On Science
Posted by raj | Filed under General
I’ve been in a twitter conversation with @maverynthia, @nonconneko and @scottmadin, but twitter really isn’t the best place for long discussions. @maverynthia wrote a lengthy post (because sometimes 140 characters really isn’t enough) to explain her grievance with the scientific community, this is my long-winded response.
Maverynthia starts by quoting me as saying “if you want me to believe in fairies YOU provide proof”. I had prefaced that with “I can’t prove a negative” – I’ll never be able to prove that fairies don’t exist. I can’t prove that there are no such things as miracles, that humans aren’t animated by spirits or that ghosts don’t exist. Why? Simple – absence of proof is not proof of absence. This isn’t being dismissive – it’s the nature of science.
Wikipedia defines the scientific method as:
- Define the question
- Gather information and resources (observe)
- Form hypothesis
- Perform experiment and collect data
- Analyze data
- Interpret data and draw conclusions that serve as a starting point for new hypothesis
- Publish results
- Retest (frequently done by other scientists)
The job of the scientist is to follow this method and then convince the community using the evidence they’ve gathered.
I should make clear that science isn’t singularly skeptical of things supernatural or paranormal – it’s skeptical of other science too. This is why we don’t fall for the noise spewed by anti-vax cranks, or cold-fusion.
The Large Hadron Collider had an accident in September 2008 that delayed took it offline for just over a year. Holger Bech Nielsen of the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, and Masao Ninomyia of the Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics in Kyoto theorezed that the Higgs-Boson particle was so abhorrent to nature that when the LHC created it, it travelled backwards in time to sabotage the LHC to prevent itself from being created. Particle physicist Brian Cox, when interviewed on The Colbert Report said (and I’m paraphrasing as the link I posted doesn’t work outside the USA) “The scientific community has a word for that: bollocks”.
On the surface that certainly sounds like it’s being knee-jerk dismissive, but there’s simply no evidence to back the theory. In our conversation, Maverynthia mentioned theories of multidimensionality as being just as outlandish as the existence of fairies and the existence of the soul. I think there’s an important distinction, though: many of these theories are supported by mathematical models of the universe. Furthermore, we recognize there’s little physical evidence to support these theories and thus they remain theories. Science never claims to understand something with 100% certainty. Science operates based on the information at hand.
Maverynthia’s example of earth-lights only serves to reinforce my point. Derr and Persinger did dismiss the fanciful theories behind earth-lights. Rather than accept fairies, gods, ghosts or dragons as the explanation for these lights they formed hypotheses, observed the phenomena, conducted experiments and formulated a conclusion that explained the phenomena they saw.
Science, by its very nature, is skeptical. That’s not a weakness of science – it’s its biggest strength. Aristotle defined science as a body of reliable knowledge that can be logically and rationally explained. Reliable is an important factor in that definition – anecdotes, on their own simply aren’t reliable evidence. Scientifically, it’s not only rational to say “I didn’t see it, so I don’t believe it”, it’s the point.
Ultimately, people will believe what they want or need to believe. The lack of any evidence of the existence of a supreme being doesn’t stop roughly 85% of the world’s population from believing in god(s). For flat-earthers, no amount of evidence is enough to prove the earth is a sphere, and for conspiracy cranks there’s no proof that man landed on the moon. I have no problem with anyone believing anything at all, but I think it’s unfair to be critical of somebody or some community for not believing the same things you do. And in the absence of repeatable, measurable evidence all you have is belief.
Warning Shots
Posted by raj | Filed under Music, Politics
In light of all the amazing, mind-blowing, inspiring peoples revolutions in the Middle East, this seemed appropriate – Thievery Corporation’s “Warning Shots”
They try their best just to smash up the resistance,
Warning shots and sirens from a distance,
Riot gear and barricade for an instance,
And the words from mi mouth, mi nuh response.Hollywood sending signals of destruction,
We are eternal, made of the creator,
Stereotype the ghetto youths as the bad man,
Overcome the rough times and we grow strong,
Step up in a life, now them want to shake we hand.
Won’t fall to the soul-less devastators,
Divide and conquer, and try to separate us,
Up to this day, them still try fi rape us.
February’s EMusic Downloads
Posted by raj | Filed under Music
- Recollections of Memory by A Shoreline Dream
I go on and on about shoegazer music on my blog, I know, but Denver, CO’s A Shoreline Dream are a cut above. They fuse psychedelic rock and shoegaze in equal parts to generate something entirely new yet intimately familiar.
