MUSIC: The Soft Bulletin

From: Dave Sill (extropians@dave.sill.org)
Date: Fri Mar 16 2001 - 19:08:15 MST


The most recent album by The Flaming Lips, _The Soft Bulletin_ has a strong
pro-science/future, almost Extropian tone. The official web site's page for
the album is:

http://www.flaminglips.com/cmp/thesoftbulletin.htm

Here's a sample...

----
Change is a challenging experience, beset with uncertainty and self-doubt.
When you're really not sure what's coming at you, you have to act at the
edge of your knowledge and self-belief and try to hang on to your sanity.
Deny it, hide and try to hold on to what's in the past, and it'll probably
suffocate you. If you embrace it however, learning and building from change
can become an exciting journey.

This is where 'The Soft Bulletin' begins, as it immediately launches into two tales of science and confrontation of the unsolved. In "Race For The Prize", two scientists who are striving to save the world by finding the cure to a disease. Can they cope with the pressure of expectation? Can they continue to operate at the vista of the unknowable and hold on to their ordinary lives as family men? Perversely, this is a totally driven and pure pop song, with the massive beats and driven piano playing providing movements of startlingly original bombast and forlorn empathy. "A Spoonful Weighs A Ton" deals with some more scientists who are gambling with a planet's time by carrying out an unstoppable experiment with the sun. Flutes, strings, harps, drum machines, and perhaps the deepest bass you ever heard fire through the incredible stereo mix. The people are aghast at the risk, but the scientists forge ahead and their bravery finds them love, as their refusal to wait for the end saves the world. ----

The positive themes are great, and the music is fantastic, too. Check it out via Audiogalaxy, a nicer peer-to-peer tool than Napster. The two songs mentioned above are:

"Race for the Prize" http://www.audiogalaxy.com/list/song.php?&g=6275

"A Spoonful Weighs a Ton" http://www.audiogalaxy.com/list/song.php?&g=5803

-Dave



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