Quick medical stuff

Blogging this mostly for my own reference. Starting with my annual physical in January I've been attending to various medical grr-argh things and trying to do something about some of them. If any of them turn serious I'll post more. Generally I'm not dying any faster than expected.
( medical bullet points )

Two sets of different music

And by "different" I mean different from each other and different from my usual things.

Set 1, we might call "world". That is, it's based largely on non-US/non-European sounds. This is a style of music I like in general. Experiencing other parts of the world through their native instruments, beats, and sounds ties directly into the "music is love" idea I talked about a while ago. These are also examples of where the artist has taken traditional elements and fused them with modern elements and made something new and more interesting.

https://soundcloud.com/lazysyruporchestra/clozee-koto-lazysyrup-x-waspy-remix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QvMcQ2Eejo
I love the koto (https://americanhikikomorifilm.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/screen-shot-2013-07-23-at-5-20-04-pm.png) - some people call it the "national instrument" of Japan. I like both its sound solo and the way Japanese music combines koto with flutes and drums. Here Lazy Syrup Orchestra and Waspy have remixed CLoZee's "Koto". The original is at the second link above and it's a great blend of all three elements. The remix speeds things up a bit and adds some chill house sounds to it. Really, both are excellent.

https://soundcloud.com/westwoodrecordings/wood-for-the-trees
It's slightly cheating to call Moontricks "world" in that they're from backwoods Canada, which isn't a lot different from backwoods US. There's a similarity with the twangy sounds but in this case Moontricks de-emphasize the twang in favor of more smooth harmonies. Still, when they switch to the solo banjo it'll be recognizable to anyone familiar with US folk music. As with the previous track, it's got some definite electronica mixed in - mostly chill low-tempo stuff, and I find it works really well with the vocal harmonies.

https://soundcloud.com/young-nrg-productions/sets/menes-ancient-egyptian-ep-freedownload
I'll close out this group with a gorgeous four-track EP from Menes called "Ancient Egyptian". This reminds me a great deal of older Beats Antique, which also took from the Middle Eastern musical tradition and infused a modern EDM sensibility. Here the result is much more psy than crunk but the core DNA is the same. It hits some pretty high BPM if you're looking for a way to power through; I think the first and fourth tracks are best.

Set 2 is liquid drum & bass. I'm not generally a d&b fan - I don't go for the very high BPM nearly frenetic style. But this is something else again, and much more to my liking. Set aside your preconceptions about d&b and listen with me. (I am indebted to DJ Steveboy for these tracks, which he used in a recent mix.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcEkoZxAgRY
Fred V & Grafix bring us "Shaded" and I still get goosebumps listening to it, third time through. It takes a full 2:15 to get to anything I'd recognize as d&b and by then I've been drawn in and hypnotized by what is at heart a breathy love song. The track is nearly ethereal in places and if you listen closely you'll hear it pay homage to the old rhythmic static of physical LPs. Just one of the subtle touches in this exquisite composition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g2ucb32eGY
Hybrid Minds brings us another ethereal d&b example, this time fronted by the high soprano notes of Emily Jones. "Tapestry" is unerringly a d&b track, but it also clearly shares a style with vocal trance where the core beats are interspersed with vocal pieces, keyboard solos, and muted chill elements. As with the previous track, this one shines in production values - it's a composition of lots of disparate elements artfully arranged.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=km9emna0lJ4
We close out with another entry from Liquicity, but it's very different to the other two. Maduk's "Avalon" is straight-up d&b without the breathy or ethereal bits of the other two. This is the kind of track I think of as "drwex doesn't like d&b" except... listen. The vocals here are all samples, played and stretched and interwoven through electronic effects. The track doesn't leave you just with the high-BPM beat, though that's present. Instead, it playfully bounces around and comes back again - seriously, this track reminds me of a puppy out on a lawn and who can hate that? Let the puppy take you home again.