- samdhya by diaphane
One of my favourite podcasts is the Regen Radio podcast hosted by Toronto’s own DJ RaZoRGrrL. She’s continually introducing me to new music by bands I’ve never even heard of. Diaphane is one such band – they make beat-driven but moody and atmospheric electronica that you can totally lose yourself in.
- archive.one by Klangstabil
Klangstabil is another band I first heard on Regen Radio. Klangstabil does not make music you can lose yourself in. They make music that grabs you by the throat and shakes you ’til your head rings. Pounding beats and droning vocals absolutely command your attention.
- Cold by Lycia
Many moons ago, when the earth was young and the sun rose twice in a day I went to see one of my favourite bands, a short-lived Toronto goth band called Thrive. They were the first opener, ahead of Trance to the Sun, for Lycia. I’d never heard of either Trance to the Sun nor Lycia, but I loved Thrive well enough that I went to the show, figuring I might discover somebody I’d like. Turns out I loved everyone on the bill that night. Cold is an early Lycia album – cold, haunting, an absolute standard-bearer for what came to known as Darkwave.
- Find Me Before I Die A Lonely Death.com by Minuit
This is an odd one for me. I heard a track by Minuit whilst flipping channels one night, bored out of my skull. The song was intriguing so I grabbed the old iPhone and fired up Soundhound, and discovered the song was Aotearoa. I downloaded this album on the strength of that song because I’m an obsessive compulsive completist, and can’t bear to have the odd song floating in my library. This album is a mixed bag – it starts off pretty weak, with quirky folky songs, often happy or bouncy but with pleasingly bleak lyrics, but then takes a turn for the dark around the midway point. It slips a bit again, but finishes off with a couple of dark, heavy, brooding gems that pull in breakbeats to stellar effect.
- Profanation: Preparation For A Coming Darkness by Praxis
I’ve been a Praxis fan forever – Bill Laswell, Buckethead, Bootsy Collins and Bernie Worrell all in the room is enough to shift the axis of the earth, but having them make music together? It’s plate tectonics in action! Sadly, Profanation doesn’t feature the bass stylings of the Mighty Bootsy, but attempts to make up for it with the craziest gathering of guest vocalists ever – Doctor Israel, Iggy Pop, Serj Tankian, Killah Priest and Mike Patton all take the mike for a song each. The album is, as you might expect from such an eclectic group, totally scattershot. It’s uneven and incoherent and ridiculously awesome.
- Albino Peacock by Stripmall Architecture
A four-track EP from San Francisco’s greatest export, Stripmall Architecture. There are times on this EP where I swear singer Rebecca Coseboom has been possessed by Siouxsie Sioux. The Cosebooms have never been content to rehash their old material, and that’s certainly true of Albino Peacock. It’s the quirkiest thing the band has done, and I hope it’s a sign of things to come.
- Carte-de-visite by Stars of the Lid
Stars of the Lid make gorgeous, flowing, drone-based ambient music. Carte-de-Visite is a collection of outtakes spanning 1997-2007, but you’d never guess it. Part of that’s because they’re so minimalist it’s hard to tell songs from one another – they don’t leave a lasting impression. But SotL’s music is like the waves of calm ocean gently lapping at the beach. Barring geologic time, it won’t leave an impression at all, but while you’re there you just enjoy it.
- Red Barked Tree by Wire
Wire keeps getting better and better. Red Barked Tree is my favourite Wire album since at least The Ideal Copy, maybe even since the seminal Pink Flag. Their press release claims it features songs that “range from the hymnal ‘Adapt’ to the barking sledgehammer art-punk of ‘Two Minutes’” and “encompasses the full palette of style and nuance that has always endeared Wire to pastel-tinged pop afficionados and bleeding-edge avant-rockers alike.” [ last.fm ] Well, press releases can say anything, and are always self-aggrandizing, aren’t they? Except that this is exactly what Red Barked Tree feels like. It’s a fantastic summation of Wire. Brilliant.
A New Year, A New Year of Music
Posted by raj | Filed under Music
Last year I kind of let my eMusic download posts dwindle into simple lists of albums. I’m going to try to be a bit more disciplined about posting descriptions of what I’ve grabbed this year. I’ll still post the lists immediately when I download, but I will make a better effort towards going back and revising the posts after I’ve given the music a real listen.
- Strike a Match by Autodrone
Imagine Raise-era Swervedriver’s arrangements with Ladytron’s vocals and you have only the barest hint of what Autodrone sounds like. This is an album with serious bite.
- Remain by The Blood of Heroes
In August of last year I raved about the self-titled album by the Bill Laswell and Justin Broadrick project called The Blood of Heroes. This is the remix album, and it’s every bit as good as the source material. Sometimes remixes bear no resemblance to their source songs, but on this album every single track is recognizable, yet utterly unique from it’s source.
