Analog Love For A Binary Universe

I'm just going to get it over with: This Binary Universe is the most important feat of musical accomplishment in recent memory. Yes, those are some heavy accolades that should be used with great care. But I’ve owned This Binary Universe for over a month now and I feel qualified to shower its music with glowing reviews. Before I review This Binary Universe, however, I should introduce you to Brian Transeau, or “BT”. BT is an accomplished pianist cum computer wunderkind that has been on the electronic music radar since the mid 1990’s. He has consistently breached the frontiers of music by effectively knitting rock, classical, hip-hop, and electronic genres, among others, into a distinct “BT” amalgam. This Binary Universe is an exception to his previous work in that he has truly outdone his own exceptional curriculum vitae.

This Binary Universe is primarily a classical work with each track characterizing various themes, and each theme characterizing various movements. Texture is added through an impossible ensemble of instruments from tympanis and xylophones, to acoustic guitars and sting basses, from rain sticks and pianos, to a 108-piece string orchestra. But what makes This Binary Universe such an avant-garde accomplishment is its thick, glossy polish of electronica. It is here, in the binary universe of micro-second edits, stutters, and digitized sonic sweeps, that this album departs from being simply “music;” This Binary Universe is indeed an experience. This can even be taken literally as the album comes packaged in two forms: a 2.0, 44.1kHz standard CD format and a sensory-assaulting 5.1 DTS surround format complete with animated short films complimenting each track. The result is indeed “the most important feat of musical accomplishment in recent memory;” I am nonplussed to provide an accurate description of the gorgeously novel soundscapes BT has created.

Using his electronic prowess as the binding thread, BT has managed to seamlessly weave together nearly every style of music in existence, from classical to hip-hop, to Indian, to rock in a single track. For example, in “Dynamic Symmetry,” what begins as a gentle bell melody over an alternating 4/4:5/4 time signature evolves into a crescendo of acoustic guitar patterns and 4/4 IDM-style drum loops. The song then drops a bomb by transitioning into a jazz swing complete with stand-up bass, piano, and ride cymbal. But then, like a creeping fog, the electronica slowly takes hold and puts the jazz into a spiral through three different time signatures, with the last one dropping us off where we started in 4/4 – ah, dynamic symmetry par excellence. “1.618” – which is named after the golden ratio – is an elegant, emotional track floating somewhere between air and consciousness. Yes, some fluffy prose, but accurate nonetheless. The short film accompanying “1.618” track is equally beautiful, transfixing your eyes like fire with computer-generated “machines” morphing into each other like a three dimensional M.C. Escher museum. Another notable feat is “The Antikythera Mechanism” – a track named after the ancient analog computer discovered off the coast of Greece. This track is BT’s opus. Clocking in at over 10 minutes, “The Antikythera Mechanism” is arguably the most accomplished production in This Binary Universe. This track opens with a rusted piano melody (which makes sense if you listen to it) that gradually cleans up into a gorgeous acoustic guitar duet. Electronic sweeps and bleeps pepper the atmosphere and eventually take hold of the rhythm, where the sounds then take on an increasingly sinister spiral toward a ferocious finale of, yes, a 108 piece orchestra, which later explodes into a million digital pieces. Nice.

Part of the brilliance of This Binary Universe is that BT never tolerates redundancy. There is no “wow, that was great; let’s go back to it again later in the song”. Each track differs wildly from the previous track, and each movement of a track differs wildly from the previous movement. But why keep reading about this album when you could hear it? The below website will allow you to sample songs, artwork, ect. from This Binary Universe, but for the just-mentioned reasons above, short samples will do this album little justice. But alas, I should compensate my inept descriptive writing with actual song samples.

To sample any of the songs from This Binary Universe, click on the below link and then click on "Downloads":

This Binary Universe"

One More Flaming Hoop

After approximately 2 hours of cross-examination, I have successfully earned my "Ph.C." -- which is none other than, my "Candidate of Philosophy" degree. It won't get me a faculty position outside of Bob Jones University, but it will get me a subtle, yet refreshing $40 / month raise and a nod of approval within the Vollum Fraternity...I'm sorry, I'm meant to say the Vollum Faculty (yes, that's just a joke). Anyway, now all I have to do are the laborious experiments that I so laboriously defended to my committee for the past 2 hours, after which I just may upgrade my alphabet soup to a "D".

SNAP INTO A SLIM JIM!!!!...oh, yeah....

