Music for discerning science geeks
worldsfair | April 14, 2010O.K. Sorry this took a while, but you know, things are busy, having just finally launching the Phylo game website. A while back, I mentioned getting an acoustic bass, and wanting to work on yet another science-geekery song. This one with a biodiversity theme and the inclusion of reader supplied latin names as well. That part was tough, but I tried my best.
Anyway, below is a very quick demo cut of the song (with drums and most backup vocals courtesy of my talented brother Steve), as well as the lyrics below. I quite like this song, so will probably try to do a better take later.
(Link to…
worldsfair | February 25, 2010Here: Take a look at this.
This was another cool thing we did at TEDactive.
Essentially, we were given a piece of white paper and asked to doodle what we thought the "world needed more of."
Can you guess which part is mine? (hint: I'm such a geek)
worldsfair | February 24, 2010In case those of you (the 2 or so readers we have here) are anxiously waiting for the song on biodiversity that I promised a while back. Well, I'm still working on it (partly things have been busy, also partly I had some new recording hardware to figure out). Anyway, just to show that I haven't been slacking off, here is a draft of the lyrics:
The main body of lyrics being:
There's you and me, within biodiversity
Connecting us together in this world.
But you can't see, it all works so majestically
Almost imperceptively - day by day
Look around yourself and you will find them everywhere…
worldsfair | January 25, 2010O.K. I just re-strung my guitar and it's sounding oh so pretty right now. As well, my delayed Christmas present is also arriving soon (a Fender acoustic bass - woo hoo!).
In any event, it's high time, I started to write another silly science song. I've done a few already and they're peppered around the World's Fair somewhere (of note were all the really nice comments for my mitochondria song). Actually, if you are geeky enough to want to check them all out, here is a link with all four of them to date.
So, what to write about? What to write about? Well, given it is the International Year…
worldsfair | November 5, 2009
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Well, actually, mathematicians - but it would probably go like this:
CD Title: Inverse: (Special limited edition release) (2009)
Artist: VAMPIRE WEEKEND
Rating: 2.718 stars (out of 5)
- - -
The rating stands. (Spoiler alert: We rounded.) Actually, we took our cue here from Leonard Euler. Our rating is actually "e," as in the sound of the squeals that will inevitably emanate from the ladies of Cambridge after they all get a hold of Inverse come two months. Yes, M.I.T.'s finest are back with a shtick to shake up the innumerate masses for whom any further mention of…
worldsfair | September 10, 2009This is up (I'm sure) everywhere, but I can't resist also showing it off, especially since I've played around with the science song genre myself.
And you can buy the CD/DVD set for yourself (or your kids) at Amazon.
worldsfair | June 12, 2009Sorry this has been a bit delayed (for those following anyway).
Song 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
1. Waterfall - James
2. Wake Up - Arcade Fire
3. Never Had Nobody Like You - M Ward
4. No one is to blame - Emile Millar
5. Tournament of Hearts - The Weakerthans
O.K. this song by the Weakerthans is personal because I happened to have used it for my annual family video. Plus, it rocks!
Anyway, I make this family video every year which is essentially pieced together from short home movie clips, but it's cool now, because we actually have about 8 of them or so in total, which when strung together make a…
worldsfair | May 22, 2009
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Thanks so much for all the great feedback with the Mitochondria song, and as promised, I picked a request from the comments for my next attempt at song writing. Specifically, this one:
That's right - we're talking about the Buckminsterfullerene!
Here is the demo mp3 for your listening pleasure (might be best with headphones), and the lyrics reprinted for all to see below:
Buckminsterfullerene
it's the craziest thing you've ever seen
C60 in my dreams
It's a real life chemical celebrity scene
Good enough to catch a nobel prize
But more than that it's easy on the…
worldsfair | May 15, 2009Song 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
1. Waterfall - James
2. Wake Up - Arcade Fire
3. Never Had Nobody Like You - M Ward
4. No one is to blame - Emile Millar
Finding a great cover tune is tantamount to a glimpse of the promised land for a mixed tape afficionado. And if the cover happens to do justice to a classic, and one that has considerable kitsch value, then so much the better. Add the possibility of it being a fresh interpretation and - wait for it - also good, then you should be good to go.
Anyway, I think this cover of Howard Jones, "No One is to Blame", which I recently overheard in a movie called…
worldsfair | May 15, 2009Very cool.
Called, the "Mother of All Funk Chords," this song and video is made only from various YouTube clips. Must of taken forever, but boy did it ever pay off. More at thru-you.com/.
It's stuff like this that really dictates the passage of copyright laws, since it's obviously a creation of considerable originality and artistic value, but made with previously released parts.
worldsfair | May 8, 2009Song 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
1. Waterfall - James
2. Wake Up - Arcade Fire
3. Never Had Nobody Like You - M Ward
Very nice - and a free download since this was the promo track released for his CD (which is very good by the way). Stereogum says it nicely:
If you're curious about why Matt Ward would pick this particular song (from an album that sounds like it's got a lot of great songs) as the first promo MP3, consider the fact that it features Zooey Deschanel. She's got all the great She & Him buzz. And also all the great I'm marrying Death Cab For Cutie buzz. So much buzz! So of course the…
worldsfair | May 8, 2009
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Continuing on with my promise to play around with this science songwriting thing (1, 2), here is the third song in my World's Fair repertoire. This one on the awesome mitochondrion!
Here is the demo mp3 for your listening pleasure (might be best with headphones), and the lyrics reprinted for all to see below:
MITOCHONDRIA!
(verses)
Floating round in a cell,
making A T P
In your own kind of hell
in the cytoplasmic sea
You got own DNA
Came maternally
Never sure how you stayed
Endosymbiotically
(Chorus)
Mitochondria, Mitochondria, Mitochondria, Mitochondria…
worldsfair | May 4, 2009
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Just came back from a trip to Louisiana, and had a great time meeting the Faculty at LSU, eating cajun, and soaking up the Southern hospitality. Was also introduced to a great piece of music by Chris Smither, a New Orleans native (although now based in Boston) singer songwriter and amazing guitarist.
Called "Origin of Species" it features this great lyric.
Charlie Darwin looked so far into the way things are
He caught a glimpse of God's unfolding plan
God said I'll make some DNA, they can use it anyway they want
From paramecium to man
They'll have sex and mix up…
worldsfair | April 24, 2009
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ABSTRACT:
This post will take the effort to present some points of consideration when making a "perfect mixed tape." Data will be collected on a weekly basis, where the author, as well as the community at large, will have an opportunity to present their music choice in an attempt to build a 10 song playlist. At the end of the ten week period, the mxes will then be critiqued and analysed for perfection.
Under this methodology, it is hoped that the author and the rest of the readers will be able to better evalate components that constutute a perfect mixed tape…
worldsfair | April 22, 2009Worth the five minutes of your time, and especially if you're the sort who thinks music is not a worthy (educational or otherwise) endeavour. For more info go here.
Oh, and by the way - Happy Earth Day...
(Hat tip to Boingboing and the other 9 million folks who saw this already)
worldsfair | April 20, 2009
Science Scout twitter feed
O.K. I'm on a bit of a roll, and definitely in the mood to write another science-y song. This time with a little crunch. Like last week, I'm hoping for readers to suggest the general comment. Hint: things like hypoxia and cannabis probably won't fly in the fast tempo department...
(Also, some of you may have noticed the creation of a new category - that is, the Music for discerning geeks category.)
(Also also, some of you may have noticed I tend to twitter some innocuous statement a few days before the post - what will I be posting next?)