Mastodawn

I love music and stories, so I love concept albums for the union of those two passions.

One of my favorite concept albums is worlds not yet gone by sole. A collection of five short stories of near-future and future humans on Earth and Mars that feels prophetic to me, followed by instrumental versions in reverse. The subject matter of sole's stories is heavy AF, and I'm left with complex feelings after each listen, so I appreciate the instrumentals for giving me time and space to reflect on the stories I just heard.

Recommended for fans of indie rap and dystopian sci-fi alike 🚀

#Bandcamp #Music #ConceptAlbums #HipHop #Rap #Dystopian #SciFi

Worlds Not Yet Gone, by sole

10 track album

sole

Show thread

ghost with tunes 👻🎶

Eye of the Wild by nedogled is another concept album I enjoy. From the record's Bandcamp page:

Nature continues its unrelenting march of innovation through iteration, even after the flame of human civilization has fizzled out shortly upon reaching its apex.

New forms of life are being tested, some of them making incredible feats of evolution as they interact with ancient forces that have lain dormant for countless ages. Slowly rising from their deep slumber after the noise of humanity had subsided. Ready again, to take their rightful place as custodians of the Earth.

Descendants of the human species are now scattered across the planet, small in number and largely insignificant, adapting to life in unstable environments.

A tribe of these post-human nomads stumbles across the landscape as their minds brush with sentiences that exist on the outer edge of their comprehension.

These are their testimonies.I dig the blend of electronic and metal music on this atmospheric instrumental record.

Favorite cut: "The Underflow"

#Bandcamp #Music #MusicDiscovery #ConceptAlbums #Electro #Metal #SynthMetal #Darksynth #DarkSynthwave #Doomwave

Eye of the Wild, by nedogled

4 track album

nedogled

Show thread

ghost with tunes 👻🎶Mar 1

A long-time favorite is Every Red Heart Shines Toward the Red Sun.

This is an instrumental post-rock concept album about China's Great Leap Forward under Mao Zedong, and more specifically about the Great Sparrow Campaign. The songs' titles are a poem about the campaign and its tragic consequences:

The Great Leap Forward Poured Down Upon Us One Day Like a Mighty Storm, Suddenly and Furiously Blinding Our Senses
We Stood Transfixed in Blank Devotion as Our Leader Spoke to Us, Looking Down On Our Mute Faces With a Great, Raging, and Unseeing Eye
Like the Howling Glory of the Darkest Winds, This Voice Was Thunderous and the Words Holy, Tangling Their Way Around Our Hearts and Clutching Our Innocent Awe
A Message of Avarice Rained Down Upon Us and Carried Us Away Into False Dreams of Endless Riches
Annihilate the Sparrow, That Stealer of Seed, and Our Harvests Will Abound; We Will Watch Our Wealth Flood In
And by Our Own Hand Did Every Last Bird Lie Silent in Their Puddles, the Air Barren of Song as the Clouds Drifted Away...
Millions Starved and We Became Skinnier and Skinnier, While Our Leaders Became Fatter and Fatter
Finally, as That Blazing Sun Shone Down Upon Us, Did We Know That True Enemy Was the Voice of Blind Idolatry...Beware "great" men and their promises, fam. They'll be the death of us all.

#Bandcamp #Music #ConceptAlbums #Rock #PostRock #ProgRock #InstrumentalMusic #Poetry #Wikipedia #History #GreatLeapForward #Famine

Every Red Heart Shines Toward the Red Sun, by Red Sparowes

8 track album

Red Sparowes

Show thread

ghost with tunes 👻🎶Mar 4

This one's a little different from previous entries in this series, but check out The Bomb sometime. The OST was written and performed by The Acid, and the film is basically an hour-long music video.

I return to the film at least once a year, and I've watched it enough times now that I can see most of it in my head when I listen to the OST on its own. I've watched and read and listened to a lot about nuclear weapons over the years, but this work of art stands out as something powerfully different. It's not a documentary in the traditional sense: no interviews, no narrator talking you through everything you're seeing—just a driving electro record layered on top of historical footage of military parades, conflict journalism, and nuclear weapons tests.

It's awesome and horrifying and beautiful, and I can't recommend a watch/listen highly enough.

#Vimeo #Film #ArtFilm #Nuclear #Music #ConceptAlbums #Electro #Soundtrack #OST

Vimeo

Show thread

ghost with tunes 👻🎶5d ago

Synchronicity by Courdek is another old favorite in the category of concept albums.

I remember picking this CD out of the "local" section at Zia Records just because I wanted to sample a local artist and the album art caught my eye. That was two decades past. I still listen to this record from start to finish at least once a year, if not more often.

This was Courdek's first (and only, so far as I know) LP. His flow is a bit rough around the edges at times, but the beats, samples, and themes of the record hold up to the test of time, IMO. What I love most about Synchronicity is that it's clear Courdek intended for his listeners to sit through the entire record, each song melting into the next.

If you're a fan of underground hip hop, give this one a try—you, like me, may find yourself holding onto this gem for years to come.

BONUS: Can you tell me which song from which popular '90s film Courdek used for the music in "Stop Listen"? I'll give you a hint: it's a boogie 😉

#Bandcamp #Music #MusicDiscovery #ConceptAlbums #HipHop #UndergroundHipHop #Rap #IndieRap

Synchronicity, by Courdek

18 track album

Courdek