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Kétsarkú Mozgalom
Artist: Venetian Snares
Album: Rossz Csillag Alatt Szuletett
Year: 2005
♥: Do you remember, in like 2002, there was a series of commercials for some new (now-defunct) Pepsi drink? The premise for the commercial (click, see if you remember!) was that Pepsi was 'fusing' COMPLETELY DIFFERENT TASTES! together. To illustrate this heady concept, they used Sev's "Same Old Song" as a base, and overlaid it with monk chanting. The first time I saw the ad, I freaked the fuck out. As you know by now, I love layers -- and with this commercial, I could finally begin to articulate why I loved East-meets-West groups like the Tea Party; why I was so dedicated to finding remixes of my favourite songs; why I fell so hard for mashups: adding something new and foreign really brought out the unique components of the originals, PLUS: to bring together two dissonant elements and make them consonant was amazing, amazing, amazing. AND, I just generally loved the chaos.

So when a post on audiography in 2007 introduced me to "breakcore" (I can't resist anymore!), I think I had been waiting for it my entire life.

Breakcore is the bastard, computerized child of d'n'b and industrial. It's some seriously fucked up shit and I genuinely do not know if you will like it. As far as chaotic music goes, it generally tops the list; it's way past breakbeat and into something fundamentally digital -- like, the really intense stuff makes me think of what androids might listen to in 50 years. It makes me feel similar to how a really visceral book makes me feel -- simultaneously pulled out of my skin and absolutely whole -- but objectively, I love it because it so perfectly demonstrates how far music can go. Yes, there is predictable, palatable stuff like Avril or Britney; yes, there is beautiful stuff like Tchaikovsky or Placebo -- AND THEN THERE IS STUFF THAT IS SO FUCKED UP YOU CAN BARELY CALL IT MUSIC, except that it is, so desperately, music. Sometimes I have meta moments when listening to breakcore where I just love the art form of "music" so much that I die inside, a little.

Anyway, one of the artists the Audiography poster recommended was Venetian Snares -- a guy from Winnipeg (I know you'll appreciate that!) who looks like he'll murder your family, but ends up throwing together some of the most amazing and intense beats you'll ever hear. His album "Rossz Csillag Alatt Szuletett" is my favourite, and of course the most appropriate -- he was inspired to record it after visiting Budapest, so. The fusion aspect comes into play, in this song, not only with the typical ..fused? aspects of breakcore (sampling & beats), but by, quite beautifully, mixing lovely classical with intense breakbeats -- because, after all, I want you to LIKE breakcore, so I don't want to throw you into Doc Colibri or someone equally as insane! CLASSICAL MUSIC remixed is one of my favourite things ever; coupled with breakcore? To die for.

He starts by sampling Georg Philipp Telemann's 'Siciliana of Fantasia No. 9' (thank you Wikipedia), and you think you're going into a fairly morose classical piece. Then some weird stuff starts happening with said classical piece, and you think you're going into something more modern, a bit stranger. Then, at 1:35, you realize you're on unfamiliar territory. There are three breakcore sections to this piece, fused and overlaid with classical, opera, and spoken word intervals. I was initially going to use this song for the "Buildup" theme, and you'll note it: the breakcore sections get increasingly fucked up. The first is influenced heavily by d'n'b, still somewhat normal; by the third, you've got so much weird digital shit going on that it's hard to find your footing.

You don't have to like this, but you do have to listen to it all the way through (on the headphones!). It may be House of Leaves for your ears -- but the fusion with the classical overtones makes it violently beautiful.