Mastodon-Crack The Skye

From the embryonic thrash of Remmission, to the more developed and broadened sounds of Blood Mountain, there has been an evolutionary shift in the sound of the exceptional sonic musings of Mastodon.

This progression has not let up in the U.S bands latest musical offering Crack the Skye which should see the band rocketed to heavy weights within the metal genre.Crack the Skye is a fine example of how Mastodon's music has matured into the deeper and more focused realms of metal master class.

Their latest offering seeing them fuse elements of the old and the new, from Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, combined with their very own ultra modern prog-metal sound. Imagine a hybrid of the band from the Leviathan era combined with elements of the trippy and ethereal sounds of Porcupine Tree and Pink Floyd and you are still not even close.

This album defines categorization, and is one that requires a few listens until its sweeping soundscapes begin to reveal themselves with mystical, surrealist beauty.

One can hear from the tone from the first couple of tracks that this is a Mastodon offering that is much more upbeat in tone and mood. For the faithful though, don’t worry, as this is not an album lacking in intensity or lagging behind contempories in emotional standing, the album has trademark punchy, of kilter riffs and musical progression but this time these attributes are combined with psychedelic wizardry and moments of classic rock retrospection.

There are real nostalgic moments on the album with the cap being firmly tilted to late 60’s and ear 70’s bands, combining layered and progressive metal sounds so engrossing that one is left breathless and literally craving more.

One listen provides a level of intrigue that I have not felt for some time with a metal band, forcing the listener to hit that play button one more time. This album is a triumph is musical experimentation and its genre bending antics deserve to be hailed as a wonderful new epoch in the ever developing direction of the wondrous metal tradition.

If Crack The Skye was a drug, it would be akin to the like of Meth or Heroin, that is to say; Dangerously addictive.

Mike

Alice and Reality

If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?'

In this quote Lewis Carroll was hinting at the illusion of perceived reality and all its enticing trappings. It’s all too easy for one to drift through life in a five sense bubble, (sight, hearing, taste, touch, smell) thinking this is all there is, and believing one is the centre of all that exists. One needs to recoil from this premise and free one's self from the illusory nature of this blinkered, conditioned perception.

Imagine yourself sitting in a cinema, enjoying the latest blockbuster on the 50foot screen in front of you. One is engrossed in this movie and one feels an infinity with the car chases and the fight scenes. Sitting there in this darkened room of pass-time entertainment, one perceives the sequenced events on the movie screen, momentarily, as 'reality'. This is how individuals their lives, staring at the screen we call 'reality.' absorbed in the five senses, seeing it as all there is. Now, imagine for a moment in that cinema one loses interest in the movie, and starts to become move aware of surroundings; the seat one is sitting on, who is beside and behind you, how the air conditioning feel against one's skin. At once, one notices the light beaming through the room on to the screen and the dust particles dancing in the air through it's image giving path. One then follows the light, curious to know where it's source lies. To achieve this one follows the light to the rear of the room, inside a space unknown to the individual. This is what we need to do in life. Stop for a moment, and experience our surroundings, and get accustomed to them. Then we can follow that energy which causes our thoughts back to its source, here one finds the nature of reality, our pure mind. Once one has done this, one will quickly realize that we create our own reality and then project it outwardly, just like the cinema projector. Once we know this we can start dipping our toe more in the illuminated, beautiful emptiness of the mind, becoming the creator, rather than the follower of what we perceive to be real.

Mike

Who's For Soma Then?

"By this time the soma had begun to work. Eyes shone, cheeks were flushed, the inner light of universal benevolence broke out on every face in happy, friendly smiles. Even Bernard felt himself a little melted." (Aldus Huxley-Brave New World)

Just finished reading Huxley's 'Brave New World' and as would be expected, many ideas and emotions are flying round in my mind. This magnificent book has hit me like a jack hammer, jolting my perceptions with a 'We are doomed' cattle prod and reinforcing some existing opinions on the world.

Huxley's happiness drug 'Soma' which was referred to as having, "All the advantages of Christianity and alcohol; none of their defects," is something that resonated with me while reading.

