Weekend Wind-Down No. 6: Acoustic Jams
–Words and list by Michael Hogan
I might have gone a little overboard with this one. “Wind-down” quickly turned into “super fucking depressing” in several cases – see: Bayside, Alkaline Trio, Jimmy Eat World – but that doesn’t change the fact that these are all really great songs. Many of them could rank among my favorite songs of all time; tracks like “Play Crack The Sky” and “Always Coming Back Home to You” have managed to resonate with me for over a decade now.
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Weekend Warm-Up No. 6: Screamo/Metalcore Throwback
–Words and list by Michael Hogan
I remember the first time I heard As I Lay Dying. I believe it was 2003; it was the demo for “Forever,” not even the real track off of Frail Words Collapse. Hell, Frail Words Collapse hadn’t even been released yet. Up to this point I had been running on a borderline unhealthy mix of AFI and Slipknot, but this was a game changer. As I Lay Dying was so much heavier, so much more chaotic. It was like a mix of all the best qualities of my reliable staples of the time and I loved it. Of course, it also opened the floodgates to my discovery of all the bands that made this list. So with that, he’s a trip down memory lane with some old-school heavy.
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Weekend Wind-Down No. 5: Post-Rocking
–Words and list by Kevin Madert
We’re pushing the chill envelope (chillvelope?) this week with a collection of instrument-centric tracks the genre gods term “post-rock.” Snatching elements of ambient, rock, jam, and even a hint of classical, these ten tracks are just as much about the journey as each individual moment. When the final arpeggiating guitar cadence of “Your Hand In Mine” comes to a close it feels as though you’ve accomplished something.
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Weekend Warm-Up No. 5: Tranced
–Words and list by Kevin Madert
This one was a no-brainer. Nothing says “get the f*ck up” like the rigid structure and crescendo progression of a hard-hitting trance song, and even though these ten caught my ear this list could have been populated by one of thousands of other equally worthy tunes. Anjunabeats is well-represented – “Sushi” being one of the better progressive tracks the label has released – and I’ll defend to the death the inclusion of Basshunter on this list.
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In Case You Missed It: Take A Trip With Vacationer’s “Gone”
–Written by Kevin Madert
The first time I heard The Starting Line was late in the summer of 2006. As a rising high school freshman, I was content with letting music do my emotional legwork, and the Philadelphia pop-punk outfit was more than capable of doing just that. When the uncertainty and confusion of adolescence inevitably faded into the uncertainty and confusion of adulthood, TSL and lead singer/wordsmith Kenny Vasoli remained cornerstones of my musical experience.
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Weekend Wind-Down No. 4: Illusion of Speed
-Words and list by Michael Hogan
This was one of those concepts that sounded great in my head. When it came time to explain what I was trying to accomplish, things got a bit cloudy. This isn’t a drum ‘n’ bass playlist, and it’s not quite a downtempo playlist either. I suppose it’s a bit of both. It’s got mellow, melodic leads over drums that are consistently fast-paced and yet never once make you feel rushed. They simply provide a constant support for the track, pulling you along with it without dragging you forward.
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