DJ Shadow - Midnight in a Perfect World. I discovered this song back in the late 2000's, and it has never left my mind. I often rediscover this song when flipping through my old favorited tracks on youtube, its presence always clears my mind.

I am fascinated by the idea of what midnight in a perfect world would look like... feel like. This thought has always held a somewhat romantic, intimate meaning in my personal life. Its simplicity is humbling. Perhaps you will enjoy it as much as I have.

This week my obsession is with Veil of Maya's song, Doublespeak. I originally posted the chorus on my homepage. I've been researching some more djent-style metal and this song really caught me from the moment I heard it. As much as I want to become a full on metalhead (aka metallaro/a), I find it hard to get into certain metal songs that are... just *too* heavy. I love early metal bands that emerged in the 90s: Type O Negative, Metallica, and Pantera being some of my more popular go-tos. I feel like now in the 2000s and into today, metal has become a lot more complex and much heavier.

If you're new to all of these subgenres of metal like I am, djent is a type of metal that has a lot of contrast... I find it really enjoyable because it's not all just loaded lyrics on top of deep riffs and cymbals... Djent has a bit more finesse and has both lighter and darker contrasts within a song. Vocals are also a mix of singing and screaming... Easy to get in to. Let me know if you like it.

"Infrarecon forgets..." This catchy song has been on my mind a lot lately. I picked it up alongside old favorites like Minus the Bears' "Pachuca Sunrise" and Alexisonfire's "This Could be Anywhere in the World". This song is alluringly complex and layered with lyrics whose words describe a very psychedlic, somewhat formidable journey. Many people describe the Mars Volta as an experimental band, and while, yes - the band is adventurous in its lyrics and transitional rhythms, but I feel as if the term "experimental" often has a slightly negative conotation, implying someone doesn't know exactly what they are doing and are branching out to find something they are aiming to achieve. This song is not either of those things. It has a beautiful composition with a compelling narrative. Absolutely entrancing.