To Touch The Intangible

There are times when I'm faced with regrets. These are common feelings in our human experience, yet some of the most difficult to assuage. The reason for regret may be evolutionary pressures favoring altruism as a means for species survival, or it may simply be a question of spiritual evolution, of which I do prescribe despite being a self-proclaimed corporeal rationalist. Religion has certainly staked its claim in this question as evidenced through rituals of sin forgiveness and asceticism. Here, "God" lifts the weight of regret. I prefer to directly deal with my regret -- which usually involves wronging someone I care about – by acknowledging my mistakes and openly apologizing. But no matter the method of lifting regret, we inevitably crumble toward chaos like everything else in this universe, and make the same mistakes again and again. This is frustrating. I could not count the number of times I’ve said “I’m not going to do that again,” or “I’m not going to be like that anymore,” only to let myself down again by bearing the same regrets.

So why, then, is regret a weight in the first place? One could argue this from a purely biological perspective in that, as mentioned above, distancing ourselves from one another through wrongdoing does not promote species survival. Regret would then be a mechanism that motivates us to fix tarnished relationships and learn from our mistakes to improve success in the next relationship. This perspective isn’t limited to relationships either, as I could easily “regret” attempting a backflip off a large rock that would dissuade me from ever trying it again, thereby improving my chances for procreation. The problems with this perspective, however, are numerous. I have met plenty of people that are by no means pleasant to be around, yet procreate like roaches. At the same rate, I wouldn’t say regret would motivate me to improve my relationship with Matt so we can procreate – which may actually be God’s motivation toward preventing the birth of the anti-Christ. From a spiritual perspective, regret motivates growth of our intangible inner selves. Of course, this has problems as well, starting with “our intangible inner selves” being a nebulous entity at best. Nonetheless, there is a certain simplicity in the spiritual perspective that can provide just as much motivation as the biology perspective to encourage us to maintain good relationships with other people.

So what is my motivation for writing this blog entry? Could it be that I have regrets? Doh! Guilty as charged. Importantly, there isn't a particular recent faux pas precipitating an AA-style telethon for forgivness; rather, as is usually the case for the AstroSite, my entries are but a falling leaf from the sky. But since this my blog, I suppose I do have the podium; whether I have anyone’s attention is a different supposition, but alas, my prefrontal cortex can't win all of the time! The largest regret I have is something I’ve carried since I was that feisty little child refusing to go football practice (I know, tough to imagine I would object to FOOTBALL practice). But I was so adamant about not going that it was the first time (and only time, thankfully) that I told my mother that I “hated” her for making me go. This of course, is absurd, but I’ve regretted it ever since and it highlights my most frequent regrettable offense: I am, and have always been, very sharp-tongued. Often, the lacerations I inflict in someone are invisible to me at first, as arrogance is a permanent trait of my personality. But in time I realize the damage I caused, regret takes hold, I apologize, I scold myself to “tone down the F’n rhetoric, dude!”, and a week later without realizing it, I rip through someone I care about again. And again. I think part of my struggle is that passion is certainly another trait of mine that will never – and maybe should never – be silenced. But my passion, despite its best intentions to champion all that is “righteous," can recruit my arrogance, and usurp my mouth to mince the thickest of skin. This is something that has caused endless regrets.

Yet, I continue to be blessed with the undying love of an amazing woman, I am surrounded by friends that even Shakespeare couldn't accurately describe, and my family, despite my frustration with it at times, remains an inspiration. How can this be? I realize that I probably have enough good, non-regrettable experiences with people that a few sharp words are easily forgiven; I also realize that we are all human, and therefore we share a handful of regrets. In the poetry of Bono, “we hurt each other, and we’ll do it again”; while Brian Transeau replies, “all that makes us human continues”. Yes, indeed. Somehow. Musing upon these axioms, a paradox presents itself: how can someone regret regret if regret is what motivates us to become a better person? Ah, the gray shade of the truth once again bleaches the black and white. But whether a result of biology, God, the inner self, or my fake veggie bologna sandwich, the purpose of regret may be irrelevant if the consequence of regret is growth of our intangible inner selves. And so I offer my apology to those that have been, and will again be victimized by my arrogant, passion-sheathed tongue. But please trust that I will learn and grow with the healing of your wounds.

Good, GREAT Riddance

Sorry, Grant. The time has come to spend time with a REAL friend.

But in case you'd like to meet him (come on, he really needs a friend...he's...a nice guy, but just needs to meet that special "someone"),

"Hello, My Name Is Grant"

...plus my family is always asking "what is it that you actually do?"; I couldn't think of a better way to answer that question...in 10 pages or less.