One, by U2

Is it getting better

Or do you feel the same

Will it make it easier on you

Now you got someone to blame

You say

One love

One life

When it’s one need

In the night

It’s one love

We get to share it

It leaves you baby

If you don’t care for it

Did I disappoint you?

Or leave a bad taste in your mouth?

You act like you never had love

And you want me to go without

Well it’s too late

Tonight

To drag the past out

Into the light

We’re one

But were not the same

We get to carry each other

Carry each other

One

Have you come here for forgiveness

Have you come to raise the dead

Have you come here to play Jesus

To the lepers in your head

Did I ask too much

More than a lot

You gave me nothing

Now it’s all I got

We’re one

But were not the same

We hurt each other

Then we do it again

You say

Love is a temple

Love a higher law

Love is a temple

Love the higher law

You ask me to enter

But then you make me crawl

And I can’t be holding on

To what you got

When all you got is hurt

One love

One blood

One life

You got to do what you should

One life

With each other

Sisters

Brothers

One life

But were not the same

We get to carry each other

Carry each other

One

One.

Pandora

This post goes out to Alexis. Hello. I don't actually know you. Well, I know what I've read on your and Taylor's blogs. So I guess that makes this something of a formal introduction.

Ummmmm, let's see. I don't have one of those little "About Me" boxes on my blog (oooh, mysterious), but according to yours, you like "Jesus, Mt. Rainier, Seattle, music, movies, books, friends, writing, traveling, my family, Frisbees, Apple computers, funny people, and art." With the exception of Apple computers, those are all wonderful things I would be inclined to post myself. Let's just go with that for now. Also, Taylor has suggested that we share an award for using equations in blog posts. I'm assuming this has to do with my piece on gravitational acceleration and your insights into Time-Dependent Failure and your brilliant interpretation of the Ideal Gas Law (which reminds me of the classic question on the thermal properties of Hell).
Then you left a comment on my blog, pretty much opening the door for a response.

As a gesture of goodwill, I would like to reveal ancient Chinese secret of having an endless variety of music to listen to, wherever you are. It saddened me to hear that someone with such interest in and knowledge of music (I mean, you got the Earthsuit - Mute Math connection!) should have to go without. So, here you go. Ready?

Pandora.

Pandora is the useful part of the Music Genome Project. The MGP set out to decode the fundamental "genes" of music. They analyzed "everything from melody, harmony and rhythm, to instrumentation, orchestration, arrangement, lyrics, and of course the rich world of singing and vocal harmony" of individual songs from over 10,000 artists. Once they created this genetic map of songs and artists, Pandora was developed to make the information useful.
In essence, Pandora is a custom radio station. You put in a song or artist you like, and Pandora creates a custom station based off the genetics of that song/artist. With each song that plays, you tell Pandora if you like it or not. This process zooms in on the parts of the gene that you like, ignoring those you don't. You're left with an endless stream of songs, at CD quality, with no ads of any kind. The catch is that, just like radio, you can't go back or control what specific songs play. The whole site's purpose is introducing you to music you will like based off of what you do like.

The one area it doesn't do so well with is emerging artists. I tried putting in Mute Math today just to see what would come up. Because their album isn't currently available outside of the tour, the only song they had on file was one from a compilation. And it happened to be my least favorite of theirs. So I wasn't very happy with the station. But that's been my only negative experience so far.

Anyways, I hope that helps bring a little more music into your life. If there's anything in particular you're craving, let me know. I'm sure this Internet thing can deliver it to you.
Oh, and I talk a lot. Guess now we've "met."

Music You Should Be Listening To, Volume 1

Today's featured band hails from New Orleans, LA and calls themselves Mute Math. Their sound is very difficult to describe. I would classify them in the "math rock" sub-genre of rock. And, no, that's not for bands who write songs about math. That would terrify me. Math rock refers to the style of meters used in the songs, almost never the traditional 4/4. Read the linked Wikipedia article. It does a better job than I can at explaining it.

Their music has been described as a blend of rock guitar with dance/techno beats - except not done by a machine. If you ever get a chance to see the drummer in action, do it. Its nuts. The show starts with him duct taping his headphones to his head so they don't come off. He moves around. A lot. Some of the keyboard parts seem jazz-inspired and the vocals showcase a very strong New Orleans style. I know from my description they sound like a mess, but you really have to hear it to understand it.

Whatever you do, don't call them a Christian band (even though they've opened for David Crowder, Mae, and Switchfoot). Warner Brothers/Word Records made that mistake and got sued. Their lyrics have strong spiritual overtones, much in the same way as Switchfoot, Mae, and Jars of Clay. While they originally signed with Warner Brothers, the label was pushing their marketing through their Word Records subsidy, which infuriated the band. They did not want to be marketed that way and shoved into that box creatively, so they sued the label for breach of contract and went off on their own. They're still considered underground, but are rapidly gaining popularity. In fact, due to the aforementioned label dispute, their marketing has been solely word-of-mouth and Internet based. They keep a tight community of followers by blogging their way through each show and posting videos from the road.


Their first "real" album was released in January (the previous one was an EP), and will only be available at their shows until Fall 2006, though I think you can find them online. They've managed to achieve quite a lot without a label...something rare in the music scene. Check out their website at http://www.mutemath.com. It redirects to their MySpace page where there's some sample songs you can listen to. Oh, yeah, the lead singer plays a keytar!

"Chaos"
Complication is my claim to fame
I can’t believe there’s another,
Constantly just another
And I can’t avoid what I can’t control
I’m losing ground, still I can’t stand down
I Know, yeah I know yeah

I know you stay true when my world is false
Everything around’s breaking down to chaos
I always see you when my sight is lost
Everything around’s breaking down to chaos

It’s hard to trust anyone again
After all the let downs I’ve been through
Haunted by what I’ve been through.
Air’s still trapped
While I still can’t breathe
And I’m screaming out
Give me help somehow
I know, yeah I know yeah

I know you stay true when my world is false
Everything around’s breaking down to chaos
I always see you when my sight is lost
Everything around’s breaking down to chaos