DISCLAIMER:Listening to music with earphones while riding a bike on the road is not recommended. It reduces your awareness of your surroundings and motor vehicles. Consider this article as a list of things to listen to at the gym or on your exercise bike at home. An off road bike path or rail trail is probably okay but a speaker is better than earphones in all situations. I am not your mum you make your own choices in life and take responsibility for your own safety.
Why I Wrote This Post:
Sometimes I am riding in places where I don’t see another human for a couple of days and things get weird. If I didn’t have music to listen to they would probably get weirder.
There is about an hour of music here. If you like it and want more dive into the the youtube spiral or ask me for follow ups. There is more music I could add but maybe I’ll save that for another post. Enjoy.
Post Rock Will Melt Your Face
Just in case you are living in the Stone Age and don’t know what post rock is, allow me to simply state that it is the best kind of music for every possible circumstance. Weddings, parties, hangovers, work, meditation, chess, the gym, going to sleep, literally there is no bad time to listen to post rock. I dare say even a Vipassna retreat would be improved by the right choice in post rock. Just coined a new form of therapy, ten days of post rock and nothing else, that’d be brilliant. Maybe I am biased, but maybe my opinion is objective fact.
Post rock is basically just another way to say instrumental rock. It is usually of a progressive style, and it can range from the ethereal to head banging insanity – often in the same track. Some bands will use vocal samples, but if there is some vocalist whining on about this or that then it is not post rock. I prefer bands and tracks that are capable of pulling off a wide spectrum of sound and albums that seem to be one long awesome jam session. If the song goes for half an hour that’s even better.
The easiest way to pick a post rock band is just to look out for incredible band names. I figure if they’re not spending days contemplating lyrics then the few words they do manage to string together are distilled brilliance. The following are some of my favourites;
• If These Trees Could Talk
• We Lost The Sea
• God is an Astronaut
• Sleepmakeswaves
• This Will Destroy You
I could write about post rock for days, but as they are not particularly wordy songs I’ll let you come to your own conclusions from the included embeds.
Glitch
I am no aficionado of EDM and I’d probably be the first to attest that a lot of it gives me the irrits and makes me want to walk backwards out of dance halls, however glitch is something of an anomaly to my ears. Maybe it is just the few producers that I frequently listen to have a solid grasp of what they are doing, or that I am a slow minded stooge who can’t handle rapid BPM music. Whatever the reason, there is a glitch that makes me dance like a wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man. “But that’s not safe while you’re riding a bike!” I hear you cry. I must admit, sometimes I am to be found off my bike, dancing like a goose in the middle of the forest and I say to you, “Life is this magic thing you only get to do once, have fun! Own it! Don’t burden others with your insecurities!”
Sound Healing Story and Dance
Granted that’s not a ‘real’ genre and I just made it up but ya know, whatever. You write your own article. Here’s some of my favourite things, and that includes using my imagination.
Ganga Giri
It is an awesome blend of didgeridoo with world dance and it has crept into my soul. I randomly encountered the music one night at the Espy and spent the next couple of hours working up a major sweat. An amazing live show that is a great thing to bring with you into the bush.
Nahko and Medicine for the People
It took me a while to get into this, but it is now often the first thing I will listen to of a morning to get my spirits up. Chances are if it takes time for you to warm to the music then you are probably in need of the medicine more than most.
Other Favourites
This article is getting a bit out of whack now, I basically just wanted to rave about post rock and I’ve done that so I’ll finish the article off with a few tracks that have been up high in my play counts over the last few months.
The Doomed – A Perfect Circle
This track resonates all too deeply with our current news cycle.
Virgin – Manchester Orchestra
For whatever reason this track hit me in the feels when it popped up on my discover playlist a few weeks ago.
Preacher – Earthtone9
This band rocks my socks off and has done for years.
Recommendations, Comments and Closer
Contrary to my earlier comment that my opinion is objective fact, I am not the arbiter of good music. I appreciate the whole sphere is totally subjective and I am always interested in expanding my horizons. Please send me your recommendations and if you are so inclined your responses to the artists and tracks I have shared here.
