3 tracks that inspire you and why

1) Return to Forever - "Return to the 7th Galaxy"

I got into this record when I was like 16

Chick Corea's melodies are the most epic insane apocalyptic shit to every come out a synthesizer IMHO

2) Milton Nascimento - "Crave e Canela"

Everything I love about Brazilian music

unpretentious and life-affirming

3) Brad Mehldau and Mark Guiliana "[untitled]"

Completely improvised

I watch this video every couple days for inspiration

probably the freshest-sounding music I've heard in years

friggin bump

Miles Davis - Fall

This song makes me look forward to any peace, happiness, and beauty that I have not experienced yet. It sounds corny, I know. But whenever I read biographies, I'm amazed but how discouraging the person's path was before they got what they wanted. They almost ended up like some of the more underachieving people you know because all signs said to give up, but the main difference was that they didn't. They stayed sharp and they were rewarded in the end. Things may be tough at the moment, but this track is a nice reminder.

Tortoise - Jetty

Not only did this band make me want to delve deeper into types of music I hadn't heard before, like Krautrock and jazz, but this track has a similar effect to the Miles one I posted above. Relax and appreciate what you have.

The Mars Volta - Cicatriz ESP

It's awesome. The triumphant return at 9:20 is... triumphant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-BB4Ev7iFY

Nice choons (and reasons), sir.

The Bad Plus - Velouria

Because it shows me the heights that technical virtuosity can carry your musical expression to. Because (as a cover) it shows me how a song can be distilled down to it's essence and be reborn as something more beautiful and rich than the composer ever realized. Because it is one of the most emotionally affecting performances I have ever heard.

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Igor Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring

Because it shows me the limits of tonality and how it can be employed to both consonant and dissonant effect. Because it shows me that a 100 year old piece of music can retain it's vitality, edge, and freshness over time. Because it shows me the effect of inventive orchestration. Because it shows me how marvelous music can be when you take a watchmaker's approach to composition. Because it shows me how much I still have to learn about music. Because it is one of the most emotionally affecting compositions I know.

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Charles Mingus - Goodbye Pork Pie Hat

Because it showed me that sometimes all you need are some chords and a great melody to carry a song. Because it taught me about dynamics. Because it is one of the most emotionally affecting songs I know.

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  On 3/29/2013 at 1:39 AM, Candiru said:

The Mars Volta - Cicatriz ESP

 

It's awesome. The triumphant return at 9:20 is... triumphant.

i love this song, although i find that i rarely listen to the album version these days. for many years now i've preferred the Live EP version (recorded at the Electric Ballroom, 2003). the Live EP as a whole is fucking phenomenal, even more so because Scabdates was such a disappointment, where Cicatriz is ruined by the stupid and bizarre 10-minute sound collage Omar stuck in it, thus rendering it a pointless 'live album' (and destroying what would have been an incredible version of Cicatriz with the motif that later was worked into Cassandra Germini). worth it only for Take the Veil and Concertina, whereas the Live EP is 100% gold.

omg Cicatriz ESP. personal favorite.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DS26qQ9BKK8

Viral Rival (AE Rmx)

This song introduced me to the concept of a song that exists in multiple keys at once. The pads in the beginning make it sound like it's in one key, then it brings in that lead synth around 2:00 that ties it together. the bassline has 4 different basic tones in it making up the chord progression. in this first half of the song, it sounds like the second note in the bassline is the root note. then, about halfway through, it drops out the pads entirely, with the bassline and lead synth remaining, and suddenly it sounds like the first note in the bassline is the root note, making it a different key entirely, despite the fact that the bassline and lead synth are largely the same as they were in the first part of the song. This is genius composition through & through.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Bf2sdraGAQ

Floex - Casanova

With his album Zorya, I feel that Floex found the perfect balance between the exciting & dense sound design we all love in IDM, and accessible organic instrumentation and traditional song structure composition (by that I mean, no avant garde chord changes or rhythmic interruptions). This track serves as a good summary of what he does in the album, but the entire thing is as good as this one tune.

Dan Habarnam - One

After I'd been DJ'ing for a few years and was getting bored with the sameyness of dubstep, I heard this tune in a minimal/autonomic drum & bass mix that blew my mind. This showed me that one can make tunes that work on dancefloors, are DJ-friendly, and sound massive on big bassy soundsystems, but also contain lots of depth, subtlety, and emotion other than obnoxious hedonism or straight up agression. This track, as well as the works of ASC & Instra:Mental are some of the most, for lack of a better word, intelligent EDM that's out there, and they still inspire me to this day to make similarly styled, dope tracks that I can mix with them.