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Showing posts with the label Ela Minus

The Best/Worst of Times...

 *Ron Perlman narrator voice in a post-apocoplytic retelling of The Tale of Two Cities: “That Dickens bastard had it right: it was best of times and it was the worst of fuckin’ times…”

~

If you are unfortunate enough to know me you’ve probably heard my bit by now about this classic literature intro that’s even more true now than it was at the dawn of the industrial revolution. We live in an age where a small device in my pocket can play me a seemingly infinite amount of recorded music instantaneously. Yet the same companies that make that technological miracle happen are also doing vast harm to a huge number of human beings, not to mention our planet. From the ecologically destructive and human-devouring enterprise that is rare-earth mineral extraction used to create our phones, to the exploitation of musicians with ludicrously low payouts, to the industry embracing and pushing AI slop, to the investments made into nefarious privacy and humanity destroying efforts by the corporations running the streaming services, the cost of that miracle is unbelievably high. Irresponsibly high. Unforgivably high. And certainly, it’s unsustainably high. 


And the worst part of this, as with so many modern ills, is that it doesn’t have to be like this. 


Note: This is a long post folks so I've hidden the rest under the fold for easy scrolling.
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Song Recommendation: "COMBAT" by Ela Minus (2025)

This is the kind of song that starts religions. What an absolutely stunning piece of music. It took me a little time to appreciate it on its own merits; there might be an alternate universe where this track drops into a banger in its second half because of how much intense, mounting energy it contains. But, I think, the version we have in this universe is ultimately a stronger artistic statement: all ambience, swirling synths and air. 

It's the motion of the thing. It's the twinkling details. The breath. It's the way she laughs at the end of a phrase. It's the way she can't contain herself at the end of the music video. It's the touch of earnest body horror in the same video as she shows us her beating heart. The song (and its transcendent video) have been out since the middle of last year and I'm very sorry to be late to this one folks. But, with the release of Ela Minus's new (and also fantastic) full length, DÍA, I guess it's at least a time-appropriate recommendation. 

Regardless. this song's been on repeat for two days straight and I really also kind of need you to watch the video. And if you're interested, below the video are the lyrics and translation and with all that I kinda see why see loses it at the end of the video and I refer you back to that first sentence. This is a legitimately awesome and profound work that I'll be thinking about for a long time. 

Los pájaros nacidos en jaula
no le tenemos miedo a nada.
We're all birds born in a cage
but we aren't afraid of anything

creyeron que no nos íbamos
a acordar de volar… 
They thought we wouldn't remember
we could fly

creyeron que no nos íbamos
a atrever a saltar.
they thought we wouldn't dare to leap

Entre más se acerquen las paredes
más fuertes las ganas de tumbarlas,
The closer the walls get
the stronger the will to break them

de no parar hasta quemarlo todo...
and to not stop until it's all been burned...

No parar.
Never stop. 
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