Music

I love when people intentionally mix together mathematics and art, and one of the best examples of this merger that I’ve seen for awhile can be found here. As the site itself says, “this experiment attempts to convert the first 10,000 digits of pi into a musical sequence.” You have the ability to choose several preset music scales, or can choose 10 notes either manually or randomly. It takes a few minutes to play through the sequence, and the sounds are quite transfixing. Even though this meshing of pi and music is somewhat artificial, the result is wonderful. It’s worth checking out.

Yet another reason why I’m a total dork. If you don’t understand what’s going on just laugh when the people in the video laugh. Trust me, it’s funny. Also, this is actually what you do in graduate school.

Watch the music video here.

What follows is a list of the most influentual songs to my life in 2005 with a short commentary of each song. Some of them are newer, some are older. Some are well known and some are not. Hopefully there will be something good in here.

“This is the Picture (Excellent Birds)” – Peter Gabriel

This is definitely the strangest song on the list. If I were to make a movie I think this would be my closing song. I love Peter Gabriel. Ever time I hear this song I inexplicably start bobbing my head.

“Suitcase” – Over the Rhine

Karin Bergquist. That’s all I have to say. Her voice is a weapon. I remember when I saw them play live. When she wasn’t singing she just leaned up against the pillar on the stage, cool as anything, like she could just kick your ass at a moments notice.

“Somebody’s Gotta Do It” – The Roots

“The Tipping Point” from The Roots is probably my personal album of the year. The beats on the album are so above and beyond most other hip-hop that it’s unfair. The hook on this song pretty much sums of what I’ve concluded in 2005. Check this one out.

“Holiday”-“Boulevard of Broken Dreams”-“Are We the Waiting” – Green Day

The first time I really listened to Green Day’s “American Idiot” album was on a long car ride to New York for a wedding. It was night, I was driving, and the rest of the car was sleeping. There aren’t many times when I remember truly hearing a song for the first time, but when I heard the guitar at the beginning of “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” bleeding in from “Holiday” I was just in awe. And then “Are We the Waiting” to end the triad. Amazing. An incredible record that was in no way over-hyped.

“Lovers in a Dangerous Time” – Bruce Cockburn

I always really loved the Barenaked Lady’s cover of this song. For a long time in fact I thought they wrote it. This song contains one of the greatest lines I can remember hearing in a song for a long time. “Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight, got to kick at the darkness til it bleeds daylight”. This line was also sung by U2 on the song “God Part II” on Rattle and Hum, which is why many people know about it. If you haven’t heard this one I highly recommend it. The production on the recording is terrible, but the beauty of the song shines through.

“City of Blinding Lights” – U2

One of those U2 songs that gives you hope. I wish I could’ve experienced this song live. It was meant to be played live. I remember the first time I heard Bono sing the climactic line in this song, “Time won’t leave me as I am, but time won’t take the boy out of this man”. Shivers went up my spine.

“Brand New Colony” – The Postal Service

I discovered this one earlier in the year and loved it. It’s a unique album with all the best elements of electronic music. The tempo changes in this song are stellar, and the words are like good milk chocolate. Just strong enough and smooth.