Have we all heard of the terms Utopia and Dystopia before? The latter is a perfect society while the former is the opposite. A Utopia can be anything ranging from Heaven to being born rich while a dystopia can be anything ranging from the zombie apocalypse to being forced to watch the Jersey Shore. Obviously this is all relative. For example, some people may actually enjoy watching the Jersey Shore, in which case having to share a planet with such people can be considered a dystopia. Of course some restrictions apply to the entire concept, yaddy-yah, some more relativity, etc.
I have an important point to make about all of this. It’s actually an observation of the world and our culture. Think about every single dystopian movie or novel you have ever read or watched. Anything to do with the apocalypse, any type of horror, or just any world you would prefer not to be in will do. Okay good. Now try to think of every single utopian movie or novel you have read or watched. Anything depicting your idea of a perfect world or coming close to it would do. Ok now is just me, or are there significantly more dystopias in modern culture than utopias? It probably just means that we like to get scared. But does it also have any deeper implications? Can the stories that we surround ourselves with actually transform our course in history? How much does a novel like 1984 affect were we are today as a society?
This was just an observation I made, and something to think about.
*********
The Most Serene Republic is a Canadian rock group from Ontario. I would to talk about their second album, entitled Population. The only way I can describe this band is Indie. For all intents and purposes, this band shall be named the “apex of indie music” until further notice. Listen to this song.
“The present of Future End” opens with a gentle guitar line. This ends as a drone-pop with horns segment create the ground for a cool song. This part subsides to lyrics. The vocals in this band are an amazing mixture of three vocalists. It creates for a great listening experience as their voices phase in out, taking turn speaking the lines, while the other two offer harmonics. It pretty much approaches downright trippy if you ask me.
Also, you can’t possibly ignore the VOCAL SOLO at 3:25. I don’t know what else to call it, but all I know is that it sounds amazing. The song returns to the drone-pop with horns for an outro and the song ends well.
A strange piano riff and a sleigh bell play around. They give way to “A Career in Shaping Clay.” This song, for simplicity’s sake, is like the others. But one thing that I would like to address is the band’s drummer. This is a great song to appreciate how great drumming in an Indie band can completely make the experience. The lyrics in this song are actually slightly in slow motion, which creates even greater contrast for the drummer to work with.
The ending part at about 3 minutes throws in a beautiful amount of violin and some sort of gypsy flair into the mix. The solo is interesting and ends the song with the perfect amount epicness.
“Solipsism Millionaires” is my favorite song on this album. Another piano intro, but this time much quicker, falls away to some great vocals. The drumming and relaxed guitar strumming make the song sail until hitting a field of sudden cutoffs. The ‘La la la’s’ setup a climactic bout after which the song continues as if nothing had happened. This happens once more and the song ends coolly with some fast singing.
The professionalism of this band is evident and something characteristic of Indie bands. They don’t allow emotions obscure the vocabulary and excellent musicianship. Honestly this all that one can ask for. There’s nothing like some philosophically stimulating music for everyday easy living. And on that note, listen to this final instrumental piece of theirs and enjoy the rest of your day.
&)
-oko
P.S. That last piece is pretty much jazz. Indie is going places I tell you. I also know that this band has had releases since this one. You should go check them out.
The Music Court 
Good Canadian band, but then i am a bit biased on this front, LOL. Great choice.