The last few decades have seen the use of mood stabilizers and anti depressants as part of daily life in the West.

Doctors, at the beckon call of their pharmaceutical company paymasters, have been dishing out these tablets like there is no tomorrow, reinforcing the idea that internal problems can be solved externally.

I was doing a bit of searching on this topic on the net and found this article on 'The Rabbit Hole' blog.

'Scientists have been chasing after a fear-numbing pill in an effort to create the “Guilt-Free Soldier.”

Dutch scientists believe the heart drug propranolol can double as a deadener of painful memories in people with P.T.S.D. Just knowing such a pill is out there, of course, might also encourage soldiers to commit atrocities, because they will no longer have to live with the pain they have created'.

Link: http://parallelnormal.wordpress.com/2009/03/12/no-fear-factor-another-pill-dulls-the-pain/

Here is a Brief Communication Abstract from the conducted study.

[By Merel Kindt, Marieke Soeter & Bram Vervliet, Nature.com | Sunday, 15 February, 2009.]

Animal studies have shown that fear memories can change when recalled, a process referred to as reconsolidation.

We found that oral administration of the adrenergic receptor antagonist propranolol before memory reactivation in humans erased the behavioral expression of the fear memory 24 h later and prevented the return of fear. Disrupting the reconsolidation of fear memory opens up new avenues for providing a long-term cure for patients with emotional disorders.

Link: http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v12/n3/abs/nn.2271.html

Thanks to 'The Rabbit Hole' for bring this story to my attention.

Pikey

Huxley Interview 3

Here's number 3!

Mike

Huxley Interview

I must say, if you do notihng else today watch this video.

Currently reading 'Brave New World' again-this ties in very nicely indeed.

Breathless

Pikey

Could the Real Thai Obama Please Stand Up?

Now Thailand has its very own Obama in the form of 50-year-old Saraburi resident Suphoj Bunseupwong.

Like President Obama, Mr Suphoj will be spreading a message of hope – not through rousing speeches, but through cheerful luk-thung country music songs.

Mr Suphoj, or “Obama Thailand” as he is now known in his village, was until recently preoccupied with running the sports store he owns in Ban Mor District.

A sports fanatic, he shot to local fame after taking part in a football tournament where the announcer pointed out how much he looked like the new US president.

News travels quickly in a Thai village, and before long curious locals were calling in at his shop to see for themselves.

“At first I was a bit shy with everyone calling me the ‘Thai Obama’ all the time. Then I got used to it and changed from wearing my usual open-necked shirt to wearing a navy blue blazer with a neck-tie. At every event I went to, people turned to look at the Thai Obama,” Mr Suphoj said.

Born in Ban Mor, Mr Suphoj is the second of seven children.

“Most of my brothers and sisters look like Indians or Muslims, but we are really 100% Thai Buddhists,” he explained.

Apart from running his “Num Noi Sport” shop, Mr Suphoj also moonlights as a DJ on a local community radio station and sings and plays guitar in a band.

Through his radio work he met up with some composers and record producers who suggested he use his singing skills and striking resemblance to the leader of the free world to make a breakthrough luk-thung album.

Mr Suphoj is now working on 10 songs for his highly anticipated debut album. He says these will be cheerful luk-thung numbers that you can dance to and sing along with to forget your worries – not a bad formula in these trying economic times.

Thailand’s Obama counts among his influences not left-wing radicals or fire-and-brimstone preachers, but popular Thai music artists such as Chatri Srichol, Sayan Sanya and Yodrak Salakjai.

The CD, which should be hitting the shelves in the near future, will be released under the artist name “Barack Obama”.

It was not reported whether a complimentary copy will be sent to the White House.

From Phuket Gazzet Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Pikey

Why are babies cute? Why is cake sweet?

Why are babies cute? Why is cake sweet? Philosopher Dan Dennett has answers you wouldn't expect, as he shares evolution's counterintuitive reasoning on cute, sweet and sexy things. For a topping, try his new theory on why jokes are funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzN-uIVkfjg

A dam fine seven odd minutes.

Mike