‘Gratitude’ is a a weekly(?) blog series where I share appreciation for a song or other media that has influenced me in some way. The rules are simple: I pick a song (or some media tied to a song; or just a piece of media), mention at least one thing that appeals to me about it, and omit any critique.
For myself, the exercise is to talk about the things I like without feeling like I have to add a qualifier or forewarning to balance it out. I feel that in the current time, people are pressured away from giving unconditional opinions for fear of being judged, or being attacked by assumption or association. Critique has its place, and I think that place doesn’t have to be accompanying praise in the same breath.
As such, nothing is too obscure, too popular, too niche or too controversial here; this’ll be a catalogue of my past or current interests, for any reason I fancy, regardless of any surrounding conditions. Should I do anything significant later, perhaps people will dig up these posts out of curiosity, or else out of a moral imperative to judge what I’ve openly shared. For the latter, I hope they get the takeaway that they, too, could be sharing positive words for things they adore instead.
There were a few pieces of media which I considered starting off this list with, but the obtuse name of this song just so happens to stick. Arkasia is among my favorite EDM artists, and perhaps the one artist that really opened my eyes to the broader potential of electronic bass music in the 2010s. It just feels right to dedicate this post his way.
Creating Is Resisting’, highlighted from his ‘Temple of Kair’ EP, is an unapologetic ‘tearout’ track that takes a small departure from his usual orchestral-inspired influences. I really enjoy how it infuses the genre with Arkasia’s better-known melodic influences, while still being a shrill, bass-driven, high-intensity song. It gives a vibe that’s both foreboding and bleak, yet determined and unstoppable. Each section trudges into the next as much as it flows, and each time it builds to something resembling a climax or resolution, the song plunges back into distorted minor bass notes and half-step kicks, only to loop around to the song’s intro motif.
If reading into the title literally, one could say it’s rather pessimistic in tone; the ‘journey’ to creating art is gritty and overbearing, the peaks are short-lived, and it’s a toil that never ends. Nevertheless, I find it to be a helpful reminder packaged as a masterfully-produced EDM track. There’s a necessity to create the things we want to see in the world, and creating is never easy.
Leave a Reply