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I am an eclectic music lover. I don’t think you’ll find Venetian Snares next to Fall Out Boy on too many playlists. But regardless of the genre, I always get weak in the knees for melodically epic songs regardless of length, regardless of style; they must have headbanginly-smilespreadingly-aweinspirining-goodness. So here is a list of 25 of my favorites, in no particular order. Enjoy and please tell me more!
*ps my uber-uber favorites are starred, make sure to at least give them a listen*

1. This Will Destroy You – Burial On The Presidio Banks *[listen]*
Post-rock from Texas. This cut is off their latest self titled. Just…fucking…huge.

2. Jaga Jazzist – Swedenborgske Rom *[listen]*
Jazzy two piece, the choir break in this epic is phenomenal.

3. Jeniferever – Openings to Stories *[listen (track 3)]*
I am a massive fanboy of this band. Their 3 track EP made the Top10 of 2008 easily. Yes, a 3 track EP.

4. Q/A – Cartel [listen]
Pop punk can be epic too.

5. Clint Mansell – Death is the Road to Awe *[listen]*
Off the soundtrack for The Fountain feat. Mogwai. Facemeltingly awesome.

6. Copeland – California [listen]
Emo can be epic too. And incredibly catchy.

7. Envy – A Road of Winds the Water Builds [listen]
The biggest and best hardcore band in Asia. And for good reason. Wait for the last 4 minutes.

8. Knockout – Leaving Chicago *[listen (not of the best part unfortunately)]*
Best. Pop-punk Ending. Ever. No discussion.

9. Sigur Rós – Untitled 8 [listen]
I could only pick one from this band essentially built of epicness

10. Moving Mountains – Aphelion *[listen]*
I play this one over and over because its too short.

11. M83 – Gone [listen]
If you can track down the live recording, you’ll enjoy it.

12. Mae – The Sun And The Moon *[listen]*
Great ending to great CD. Lovely driving music.

13. Russian Circles – Micah [listen]
Chicago rockers deliver the metal.

14. Mogwai – 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong [listen]
A banjo has never made me feel so happy. The best at their best.

15. Jimmy Eat World – 23 [listen]
Clocking in at 7:25, JEW takes their time and you wont mind a bit.

16. The One AM Radio – Cast Away [listen (fades out right at the best part)]
I love listening to this after a long night. Captures hazy Chicago wonderfully.

17. Hot Cross – Consonants *[listen]*
A personally, massive track for me. Lyrics are THE best.

18. Plunket – The Door Is That Way (Andy Farley’s Rogue Snowstorm Edit) *[listen]*
Best friends make the best music. I really had fun with the end here but I had great material to start with…

19. As Tall As Lions – Maybe I’m Just Tired [listen]
ATAL are incredible song writers. Haunting.

20. Deas Vail – Shoreline [listen]
Very Mae-esque, but still unique and pristine.

21. A Day in Black and White – The Illusion of the End [listen (different song! gives an idea i guess)]
One of the best bands on Level Plane records.

22. Mono – 16.12 [listen]
Woah. Japanese post rock. Huge.

23. Explosions in the Sky – Six Days at the Bottom of the Ocean [listen]
Another excellent post-rock band delivering on what they do best.

24. The Fall of Troy – Ghostship Part I [listen]
Written as 17 year olds. Makes you feel like a failure. Epic hardcore.

25. The Felix Culpa – I’m Still Learning [listen]
10 minutes of dudes that sound like they are in a garage. Brings back good memories of HS.

Stream of consciousness thoughts during the event: historic. joy. thank you america. *pops open goose island bourbon county stout* just awesome, chicago is pretty stoked. i feel bad for mccain, i dont think he was able to run as himself, i think moderate republicans need to realize that they have become the lapdogs for social conservative action, it would have been a much more interesting debate and campaign if it stuck on the issues and not attempted character assassination, HAHA FUCK YOU JOE THE PLUMBER WHERE YO STATE AT?!, wow! thank you Florida that was huge, obama has more to live up to that any president I can immediately recall, i think its important to not be blinded by obamaworship, it is important to remain critical on his policies and stances, he was definately WRONG about FISA – WRONG, DEAD WRONG – i think he is dead right about taxes though, sorry! if you make more than $250,000 then you are doing fucking fine, ok lets be clear i am a democratic socialist (not democrat) but eh lets keep on going, wow mccain’s crowd was FUCKING ANGRY, ouch…you are bummed…*goose island BCS #2…and at 13% abv its hitting hard* can we have a female exec officer now…thats NOT hillary? no ex-Walmart board members please…speaking of board i wonder who is going to be sec of state, et. al. for obama!? oh man the religious right freaking out brings me soooo much joy…OH GOD THE GODLESSNESS! to quote the holy metalocalypse: “i’d rather die than go to heaven” *15 minute space out watching MSNBC* I have to say this again, I will hound Obama like a dog to make sure he delivers and more, *obama takes the stage* TERRORIST! just kidding, you fucking morons, anywayyyys, wow…i am from that town…i love chicago…”Hello Chicago!” fuck yes. yeah people voted the fuck out of this election, thankfully i only waited an hour, “we are the united states of america” i hope so, i hope so, fyi did you know that 61 nobel laureates signed in support of obama? i hope he DELIVERS on science policy, it so INCREDIBLY crucial to the future of our nation, we cannot be ignored anymore. YES the planet IS IN PERIL. ITS CAUSED BY MAN PALIN, SERIOUSLY. WTF. TALK TO A SCIENTIST. ARRRRRRG *drinks, anger fading* you better be honest, we will be checking. damn, this man can speak. wow. heal the divide. that was amazingly put. thanks to obama’s 20something speech writer. oh btw have i said FUCK YOU RELIGIOUS RIGHT AND YOUR SUPPOSED MORAL SUPERIORITY, FUCK YOU. oh i did already nvm…*obama speech spaceout* how long did you wait in line to vote? i waited an hour…i heard 5 hrs in florida…what an amazing victory for black america, seriously…we have all come so far its amazing…biden looks like a new grandpa, so stoked lol…id like to point out that as of 11:00pm CST the %s are 51% Obama and 47% McCain…scary…Bidens mom almost made me cry, look at how happy she is! this whole family + orchestral music thing is pretty damn corny…HOLY FUCK LOOK AT THAT CROWD, cant wait to hear about the numbers, bipartisan and new cabinet no retreds, interesting…could mccain (2000 era mccain) be involved?! i would love that actually (keep palin the FUCK out), let me mention again that I want to party with Christopher Hitchens, http://www.slate.com/id/2203120/, *putting on fox new for LULZ* ‘this is only a response to an incumbent people want gone”…Bill Kristol is a neoconservative douchebag…ewwwwww….’mccain was always set to lose’…still ripping on obama *lol* THIS IS AWESOME…’one thing and only one thing goes wrong…the economic crisis’ OHHHHHH YOOOOURRRRR GODDDDD i cant handle this anymore, *flips msnbc on…i know…* ugh a tim russert montage? really?…awww kieth olbermann is getting teary :( …wonderfully historic night…time for cheez-its and studyage…thanks (?) for reading.