I’ve been listening to this song all morning on repeat, and it has not yet lost any of it’s creepiness.  It is the Swine flu gene, somehow mapped out so that all the little oogies and whatsits that make up it’s very DNA are assigned a musical note, and this is the result.  (Get more info at his blog).

I interpret this to mean that the music you are hearing is inside the Swine flu.  Each note that you hear is an integral part of it, just made into sound.  Granted, the composer could have used any sound to represent it, so there could be many versions of this that all sound widely different, but this is just as relevant as any other.  It is amazing to me that something so oddly beautiful could come from a deadly virus.

I keep thinking that if the Swine flu really is the next “plague,” this would kind of be the Song of the Apocalypse, gently playing in the background, orchestrating millions of deaths.

Update:  The more I think about this, the more I think what is creeping me out the most is that a human did not write this music.  All the composer did was assign an instrument to the notes, but the notes were already there.  Who, or what, wrote them?–and if they’re there, they’re in everything.  Heavy.

I am endlessly fascinated by things like this, or when music becomes so… physical.  There are other examples, all of which have blown my mind equally.

The first is an Alien book, called Music of the Spears.  In it, a twisted composer wants to harness the sounds of a screaming alien to compose a “Symphony of Hate.”  As you can imagine, with an Alien involved, death, chaos, and all around weirdness ensue.

The next is another book, a 6-issue arc in the “Umbrella Academy” series called “The Apocalypse Suite,” where the main villain–The Conductor–wants to compose a symphony that when played in the right key would unravel the fabric of reality in much the same way as a high pitched noise can unravel, or break, glass.

Lastly would be Battlestar Galactica, of course, when the music that has been in our characters heads for the past two seasons comes to a climax when Starbuck’s attempt at decoding it results in giving her the coordinates to jump the ship to the fabled Earth.  (Even if you are not a BSG fan, check this out):

A coincidence here is that the next part of the ongoing story I’m posting will have a lot to do with this concept.  If you read it you might think it was inspired by this post but it’s actually the other way around.  The reason it’s taking so long for me to write between segments is that I’m finding writing stuff like this is extremely difficult to do well, and you kind of have to know a bit about music in order to put it into language, which I am still learning about.

During lunch when I read, I usually have my iPod on.  Most of the time the book is more engaging and the music only serves to drown out the distractions in the room, but occasionally a song will come on that pulls me out of the book and requires my full attention.  Recently, I bought “99 Essential Beethoven Songs” and so a lot of them I’m hearing for the first time.

I really like this one.  It’s called “Concerto No. 5 in E-Flat Major for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 73, Emperor: II. Adagio un poco mosso – III. Rondo: Allegro.”  Or something.  I don’t know much about classical music syntax.

The whole thing is good, but I especially like the first part, from about 0:00 to 8:00 (yeah, and… it’s a 20 minute song).  You notice the song completely change at that point… is that called “the first movement?”  Anyway, the sharp violins remind me of Lost at times, and the deep bassy violins remind me of BSG.  And when the piano is played, that single note simple melody, that starts around 1:40, makes me picture a young Starbuck at the piano with her father (don’t judge me).

**I realize now that “What do you hear, Beethoven?” is kind of a dick thing to say, considering Beethoven was deaf.  I forgot about this until after I wrote this post, which I was trying to name after “What do you hear, Starbuck?”  ZOMG!**

Lily Allen hides tickets to her shows in each city she is touring in and gives hints via Twitter where she has hid them.  Presumably, if you find them, she is also standing there.

If I knew more about riddles and/or Detroit, I’d be all ova dat when she is here next week.

Eminem’s first single off his new album in 5 years:

Yeah.  So I’m really liking Lily Allen.  A lot. (Listen to her voice without any music.) I also just realized the song I put up yesterday (called “Fuck You”) is about George W. Bush.

I guess I just don’t listen to the radio because I’ve never heard this before and apparently it was on the charts for weeks. These are some of the most relevant and disturbing lyrics I’ve heard in a while, and it’s great.

Since it is in the top downloads on iTunes, I’m wondering why Megan Joy Corky didn’t sing this last night.  That’s a missed opportunity right there.

We didn’t start the fire

It was always burning

Since the world’s been turning

We didn’t start the fire

No we didn’t light it

But we tried to fight it

- Billy Joel, ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’

Why did I not know who Lily Allen was until just now? Thank you, “Amazon Recommends,” you did good…

I had a random thought a few minutes ago, wondering when and if Lady Sovereign would ever release a new album.

Wouldn’tchaknowit, it’ll be out next week.

Pretty much the coolest thing I’ve heard in a while.

Bear McCreary (composer of Battlestar Galactica and all around favorite) just announced he’s scoring a new video game from Capcom.  He has some music samples on his blog, one of which is an 8-bit version as a throwback to games like Mega Man.

I can hear his style in this… I can’t identify it, because I’m not musically inclined, but if you try really hard it almost sounds like you might be getting ready to play Battlestar Galactica on the original Nintendo.

I think if that were to happen I might spontaneously combust.

Bear McCreary posted his musical recap blog of BSG’s last episode, and it’s great.

Not that anybody read the entirety of my BSG review but I need to make a correction:  the song that plays at the end is not a revamped version of “Passacaglia,” but rather a more heavy version of “Shape of Things to Come,” a theme played in Season One (and which you can listen to above.)

BUT, according to his blog, the bass-line of “Passacaglia” was used so I’m only half-wrong.

…if you have a Mac and are looking to learn the guitar, I officially endorse buying iLife ‘09 to get the lessons that come with Garage Band.

What blew my mind is that using the microphone the software can actually listen to you play to see if you are in tune.  Amazing.

Good job, Apple.

They also have piano lessons, but I do not have a piano.