June 9, 2014. So…..another birthday rolls up.
When I am seventy which is still a long way off, and if I make it that far, will I wonder, as every year descends, about how many birthdays I will still have left? From what starts off as a child’s boundless energy and anticipation to celebrate every birthday with joyful glee, do we reach a state of stasis where birthdays begin to be merely “observed” rather than celebrated? Advancing years to be feared rather than embraced with wisdom and contended acceptance?
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Anyone who has heard the original song “Lateralus” of the experimental hard rock/alt metal group Tool from their album by the same name will know the haunting, mesmerizing complexity of that song, with inimitable drummer Danny Carey playing time signatures in the Fibonacci sequence, while the pacing of the lyrics itself also follows the same mathematical sequence, voiced by the melancholic crooning of singer/artist Maynard James Kennan accompanied by the riffs of guitarist Adam Jones and bass guitarist Justin Chancellor.
Well, I recently discovered this group of 3 cellists and one percussionist. – A Break of Reality. Although their cello-version of the Game of Thrones theme has garnered several millions of views online, it is this gem of their version of Lateralus which, in my humble opinion, takes it to a sheer magical jazz-y level of ecstasy. Tool’s original Lateralus is an incredibly difficult melody, and this is an incredible endeavor with fantastic results. While percussionist Ivan Trevino sure had a big job emulating the iconic Danny Carey who has nearly double the years of experience of the former, the three cellists – Patrick Laird, Adrian Daurov and Laura Metcalf are par excellence in their powerful rendition of the original song.
As another year rolls by, and I slowly approach the lateralus on the curve of my life span, it is good to know that inspiring moments like these – a break from reality whilst listening to three passionate cellists from a Break for Reality – still await aplenty to savor, to soak in and to stoke the senses and set them soaring with sheer, uninhibited intensity.
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Tool’s original Lateralus album can be heard here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCDjP4JnpGU[
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The Gipsy Geek 