go with me. They all declined. Looking back now, this turned out to be a good thing. Instead of cancelling the trip, I went by myself. This lone trip allowed me to spend a lot of time listening to Pandora on my cell phone, which I had never done before in this capacity. And this was a very long trip. Coverage was spotty in a few areas, but most of the time my connection was fine.
Technical note: I hooked my cell phone into my head unit using an auxiliary cable.
The decision to explore new music again was a complete experiment; I never intended or set out to find anything specific. I stated before that I listened to a lot of gaming music in the past, and I guess that would be fairly underground for the time period when compared to the general population, as none of that music was ever on the radio, nor was it designed to be. Generally, my music tastes are somewhere between not too mainstream and not too indie. To my surprise, as I got further into the trip, I found that not only did I like the music I was hearing, I also liked the fact that the discovery process on Pandora was organic and free-flowing in nature. That is to say, as organic as an algorithm can be, I suppose. This, as opposed to a more traditional, fixed-radio format that shoves the same songs down your throat on a daily basis.
I am mentioning Pandora because that's what I used, although I'm sure other apps would have provided a similar-but-different experience.
I was accompanied by several memorable tracks:
Lilly Wolf – “Disaster”
^^ This catchy song is one of the earliest tracks to appear, and it's a total sleeper. "Disaster" starts off as a pseudo art-pop song, but from the opening verse, we also get a sense that it is a song about relationship troubles:
Verse 1:
Disaster disaster,
Chase after a little bit faster.
You don’t want to end it,
Treading water as you try to defend it.
I let you go freely,
Cause I want somebody to incomplete me.
You say it’s not fair, that’s true but,
Smoke and mirrors on the battlefield out here.
By the time we get to the third leg of the track (the bridge), it unexpectedly turns to fast-paced, dirty, driving synths. This kind of song is a prime example of the type of material I mentioned in my opening post: it feels uplifting in its construction and vocals, but when we examine the lyrics, it's the opposite.
This is not an intentional thing I seek out. This will also be one of the more well-written songs in this journal. Wolf describes her music as "pop music for pop-music snobs," although I think she's just having a good row--her work is a little more accessible than that. You can find the rest of the lyrics to "Disaster" and a free download on her Soundcloud, found
here.
W&W - “Invasion” [ASOT 550 Club Mix]
“Invasion” is a spacey instrumental that sets you up with a slow build before turning into an energetic power anthem. It was chosen as the official anthem for A State of Trance 550. This is the radio edit. The track is much better in its full version, as the radio edit cuts out the slow-build intro. If full versions are your thing, it's worth a look.
Flinch (ft. Heather Bright) - “Light It Up”
Not too much to say on this one. A club-oriented dubstep banger with a good melody. Production from Flinch (Adam Glassco) and vocals from Heather Bright. Released on the label SMOG.
Singularity (ft. Steffi Nguyen) - "The Tide" [TheFatRat Remix]
^^ A selection from Singularity. Remixed by TheFatRat with his signature, fun, bouncy style.
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Other notable songs I heard on my road trip. Some of them are more commercial in nature, so these will be links and not embeds:
Adam F – “When The Rain Is Gone”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQj4kuhjWZk
Zedd (ft. Foxes) - “Clarity” :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxxstCcJlsc
Zedd (ft. Matthew Koma) - "Spectrum":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsuVMdnF8A0
Calvin Harris (ft. Ellie Goulding) - “I Need Your Love”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtKZKl7Bgu0
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My focus on the trip is not to give "the trip" more credence than its worth, but it was a pivotal moment and the catalyst for what will become the remainder of the material in this journal, musically speaking. The juxtaposition of manufactured music playing through my car-stereo system as I traversed miles of natural desert (on man-made roads) could not have been more ironic, nor more fulfilling.
(will have more on next entry, including aux-in's Desert Driving Mix)