Mentatul Monthly Focus
March 2020 Edition
– Parenting –
This is not about being a mother or father to a bunch of freshly cooked dumplings, nor about how to educate dumplings on how to behave once they arrive in the stomach. This is simply me dumping a bunch of useful parenting articles.
A master class in sound architecture, this dark electronica piece builds up through two superb crescendos until reaching a dancefloor-melting climax. There’s a vast array of sounds and details to take in, among which is an amazing and infectious use of samples. This is easily one of the most adventurous songs I’ve heard in years.
This hashtag movement might as well be called “30 minutes for the world of tomorrow”, but let’s just say that the spread of yet another deadly virus can be an eye opener for many.
A modern ode to Gandhi, sang MC-style, which is probably the best style to craft a song about an activist’s life. The melody is instrumentally-rich and features some spot-on samples of Hindu chanting.
The lyrics do an amazing job of condensing the wisdom of Gandhi’s life in just a few minutes worth of song.
It doesn’t matter if you believe that humans are contributing to global warming or not. Doesn’t matter if you believe the current scientific consensus or not. What matters is that Earth is getting hotter.
Sure, if our civilization finally reaches consensus on doing something about global warming, we may be able to slow or even reverse the process. But, given the current political outlook, it doesn’t seem that we’ll see any serious measures being taken in the coming years. So, let’s get ready for what may be coming and let’s meet it with the best we’ve got.
Ravi Shankar, one of the world’s most renowned sitar singers joins vibes with Western classical music composer Philip Glass. The result is a playful culture fusion journey, full of positive energy and daring moves. Instruments dance around each other, drawing countless patterns. There’s enough creativity here to satisfy the hungriest of ears.
I recommend listening to the entire album, called “Passages”.
It’s almost unfair, perhaps even rude that such a song dares to work so well! It’s one of those pieces that courageously defy categorization. One thing’s for certain though: it’s intense! And it’s almost impossible to „story-tell” it, so I won’t even try.
Challenge: count the unique instruments, samples, special effects and patterns in this song. Then, compare with some song you can hear on the radio. Chances are that mish-mash extraordinaire Igorrr will win by an order of magnitude.
The melody starts with a sort of riffing that is so flawless during its repetition that it feels like synthesizers are at work. But the “techno-metal” part of the melody is soon a distant memory, as waves upon waves of other robotic creations join in the song. And then, the mechanical riffing only serves as a contrast for the layers of reverbed instruments and echoing singers (male and female).
