The terrorists' victory

14 years on from 9/11, the terrorists have taken victory after victory, time and time again. Not only in the number of people they have killed, but they have done what they aim so clearly to do - deestroy the west. This may not be apparat yet, terrorism appears to be an obscure, undefinable enemy, but its effects have hit us harder than ever.

When terrorists attack, security agencies get new mandates, to enforce stricter rules, tighter regulations, and allowing bulk data collection in the vein of the NSA and GCHQ. How on earth could the Patriot Act be considered acceptable to anyone in America, who pride themselves on liberty and freedom. The point is that when they attack, our freedoms are restricted further - which will eventually lead to a collapse in our society. What kind of society do we live in if the government can see our every move, and make sure we aren't going to commit terror acts.

The terrorists take a new victory every day.

Maybe Edison was AC/DC

For four years, from 1997 to late 2000, there was a notable, dynamic shift in the mind of Thom Yorke. Perhaps it wasn't instant, and perhaps it was already happening upon the release of the heavily acclaimed OK Computer. But the shift in Radiohead's direction as a musical act was clear upon the release of their fourth studio album Kid A in 2000. In their '97 release, they had relinquished the pop and grunge influences in The Bends and particularly Pablo Honey. Yet upon the release of Kid A, it was clear they were taking a far more experimental take on music, with untenable ideas and songs taking on a life of their own. Everything Is In Its Right Place being a truly unsettling song. It wasn't painful or boring or even formulaic, but it made you feel the opposite of the title. You feel as if everything is in its wrong place. It's a horrific idea.

It was an alarming shift for all the right reasons. Radiohead had caused shock waves in the music world. The Paranoid Android had become The National Anthem. The Karma Police had become Kid A.

Around the time of the release of Kid A, a group of people had assembled in Montreal, Canada, vaguely  resembling the Arcade Fire of today. In 2001 they released a demo, 2003 an EP, 2004 a full length album. They established themselves as kingpins of indie rock, compared to Radiohead in their anthemic manner and their dedication to an album. In 2013, a song was released by a group called The Refektors. It was called Reflektor. They were touring around Canada, playing various Arcade Fire songs on their way. Eventually, it turned out, The Reflektors were Arcade Fire - and they went on to release an album of the same title. It was such a shift from the sprighting The Suburbs, dark Neon Bible and emotionally intense Funeral. The album was born under disco lights, and it remained a success, despite it being so different.

Change in music has always been a frightening concept. Yet it is natural, and has to happen if success is to continue. Or you could have a band like AC/DC, who've released some 12 albums that each sound exactly the same. Apart from Back in Black. That album's awesome.

The Bridge Over Troubled Water

A lot of people have social troubles: making friends, making conversation, general introversion has a large toll on people. Extreme extroversion can easily have similar effect on a person. but it's negatives are usually as a result of reciprocation from surrounding people, rather than the lack of it. The concept of social anxiety is abstract to the majority, this forces extremes into a vicious cycle of being misunderstood and falling deeper into their anxiety.

A famous example of this would be of Meg White. An incredibly skilled musician who suffered extreme introversion alongside her former partner Jack White, who by contrast was far more extroverted. It was apparent in interviews and during live performances touring as The White Stripes, Meg was quiet. Eventually, they disbanded and Meg disappeared, without explanation. A tragic ending, but in 18 years, when The White Stripes are inevitably inducted to the Rock and Roll hall of fame, we may see her one last time.

People are truly shaken and troubled by social anxiety, and it can tear down their lives. A while ago, I was lucky enough overcome an anxiety, interact with my sister and her friends, and genuinely have a fun social experience. I found a way to move past this and achieve a more comfortable manner; it was truly wonderful.

This led me to question what the bridge is that can carry you over the troubled water. What can support a person to release themselves from their self-made cage?

