I lost my original draft of this post (seriously annoying that posts don't have an autosave feature on this site), so this is going to be shorter than I originally intended.
We're starting this week's medley off with a song I had the pleasure of seeing live on Friday. This song from Finnish melodic death metal masters Insomnium is one part of a seven part mega-song that altogether clocks in at over 45 minutes in length (yes, they played the whole song live--it was amazing). This is part 3 of Insomnium's epic Winter's Gate.
Next we have a song from one of my newer favorites, Rex Orange County. This song from Apricot Princess showcases Rex's penchant for incorporating funk-inspired instrumentation and his willingness to explore with his vocals a kind of emotional vulnerability you don't see often in male vocalists. This is "Television/So Far Everything's Good"
Next is a bit of a weird one. This song, "I'll Believe in Anything" by Wolf Parade was something on the soundtrack of my high school years, a time I look back on with some fondness and a lot of relief (that's it's in the past, that is, because fuck high school).
And last up we have a mashup, one that's surprisingly good and cohesive but that you'd never see coming. This is a mashup of The White Stripe's Seven Nation Army and Eurhythmatics Sweet Dreams are Made of These.