- Jordan by Buckethead
As far as I know, prior to the release of Guitar Hero II, Jordan was only ever performed live. It’s a pretty cool song, but you don’t really understand the sheer technical prowess of the Bucketed One until you see this video of him playing Jordan, interspersed with (I think) Post Office Buddy:
Jordan’s played entirely without strumming – just hammer-ons and a kill-switch. Think about that – it means he’s playing the negative space with his right hand. It makes my brain hurt just thinking about it.
- Mute by Catchers
Sweet early 90s indie pop from Ireland. Folk-infused in the way the first Cranberries album was, but, unlike the Cranberries’ debut, with the listener held at arm’s length. There’s a bit of a Lloyd Cole feel in here too.
- In Praise of More by Engineers
Last month I grabbed the incredible moody and atmospheric Three Fact Fader, by Engineers. (I know, I never posted a review – briefly, it’s a wonderful album that feels as much like a tribute to early Ride as Malory’s Not Here, Not Now feels like a tribute to Slowdive.) This month, I downloaded the follow-up, In Praise of More, which truly sounds like the band is finding their identity. It still bears the hallmarks of shoegaze – gorgeous shimmering walls of guitar and effects with gentle harmonized vocals that are nearly lost in the mix, but the sum of the parts is something gentle and comforting. It’s a musical blanket – it wraps around you and keeps you warm.
- Cover the Windows and the Walls by Grouper
Grouper is Portland singer-songwriter Liz Harris. I’m getting conflicting information out of Discogs.com and Allmusic.com, so I’m not sure if this is Grouper’s third or fifth album. Regardless, of the three I have, it’s probably my favourite. Beautiful dreamy vocals floating above gentle guitar and keyboards all awash in reverb, it’s sweet, atmospheric, haunting, and, at times, terrifying. I hear something new every time I play it, it’s an incredibly rewarding listen.
- Aquatic by Highspire
I’m positive that Highspire are deliberately derivative of late 80s / early 90s shoegaze and dream pop, and that’s why I love them. Their first album was a mixed bag – a couple of really excellent songs but mostly forgettable. Seven years later they’re back with Aquatic, a consistently excellent tribute to the music of my youth.
- Chemical Playschool 8 & 9 by The Legendary Pink Dots
Catch a Match … is one of my favourite LPD songs, and I’d have grabbed that lone track if not for my musical OCD. See, I’m a completist – I can’t stand to have portions of albums. That said, the 18 other tracks on this 2 disc set are wonderful. Trippy, crazy, druggy messes that take you to remote galaxies. It’s a long way, as the Dots say, to Andromeda, and there’s no better music for the trip.
- Clinging to a Scheme by The Radio Dept.
This was eMusic’s #33 album of 2010, and was described as “Shoe gaze by way of the Pet Shop Boys”, a description too intriguing to resist. The description is a deft way of describing the shift in the band’s sound, but it does little to describe the album, which sounds like synth pop songs arranged in a more traditional rock manner. A most pleasant surprise.
December’s Downloads
Posted by raj | Filed under Music
Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson, 1955-2010
Posted by raj | Filed under Music
Peter Christopherson, died peacefully in his sleep on 2010-11-24, aged 55. Affectionately known as “Sleazy”, he was a founding member of industrial music pioneers Throbbing Gristle, a founding member of Psychic TV and a founding member of one of my favourite bands, Coil. He was also an incredibly inventive graphic artist, responsible for some of the most recognized album covers (like Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here) and some truly amazing music videos. I can’t even begin to describe how influential he was.
Farewell, Peter. You are already sadly missed.
- Chris and Cosey’s Tribute to Peter Christopherson
- …ology.’s Obituary
- Boing Boing’s Obituary
- The Guardian’s Obituary
- Spinner Canada’s Obituary
November’s eMusic Downloads
Posted by raj | Filed under General
eMusic’s agreements with Merge Records and the entire Beggars Group (4AD, Matador, Rough Trade, XL, Beggars Banquet, Mantra, Too Pure, Twisted Nerve, True Panther, Young Turks) expire on November 18th. All the music goes away, pending a renegotiation. I’ve had to adjust my planned downloads a bit, so as not to miss out on some stellar music. I’m still posting links, but I’m not sure if they’ll still be good after the 18th. I hope these great labels will return to eMusic one day.
October’s EMusic Downloads
Posted by raj | Filed under Music
October’s 90:
- Making Monsters by Combichrist
Typical of Combichrist, this is some hard-hitting eminently danceable industrial music. It’s more consistent than previous albums, though, and seems lyrically less (but not much less) ridiculous. Good fun, the band’s best effort to date.
