dubstep and the spread of music.

http://www.nme.com/news/korn/60668
unique choice for Korn.

Its been interesting watching this genre sort of come out of left field and grip a generation, from the way its been spread, to the way its been received, and now the influence its having across so many fields.
Digital music for a digital era.

They need to make instruments for these kinds of noise. Pressing play on a laptop just isn't enough of a live show. Plus I want to make some of these noises without having to open a computer program.

Anyways this music is hardly human, but who cares. It still sounds awesome. Nothing about me was initially drawn to the 'dubstep' movement, but I heard it and liked it.

Some of the more interesting stuff to come out of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=CS5gr3T2gPI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md1QECWVRHs

What started it all (for me anyway):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSeNSzJ2-Jw

What's also interesting is seeing the reverse process of this music - undubbing or whatever you would call it, carried out in classical covers, on piano or whatever. There's something about dubstep's synthesizing that bypasses a lot of the regular conventions of creating music. The peculiarities of its tones and what can be done with them are near impossible to explore without the computer programs to do so.
So when you do hear the piano iteration, or the classical take or what have you, you can hear this approach to sound that is much less organic but that much more original come out in the mix
Few people are ever going to pick up an acoustic guitar and come up with an original dubstep drop and think it sounds great. It doesn't translate well.
But when people hear a song, and attempt to replicate that with their own human style and nuances, I think you really see new ground being broken.
Case in point:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=felcGl-Jam0&src_vid=TmJ2QRGghtY&annotation_id=annotation_658577&feature=iv

I also love the way this music has taken off. Youtube and other online sources have allowed people to enjoy whatever music they like without all the sub-cultural attachments. Its reducing music back to its purity; the way it sounds. Its judged on its merits rather than its cultural and status signalling. You don't have to smoke pot to listen to Bob Marely, you don't have to be black to listen to 50 cent, you don't have to be old to listen to Wagner, you don't have to be a teenager to enjoy Katy Perry.
The complete separation of the two is an impossibility of course. A song contains too much of the world in it to be reduced to just pure sound. But to be able to bypass all the conventions of genre has made different sounds accessible in a way that is unprecedented.
For music, whatever your into, you live in the perfect era. There is no sound left untapped, no music you cannot find, no music you cannot listen too. This is musical utopia.

Up at 5:30AM....

I totally forgot this time could exist at the beginning of a day.

I dropped of Bec at the station, so she might voyage into the old realm. I envy her.
Although meanwhile the house is mine. ALL MINE! I'm going to sleep all around that bed of mine.

Last night I had quite an experience. This
A night with the Arts community.
A bizarre outing. Two fellow students and I did such on a whim, and were greeted to an eccentric bunch of what could best fit the description 'artsy fartsy' types. Thoroughly diverse they were, with musicians, ultra-flamboyant actors, writers, photographers, goth families, lovely older gents and ladies, and a little dog running around, socializing around a BBQ, listening to artistic audio. The highlight were these gents:



There was something about their ancient/folky style; the cleanliness of tone, and deepness of their baritone. It felt like history was echoing itself into the modern age. It filled the room with a sense of aged sentiment; a rare experience.
It many ways it reminded me of old church barbeques, many community aspects bearing similarities, but with a much more open frame of mind, probably to the point where some brain was falling out.

It was such a strange experience. Here I was with two new friends, out in this weird family-like arts barbeque in some obscure country-ish town engaged in the eccentricities of artists, all out of nowhere. But I'm grateful for it. It revealed another portion of the massive woven tapestry that is human experience and helped me think in different ways.
Its crazy what people can do with their time when survival stops distracting them.

Kicked into gear

I had to kick my own ass yesterday. Too much of letting life happen to me. I don't know what managed to get a hold of me, but today I feel I've thrown off some of those asphyxiations. The tightness across my chest has lessened. I think the shackles of commitment had been weighing me down, and I had not taken the steps to redefine as I should have. Quite a convoluted journey, much more than I have the strength to process in  day, but I'm feeling optimistic in what is a new sort of essential selfishness. In any case I'm actually doing some uni work. That remains a solid start.

I have to do more writing. This remains a burdensome truth in any sway. Not so much in urgency, but more in the fact that I do little constructive with my time as is. I don't build, and I get frustrated I haven't built so I don't build some more. A vicious cycle of sorts.
My workstation is also my playstation. Distractions come in great potency here, often walking in single file to shroud there numbers. I cannot remedy this unless I destroy those destructive habits.
But I Likeee themmmm.................
But writing is a habit also. One that becomes increasingly appealing. Perhaps it will become more enticing in due time.

I've been enjoying the recent iteration of Sherlock in my spare time. There's a cleverness to the writing that makes almost plausible at times. I enjoy speculating on the powers of deduction. I'd like to see some more tempered takes in action; deduction in reality, rather than embellished fiction. What potential lies therein? Let's Check It Out (with Steve Brule)

google Steve Brule. now.

Also this:

http://oneword.com/

Fun little experiment that's becoming with my fellow writers...


I feel better after writing this. I feel good in general. I've probably just been primed with this DOTA 2 invite...but I'd like to think its the writing.

Awesome picture

Courtesy of Lukeprog's website:
http://facingthesingularity.com/

a combination of Caspar David Friedrich's Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, and Mass Effect.