This Opened My Eyes

I have been aware of this progressive trance track "Open Your Eyes" by Russian trance outfit Aurosonic for a few years now. However, for reasons I cannot now fathom, I never felt like sharing it heretofore here despite its abject "epic-ness". This sublime example of progressive trance (the best type) was released in 2013 and features the haunting vocals of Englishwoman Kate Louise Smith. Crank up your speakers and listen, feel, and dance. As hauntingly beautiful as this is, it is also difficult (at least for me) to catch every word of these soulful lyrics, so I include them below courtesy of songlyrics.com:

It's dark out here
In the pursuit of love
Completely unabridged
This silent fortress

My mind escapes me
Feeling it in my bones
The ties that bind
Deny us this love

Open your eyes
Open your eyes
I started blind
But now they're wide open

Open your eyes
Open your eyes
The ties that bind
Deny us this love

And how it breaks me

In the pursuit of love
Completely unabridged
The silent fortress
My mind escapes me
Telling my story well
The ties that bind
Deny us this love

(Alt )

Open you eyes
Open your eyes (open open)
The story's closed
Our love has broken down
Open your eyes
Open your eyes
The ties that bind
Deny us this love

Loma Prieta Volcano?

Tonight I found this time-lapse footage on Twitter. This is the Loma Fire raging yesterday atop Loma Prieta Mountain on the spine of the Santa Cruz Mountains. This is the latest serious wildfire in California and broke out amidst the ongoing heatwave which is happening amidst the ongoing now-five-year drought. The fire seems to have begun near unto or adjacent to the communication equipment complex atop the mountain. As you may recall, the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake was centered below this mountain and made that name rather infamous.

Another Soberanes Fire Time-lapse

This time-lapse imagery of the long-lasting (began 7/22/16) and very large (95,716-acre) Soberanes Fire burning in the Ventana Wilderness Area of the Monterey District of the Los Padres National Forest was captured yesterday afternoon, September 2, 2016, along the Big Sur Coast.

Brilliant Bluecut Nocturnal Timelapse

Earlier today on Twitter I encountered this spectacular timelapse video of the Bluecut Fire in the Cajon Pass and adjacent regions of San Bernardino County. The only way this piece could be improved is by way of accompaniment by some ominous-sounding or ethereal-sounding ambient music.

Sobering Soberanes Diurnal Timelapse

Finally I have found in recent days a good Soberanes Fire timelapse video accompanied by appropriately atmospheric and moody music. I'm slightly annoyed that I did not find this until a few days ago when it is now Day 27 of the fire and this excellent video is from Day Two of the fire back on July 23, 2016. 

Sobering Soberanes Nocturnal Timelapse

I found this incredibly beautiful and ominous timelapse footage of the Soberanes Fire as viewed from the Highway 1 corridor along the Big Sur Coast posted on Twitter this past morning. Enjoy!

Lake County Burns Again

Northern California's Lake County is getting burned big-time again this year following last year's trifecta of the Rocky, Jerusalem, and Valley Fires. This time it is the Clayton Fire burning in and around Lower Lake, CA, in one of the few gaps left unburnt last year on the east side of Clear Lake. Check out this montage of dramatic time-lapse imagery of Day One of the fire yesterday set to erie ambient music. Note: today, Day Two of the fire, this fire ravaged Lower Lake even burning commercial structures on the main drag of town as well as residential structures in adjacent areas.

An Aurally Sumptuous Sweet Disposition

After not finding much new amazing electronic music of note for a number of months I have hit a new mother lode.... it is Egyptian progressive house DJ Hazem Beltagui. Here he remixed Australian band Temper Trap's "Sweet Disposition" of which the video of the original track can be viewed HERE. I typically prefer a female voice to any vocals in my electronic dance music, but the falsetto of vocalist Dougi Mandagi can be goose bump-inducing sans remix but in Beltaqui's remix it sounds angelic. For those who foolishly believe all Arabs are Muslims or all Muslims are extremists, and thus cannot contribute anything to the collective civilization of the modern world, all I can say is this Arab DJ's sound is the bomb! He is in my view the most exciting DJ I have heard in quite some time and I will be following him closely. Play this track with the sound turned up and give yourself permission to dance even if you must be alone if you are self-conscious. Also, this kind of music being rather essentially nocturnal is best enjoyed after dark in my opinion. The accompanying breathtaking time-lapse videography is a most effective paring with this track. Enjoy!

