Brave New World

Aldous Huxley has been on the to-read list for a long time but not until recently - I saw a copy of Brave New World and picked it up finally. I love 1984, but I like Brave New World better. Huxley approaches things in a very scientific manner, laying the basis for the story upon a set of basic axioms he believes will help create a completely mind controlled future. I also picked up this other book written by him called The Devils of Loudun. Its a non-fiction novel set in 17th century France amidst all the Catholic hysteria surrounding people who practice the "old" religion i.e., witchcraft. It's a brilliantly researched upon book. Huxley provides numerous references to books that have been written on related subjects, for anyone who cares about it. There are also a lot of Latin passages and quotes sprinkled all over the place - this is where I kind of do not completely get what he is talking about - but they do not take anything away from the superb description of the prevailing beliefs and situations. I right in the middle of the book, I'm reading it kind of slowly, but I'm sure will finish it in a few days.
   There is also a movie based on the book, called The Devils. The director is interestingly Ken Russell, the director of Altered States, one of the weirdest and coolest sci-fi movies I've seen.

VALIS

I recently finished reading VALIS, a highly acclaimed work of Philip K. Dick. I have been a huge fan of Philip K. Dick since I first saw Waking Life and later A Scanner Dartkly. Richard Linklater, the director of the two movies happens to be a big fan too and frequently uses ideas of Philip K. Dick. I had read a few of Dick's books in the past - A Scanner Darkly, Counter-Clock World, Our Friends from Frolix 8, Time Out of Joint. While I thoroughly enjoyed each one of those reads, it wasn't until I read VALIS that I had discovered the true genius in Dick's writings. Highly enjoyable!

Mirror

Mirror is the fourth Andrei Tarkovsky movie I've seen. The first two being Stalker and Solaris, arguably two of the best sci-fi movies ever made. The third one is actually a short called The Steamroller and the Violin. Mirror wasn't a sci-fi movie, but what beauty! It's full of stunning imagery. Tarkovsky's movies helped me redefine my notion of the movie medium - that the image is more important than anything else. The story, the plotline, the background music are all secondary. If hollywood isn't your cup of tea, please do yourself a favor by watching Tarkovsky's movies.

David Cronenberg

I saw A History of Violence in college. It wasn't such a special movie. After that I luckily chanced upon a few of his other movies on the TV and wow, is he crazy or what. He is known for developing this genre called body horror, most of his themes deal with horrors of bodily transformations and infections etc. You have to watch his movies to really understand what I'm saying. Definitely some of the most disturbing movies I've ever seen. Recommended :
  The Fly
  eXistenZ
  Naked Lunch
  Dead Ringers
  Eastern Promises
Eastern Promises wasn't in the sci-fi genre but it was still pretty good.
Each one of these movies left me with a feeling of uneasiness which I haven't experienced too many times in life.

Remember this rockumentary?

.. called Leaving Home? Too bad, it played only one show in Hyderabad city at 11:00 AM on 3rd April, in only one theater. I didn't get to watch it too.
And.. that's the kind of fan following we have in India for the band Indian Ocean. I remember seeing the ticker on a news channel saying Leaving Home: The Life and Music of Indian Ocean was releasing nationwide on 2nd April. My joy new no bounds. Indian Ocean is one of the most understated bands of our time. I've been an ardent follower of the band ever since I first heard them in 2003, listening to all of their albums regularly even now. It always beat me why these guys were so obscure. Obscure is not exactly the word, thanks to Bandeh and Kandisa. The lack of an ecosystem in India for independent music is disheartening. The movie Leaving Home has proved it. I'm hoping there will be a DVD release of this movie. You can read more about this movie at Director Jaideep Varma's blog.

Candiria - The Process of Self Development

I can't believe this band has existed for 17 years. The band calls their style Urban Fusion. post-rock-mathprog-electro-pop-grind-rap-core-ambient-dnb-jazz-metal. you are free to insert as many genres in the - in the previous sentence. Thats a pretty accurate description of their genre. These guys switch from heavy groove metal to latin jazz and along the way throw in a hip-hop interlude or noodling space rock riffs. Now, this may not be everyone's idea of music, but if you like listening to crazy stuff and you don't care to label your music as this or that, you'll love Candiria. I have listened to all their previous albums and just downloaded their 2008 release "Kiss the lie". Get The Process of Self Development now!

Mastodon - Leviathan

Beware! Collosal metal grooves will crush you. Brann dailor is a drumming monster gone berzerk. His heavy drum rolls swirl in and out of the tune, completely swallowing it at times. This kind of metal drumming very rarely comes by, if ever. This is one of the few modern metal bands that actually lend the term modern any meaning. The angry screams of Troy Sanders are so apt for the music. The vocals are quite varied on the album and get pretty innovative in tracks like Seabeast. The guitarist lays down the perfect riffage which sometimes gets amazingly bluesy for the high powered rhythms that Dailor plays. Oddly, it feels as though it is the drummer's heavy fill based drumming that's driving the album unlike the more conventional guitar based structure. Finally, the track Hearts Alive - the longest in the album, clocking 13 mins is one of my favourite tracks by Mastodon. It starts off as a sober piece and takes the listener through a sonic journey which only a band of this caliber can create - not to mention the amazing guitar solo towards the end of the track. This album features some of the best heavy metal chops displayed in the recent years. This one is not for kids or the light hearted. Be ready to get destroyed