Sink to the Sea – Azovstal
Similar artists: Ash Ra Tempel, Harmonia, Throbbing Gristle, Caspian, If These Trees Could Talk
Genre: Psychedelic Rock, Post Rock
There’s no telling what great music will have you do. There’s no way to challenge or blame it, either. Won’t take my word for it? Well, just take a look back at all the events that used music to mobilize audiences and to inspire. That’s all of them. What about all of the entertainment productions that use music to get their message across easily? That is all of it, too.
Are we powerless against these kinds of compelling, enthralling sounds? Just like hypnosis, the answer is a little complicated. You can actively fight against them, sure. That should work, provided you’re dead set on rejecting them. But lower your guard just a little bit, and you will find yourself on whatever journey that the sounds are designed to take you on.
Sink to the Sea’s experimental rock piece has the power to capture your imagination and draw strange shapes on the stage of your theatre of dreams. It is an art rock that carries power. And while the titles of such pieces are generally important, frankly, let’s look at the name “Azovstal” and imagine that, given recent events on the outskirts of Eastern Europe, this is a message for peace and unity, and not the other thing for which the Azov Sea has earned an unfavorable reputation. Let’s just take the sound of this is, and nothing else, because sound by itself never hurt nobody.
Hayien – In the Moment
Similar artists: Wayside, Warm, Grivo, Hundredth
Genre: Garage Rock
Silence can be a mighty scary thing. The vast majority of us do our best to fight against it, and few of us have even really encountered it over the span of several years. People turn on the telly while sleeping, call their friends while having to do errands, and watch social media vids while lying in bed at night trying to fall asleep.
Music is one of the only ways in which we can meet silence halfway. This is because it encourages self-reflection. Finding out how you really feel can be difficult and may also prove dangerous. Modern music, however, is a safe place for this kind of emotional hygiene. At its best, songs are able to smash open doors of the subconscious that are otherwise locked.
Hayien’s “In the Moment” is a rock song with the gentlest of touches, the kind of tune that ought to drift into your mind just as you move from sleep to wakefulness. Hayien’s sound is one that doesn’t fight the silence but invites it in. This doesn’t mean that this is merely music meant to be used as a relaxation tool. “In the Moment” is a tool to reveal things about themselves to the listener.