Nepal, desensitivity, and pretension

A devastating 7.9 magnitude earthquake hit the mountainous country of Nepal earlier today. The death toll has reached over 1000, people were left running for their lives on Everest as huge avalanches were triggered. 13 people died a cold, terrifying and lonely death.These people didn't deserve this, natural disasters tend to be disastrous on a huge scale, but the most deadly earthquake since 2011's earthquake in Japan, which caused the fatal Tsunami and nuclear meltdown at Fukushima Power Plant has hit a country with dangerous, difficult access which will make aid difficult to come by. It's the most deadly earthquake to hit a third-world country since the Haiti quake - from which they still haven't recovered. It's scary to think how far back Nepal may have been set. 1000 lives have been taken, simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time - the earth beneath them shook as they were crushed. Is that not terrifying? Thousands more have lost everything - they must start again - for no reason other than than because they were there. Perhaps what's more terrifying is the death toll from the Chilean earthquake on the 11th of March.

1. One person died from the 6.9 magnitude quake. I don't know who they were, but they were so woefully unfortunate as to be in that position. This has led me to believe how incredibly lucky I am. To be living in a western country.When you consider the sheer number conscious organisms on the planet, that I am not an ant, or a krill, or a maggot - let alone a human with true self-consciousness living in perhaps a pre-colonial Uganda, post-Duvalier Haiti or Nepal, now. No. I am one of a relative few living in a western human society. Perhaps if I lived in a less privileged state I would feel even more for Nepal at this time. In the western society we live in we are desensitized, this is a non-question -perhaps this isn't a bad thing - I believe it is.

I am so sorry that people, innocent normal people, have had their lives and livelihoods stolen. But in the end I have a bed waiting for me at some point. At some point I will have another meal, my life will go on. These people do not know where their next meal is coming, if their house will be safe to return to, and what they're going to do when they wake up. Emotion was evoked in me in ways I struggle to describe, but is nothing compared to what the people of Nepal, of northern India and surrounding countries feel.

Emotion is a difficult thing to understand, and when people don't feel the same emotion you feel, they often lash out at you.

Boyhood

I only recently watched Boyhood and Interstellar (crucify me amirite?) and have just finished watching Her. If anything, I've learned about myself more than anything else by watching these films. I prefer a story of human interaction than a grand adventure. I loved the absolute artistry of Boyhood - I didn't even care that it was filmed over 12 years. It may have been the best film I have ever seen. I couldn't believe such a film could engage me in that way - deep thinking ahead of deep space. Take nothing away from Interstellar though - it's a great film in its own rite, yet for some reason I cannot compare it to Boyhood. Perhaps I simply identify with it more, maybe I'm just a creep, a weirdo.

Her was a beautiful film, it tore me apart  and I felt so many different emotions through it, I never thought I would feel so afraid that a character in a film had lost someone they cared about so much. I feel that if the protagonist was more lovable (which I already thought he was, a lost soul) then perhaps there would have been a better pay off. Either was congratulations to Spike Jonze on writing and directing that.

All three are fantastic, and I believe it purely depends on the person you are as to which you prefer.

Blackout

A few weeks back, the first total solar eclipse took place in 11 years. You probably knew that already. Millions across Europe were left pissed off because old God decided to bring the clouds in for the day. 90% of Europe's land mass was covered by cloud at the time of the eclipse. The only effect was that the region got slightly darker for a few moments. No gazing at the eclipse. No opportunity to marvel at an incredible coincidence in the world: the moon being 400 times closer but 400 times smaller than the sun.

In my short life, I had never witnessed an eclipse, although I was probably alive for one, (and aside from a short reference of kids tv show: Raven) so I suppose I had overestimated its effects. I expected things to go dark as if it were the night time. Such a reality never came about. Maybe it was the clouds that changed the way the eclipse stopped light.

Truth be told I had almost forgotten that the eclipse was taking place, luckily, it wouldn't have mattered anyway.

Yellow Surge

So if you hadn't noticed, there's going to be a General Election in May. The last occurred when I was about 10 and I didn't really give a shit about who won, just that someone would be chosen from everyone in Britain voting for them; that someone would win. Ironically, no-one won. The Lib Dem surge had split the Tory/Labour vote and we had a hung parliament. But that's enough of the history lesson, and as we approach the same point, just five years down the line, it appears that we will be headed for the same scenario with different variables.

