Unsurprisingly, we still have a lot to learn from ancient cultures, even when it comes to technology. Sure, it can be argued that the Romans half-invented this super-strong type of cement, half-stumbled upon it by chance. From what we know, they were far behind us when it comes to understanding complex chemical reactions, but as the saying goes, “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s”.
This is one of the songs that a lot of people can recognize from the first second. Yes, from the very first, single second. The percussion is nothing if not iconic. For the few that won’t recognize the song at first listen (or simply don’t know it) the percussion doesn’t hint much at the sweetness that will soon follow. But the listener won’t have to wait long until her soothing, beautiful, vulnerable, angelic voice can be heard. The melody flows steadily as she tells us words of love, words of courage, words of wisdom.
It’s one of Massive Attack’s most popular hits, and for good reason. It comes from Mezzanine, one of my all-time favorite albums and also one of the band’s most popular (again, for good reason).
Some years ago, I began passively collecting random bits of wisdom; quotes I would come across while roaming the web or during daily interactions with friends and colleagues. I didn’t limit myself at including only quotes from famous people. I collected from the anonymous, from the ancient unknown and included even original or quirky sayings I heard during some conversation. My collection of quotes is growing slowly but surely.
Say hello to the lovely crazy clowns. As is the case with hip hop, the awesomeness of this song is in the lyrics and boy, do these guys have a bone to pick with organized religion (more precisely, TV preachers). As usual with Insane Clown Posse, the text is rather violent, but deliciously (and well-deservedly) so.
Also as usual with this group, the musical arrangement is excellent. The song is almost like a short movie. The music is often interrupted by staged segments from a made-up TV show but everything is produced so well that it integrates seamlessly into a “sad but true” story.
Diversity is beautiful. It’s the reason why our planet is so different than everything else we’ve encountered so far. Humans have added to the diversity through art and technology. But what if there is a boundary after which adding more diversity becomes ugly?
Do I blame the engineers that build hyper-cars? Of course not. Besides being a former Formula 1 fan, I know that these people are only doing their job. I do blame, however, a society that doesn’t encourage these bright minds to work on fixing bigger, more meaningful problems.
Oh, how I wish I could rename this song. But I can’t, not only because of my respect towards the artist, but because I prefer to tune in to whatever somber reality that the melody perhaps wishes to remind of. With such beautiful music, even dark images can be deprived of their negative energy and interpreted in an objective way, respectful towards the diversity of life and the many paths it can take.
Musically, what we have here is a minimal ambient track that makes excellent use of syncopation. It’s all part of the grand design which has the melody meander in a soothing flow.
Every now and then, somebody is amazed at the ever-increasing power of computers to simulate reality. The accuracy of these simulations increases every year, in step with the increase in computing power. This has led some to extrapolate that eventually we will reach the ability to simulate an entire Universe, perhaps even including conscious beings. And if so, what if we’re a simulation ourselves? According to new research, this is, in principle, impossible due to, you guessed it, the most mysterious of phenomena: quantum effects.
A stellar vocal performance is what makes this song shine. Even though the instrumental is perpetually in the background, it is in such harmony with the singer that it gets pulled right up on the stage with equal rights. There’s more creativity in the song’s use of piano and guitar than there is in most contemporary songs that feature twice or more instruments.
Among the first questions I asked myself when I became a parent was: “what parenting book should I read now? Which is the best one?”. What the article below has taught me is that sometimes even an easy read can be more illuminating than all the books in the world. Make no mistake, there is a lot of knowledge that parents should absorb and parenting books are important. But so are little gems like this one, tiny pearls of perfectly concentrated wisdom, ready for you to integrate.
It cuts and claws its way onto the dance floor in a steady march, driven by typical drum’n’bass percussion. It’s all anchored in a dark bass line as is expected of this genre. But besides the familiar ingredients, the song is laced with crispy textures and even airy soundscapes that enhance the contrast with the dark mechanical rodent.
Black Sun Empire’s “Driving Insane” album is full of such high-energy surprises. It’s the band’s first album but also one of their finest – a must-listen, start to finish. Of course, for this song the credit also goes to Kemal for creating this awesome remix of an already great track.
