Music is Maths by Samuel Smith (12AC)
‘ Don Caballero, 2 (1995)’
Music and mathematics. A combination of two very different subjects, each appealing to a different kind of
person. One is all kinds of fun, useful and interesting; pleasing to people of all ages and the other is
mathematics. Yet these two seemingly polar opposites slowly came together in a variety of different genres,
through electronica to rock.
What I have displayed as the image on this article is perhaps the best record to make use of the phrase: math
rock (how long did it take for them to think of that one?) The sub-genre is usually characterized by
unconventional time signatures, abrupt pauses in the middle of songs and usually a lot of noise. Don
Caballero 2 shows off all of these in quite a flashy, often blinding manner. For example, on the tracks which
are sensibly named ‘ No-One Gives A Hoot About FAUX-ASS Nonsense’, ‘please tokio, please THIS IS
TOKIO’ and ‘ Cold Knees (In April)’ (where the ‘noise’ begins at about two minutes in) show these different
chaotic characteristics clash together in ¾, 16/8, and even 7/8.
Moving away from rock, and onto more electronic means, many would
often recommend the record Geogaddi by Scottish duo ‘Boards of
Canada’ if you wanted a particularly maths-themed work. This record
is often dubbed as ‘the most haunted album you will ever hear’ by
most internet users, but for good reason: the album contains VHS
static samples, eerie silent tracks and references to maths! No wonder
people find this terrifying.
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