According to experts, everyone is surging (apart from the Lib Dems because fuck the Lib Dems). The SNP are set to pick up the entirety of Scotland (which seems bizzare as almost all of the constituencies in Scotland voted against independence.) The Greens are apparently at a higher percentage than the Liberals and good old UKIP are set to split the Tory vote 60/40 as they're at 20% in the polls. All of this has summed up the cluster fuck British politics (and party politics) has found itself in. The electorate will be so split it'll start to look like a banana. There will be no majority party this year, and probably never again. Coalitions will set in as the norm, as adversary within them starts to take over. Parties will start to produce cross mandates, the Greens and Labour would Co-align as the Lib Dems peer in on the UKIP-Conservative brotherhood. The SNP will continue garnering support for independence, yet nothing will get done.

Parliament will be split decisively for one party - the Lib Dems. Somehow out of all this, Nick Clegg holds the best hand. Arguably the most unpopular man in the world (behind Jimmy Saville and Saddam Hussein) is the most powerful. His party and his vote will swing parliament one way or another. So that's how it is. In two months, the least powerful will be the most.

March

March is a strange old month, probably best explained by Edward Thomas' poem of the same name. Despite, forcing the various ideas about March apply to himself, he presents an obvious, yet easily forgotten point about the seasons and about the human condition. 

You can never quite tell when spring has started, until it's April. March is the awkward phase in between winter and spring, warmth and old.Often times I have questioned myself as to what it means and why we, as humans, fail to differentiate things well. It's like the abortion argument, at what point does it become murder? If a fetus is aborted after 26 weeks it is murder, but aborted after 25 weeks and 6 days it is not? In situations as these there are no such things as a fine line. Everyone has different spectrum of vision, everyone has different processings of the outside world and the way we percieve time is crucial to this, and the arguement we make to ourselves of 'almost' is what limits us, as humans, the most.

Maybe other things don't have this issue, they can tell spring from winter during March. But we all know when it is summer.

A relatively short rant about Imagine Dragons' second studio effort: Smoke & Mirrors

I went into listening this record somewhat devoid of expectation. Imagine Dragons' first album - Night Visions - sounded pretty good to me, but aged quickly. Because of this growth in tiredness of the album, i was not expecting much from Smoke and Mirrors, yet somehow, it was both an under performance, and a pleasant listen. Gold was probably my favorite track, circulating the idea of Midas' curse, yet sounded like various modern pop songs stapled atop one another, perhaps most notably hearing Katy Perry influences during the chorus. I became frustrated with the similarity of the songs and the idea that I could stop and start the album at any point and it could be part of the same song.

The title cut offered brief interludes which, although I can appreciate the artistic value of the idea of deception and psychosis becoming an ever increasing factor, seem to belong in another song. A track from the deluxe version: Who We Are came off sounding like a poppier version of The Black Keys' Tighten Up as I became increasingly aware of what this record was trying to do. 

It sounded like IM were trying to create pop music, but trapped themselves with the idea they're an indie band. It's almost a ridiculous idea, but Imagine Dragons haven't been 'alternative' since the release of Radioactive - a standard to which they still haven't re-achieved. There is nothing wrong with being a pop artist or an alternative artist, but trying to sit on the fence whilst leaning to one side (as IM are trying to do with S&M) will only have one outcome. Should they write another album, I predict it to be a full blown pop album, without them trying to maintain their alternative reputation (which may I remind you, was set by one or two songs).

This album frustrated me, more than most do, should they annoy me. Imagine Dragons can do better, but they aren't edgy and they aren't alternative enough to continue trying to pass themselves off in that light. The handclaps have to stop. They rely on pop structures to build alternative rock songs (the majority of which I feel as though I've already heard before). It's gotta go one way or another, IM, and please just drop the alternative gimmick.

Or you could write rock music, and please do, because I fucking love Radioactive.