Brave New World – Impressions on Reading Aldous Huxley 8.4

Four Germans (Reinhart Firchow, Dicky Tarrach, Herb Geller and Lucas Lindholm) and two Irishmen (Esther Daniels and John O’Brian-Docker) came together to make an album based off of their experience reading Huxley’s famous book “Brave New World”. I believe that Brave New World is the best book ever recommended (read: required) by a school, so I entered this album with an open mind.

                This may be a concept album, but the songs are instrumental, allowing you to ponder what parts exactly inspired them to create the sounds. With “Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon…Ford” I wonder which parts exactly. Sure, I can picture little humans being decanted with that organ swell. More progressive rock should be this good, each part of the song, the flexible bass and the wonderful flutes make it an early highlight. It is so tasteful, I rarely adore certain segments but about 1:40 into the song you’re treated to something so smooth. Echoes of bands created long after these guys come into my mind.

                Flutes are all over the album. Most of the musicians seemed to be experts with them. Woodwinds aren’t a thing used as often on albums, but judging from this recording, I doubt many could do them the same level of justice. Just alone, the flutes create a dialogue far richer than someone simply reading lines out of the book. It is wonderful. 

                Pieces of folk pop up here and there, particularly on the tracks “Soma” and “Malpais Corn Dance”. Of course, you can find everything that ever happened on the album in the massive finale “The End”.

                Even with the level of quality seen in the previous tracks, “The End” ups the ante. Parts of this song reach such great heights. Flutes introduce the songs, easing you into the chaotic journey. Organs and flutes mesh together to form a sort of complimentary theme, a grandiose send-off. A tragic guitar appears out of nowhere. Tempos increase and decrease, jazzy elements are brought in, and a dark drone comes in. When I first heard this drone, I stopped everything. It just overwhelmed whatever it was I was doing. Yes, it is that powerful. Flutes are played as quickly as I think is physically possible.

                Dig it if you have it. Sadly they only made one album. Nevertheless, this is a wonderful experience through progressive rock way ahead of its time.                

How can Preschoolers be depressed? Should they have spent some more time in the womb chilling?

Preschoolers all across America seem to be suffering from long-term depression, according to a recent article in the New York Times. This leads to the great question:

“How can Preschoolers be depressed?”

What could possibly be depressing about having zero responsibilities on Earth? Basically, every need you could possibly have has already been met. Did your preschool not have enough play dough? Did the wooden blocks used to make fictional cites not appear realistic to you? Are Legos just some giant Danish scam meant to drain parents’ wallets and destroy vacuum cleaners?

I wonder whether this is just another ploy to drug up kids earlier, to prevent them from thinking for themselves. Any basic interaction with their surroundings can now be muted by a few simple drugs, allowing them to become perfect little kids. Huxley might have been right; perhaps we are on our way to drugging ourselves (with pharmaceuticals) into some sort of stupor, unable to realize that the world is dramatically changing around us, by people more cognizant than ourselves.

The article discusses ways you can tell whether your child has a “depressive episode”. Lately The Times has been going further and further into childhood, from twenty-somethings to kindergartners to now preschoolers. What is next; will we hear about embryos hanging out in the womb, not contributing to our society enough? Should embryos create “hypnagogic pop” to wax nostalgic about how their life was before it existed?

Depression seems to affect everyone, according to the article. Depression can be caused by environmental stimuli or genetic factors. That makes sense, but worrying about it means that it has the potential to be abused. Look at how much anti-depressants have invaded our lives; it feels like we’re constantly medicating ourselves into feeling better, rather than doing something a bit less dramatic. How about making a cabinet, fixing something in your home, writing, making music, biking, swimming, watching TV, reading a book, breeding hamsters, designing cover art for mix CDs, performing your one-act play about the life of General Custer? Essentially, it seems by not keeping ourselves busy with some creative outlet, we’re just dooming ourselves to crippling depression.

Maybe instead of subjecting your children to interviews with puppets, maybe there’s another solution. Instead, try communicating with them, exposing them to cool bands you liked before you became a cool mom or dad. I do not doubt that some preschoolers may exhibit traits of depression, but depression in general seems to be something the US gets overly fixated on compared to other countries. I mean, look at Franz Kafka. He worked at various boring office jobs but still found fulfillment despite having such a deranged sense of humor.

The New York Times may have been speaking about preschoolers, but they might have been talking about everyone regarding depression. Doctors who worry about a possible over-diagnosis of depression may want to think about the fact that perhaps many who claim to suffer from depression simply need to find their muse.