Return from a pilgrimage

Bad news: it's been way longer between posts than I intended.
Good news: I've found a boatload of new, exciting music. I went on a musical journey (no pun intended) and ended up exploring several genres deeper than I ever have before. I've had trouble deciding what to put on here and what to archive for future use. But I think I've narrowed it down to three for this post. Each one was unknown to me a month ago, but thanks to two wonderful things -- Youtube's playlists and Pandora -- I've found these fantastically creative bands.

Riverside - "Before"
Such a hauntingly beautiful song . . . . The chord progression, so simple (the same two chords for most of the first two and a half minutes) adds to the melancholy feel, with airy, distant vocals completing the picture. The arrangement ebbs and flows, swelling and subsiding in intensity with the emotional train of the piece, carrying the listeners emotions seamlessly along with it.

Have Nots - "Poisoned Antidote"
This band, not to be confused with The Have Nots or the Havenots, is relatively unknown (the youtube video only has 1,200 views . . . !) but undeservedly so. This was recommended to me by a friend, and I'm grateful for the referral -- it has added to my experience another excellent song. I'm not sure what does it for me, the ska/punk fusion, the unique (for a punk song) chord progression, or the subtle keyboard in the final choruses, but this song sticks in my mind as one of the finer pieces to be produced by a punk band.

The Flower Kings - "Train to Nowhere"
This song is a perfect illustration of the way music can touch one's heart. The music and the lyrics are  both wonderfully written to portray the horrible sadness that is the Holocaust in a touching tribute to those lost in the most heinous crime in history.