Wandering Wednesday : James Hancock, Hope of the States, and 65 Days of Static

     I think we all need a little down time once in a while, some time to relax, to think. When I need some time I usually break out the post rock, the instrumental, the thought provocking masterpieces of our times. Go to Wikipedia sometime and just cruise around for some inspiriation, I do it alot from my mobile when explaining different genres to my father. They have great lists of musical artists with discographies and links, specifically a great list of post rock artists that reminded me of a great many bands I had nearly forgotten. So I plan on sharing some post rock I found myself and a couple suggestions, so lay back and close your eyes....

     So I realize that I have posted a great many Canadian artists from Rifle Eyes recently, but in all truthfulness I just keep finding more and more amazing artists on their page. Plus the fact that they have given the blog so much hype over the last few days, its kind of impossible to not feature another one of the music collective's artists once again. Enter James Hancock. I'm not enitrely sure how to classify his music, but what else is new? Its a blend of hip hop beats, jazzy instrumentation and talent, and it knocked me right on my emotional ass. For me its tough to commit to one artist at a time as I pull so much music everyday, it takes something special to make me actually right it down on the "Listen To" list next to my laptop. Top of the list is the album Cognitive Dissonance by James Hancock, a masterpiece to rival anything in the art gallery. Ladies and gentlemen, representing the world of audio sensory art, James Hancock.

James Hancock - Cognitive Dissonance (Album Download)

(Click to download)

     The second group today is a six man group from Chichester, Great Britain, Hope of the States. Sadly this band was only in action from 2000 to 2006 and one of their members commited suicide in 2004. I actually first heard them on the soundtrack of the game Driv3r, their song Static in the Cities... took a long time for me to understand really. This was back before I was that into music, in fact I think this was back when I had just progressed from classic rock to metal. The song is a melancholy take on the end of the world and it is actually the very end of the song that hits the hardest. The vocals cut into a prolonged note which evolves into a heart wrenching mandolin solo that slowly transforms into a full post rock intrumental with screaming guitars and soft background percussion. If you have been listening with your ears and your heart, when the vocals kick back in you'll be lucky to not have a tear in your eyes...

"...Forget it all just let it go..."

Hope of the States - The Lost Riots (Album Download)

(Click to download, you might need WinRAR or a program along those lines)

     Our last group today is 65daysofstatic, a four piece instrumental post rock band from Sheffield, Great Britain. This band is a little different from most post rock bands I would say. They blend the standard posts rock sounds of guitars and string with electronic synthesizers and electronic drums, to make something a little more uptempo and interesting than most post rock. A friend of mine originally included their song Retreat! Retreat! on a mix tape for me in high school. Truthfully I had no idea that it was classified as post rock, but then again what is post rock? What is music? We strive to strain the barriers of labels in this life and the easiest place to do it is musical expression. So go for a drive and slot in 65daysofstatic and let the day fly away.

65daysofstatic - We Were Exploding Anyway (Album Download)

(Click to download)

     *Thanks everyone for all the views, we passed six hundred and sixty six last night around midnight and the other publishers and I sacrificed a goat. Jokes aside it hasn't even been a month and we're almost to 700 views, with the hype we've been gettinig from Rifle Eyes Music Collective and their artists we've seen a massive spike of views. Thanks everyone for spreading this, don't forget to like us on Facebook and keep coming back for more exceptional music. I've also been notified that a friend of mine is making t-shirts, so if that would be something you would want let us know.