27: frontier psychiatrist-- the avalanches

i have always been fascinated by madness. caligula (the one who appointed his horse to the senate) was always my favorite roman emperor. my interest in that which deviates from the accepted mental functioning is probably what led me to study psychology in college. it also may explain why i was so drawn to this avalanches song. it is maddening. it also happens to deal with mental illness. it seems to be a bizarre amalgam of random pieces but it flows seamlessly-- clips of sound that seem to pull in all directions are somehow contained within the framework of a song.

i bought this album in high school on a whim. i probably had read the band's name somewhere and decided i should have it. while the rest of the disk is extremely solid, this track blew my mind. it intrigued and puzzled me. it made my heart jump. this was not the type of music i listened to and this song made me wonder why. this song opened my eyes as to what could be incorporated into music to make old things new and insane. and yes, i learned, some birds are funny when they talk.

the vid (with a ghost choir) is spectacular: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8BWBn26bX0