Another Come Home

I found "Come Home" by Canadian electronic music artist Nigel Good tonight on Youtube. Both this LTN-remixed progressive house track and its accompanying video are well-worth listening to/watching. DJ LTN is Louis Tan of Indonesia. This is a different "Come Home" track than the one I posted in December, 2014. 

A New Jerusalem Fire Time-lapse

Here is a beautiful and dramatic time-lapse video sequence from today of the ongoing Jerusalem Fire in Lake County as recorded by Andrew Hendry.

The New Jerusalem Fire

Another explosive wildfire started in Lake County, CA, today burning with a ferocity similar to the Rocky Fire a couple of weeks ago. The Jerusalem Fire (named for Jerusalem Valley near Middletown, CA) burned 3,000 acres today. Craig Philpott, a local photographer/videographer who distinguished himself during the Rocky Fire with some awesome images did it again today with some knock-out time-lapse images of the fire.

Tale Of Two Rocky Fire Timelapses

In recent days since the advent of the Rocky Fire burning mostly in Lake County, but a little in Yolo and Colusa Counties (but could do a lot more in those counties) I have noticed a handful of notable photographers whose work I have thoroughly enjoyed. Two of the have already been featured on this blog, to wit, professional photographer Jeff Frost and Kent Porter of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. I have also noticed the work of Craig Philpott who captured the two stunning timelapse sequences  featured below.


RockFire.12FPS from Craig Philpott on Vimeo.
A timelapse from the first night of the Rocky Fire (7/29/15) in Lake County, CA.


RockyFire2.15FPS from Craig Philpott on Vimeo.
A timelapse from the fifth night of the Rocky Fire (8/02/15) taken from Langtry Vineyards near Middletown, CA.

Rocky Fire Timelapse

This morning I encountered this amazing timelapse sequence of the Rocky Fire burning east of Clear Lake from last night or the night before that was captured by the amazing local photographer Jeff Frost.

I Never Feel Alone With This Song

It has been awhile since I have been able to share a new and worthy progressive trance track let alone one with an awesome accompanying video. The drought is broken by "Never Feel Alone" by Norwegian trance artist Jaco... ENJOY!

Another Lowell Fire Timelapse

Tonight on Twitter I found another timelapse sequence from yesterday's initial blow-up of the Lowell Fire in Nevada County. This one is longer and a bit better. It covers the period of 4 p.m. to 6:40 p.m. PDT.

Lowell Fire Day One Timelapse

Today while I was at work the Lowell Fire in Nevada County exploded into existence and immediately behaved like an enfant terrible. The storm clouds atop the smoke column are known to science as pyrocumulus clouds. At last check it had burned 3-4000 acres but no structures yet. *NOTE: as of Sunday evening, July 26, 2015, the fire size has been downgraded to 1500 acres.

Calbuco Awakens!

I find this most remarkable and haunting... Calbulco awakens ending 43 years of slumber... and a videographer just happens to be in position to capture it.

Nightfall Over LaLaLand

I encountered this track ("Nightfall") and accompanying timelapse video a short time ago as a result of a Google+ notification regarding a new release. I initially delayed checking it out for awhile but did so just now for a mental break from an upper division history class research paper rough draft I'm working on tonight. I'm underwhelmed by the track itself while overwhelmed by the video which is jaw-droppingly beautiful and features the city of my nativity: Los Angeles, CA. Enjoy!

LaLa Land vs. By-the-Bay

This is breathtaking timelapse footage of two of California's three great cities I discovered on Twitter last night. Enjoy!

Utter Bliss

Perchance earlier tonight I found this awesome trance track "Bliss" from 2009. It's another gem by Russian trance artist formerly Alpha 9 (at the time of this track) now known as Arty (true name Artem Stolyarov). Crank up your speakers and also enjoy the beautiful accompanying video.