Bear with me…
This is a website that plays live Air Traffic Control radio conversations from a given airport over LoFi music.
I know it sounds a bit weird, but (a lot of the time), it just really works.
Perfect for a Sunday. Very relaxing. Oddly satisfying.
I mentioned here that Sigur Rós had provided the soundtrack to the trip up North. Their new album, full of dramatic, orchestral soundscapes, was perfect for the moody mountains of Western Ireland, for the sunshine on the Manx hills against the dark, thundery clouds, and as an antidote to the frankly ridiculously busy London streets.
And the latest release, Andrá, is among my favourite tracks on there. But this is more than just a music post, and that is more than a music video.
“I wished to show how Sigur Rós is the soundtrack of our lives through happiness, pain, hope, grief, and love. The short documentary, Andrá, celebrates the way in which Sigur Rós captures and channels the humanity that unites us all.” —Katya Gimro
Brilliantly, the official video is a mini-documentary of the song fitting into people’s live, by tapping into and reflecting whatever emotions they may currently be feeling. I know that you don’t have 10 minutes to spare, but if you do, use them here. And if you only have 5, then start here and just watch.
And there is so much joy and sadness in this one song, you can absolutely see how it can – like a wily mind-reader – find the right answers no matter the subject. The people above are hearing the song for the first time, and their differing reactions are amazing.
Incredible song, incredible video. Incredible holiday.
I’ve been enjoying this one from Nitin Sawhney and Guy Garvey. Baroque vocals, progressive house drumbeat, bonus sitar – what’s not to like?
It’s made it onto my Twenty-Three Spotify playlist (other playlists are also available), and I thought I’d put it on the blog too, so I looked up the video.
Right.
I’ll be honest. I’ve got absolutely no clue what’s going on here. None whatsoever.
Still like the song, though.
It’s not new anymore, but I can’t get it out of my head. It’s Baxter Dury’s latest offering, Celebrate Me.
I’m not sure I needed to see the video: the cinematography – like some of the song itself – is a bit uncomfortable.
But at the same time, I quite like the Renaissance painting feel with an occasional bit of Beelzebub thrown in.
And who amongst us has never dreamed of being a breakfast imposter or a leisure seeking honeysucker?
The new critically acclaimed album, I Thought I Was Better Than You is out now. [Spotify]
I was listening to some Muse again this week. It is good gym music.
This one was their latest: Euphoria. But there was this lyric, which I had to go and check on the Spotify:
Look, maybe you’re just being a bit dramatic about this, but if you are genuinely sealed off and running out of air, then absolutely the last thing you want to be doing is starting a fire. Because the bit of the remaining air that you want to use is the oxygen, and once that expires, so will you.
Jeez. Don’t they teach the fire triangle at schools in Devon?
I don’t know how much space you have in your sealed off place, but really, I cannot emphasise this enough: do not start a fire. Aside from the oxygen implications above, there will be hot and potentially toxic gases given off during the combustion process, and in an airtight environment, asphyxiation becomes a real danger.
And then there’s the fire itself. That stuff is hot. Even overlooking the rest of the issues (which you can’t really do, anyway), it will make the space uncomfortably warm, given the aforementioned lack of air exchange.
And if this whole fire thing is all just a metaphor, the actions involved “spicing up this love affair” would still be unwise, given your current predicament. If you are going to increase your physical activity, maybe utilise it in a more constructive (but potentially less fun, granted) way and try and find someway of escaping. Or at least making some sort of rudimentary vent. That way, there should be plenty of time for fire starting, spicing up your love affair and general euphoria.
I’m surprised you haven’t thought this through.