A Criminal Mind

Don’t try to reform me. I’m made of cold stone.

Or am I? They’re fast. Don’t move. Don’t blink.

I’ve listened to Radiohead’s ‘ The King of Limbs’ for the first time.  Downloaded it the first day of release. Not bad. A bit underwhelming (at first listen), but I do give new CDs three to five listens before doing a review (next blog post). It’ll be a ‘grower’, like a lot of albums, at least for me. Conspiracy theories abound at the small  and short  37 minute 8-track download. Are the songs just ‘B-sides’, with the promise of a full album in a couple of months, or is this it? Is the future of the ‘album’ a smaller track length?  I’ve been looking for something new. Interesting to see what turns up for the pricey ‘Newspaper’ album in May 2011.

First impressions? Don’t mind it.  It’s not ‘Kid A’, not ‘OK Computer’, not ‘In Rainbows’.  I still did expect…. more.  A three year break and this is it? A bit more ‘stripped down’ but nothing truly surprising. I’m a fan of music experimentation, so this is not out of the realm of possibilty. Thom Yorke is ahead of his time. Maybe.

The current musical landscape is very much Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’. For some people, it’s more like ‘Scream’. Or Mestrovic’s ‘Wail’. What can I say? I’m a happy Expressionist.

So, Stargate Universe will return in early March to burn off its last episodes. The powers that be are still trying to ‘save’ the show. A TV movie, whatever, to finish it.  Their own ‘spin’. It was finished in the first season.

Part of the current sci-fi TV landscape. Not the Van Gogh ‘Sunflower’. Uncharacteristically dark. Not really a sign of the times. Not even a reflection/antidote to the worldwide recession/economic climate/unsettled political landscape.  Messy. It’s not even cyberpunk.  Or post-cyberpunk.  Cybergrunge, anyone?  Nevermind. Dystopia has become myopia. Far from modern times. Regression. Gloom.  Shattered lens.  The sci-fi mirror reflects moodiness, depression, and darkness.  Power grid brownout. Resistance? Futile.  Assimilation is the  new keyword. No hope, no space opera excitement. Not fighting the future. No ‘let’s blow this thing and go home’. The Death Star has cleared the planet.  The ‘merchandise’ is past its sell-by date. The final frontier remains…. final. Unexplored. Reaction to the end of the US space program? Adventure is out of vogue. Why colonise the moon when desperation exists in every home.

No wrong intent.

~ by hooklineandthinker on February 21, 2011.