Recommendations

 

 

Next

Go to homepage

e-mail me

Music

Grandaddy .....This is the music for Science Fusion!

I went looking for music that was more than just whining about broken hearts, love and sex, and behold a compilation CD courtesy of my older brother turned up out of the blue!
Listen to 'Sophtware Slump' first, and if you like the infamous nine minute opener "He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's the Pilot" then you're going to love Grandaddy.

Grandaddy sing all sorts of songs, some futuristic, some introspective but this album is mostly about humanity and our interaction with technology and the world around. It's superb - the best tracks being "He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's the Pilot" (which I think is about man giving up decision making to computers) and "Jed the Humanoid" which is an absolute classic. You have to pay attention to the lyrics - best served through headphones.

If that's not enough, than how about:

 

Sophtware Slump Album Cover

The Flaming Lips

The recent 'Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots' is another superb album which suits my desire to find songs about life and our interaction with our creations.  Lighter than Grandaddy, it's more instantly approachable - sort of comic book to Grandaddy's graphic novel if that makes sense?

Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Album Cover

 

 

Go to homepage

e-mail me

Books

 John Wyndham: The man that started it all for me...

Where do I begin?  John Wyndham wrote in a style that is both simple, intelligent and compelling.  If I could write like Mr Wyndham, then I would be a happy man indeed!

He wrote many classic books such as "The Day of the Triffids" and "The Midwich Cookoos" both of which are well known and have even been televised or made into films; but also try some other interesting examples like "The Chrysalids" and "The Kraken Wakes", both of which I highly recommend.

The Chrysalids deals with a residual society left behind after a large war, knocked back to the middle ages.  It's full of suspicion and superstition as the society strives for purity and freedom from mutation.  The story centres around a group of children, hiding their special abilities for fear of being labelled unpure, and the struggle they find themselves in trying to survive.

The Kraken Wakes is good old Fifties Sci-Fi where the world is threatened by an unknown underwater force.  The slow crumble of society as the threat manifests itself is well documented in the way only John Wyndham could do.  Superb!

 

The Chrysalids

The Kraken Wakes

 

Valid HTML 4.0!