It’s my lunch break at work. I’m on Seattle’s Queen Anne Hill, and I’ve been to five coffee shops (I am not making this up) just trying to find one that has an open seat where I can rest and clear my head of workday busyness. So I only have a few minutes here, but I’ve been busting to share some of the music that’s been lighting up my commutes from Shoreline to the office and back.

The Helio Sequence – “Phantom Sequence,” The Helio Sequence:

I remember seeing The Helio Sequence play at Seattle’s EMP more than a decade ago, and I liked the way their huge, roiling, arena-rock sound engulfed the audience. I’ve only paid them scant attention since, because the melodies and lyrics of their recorded material never really seized my attention. But I really like the sound of this…

GABI – “Fleece,” from Sympathy:

Anne described this song as “cathedral-like.” I can see what she means. There is something ancient and something new here, something high-ceilinged and worshipful in its ethereal harmonies. It runs for more than 7 minutes without ever losing my attention. I’m going to check out the whole album.

You may have noticed my post earlier today about Tomm Moore’s The Secret of Kells. 

Having seen that movie again, the enchanting melody of its song about a cat named Pangur Ban is stuck in my head. I love this song, and my primary disappointment with the movie Song of the Sea, the next movie from Tomm Moore and his world-class animation team, was that its prominent song sounded far too similar to this one.

Here’s how the song plays in the movie, but be warned: This scene might qualify as “spoilers” about how a character gets out of a certain fix late in the movie.