- Exit Calm by Exit Calm
I have to thank Alan Cross over at Explore Music for this discovery. Exit Calm sound so much like Storm in Heaven-era Verve it’s uncanny, but they’re so damn good that it’s hard to complain about such obvious homage. This is a terrific album – it’s on my short list for best album of the year.
- Out for Blood by Unit:187
Hard industrial from Vancouver. It’s been a long time since Unit:187 released an album (their last release was 2003′s Capital Punishment) but this is worth the wait. This album is, with apologies to George Orwell, like a boot stomping your brain forever.
- Moving On by Unter Null
Excellent EBM! Dark, yet danceable. An excellent cover of Nick Cave and the Bad Seed’s The Mercy Seat is just icing on an extremely tasty cake.
Election Time
Posted by raj | Filed under General
It’s municipal election time in my city, and there’s a gentleman running for city council by the name of Max Khan. I don’t know anything at all about him, but I feel like I’m obliged to vote for him on the basis that if he is elected and city council does something stupid I can clench my fist and shout my anger at the universe: “KHAAAAAAN!”
I am aware that this reference may be lost on younger readers.
September’s EMusic
Posted by raj | Filed under Music
The September Haul!
- Take A Line For A Walk by Chatelaine
One of my favourite bands ever, the incomparable Curve disbanded in 2005. Since then, singer Toni Halliday has been all but absent from the music scene. To my knowledge, she sang on the 2006 Christmas charity single “A Great Big Sled” by The Killers and that was pretty much it. In early 2008 she announced that she’d started work on a new solo project, Chatelaine. A little over two years later, we finally have that album. Gone are the huge beats and heavy bass lines of Curve – this is a stripped down album, consisting mostly of piano and vocals. As a result it feels very personal. A couple of years ago I described Sol Seppy’s music as sounding like it’s being sung to you. Take A Line For A Walk doesn’t sound as intimate, but it does sound as honest. Twenty years ago this would have done nothing for me, but the older me loves it.
- The Medication Generation by Cyanotic
Atari Teenage Riot may have created Digital Hardcore, but no band deserves the classification more than Cyanotic. Aggressive as Hell, pounding beats, crunching guitars and death-metal vocals. Play it loud, frighten your neighbours.
- Slumber Party Massacre by Fawn
Fawn is a shoegazer-inspired side-project from Acumen Nation’s Jason Novak. Their first EP, Frozen, was an altogether too short sampling of shoegazer tinged with Acumen’s particular brand of industrial-metal. I’d been eager for another Fawn release since Frozen came out some five years ago, this came out in 2008 and somehow I’d failed to notice. Full of shimmer and reverb, with just enough teeth to draw a tiny drop of blood, it’s excellent stuff.
- Drowned In Light by Manual
Way back in 2002 I heard Manuals Ascend whilst browsing at Penguin Records. Five minutes later I’d bought the album and have been a fan ever since. I’ve said before that the reason I keep buying KMFDM and FLA albums is that they never change – I know what I’m in for and I know what I’m going to get. Manual, of late, has fallen into this pattern too. Every Manual album is a delicate, shimmering butterfly wing held up to the sun. I wouldn’t say it stands out as the best of Manual’s work, but I’m not sure any of them do – they’re consistently excellent albums. Ascend remains my favourite, but I think it’s because it was the first one I’d heard.
- Holy City Zoo by Mob Research
I bought this almost entirely because it’s the last thing Paul Raven (Killing Joke, Prong) had finished. The fact that Mark Gemini Thwaite (most famously of The Mission U.K.) plays guitar doesn’t hurt it any. Vocals are by one Kory Clarke, who sang for Warrior Soul. (Honestly, I’d never heard of them – 90s metal wasn’t really my thing.) The album’s a scorcher, meant to be played at horrendous volumes. It’s clearly Raven’s baby, as it’s way more industrial-metal than anything either Thwaite or, judging from a few videos gleaned off YouTube, Clarke has done. I wish I’d had a chance to see these guys live, it’d've been a Hell of a show. I’m still sad Raven’s gone, but this was a good final note for him.
- Can I Go Now (Gone Version) by Pale Sketcher
- Jesu: Pale Sketches Demixed by Pale Sketcher
Jesu has always been Justin Broadrick exploring his softer side, but as Pale Sketcher he takes that exploration one step further. Pale Sketches Demixed is an apt description – Jesu’s Pale Sketches album deconstructed and remixed to almost gossamer delicacy. It’s a marvellous album.
- I Wanna Be Adored by The Raveonettes
A faithful cover. It’s a great song, and it really suits Sharin Foo’s voice.
