Pendulum, The Island, Physiology?

[alan2here]

I hope this doesn't immediately look like spam or advertising, if so I apologise, but nevertheless must publish these thoughts before they become yet again inaccessible.

 

The Island is a highly textural musical piece by the band Pendulum, that I think holds insight beyond the following few easily apart facts, particularly by the time it progresses, a considerable way into the piece:

 

It's a popular piece and therefore will have fans, who like it by accident of finding it appealing.

There may be an association (that I do not have) with positive experiences when hearing this piece in clubs.

The piece has common musical conventions such as at least somewhat familiar instruments and 4/4 timing.

 

However, I feel there is more, and this goes deeper including:

 

A viscerally, kinetically, tangibly strong drop, although currently much less noticeable or strongly and abruptly relaxing as usual against the surrounding bars.

Not only 4 beats in a bar, but 4 bars in a group of bars, a property shared with the conventionally considered to be very different genre of Power Metal.

Hold and release, or recursive patterns of attack and decay.

Texture or rhythm, on both a 'micro' scale with the subtilises of the organ like instrument, and a larger scale with the exploration of overlapping rhythms throughout the piece.

Influence on state of mind that takes more time to flow into than shorter popular tracks allow for, but require more intensity than I can appreciate than from classical tracks.

Rarely used although powerful organ "acceleration", that combines the feeling of accelerating movement or moving air such a storm, with instrumentation, contrasting with parts of the track where it is not used, as was also the case with tracks such as "The Human Equation" album by Ayreon.

In other ways too, parts of the sound seem to simulate the momentum sensation or falling, either downwards or forwards.

Smoothness and chunkiness.

Perhaps also related to ASMR (SKSKSK...), Frisson, Flow etc...

Edited November 1, 2014 by alan2here