This Week's Playlist #70 - Guest feature: Sean M
Sean picks up a good mix of heavy and dirty guitars with psychedelic riffs.
Hello everyone!
This Week’s Playlist - Season 2, episode 17.
Our rotation this week, is brought by Sean and is a good mix of heavy and dirty guitars with psychedelic riffs.
Enjoy, and see you next week.
TL;DR: I'm running a musical newsletter with a new guest sharing 5 songs each week.
There is a YouTube link for each of the songs on the cover, and here are the playlists for each streaming platform:
Tidal (coming soon)
Deezer (coming soon)
Guest of the week: Sean M
Hi everyone, my name is Sean. I am a research geophysicist at a volcano observatory near San Jose, California. I heard about this playlist from Thomas' brother Gilles, who I became good friends with in graduate school! We studied volcanoes together in England and Guatemala.
Musically, I have been interested in various flavors of rock and metal since elementary school. Back then I started playing guitar and I would learn songs by bands like Metallica and Van Halen. In high school I became obsessed with Black Sabbath's first six albums, and from there I got into doom metal bands like Electric Wizard and Sleep. In my mid-20's something clicked and I started writing my own music! For my 5 suggestions I will share a song by my band and some of the music that helped to inspire it.
1. Brooding Stone - Eternal Hypnosis
This is a plug for my band's first demo which we released in April 2023! This song is special to us because of its dark but groovy atmosphere. The lyrics are based on the novel The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula Le Guin, which I highly recommend for fans of science fiction with a psychological bent.
2. Elder - Dead Roots Stirring
I love Elder. Their songs unfold like epic stories and each new album leaps forward in style and musicianship. It is hard to pick just one song, so I went with the one that got me hooked back when Dead Roots Stirring (2012) was their latest release. Their recent albums are more progressive and psychedelic, so I definitely recommend exploring their discography.
3. Pallbearer - I Saw the End
Pallbearer's album Heartless was pretty much all I listened to for several months when it came out in 2017. While their previous two albums had relentless walls of sludge, Heartless mixes in more variety, with bleak melodies with lush clean sections. Despite the album title, the music and especially the vocals are deeply emotional and sincere.
4. Bask - Asleep in the Orchard
Bask deserves more credit for their masterful dynamics. Their songs transition so well between peaceful clean sections and fuzzed out heaviness. They often have clean and dirty guitars going at the same time, which creates a really cool feeling of lilting or floating. I highly recommend their first two albums, American Hollow and Ramble Beyond.
5. Vokonis - Grasping Time
Vokonis' album Grasping Time has a cohesive quality that reminds me of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. Each song flows into the next one like the whole album is a single statement. The guitar tone is immaculate and there is no shortage of catchy riffs, pummeling verses or vulnerable choruses. The title track is a great example. Hope you enjoy it!
Until the next time, Godspeed!
Thomas
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