Laser Fusion and Glorious Electronica

Finally, I may soon have a means of powering that killbot I constructed mid-nineties, the damn power-hungry monstrosity.

It was reported this week that an obstacle in the process of sustainable nuclear fusion using lasers was overcome! Huzzah! I know, it was on everyone's minds. "Plasma interruption" this, "I dearly hope it doesn't affect the hohlraum's ability to absorb the incident laser light!!" that. But fear not! All is well, and they reckon that they will finally be able to start ignition of a fusion reactor later this year! Essentially, the semi-sustainable power source of the sun, harnessed for potentially great/evil use. This may well be more exciting that the discovery of Dark Matter and the LHC programme, which is too slow burning for my liking. As a world renowned scientist, I demand more! Plus, lasers have auto-cool written all over them and the scientists that use them. It's the law.

Whilst this has been going on, I've been sat at a desk (for once), being endlessly pelted with chunks of confusion. My new job in IT support is more or less exactly like the IT crowd, albeit with more tea and jaffa cakes. And I love it! They literally think temps know nothing, so you spend 80% of your time being trained in varying databases, 10% answering calls where you tell them to ring elsewhere, and the final 10% is dedicated to the art of drinking delicious tea. Mmm, tea.


So, while I'm in a tech-like mood, here's a post dedicated to all things Electronica & my favourite dance music of the recent past. Ideally, I look for something bass heavy, choppy & electro-laden; The bit in Bonkers, where it all kicks off & you press the headphones in a bit more; The best parts of Daft Punk (before they got lazy); And then songs like Into The Void, below, which may not always fit the genre, but will always fit the playlist.

I've never really been into dance music outright, so I'd like to think I'm unbiased and therefore choosier in which tracks I play relentlessly. Nonsense. It most likely means I just don't like the majority (too repetitive and full of Cascada-esque bawling) and am usually unwilling to delve any deeper. But what I have found I do love, though I wouldn't play it all the time. Below are a few of my favourite tracks that shouldn't be too obvious but I assure you are great (if that holds any authority! Which it won't). I'm not including any Daft Punk, Fatboy Slim, Chemical Brothers, Prodigy or Justice (minus a remix or two), because that'd be lazy. Laaaazy. But the rest is good stuff.

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Ghosthustler - Busy Busy Busy

I'll start with one that was a grower, but the louder I played it, and the more often I walked back from work, late at night, with bass-heavy headphones and a skip in my step, the more I loved it. It has great scooping bass, like the intro to the amazing Satisfaction remix by Daft Punk (which I'll add) when it kicks in and you feel the air vibrate by the speaker. Plus, It's always a bonus to have real instruments in a track, but chopped up. It adds depth and doesn't feel as cold to the ears.

Marumari - Birch Beer Forest

The album Pathscrubber totally immerses you in this robotic undergrowth. Hard to describe, but this song feels like Goldilocks' first venture into the woods, written in binary. And i'd included another, Marumari - Lyortoi, because it sounds bloody marvellous, even though it's essentially an intermission.

Quantazelle - Braking (Hushed)

Ah, 8-bit wonderment. It sounds like the theme for the robot Olympics. Think that how it was described on 3hive, and somehow 4 years later it's still the first thing I imagine.

Thieves Like Us - Drugs In My Body

Drugs In My Body sounds like it's been made in a bedroom somewhere at Uni, and is all the better for it. I kinda like how weak the vocals are. Just the weediest, neediest guy trying to impress a girl with all his drugs! All the better for the driving beat and looping guitars. Oh! And around 2 min 14 or so, the midi drums are superb. Like a Cadbury's advert.

SebastiAn - Head/Off

Don't be put off by the seemingly off kilter timings. Part of the fun is figuring out the rhythm! SebastiAn is well known for remixing Killing in the Name a few years ago, but he doesn't go all out on that one. At the 2 minute 30 secs mark, turn up your bass and general volume. On headphones, superb.

RJD2 - Ghostwriter

I don't know much (or anything at all) about RJD2, but the album Deadringer is amazing. So very easy to listen to, and effortlessly cool. Soundtracked many a lengthy Pro Evo session at Uni way back when.

George Sarah - Lament

Different mood, but still evokes that late night with a drink and numerous Cracked articles thing. Happy times. The strings make the song more than it would have been.

!!! - Must Be The Moon (Emperor Machine mix)

I'm (foolishly) betting on the fact that other people keep coming back to certain songs, even though they conk out at the halfway mark. This, by !!! (Chk Chk Chk) being one of them, sounds amazing all loud n' whatnot. Once again, real instruments are the key.

Nine Inch Nails - Into The Void

To finish with (for now, until I can properly search through my music, not just the one playlist), here's one of my favourite songs of all time. The build up, the range of instruments, the colliding layers and then the rolling pay-off. Bliss